Eph 1: 11-14
In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.
In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Chosen by God
The translation used at Mass today of the first line of the first reading is “Brothers and Sisters, in Christ we were also chosen..” I am always amazed when I am reminded, whether by Scripture or a good friend, that I am chosen by God through Jesus Christ. I am chosen regardless of my shortcomings, my sin, my moving away from God from time to time and my disbelief that God could love someone like me. Moving forward with this truth, having been chosen and believing it, affects the way I act and move in this world. Not unlike the final line of the prayer attributed to Fr. Pedro Arrupe, SJ but actually written by Fr. Joseph Whelan, SJ, Fall in love, stay in love and it will decide everything. So let us live as chosen people, allowing that reality to be the source for our thoughts and actions.
Looking back on our day, how might I have lived (think of one concrete way) as chosen by God through Jesus Christ?
—Tom Drexler is a graduate of Marquette University High School and Creighton University, and works in advancement with the Midwest Jesuits.
Prayer
Nothing is more practical than
finding God, than
falling in Love
in a quite absolute, final way.
What you are in love with,
what seizes your imagination, will affect everything.
It will decide
what will get you out of bed in the morning,
what you do with your evenings,
how you spend your weekends,
what you read, whom you know,
what breaks your heart,
and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.
Fall in Love, stay in love,
and it will decide everything.
—Joseph Whelan, SJ, often attributed to Pedro Arrupe, SJ