| Christ on the Mount of Olives by Giovanni |
Lk 6:12-19 Full Readings
Pray Before You Act
Jesus chose his twelve Apostles as we see in today's Gospel after a whole night prayer alone. This he did not necessarily for his own advantage but specially to teach us a very important lesson: praying before we act or make any decision. One may wonder why Jesus who was God would pray, but we see him praying especially in the gospel of Luke where we see a hymn of prayer through the whole gospel. What can we learn from Jesus' prayerfulness for our spiritual growth?
Prayer is first and foremost an act of deep communion with God. In Jesus’ case, it’s an act of deep communion with the Father in Heaven and with the Holy Spirit. Jesus was continually in perfect communion (unity) with the Father and the Spirit and, thus, His prayer was nothing more than an earthly expression of this communion. His prayer is a living out of His love of the Father and the Spirit. So, it’s not so much that He needed to pray so that He could stay close to them. Instead, it was that He prayed because He was perfectly united to them. And this perfect communion demanded an earthly expression of prayer. In this instance, it was prayer all night long.
Secondly, Jesus also a wonderful precedence for us: praying before we act. We must pray before we act and allow our Lord to be the one who enters into our life and direct us in accord with His holy will. We, unlike our Lord, need to pray in order to know and fulfill the will of the Father. If Christ who is God prayed, how much more is demanded of us human beings in making decisions for our lives and others. More still, we should always pray for perfect communion with God our Father. We do not walk in perfect harmony with God each and every day and each moment of the day. Thus, while Christ’s prayer was an earthly expression of his communion with the Father and of Him living who He already was (God), our prayer is a surrender to whom we are called to become. We must become Christ, striving to live in perfect communion with Him and in accord with the perfect will of the Father.
Thirdly, the fact that it was all night long reveals that Jesus’ “rest” was nothing other than being in the presence of the Father. Just as rest restores us and rejuvenates us, so the all-night vigil of Jesus reveals that his human rest was that of resting in the presence of the Father. Up today, as he did with his first band of followers, aware of our need to find rest, peace, and consolation, he invites us to come apart to a quiet place and to rest a while with him and God his Father. This “rest” of being known, understood, accepted, and accompanied banishes weariness and renews our energy and through resting with God, he reveals to us not only his mysteries but also what we are to become, what we are to do and how we are to make good decisions in life as well as what those decisions are.
Fourthly, what we should take from this for our own lives is that prayer should never be underestimated. Too often we speak a few prayerful thoughts to God and let it go at that. But if Jesus chose to spend the entire night in prayer, we should not be surprised if God wants much more from our quiet time of prayer than we are now giving Him. Don’t be surprised if God is calling you to spend much more time every day in prayer. Do not hesitate to establish a set pattern of prayer. And if you find that you cannot sleep some night, do not hesitate to get up, get on your knees, and seek the presence of God living within your soul. Seek Him, listen to Him, be with Him and let Him consume you in prayer. Jesus gave us the perfect example. It is now our responsibility to follow that example.
Lastly, as Jesus chooses his twelve Apostles, he also chose us and still chooses us to help him continue his mission here on earthy. Jesus invited all who were there to hear the decisions he had made in his all-night prayer. Then he called each of the Twelve to apostleship by name as he calls us too. One by one, they stepped forward, accepting the offer to build up the Kingdom of God in a unique and powerful way. These were called to great service, a service of apostleship, to leadership. Like the Apostles, each of us has a unique vocation to follow him as his apostle of peace, his ambassador in the world today (2 Corinthians 5:20).
Reflect today on the role of prayer in your life? How long do you pray? Do you sometimes pray night long like Jesus? Is prayer a perquisite to making your decisions in life just as it was to Jesus? May the Lord help us and give us more zeal and longing to always be in communion with him through prayer.
Let us Pray
Lord, teach me how to pray as you always did though you are God. Give me a heart that longs to be with You in prayer, each and every day. Help me to daily surrender my entire life to You without reserve and be in communion with you who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.
Be blessed
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