Imagine God creating the universe. Darkness, a void, with the Spirit of God hovering over nothingness. Out of that darkness, He spoke the universe into existence… it was not by chance, it was not random, but rather full of meaning and with precise order.
“Blessed be the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world,” wrote Saint Paul to the Ephesians.
These words of Saint Paul are magnificent. He is telling us that before God created the world, He had already chosen us. He had already seen you and me, with all our good moments and our disappointments, with our good deeds and our sins, even those things we are most ashamed of, and He still chose to create you and me.
He could have easily pushed the delete button, if he had thought we were too much of a nuisance. But he did not. He created you and me not by chance, but willfully, with purpose.
Paul teaches us that not only did God choose us, but that he has chosen us to be holy and without blemish through Jesus Christ. We have redemption through the blood of Jesus, our transgressions and forgiven and God pours into our lives so much grace that this strength allows us to choose the good, and avoid evil.
God’s love for you and me is so overwhelming, that it’s like trying to take a sip of water from an open fire hydrant. It’s so much that we cannot take it all in, we cannot fathom its depth and magnitude because we can only take in a little bit.
Many years ago, I met a young man in Macon. He had just finished his novitiate with the Jesuits, he was just starting his life as a religious. The last day of the novitiate in Louisiana, he was given a one-way bus ticket to Macon, and told to be in Saint Louis six weeks later. All he had was a bookbag with a change of clothes. He was forbidden to stay anywhere more than three days, and if he collected any money, he had to leave it all behind when he went on the move. I was fascinated… someone who was living out the instructions of Jesus in today’s Gospel.
That night, I told my Pastor about this Jesuit novice. Being an old and seasoned Pastor, he said to me, “that’s nuts. Who in the world would do that?” He was not impressed.
His reaction surprised me, but it made me think. It was crazy. And what Jesus asks the twelve apostles to do is crazy; and for a religious order to ask its novices to do the same today is crazy.
Yet, today’s readings remind us that we are chosen, we are adopted children of God, we are loved and wanted. Today’s readings are about God’s Providence, and Him calling us to trust in Him: that in the midst of our lives, when we remain faithful, God will provide.
God’s Providence is not magic, we do not believe that God is a giant wizard who grants our every wish. God’s providence is trusting that God will provide in our lives everything that we need in order to achieve our salvation.
Sometimes we fool ourselves, we think we can do everything on our own. That we do not need the help of others, including sometimes even God. God invites us to recognize our need for Him, and by doing so, He is able to work amazing things in our lives. Where the need is greater, God is able to do more work.
Years ago, I visited a religious community that works with the poorest of the poor in the mountains of Peru. I met a young French missionary who at that time was in charge of the community’s farm that produced enough food to feed about 1,500 children per day. He told me that if he does not produce, the children do not eat. The man assured me, that every year, he takes out from the warehouse more food than he puts inside. He said, “if that wasn’t the case, God knows the children would go hungry, so he provides.”
How do we express our need for God that in turn allows Him to provide for us? Do we rely too much on our possessions, our abilities, our money, our education to make us successful? Do we panic when things do not go our way, rather than to remain trusting, that God will provide?
God has chosen us and we belong to him. He will not abandon us. Amen.
Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
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