By Colleen O’Sullivan
Brothers and
sisters: In Christ we were also chosen,
destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things
according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise
of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ.
In him you also have heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation,
and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, which is
the first installment of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s possession,
to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:11-14)
“Are not
five sparrows sold for two small coins?
Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God. Even the hairs of your head have all been
counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:6-7)
Piety
Lord, I
pray for the grace to relinquish the need to be my own god. Help me to praise you in your glory and help
me to discern your will for my life.
Study
What a powerful opening to a letter! In the verses preceding today’s, we are told
that in Jesus Christ God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. God chose us before the foundation of the
world! From the moment we were conceived
in God’s mind, we were destined to be adopted as God’s children through Jesus
Christ. We, who are sinners, are
redeemed through the blood of Christ.
Our sins are forgiven by the grace of God.
Today, as the letter continues, we read that we
have been chosen to give praise for God’s glory. We have been privileged to hear the truth as
spoken by Jesus that we are offered the gift of salvation. We have been sealed by the Holy Spirit.
Why would anyone not hear this as the greatest news
ever? Well, I think we would all say
it was the greatest news, but when you look at how we live, our actions tell
another story. Many of us like to think
we are the ones doing the choosing.
We think we decide whether or not to believe in God, as though our
choice renders God real or not. We like
to think we are in control of our lives.
We set priorities and goals and then create endless to-do lists to
achieve them. We live as though we are
the gods of our own little universes.
One line from Richard Rohr’s Falling
Upward: A Spirituality for the Two
Halves of Life has stuck with me:
“The ego hates losing – even to God.”
In most of our lives, something eventually happens
to explode the myth that we’re running the show. In my life,
it was major illness when I was younger.
For someone else, it may be the loss of a child or a spouse or a parent,
a job or a marriage. For millions
throughout the world, it could be an act of war or terrorism destroying the
only home they’ve ever known. Whatever
it is, something happens that leads us to question how well we’re running the
show and eventually has us admitting that we’re not really in control.
And that’s the very moment when today’s first
reading starts to sound like Good News.
We don’t have to be in control.
In fact, we can’t control everything in our lives. We don’t have to carry the burden of running
our lives single-handedly. Before God
created a thing, God made the choice to create you and me and to breathe life
into us. God already knew our names and
knew we would be adopted sons and daughters through his Son. God already loved us at that point! And in today’s Gospel reading, Jesus
reiterates just how much the Father loves us.
If God so cares for little birds who wouldn’t fetch much of a price in
the market, how much more God must love you and me.
Action
Relinquishing the myth of control over our lives
and conforming ourselves to the will of God in Christ is not easy. It’s a long process, requiring much prayer
and discernment along the way. The
habits of a lifetime die hard.
A spiritual director can be a very helpful
companion along the way. If you have
never tried spiritual direction and would like to explore the possibility, you
could start by consulting our Arlington Diocese Cursillo web page, http://www.arlingtoncursillo.org/thrive/thrive-sub-page-2/.
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