Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Luke (6: 12-19) in which Jesus, before choosing the twelve to be his apostles, spent the whole night in prayer.Fr Paul says in this Gospel at the very beginning we hear that prayer is very important to Luke. Maybe this is why Luke tells us that Jesus spends the entire night in prayer with God before he selects the Twelve. When you look through Luke’s Gospel there is a rhythm of prayer throughout it. We remember that the disciples find Jesus in prayer when he teaches them the Lord’s Prayer and the importance of persistence in prayer. Luke also gives us the parable about humility in prayer and mentions other instances of prayer at critical moments in Jesus’ life like Jesus in the Garden as he prays for the forgiveness of his executioners. Fr Paul notes, only Luke mentions that Jesus ‘called them Apostles’, it is a title he reserves for those who witness to the Resurrection of the Jesus, for this is the primary task of an Apostle. In light of today’s Gospel, for our reflection Fr Paul asks, ‘How important is prayer in my life?’