Twelve of them, whom he called ‘apostles’: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother
Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James son of
Alpheus and Simon called the Zealot; Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who would
be the traitor. Coming down the hill with them Jesus stood in an open plain. Many of his
disciples were there, and a large crowd of people, who had come from all parts of Judea
and Jerusalem, and from the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon. They gathered to hear him
and to be healed of their diseases. And people troubled by unclean spirits were cured.
The entire crowd tried to touch him, because of the power that went out from him and
healed them all.

Reflect

“He called His disciples.” Today’s Gospel narrates the choosing of the Twelve from among
his disciples. The Gospel also tells a summary of Jesus’ teaching and healing ministries.
We may imagine how busy Jesus was. However, before Jesus had engaged in all these
abovementioned activities, Jesus prayed in silence. Jesus is described to be in communion
with God the Father. The Gospel passage begins by telling that Jesus went out into the hills in
order to spend an entire night in prayer with God. We may reflect on the point that Jesus
was simply there, silently and attentively listening to what his Father was telling him.
Jesus would always listen to his Father before doing anything, whether it was a particular
task of selecting his apostles or performing his usual ministerial duties of teaching and
healing the people. Like Jesus, we are called to be in constant communion with God the
Father. We are challenged to speak less before God. We can only hear God’s voice in
silence, the voice that can guide our decisions and actions.

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