Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Luke (6: 12-19) in which Jesus went out into the hills to pray, and he spent the whole night in pray to God.

Fr Paul says prayer is important to our Gospel Writer, Luke, which may be why he shows Jesus spending the whole night in prayer before selecting the twelve apostles.

The disciples find Jesus in prayer also when he teaches them the Lord’s Prayer and about the importance of persistence in prayer. Luke gives us the parable about humility in prayer as well as examples of prayer such as the three great canticles of the infancy narratives, not to mention other instances of prayer at critical moments – Jesus in the Garden and as he prays for the forgiveness of his executioners; so, there is a rhythm of prayer throughout Luke’s Gospel.

Luke alone also mentions that Jesus ‘called them Apostles’, a title he reserves for those who witness to the Resurrection of the Jesus whom they have known in life, for this is their primary task.

Fr Paul says today’s Gospel Challenge is to recognise the importance of prayer in our lives.