Not by chance; but by choice!

THE WORD AND THE FEAST

June 23, 2022: The Birth of John the Baptist
Isaiah 49: 1-6; Acts 13: 22-26; Luke 1: 57-66,80

The feast today is anticipated because of a greater feast that we will be celebrating tomorrow...John the Baptist would be very happy to see this done, as it coincides with his logic: He should increase and I should decrease! That was for a lighter note! 

The Gospels narrate a long list of similarities between the stories of John and Jesus... the apparently 'impossible' conditions in which the mothers conceived - one was too old and the other was too young and still a virgin; the direct intervention of God in the conception - the news brought to Mary and Elizaeth by the angel; the apparitions of the angels to the fathers - Joseph was instructed as to what to do next and Zachariah was informed of what is happening at home; the prior choice of the name of the child to be born! One simple and strong message of all these similarities, is the image of John the Baptist as the precursor of Jesus. 

The birth narratives of John and Jesus, together have another important message to reveal to us and that is, we are not here by chance! We are part of a complex plan, an eternal design of God. We are willed into existence by God; we are loved into existence, by the Creator! We have a purpose, because God knew us right when we were being formed in the womb of our mothers! 

Each of us has a special mission because, it is the Lord who has called us by name, even before we were born! We are chosen in the eyes of God, because as St. Paul says, God has chosen us before the foundations of the world in Christ Jesus, to be holy and blameless! We are created, called, commissioned and destined to usher in the Reign of God, as John announced the coming of Christ. 

At times we think so light about ourselves and our life here on earth - as if we are here by chance and every thing is running by some combinations. No! Let us become aware of our call, our purpose and our destiny, which is much larger than the image we have of ourselves and our life. 

Yes, we are here not by chance, but by choice, by the loving choice of God.