Resumed 6th Sunday after Epiphany
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. In the epistle today, St. Paul talks about being chosen. Some translations use the word elect. In any case, the meaning is the same: God has selected us. And for what or to what end has He selected us? For salvation. But we need to avoid the Calvinist position of double predestination, that God has chosen who will be saved and who will be damned. Instead, with St. Augustine of Hippo, we say that God saves us with our cooperation, though He knows from all eternity who will accept the grace of God and cooperate with Him.
What a great mystery! God relies on us, in a limited sense, to save us. Of course, the means of salvation is the sacrifice of Christ, which is re-presented for us in an unbloody manner on this altar. Still, we can choose whether or not to accept the salvation that comes from that once-for-all sacrifice, not just at the time of our baptism, but throughout our life, and, indeed, each day!
One of my favorite authors, Romano Guardini, wrote about this in his great work, The Lord. While meditating on John’s account of the High Priestly Prayer at the Last Supper, Guardini writes:
[The Apostles] are his. Jesus has taught them his message and the name of his Father. He has lost none of them but the son of perdition. Not even the implacable passages of the Epistle to the Romans speak with such harshness of the law of grace and the inviolate sovereignty of that divine will which chooses as it pleases, giving those it has selected to the Son–leaving the others so far behind that the Son does not even pray for them. We should hear these words often, and God grant us the fear without which we shall never enjoy salvation! The more deeply we understand them, the more unconditionally we should fling ourselves on God’s mercy. Autonomous, he [God] can choose whom he will; there is no such thing as a “right” to be chosen, but nothing on earth should hinder me from pleading: Lord, let me be among your chosen, and my loved ones, and all mankind! Do not add: for I have done no real wrong. If you are tempted to, fear for your chances. Before this tremendous mystery it matters little whether or not you have done your duty, whether you are noble or base, possess this or that intrinsically important quality. Everyone should do what he can; every value retains its value; but in the face of this overwhelming mystery, such things are no longer decisive. You must know only this, but as profoundly as possible: that you are a sinner and lost. In this knowledge fling yourself on God’s heart and say: Lord, will that I be chosen; that I am among those given to your Son never to be lost–my loved ones and I and all mankind!
It was a long quote, but worth the reading, as he captures both God’s divine will and our participation.
As Catholics, we can say that we are chosen. But not with arrogance or as laurels upon which to rest. Because, as Christ said in the Gospel of John, we did choose Him, but He chose us. In one sense, we might say that because many of our parents had us baptized. But even for those who, as young adults or adults chose to become Catholic, that choice was only possible because God gave us the grace to accept Him. Being Catholic cannot simply be a matter of the will. It is an openness to God’s grace which He begins in us.
And why did Christ choose us? John continues relating what our Savior said, telling us that those who are chosen are selected to go and bear fruit that will remain. We aren’t chosen for our own sake, or because we are the wisest, strongest, most attractive, or those with the best genes. We are chosen so that the world can be converted to Christ, so that humanity can be what God wanted it to be in the Garden of Eden, and, even better, what Christ died so that humanity could be. Our election in Christ is not so much as badge, as a catalyst that stirs us to evangelical action.
And, as Guardini noted, everyone should do what he can. True, the Apostles didn’t really get this at first, but once they had been filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, they realized that importance of sharing what Christ had done for them. They received the courage from the Holy Spirit to share with others, often in simple ways, but sometimes in very profound ways, that life in Christ changes everything, and that one can find the happiness for which he was made, perhaps not on this earth, but after death in heaven.
And while we do not earn our salvation, St. Paul urges us in his epistle to the Philippians to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Why would we do that? Only if we are not sure if we will be chosen in the end. When we recognize that we are sinners and lost, then we seek to do what we can to show God that we should be chosen, not because we can merit it, but showing that we know we need saving, and that we are open to the salvation God wants for us.
 |
| Msgr. Romano Guardini |
Our election in Christ is a reason to give thanks. But it is also an impulse to spread the Gospel. Our election is made at baptism, but it is a gift that we can accept or reject each day. Lord, will that we be chosen; that we be among those given to your Son never to be lost–my loved ones and I and all mankind! In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
