15th Sunday of Ordinary Time
July 15, 2018
Eph 1: 3-14Our Lady of Lourdes, Bethesda, Md.
“The
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ … chose us in him” (Eph 1: 3).
 |
| Street scene in Ephesus By Ad Meskens - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8905604 |
This
morning we begin 7 weeks of Sunday readings from St. Paul’s letter to the
Ephesians, to his Christian converts in the city of Ephesus in the Roman
province of Asia Minor, on the west coast of what is now Turkey.
One
commentator describes this letter as “a general exposition of the Christian
vision of salvation history: the plan of
God, set from all eternity, realized by Christ, unfolds in the Church.”[1]
The 1st
word in today’s passage that strikes me is chose. I don’t know whether kids still play
“choose-up games” of basketball, baseball, or football, but that was a familiar
ritual of my boyhood. Of course,
everyone wanted to the 1st one chosen by one of the captains, and there was
always the dread of being the last one—or not being chosen at all.
Well,
good news! You’ve been chosen!
If
you’re familiar with RCIA, you’ve often heard the word elect, which means those chosen for Baptism—chosen by “the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” to be joined to Jesus Christ thru the mystery
of Baptism.
You are therefore among the elect, those whom
God has chosen thru his Son, whether you entered Christ’s Church thru RCIA or,
more likely, as an infant.
Paul
explains why God has chosen us, and
reason is awesome: “to be holy and
without blemish before him” (1:4). You
already know that Baptism makes a person “holy and without blemish.” It takes away every stain of sin, both
original sin and—in adults—actual sin, personally chosen sin.
You may
remember that as part of the rite of Baptism, the godfather or sponsor goes to
the Easter candle, symbol of Christ the light of the world, and lights a small
candle that’s presented to the newly baptized with the instruction to keep the
light of Christ ever burning brightly in his or her life. In other words, to remain “holy and without
blemish.”
And
that’s what we spend the rest of our lives trying to do.
We’re
not 100% successful, of course. But God
chose us in his Son Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ doesn’t abandon us. Baptism comes to us thru his Church, and his
Church remains at our side—or we remain within his Church—with the Church’s
constant help: prayer, sacraments, the
example and intercession of the saints, and brotherly support, so that the
holiness of Christ might be restored to us as much as it may need to be.
 |
| The Preaching of Saint Paul at Ephesus (Eustache Le Sueur, 1649) |
Paul
explains this call of God further. God
chose us “before the foundation of the world” (1:4), he says. God knew us and elected us before the 1st day
of creation. He always had us in mind,
always desired us.
For
what? Well, for holiness. But more:
“for adoption to himself” (1:5).
Having been sanctified—or justified,
in Paul’s usual wording—we’re fit “for adoption to himself,” to be made sisters
and brothers of Jesus, members of God’s own family. How awesome is that? A lot better than being the 1st kid picked by
the team captain!
Next,
Paul reminds us that this divine plan to adopt us is “in accord with the favor
of his will” (1:5). Other translations
render this as the “pleasure” of God’s will, or his “generous” will. Paul uses further the word grace twice in the next couple of verses
(1:6-7). God freely gives us a favor, a
grace—given out of his own goodness and pleasure, not because we deserve to be
adopted, not because we merit salvation.
He “forgives our transgressions” (1:7), our sins, “with the riches of his
grace that he lavished upon us” (1:7-8).
In his kindness, his goodness, he offers us mercy and redemption; he
bestows holiness upon us, adopts us in Christ, and gives us the helps to live
holy lives and remain united to our brother Christ our Lord.
So we
come to this Eucharistic celebration each week to solidify our union with
Christ and thru him to say “thank you” to his Father.
No comments:
Post a Comment