＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊   

Colossians 2:6-15

If you have accepted Christ Jesus as Lord,

Let him be your doctrine. Be rooted and built up in him; let faith be your principle, as you were taught, and your thanksgiving overflowing.  See that no one deceives you with philosophy or any hollow discourse; these are merely human doctrines not inspired by Christ but by the wisdom of this world. 

For in Him dwells the fullness of God in bodily form. He is the head of all cosmic power and authority, and in him you have everything. In Christ Jesus you were given a circumcision but not by human hands, which removed completely from you the carnal body: I refer to baptism. On receiving it you were buried with Christ; and you also rose with him for having believed in the power of God who raised him from the dead.

 You were dead. You were in sin and uncircumcised at the same time. But God gave you life with Christ. He forgave all our sins. He can­celed the record of our debts, those regulations which accused us. He did away with all that and nailed it to the cross. Victorious through the cross, he stripped the rulers and authorities of their power, hum­bled them before the eyes of the whole world and dragged them behind him as prisoners.

 

Ps 145:1b-2, 8-9, 10-11

The Lord is compassionate toward all his works.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊      

Luke 6:12-19

 At this time Jesus went out into the hills to pray, spending the whole night in prayer with God. When day came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them whom he called apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James and John; Philip and Bartho­lo­mew; Matthew and Thomas; James son of Alpheus and Simon called the Zealot; Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who would be the traitor.

Coming down the hill with them, Jesus stood on a level place. Many of his disciples were there and a large crowd of people who had come from all parts of Judea and Jerusalem and from the coastal cities of Tyre and Si­don.

They gathered to hear him and be healed of their diseases; likewise people troubled by evil spirits were healed. The entire crowd tried to touch him because of the power that went out from him and healed them all.

 

Gospel Reflection：

Before He makes an important decision, Jesus goes up the mountain to pray. He communes with His Father. Everything he does is in perfect accord with the Father's will. And after doing that, he comes down from the mountain and begins to select twelve of the closest collaborators from among his disciples.

These He calls apostles. All who follow him are disciples, but not all are apostles. These are the select men who formed the Twelve. Among those selected by Jesus, one would betray him later on. This is perhaps to show us that even our best efforts sometimes go awry and bad things happen.

Our consolation is that nothing is wasted by God. The evil that happens could be an avenue for something good. The betrayal by Judas is an avenue for the salvation of humankind. Ultimately, good always triumphs.