God Chose Us

07-11-2021Weekly Reflection© J. S. Paluch Company

Who chose first, God or you? That is the question explored in today’s three readings. The second reading, from Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, reads almost like a hymn. It praises God for choosing us, for calling us to serve, and for blessing us in our service. Paul makes it clear how honored we are and how special is the call to live as children of God. This is through no doing of our own.

The first reading and the Gospel use prose rather than poetry to describe the same truth: God did the choosing, not us. When the prophet Amos was berated for being a prophet, he retorted that the whole thing wasn’t his idea in the first place. Neither did the twelve apostles in today’s Gospel ask for their calling. Jesus sent them forth, two by two, to do the work of his kingdom.