We know very little about the saints whose feast we are celebrating today. But they are numbered in this list of the Twelve Apostles in Luke's Gospel. In Matthew and Mark Jude's name does not appear; instead, there we have Thaddaeus. There are two points for our prayer and reflection. First, we need to notice that there is a distinction in meaning between 'disciple' and 'apostle'. Jesus had many disciples, including many women, but only twelve apostles. These apostles had the special mission of carrying on the message and teaching of Jesus. While these twelve had a special mission of deciding the full meaning of Jesus' teaching, all of us who are called to be disciples, followers of Jesus, are also called to be apostles, to proclaim the Gospel we believe in as the Way of life for the world. Secondly, we should notice that, before making His choice, Jesus went alone into the hills to pray and spent the whole night there. In all the key moments of Jesus' public life Luke tells us that Jesus prayed. We, too, should never embark on any project without first spending some time in prayer both for guidance that we do the right thing and that God may be with us all through it.