Tuesday 9 September 2025 - The chosen twelve

Tuesday 9 September 2025

Today is Tuesday the 9th of September, the feast of Saint Peter Claver, in the 23rd week of Ordinary Time. Salt of the Sound sings, ‘Praise to the Lord’. How will you draw near to the Lord today? Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation O my soul, praise him, for he is your health and salvation Come, all who hear; now to his temple draw near Join me in glad adoration Praise to the Lord, above all things so wondrously reigning Sheltering you under his wings, and so gently sustaining Ponder anew what the Almighty can do If with his love he befriends you Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore him All that has life and breath, come now with praises before him Let the Amen sound from his people again Gladly forever adore him Let the Amen sound from his people again Gladly forever adore him Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Luke. Luke 6:12-19 Now during those days [Jesus] went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James, and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was called the Zealot, and Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them. This passage starts with Jesus spending the night in prayer. In the light of what happens when day comes, can you get a sense of the nature of his prayer that night? What might it have been like? Jesus calls those he has chosen by name. Try putting your own name in that list, as one of those picked out by Jesus. What’s it like to be chosen in that way? The chosen Twelve come down the mountain with Jesus to find a great crowd waiting for him. We’re not told what they do then as Jesus teaches and heals. What might their own response have been that day? How would you have occupied yourself in that situation? Listen to the passage again, and notice how Jesus looks on the Twelve, and on the crowd. Luke 6:12-19 Now during those days [Jesus] went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James, and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was called the Zealot, and Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them. We are told that 'power came out from Jesus'. Speak to Jesus now about where you most need that power in your own life just now. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be World without end Amen