In today’s Gospel Jesus calls his disciples to live in the joy of his love and he reminds them that he was the one who chose them. He was the one who broke into their lives interrupting the sadness they had constructed with their lifestyle. The choosing, the initiative, and the intervention begin with God’s action in our lives.
The reading from Acts today gives us a concrete example of how that first Christian community ordered their process of choosing or decision making. We can see they were rooted in that sense of joy and the presence of God in their lives. How do you make decisions in your daily life? How do we make decisions in our community or political life? Among the many forms of decision-making, we have imposition of our will (dictator), democratic vote, or consensus.
Looking carefully at the reading from Acts we see that the first community of faith in Jerusalem used a different process. The problem was that with the absence for Judas, they only had 11 apostles instead of 12. Their decision-making process proceeded in this way. First, they start with the Word of God. They used the Word to help them understand and interpret their lives. Then they set up some requirements based on their own criteria based on their consultation with the Word. Then came prayer. The text does not tell the exact amount of time they spent in prayer. But I believe they spent a good amount of time in prayer. Then after prayer, they choose two candidates who met the criteria that they had established. Then rather than use consensus or democratic vote or imposition of one person/sub-group’s will, they left the final choice to the Holy Spirit. They cast lots between the two candidates.
This process is quite shocking to us as our modern culture and experience is rooted in democracy or dictators. That first Christian community was rooted in the experience of God’s constant action in their lives and the surety of the presence of the Holy Spirit in all they did. The joy of being chosen by God and the joy of the resurrection led them to have faith and hope in God’s action through their decision-making process. They renounced their own plans to put the Word of God, prayer, and trust in the presence of the Holy Spirit t the center of their lives.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain.
Image: ChatGPT C J Dunn 13MAY26 “the first Christian community in Jerusalem choosing St Matthais, rectangular” AI generated.