A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 6:12-19

One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated

apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.

REFLECTION: "spent the night praying to God"

Jesus commands us to pray always, without losing heart. We have witnessed him praying to his Father and we know the Father always hears him. The Father always hears us as well when our prayers unite with the prayer of Jesus. Jesus is presently beseeching his Father on our behalf sitting on the right hand of the Father. In redeeming us, he has given us his heart and is always our advocate and mediator . He always pleads our cause before his Father. Our prayers and our works are united with his prayers but sometimes we lack the perseverance, the trust, the faith, the humility and the desire to want to be one with Jesus, one with his will, one with his prayer. Our own doubt, unforgiveness and our own skepticism can block our prayers.

We can deduce what Jesus was praying . When he descended from the mountain he chose his apostles. I can assure you he prayed with confidence in his Father, of complete surrendering of his will. Was he pleading to his Father, knowing how hard being an apostle would be , for the apostles to be emboldened? Did he pray that they have faith during persecution, that they be kept away from the evil one, that they not be lukewarm?

When God gives us the desire to pray, do it. Whether you awake at 3 in the morning, or if you have worked a long day, or have anxiety and worries beating you down. PRAY. Pray now for the Church, pray for our priests and for our families.

St John Vianney ( our Patron Saint) : " All the evils that oppress us on earth come precisely from not praying, or from not praying well."

PRAYER: Lord, we pray that we seek your will in all we do and that we surrender our wills to yours. Let everything we do start with prayer. Let our day end with prayer . May we trust you with all and may we please you in all we do. Amen

papafoundation.net