Jesus departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. Jesus names apostles in each of the gospels but only St. Luke stresses the fact that he did so in a context of prayer. No doubt the eveangelist wanted us to notice that our decisions should be made in the a prayerful spirit as well. What is of note is that even after prayerful discernment Jesus’ choices were not home runs. He chose one who betrayed him, one who denied him, two who were violently ambitious and all of them who deserted him. Jesus should not look for an HR job since he didn’t make the best hires. And yet, in time, with God’s grace and in the power of the resurrection they were transformed. All of which should tell us that we make the best choices we can in a spirit of prayer and we too can rely on God to make sure that it all turns out for the best in the end.
