Sunday, July 15, 2018

Homily for 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
15th Sunday of Ordinary Time

July 15, 2018
Eph 1: 3-14
Our 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.


    [1] Days of the Lord: The Liturgical Year (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1993), 5:139.

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