To be holy and blameless in love...
July 11, 2021: 15th Sunday in Ordinary time
Amos 7: 12-15; Ephesians
1: 3-14; Mark 6: 7-13
To begin with, God chose
us! We did not choose God! So, deserting God, or switching allegiance, looking
for greener pastures, blaming monotony, seeking thrills and demanding signs are
totally unbecoming of a chosen one. Situations that are trying, opportunities
that are attractive, offers that are tempting might often come our way, but the
one who endures till the end takes the crown. God has chosen us in Christ. As
Amos in today's first reading makes it clear: it is not in our greatness or in
our credibility-status or in our self-worth, that the Lord has chosen us, but
in Christ did God choose us.
The reason I am chosen
is because, Christ died for me! Let us clarify it further… I am chosen, because
Christ died for me…it is not that Christ died for me because I am chosen, but
because Christ died for me, I have become chosen. Therefore, being chosen is
not out of merit, we can never merit the unconditional love of God. Being
chosen is because of the love that God has for us. Anyone can become, ‘chosen’,
because Christ died for all…and all that one needs to do is become aware of the
fact that Christ died for him or her, that God loves him or her, that he or she
is a chosen son or daughter in the Spirit of the Lord.
Secondly, when did God
choose me? In baptism we were buried with Christ says St. Paul (Rom 6:4; Col
2:12). Were we chosen at our baptism? But Isaiah says before I was born, while
I was still in my mother’s womb, the Lord called me (Is 49:1). So, was I chosen
when I was in my mother's womb? Jeremiah explains, before the Lord even formed
me in the womb of my mother, the Lord knew me, called me and has a plan for me
(Jer 1:5), to set me up as the so-called light of the world and prophet to the
nations. So, was I chosen, before I were being even formed in my mother’s womb?
St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians, beats it all: God chose us before the
foundations of the world. Right from the earliest moment that one can think of,
or one cannot even think of, I belong to God!
The greatest of gifts that chosenness gives me is the
sense of purpose! Purpose, reason, motive, mission, meaning…are various words
to mean one fundamental truth: God’s will for us, God-willed destiny for us, God’s
plan for us in eternity. For I know the plans I have for you, the Lord promises
us (Jer 29:11). Whether I understand it or not, or accept it or not… in God’s
own eternity I have been chosen and I have a purpose for my life!
Thirdly, if the Lord has
chosen me, for what has God chosen me: to be holy and blameless in love. To be
in love, and through that being holy and blameless - that is the plan that God
has for me, that is the invitation that the Lord offers me. The most important
call that a Christian has, or to say the defining call that a Christian has, is
to love – for by that they shall know you, that you are my disciples, by the
love that you have for each other. It is love that can give me the identity of
being chosen! It is not any great achievement, or big diplomas and degrees, or posts
and positions, or buildings or projects, or massive gathering or expensive celebrations,
that will determine the ardent Christian that I am…but it is love and love
only, that will define my status as chosen to be a follower of Christ.
Love
and do what you like, said Augustine. When we live our lives in love, we are
sure to be holy and blameless. There is no other criterion as fool proof as
love, to be considered chosen or not. By this they will know that you are my
disciples, by the love that you have for one another (Jn 13:35). It is only
love that can make me whole. It is only love that can lead me to a life that is
absolutely blameless. It is only love that can lead me to be holy!
The Call of the Lord is to holiness and God has chosen me; when I walk thought it, I fulfill my life’s purpose. It would be sad to think otherwise! It is never God who is going to miss it when I don’t realise my chosenness and live to bring it to fulfilment; it is always I who lose my meaning, peace of mind and fulfilment in life. Gratefully today let us re-embark on this journey of chosenness.
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