Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Luke 6: 12-19
September 09, 2025 | Tuesday

Today’s Gospel

At this time, Jesus went out into the hills to pray, spending the whole night in prayer with God. When day came, he called his disciples to him, and chose 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.

Today’s Reflection

Before Jesus chose his disciples, St. Luke tells us that he prayed the whole night, spending time with God. This means that his choosing of the disciples was not a rushed decision, nor was it a whim he had. He prayed for them. Reflecting on this, we can look at our priests and bishops and thank the Lord, for he prayed for them before choosing them to become his priests in the world. In the same way, the ordained ministers ought to thank and praise the Lord. But we ask, if the Lord prayed for them, how come he chose a traitor? Archbishop Villegas reflected on this and said that Judas was not initially a traitor. In fact, if we analyze the gospels, we can see that he was a trusted disciple, for he was made treasurer of the group. Nobody chooses a treasurer unless he is trustworthy. The problem came not with the prayer and choice of Jesus but with the decision of Judas. So, while we thank the Lord for praying for his disciples, that is, for his priests and bishops, we also pray that throughout their life and ministry, they may always follow the Lord’s will and not their personal desires. Let us pray for our priests, always.

/Vulnerasti, 2025