God’s desire for his people was so great that he was ready to sacrifice his only begotten son our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, allow¬ing him to endure pain, suffering, humiliation, and death. This was because he could not bear the thought of losing any one of us. We are the chosen people of the new Covenant.

In biblical terms going up the mountain had great significance, Moses went up the mountain to receive the 10 commandments, Elijah chal¬lenged the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. We see many times the Lord Jesus himself going up the mountain to pray. In today’s gospel proclamation we see the Lord Jesus call those whom he chose as apostles to come up the mountain and be with him so that he might send them to preach – Enjoying a closer relationship with the Lord Je¬sus always precedes being sent out on a mission to help other people.

He gave them the power to heal sicknesses and to cast out dev¬ils – God empowers his people for the mission he calls them to.

When we see the names of the apostles we realise that the Lord Jesus chose a variety of people from various back¬grounds, abilities, and affiliations, and brought them together to form a community. They are called together to be with him and to learn to accept and love and live with each other.

In the last sentence of today’s Gospel proclamation, we see; Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him – Though each of us is chosen by the Lord Jesus, we continue to have a choice every moment of our earthly lives, we can choose to either serve him or betray him like Judas. However even if we feel we have betrayed the Lord Jesus through our sinful actions, it is good to remember, that nothing we do will ever shock the Lord Jesus. He knows us through and through, and we only need to turn back to him in repentance. He is always there ready, willing, and waiting to welcome us back.

Prayer: Abba Father, Thank you for choosing us, strengthen us to live out our faith mission on this earth. Amen