Friday 28 October 2022

Today is Friday the 28th of October, in the 30th week of Ordinary time.

Salt of the Sound sings, ‘How Great Thou Art’.

When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart
Then I shall bow in humble adoration
And there proclaim: "My God, how great thou art!"
Then sings my soul, my Saviour-God, to thee
How great thou art! How great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour-God, to thee
How great thou art! How great thou art!
How great thou art! How great thou art!

Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Luke.

Luke 6: 12-19

Now during those days he 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.

At the beginning of our reading today we hear of how Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, spending the night with God in prayer.

Can you imagine Jesus climbing up the mountain, alone in the dark needing to be close to his Father?

What do you imagine that night was like? Clear starry skies perhaps? Was it cold? Or warm?

What sounds would Jesus have heard as he made the journey?

What would it be like to be alone with God on this mountain?

Can you imagine that you are in this space right now?

As you lie beneath the stars, what would you like to say to God, perhaps ask for?

As you listen to the reading again, picture Jesus as he climbs down the mountain at daybreak, facing the significant task of choosing his disciples.

Imagine now that you are standing beside Jesus as he chooses the disciples by name: Simon Peter … Andrew …James … John … Phillip … Bartholomew… Matthew… Thomas… James… Simon… Judas… and Judas Iscariot.

Now he says your name.

How does it feel to be chosen by Jesus?

End your prayer by talking with the Lord about what it means to you to be named as his disciple.

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.