“Decision Making Jesus’ Way” by Colleen O’Sullivan

“Decision Making Jesus’ Way” by Colleen O’Sullivan

Feasts of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles

Brothers and sisters:  You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.  (Ephesians 2:19-20)

 

Jesus went up 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)

 

Piety

Only You, Lord, know what is in our best interest.  Help us to open our hearts to receive Your grace and wisdom when making important decisions.

Study

Two of the Twelve we honor today:

James Tissot, Saint Simon, c. 1886-1894, Brooklyn Museum, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 

 

Anthonis Van Dyck, The Apostle Judas Thaddeus, c. 1619-1621, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

On the feast day of not one but two saints, there’s surprisingly little to be said about either one of them.  We know from today’s Gospel reading that they were among the Twelve whom Jesus chose for his inner circle of Apostles.  In Acts 1, we read that they were among the Twelve on the day of Pentecost.  Beyond that they never appear again in the Scriptures.  There are legends and conjecture about what happened to each one, but no reliable information.

Given the lack of hard facts, what becomes more important today than everything we don’t know about Saints Simon and Jude is the process by which they became Apostles.  In both the Old and New Testaments, mountains symbolize holy places.  We’re not told what specific mountain Jesus climbs in today’s Gospel reading, but the fact that a mountain is part of the story tells us that this is holy ground, a sacred place Jesus chooses for communion in prayer with his Father.  

After spending the entire night praying, Jesus returns to the disciples.  With his Father’s help, he has decided who among his disciples would become Apostles.  Jesus had many more disciples than Apostles.  Disciples were considered to be those learning from a teacher or leader in order to follow in that person’s footsteps.  Apostles, on the other hand, were those chosen from among the disciples to pass on the Lord’s teachings.  The Apostles’ successors today are the bishops of our Church. 

This was a momentous decision for Jesus.  He knew his enemies were circling and the day would soon come when he would no longer be on earth to preach in Word and deed the Good News of salvation.  He needed people he could depend on to carry on his work after his death. 

Jesus didn’t make this decision lightly.  He didn’t pick his inner circle based on anything like awarding friends’ political favors.  He didn’t take suggestions from the crowd around him.  He didn’t even trust himself to make such a weighty decision alone.  He spent the night, an entire night the Gospel says, talking with and listening to his Father.  Only then did he get to his feet, walk back to the disciples and announce the names of his Apostles.

Action

We make decisions every day, many times a day.  What should I wear? What can I have for breakfast?  Should I defrost something for dinner?  What route is quickest today according to my Navigation app?  We don’t put a whole lot of thought into decisions like those.  They’re pretty straightforward. 

There are other decisions we make, however, that are much more important and have much greater impact on our lives.  As a child, you decided who you were going to be friends with?  When first dating, you asked yourself what values you should look for in another person.  What kind of person do I want to be?  Later, should I marry him or her? How do I know he or she is the right person to be my life partner? Even if you’ve attended CCD all the way through high school, at some point you have to ask yourself, Am I going to be a disciple of Jesus?   Am I willing to walk in the Lord’s footsteps? 

Later, if children come along, hopefully you ask yourself, “How are we going to raise them?  What kind of people do we hope they grow up to be?”  These are the kinds of questions and decisions that merit a night spent in prayer, searching for guidance from the Lord. 

As I look around, I’d be willing to bet that many of us seldom remember to include God in our decision making.  We ask our friends what they think we should do, or our families.  We turn to advice columnists, hoping for answers.  We rely on Dr. Phil’s solutions for others with problems similar to our own.  It’s far better to rely on God’s wisdom when deciding the big things in life.  

When you have some quiet time, look back on some of the major decisions you’ve made in your life, how you made them, and how they turned out in the long run. 

I’ve found An Ignatian Framework for Making a Decision on ignatianspirituality.com very helpful on including God in our decision making.