He departed to the mountain to pray

28 OCTOBER (Lk 6,12-19)

One of the most wonderful truths that the Old Testament leaves us in heritage is faith in the Almighty God who intervenes in our history and leads it according to his will. Man is not lord and master of history. It is not in his hands. It cannot be conducted according to his will. For this to happen, he must put himself humbly in prayer and ask the Father, who is the Almighty God, the Lord of events, so that he is the one to take the reins of history and lead it according to the greater good. The man of faith before every important and less important event, bows before his God and calls upon him, asking him to be the Actor, the real Actor of history. That is how this truth is witnessed in the Books of the Maccabees.

So the following year he gathered together sixty thousand picked men and five thousand cavalry, to subdue them. They came into Idumea and camped at Beth-zur, and Judas met them with ten thousand men. Seeing that the army was strong, he prayed thus: “Blessed are you, O Savior of Israel, who broke the rush of the mighty one by the hand of your servant David and delivered the camp of the Philistines into the hand of Jonathan, the son of Saul, and his armor-bearer. Give this army into the hands of your people Israel; make them ashamed of their troops and their cavalry. Strike them with fear, weaken the boldness of their strength, and let them tremble at their own destruction. Strike them down by the sword of those who love you, that all who know your name may hymn your praise.” Then they engaged in battle, and about five thousand of Lysias’ men fell in hand-to-hand fighting. When Lysias saw his ranks beginning to give way, and the increased boldness of Judas, whose men were ready either to live or to die bravely, he withdrew to Antioch and began to recruit mercenaries so as to return to Judea with greater numbers (1Mac 4,28-35).

While the sacrifice was being burned, the priests recited a prayer, and all present joined in with them, Jonathan leading and the rest responding with Nehemiah. The prayer was as follows: “Lord, Lord God, creator of all things, awesome and strong, just and merciful, the only king and benefactor, who alone are gracious, just, almighty, and eternal, Israel’s savior from all evil, who chose our forefathers and sanctified them: accept this sacrifice on behalf of all your people Israel and guard and sanctify your heritage. Gather together our scattered people, free those who are the slaves of the Gentiles, look kindly on those who are despised and detested, and let the Gentiles know that you are our God. Punish those who tyrannize over us and arrogantly mistreat us. Plant your people in your holy place, as Moses promised” (2Mac 1,23-29).

In that true man Jesus does not have the Government of history in his hands. It is entirely in the heart and will of the Father. He also needs that the Father takes the reins of history and directs it according to his eternal and divine designs. Having to carry out a work of vital importance to his mission, he spends the whole night in prayer. He puts every decision in the heart of the Father. It is he who must decide, choose and call. It is he who must indicate who to elect which ones of his apostles.

In those days he departed 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: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called a Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground. A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured. Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him because power came forth from him and healed them all.

History will be very different when we will have learned how to pray. But the man of today does not pray. He does not believe that the Lord alone has the reins of history firmly held in his hands. The Lord is the Lord and no one else is. Jesus, true God, clothes himself with great humility and prays. The foolish man does not pray. History does not obey him.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints teach us how to always pray.