"Jesus departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named apostles." (Luke 6: 12 - 13).

Tuesday of the 23rd week in Ordinary Time. It is time for Jesus to choose and call His close friends.

After a night spent in prayer, Jesus undertakes one of the most important tasks in His mission: Choosing His 12 Apostles. No nation takes lightly the choice of its leaders. Elections are organized and campaigns undertaken for a couple of years.

We see a variety of gifts and personalities in the 12 men chosen to be close collaborators of Jesus. All the men were from lower class of society, poor, uneducated, untraveled and timid. Jesus Himself would be their Teacher and Master while He remained with them. Then the Holy Spirit will finish the job of preparing them for their lives' work.

Do you find it fun criticizing your Bishop? Do you realize that they are the direct successors of the Apostles? They need your prayers and not your acidic criticisms. Have you removed the beam in your eyes so that you can see clearly before you try to remove the beam in your Bishop's eyes? Be careful because as you judge so shall you be judged. (Cf Matthew 7: 2).

"You are just, O Lord, and your judgement is right; treat your servant in accord with your merciful love." (Psalm 118: 137, 124).

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"Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the Church." (Colossians 1: 24).

Monday of the 23rd week in Ordinary Time is the feast of St Peter Claver of the Society of Jesus (1580 - 1654), Priest and Religious. As a Jesuit missionary in South America, he was placed by Providence to care for thousands of African slaves as they arrived in the Americas to start their enforced slavery. Peter fed the hungry, cared for the sick and dying. It is estimated that he baptized about 300,000 in his 40 years of ministry.

Our Scripture of today is puzzling. Jesus Christ overcame evil not by fight or flight but my total submission. The Church goes on to teach:
"But in the most mysterious way God the Father has revealed his almighty power in the voluntary humiliation and Resurrection of his Son, by which he conquered evil. Christ crucified is thus "the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." It is in Christ's Resurrection and exaltation that the Father has shown forth "the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe". (CCC 272).

We share in the Exaltation of the Cross today by embracing God's gracious and mysterious will in our life. You may think that this is easy. If you commit to doing it always, everywhere and in everything, you are on your way to sainthood. When you learn to offer up all your sufferings in union with Jesus, it is powerful and can be the one single thing that breaks any yoke.

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"This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish." (Luke 14: 30).

Sunday of the 23rd week in Ordinary Time. When you embark on a new project: building a home, a new career, volunteering for a new ministry, etc. Rule #1 is sit down and count the cost. This will save you embarrassment and mockery from friends, family and neighbors. The stakes are higher when you make a vow to God. You can not walk away from it.

The message of the 23rd Sunday can be expressed thus: God approves of those who seek first His Kingdom and give it their All. Jesus our Captain invites us to take His yoke upon ourselves and learn from Him.

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14: 6). Don't deceive yourself by looking for an easy way. The only way is the Cross. If we are the first to go through this way, you may be excused if you consider it an impossibility. But we have a cloud of witnesses that have gone this way before us.

This morning, I was humbled to sit in the exact spot Mother St Teresa of Kolkata sat when she visited the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Atlanta, Georgia in 1995. Some other people have been in the very spots Pope St John Paul II was in his various visits to the US. Some of the clouds of witnesses might be sitting beside you in your parish this Sunday.

If Jesus is the light of the world, then follow Him. "I am the light of the world; who ever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8: 12).

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“Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” (Luke 6: 2).

Saturday of the 22nd week in Ordinary Time. What are you doing on the Sabbath? We should be doing Praise and Worship. The Lord of the Sabbath teaches that there could be discrete exception to this rule.

"Remember the sabbath day—keep it holy." (Exodus 20: 8). The command to set apart the Sabbath is very important as seen from the way it is treated in Sacred Scriptures. It is the exaggerated concern for the obligation and sanctity of the Sabbath Rest that gave rise to hundreds of minutiae rules concerning the basic command to keep holy the Lord's Day. Throughout the Christian history, the Magisterium of the Church has not only expounded on the sacred character of the Sabbath but has taught that the Sabbath was instituted for the enjoyment of the People of God. It is a day of worship of God. A day of rest for the whole family from the hustle and bustle involved in making a living. It is a day to enjoy the parks, watch Christian movies. It is a day to visit the sick in the hospital.

The Sabbath Rest is Rehearsal for Eternal life. One day, there will be no work. By obeying the law of the Sabbath, you build up your faith in this promise of God. God plans to redeem man and creation from the present servitude.

It is more enjoyable to keep holy the Lord's Day than to do anything unlawful on the Sabbath Rest.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com