Saint Paul wrote in today’s first reading for Mass:
“Do you not know that the holy ones will judge the world? If the world is to be judged by you, are you unqualified for the lowest law courts? Do you not know that we will judge angels? Then why not everyday matters?”
Then in today’s gospel, we read that Jesus needed to make a practical decision about which of the disciples he should choose to become his Apostles. Perhaps he was also considering how many Apostles he needed, what their mission would be, and was thinking about the different traits of those disciples who were closest to him? Which of the disciples had been with him the longest? Which ones could he depend on, or who seemed to have the most faith in him?
Jesus had a lot on his mind, but he didn’t sort through the decision making process on his own. The example of how Jesus handled this very important decision, is probably the best advice we could ever receive on the right way to make a good decision in our own lives too. Why do we go to so many different people, like our family members, friends or coworkers, to ask their opinion on what we should do? We should seek guidance from the scriptures, and seek to know God’s will through some quality time spent in prayer.
Who is more qualified to give us advice? Who do we know that can give us an honest, unbiased opinion without any ulterior motives of their own? Everyone seems to have their own agenda, or see the world from the perspective of how it affects them, but God has no such selfish interests. He always wants what is best for us, or what is the right thing for our ultimate good. In other words, God is always on our side.
Did you notice that the gospel said that Jesus spent the entire night in solitude and prayer? How often do we use the excuse that we don’t have time to pray? Jesus made prayer the first priority in his life. Sometimes prayer is the last thing on our mind when we have a problem, or need to make a decision about something. We muddle through it on our own, but everything seems so much more difficult. We aren’t sure we are doing the right thing, or we second guess ourselves. Important decisions are often made on the spur of the moment in our lives, without consulting God at all about it. No wonder we aren’t sure if we did the right thing or not sometimes, because God wasn’t included in the process.
It said in today’s gospel, that after Jesus came down from the mountain after spending the night in prayer, he chose his twelve Apostles, and then a large crowd gathered to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases. The gospel said that:
“Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him because power came forth from him and he healed them all.”
Even though Jesus was half human and half divine, it seems like God also strengthened Jesus with extra graces during the solitary periods he spent in prayer. This was true during his prayers in the agony in the garden, but it was also true after John the Baptist was beheaded in prison too. Jesus retreated to the mountain to pray when he learned of his death, and ended up performing two miracles that day. He fed 5,000 men with the five barley loaves and two fish, and after praying alone on the mountain, Jesus walked on the water to join his Apostles in a boat on the lake.
The source of Christ’s power already originated within him, but Jesus received extra strength, grace and support during the solitary times of prayer that he spent with his Father. Jesus didn’t make any major decisions on his own, although he had every right to do so. God the Father guided his decisions on the right thing to do, and strengthened him with the grace to accomplish the tasks that lay before him. Will He do no less with us?
We too, have the ability to make our own decisions in life, but they turn out so much better when we carefully consider the facts of the situation, and seek God’s guidance first, before we make any decision about it. We need God’s grace and His strength, to see us through the challenges and difficulties we face in life. Without God’s grace, our best laid plans could fall apart if it wasn’t His will to begin with. It is better to start laying our plans, in accordance with His will, right from the start, just like Jesus did in today’s gospel.
