Gospel Reflections for January 31 2016
Have you been “Chosen?”
Last week Jesus read from the Old Testament Book of Isaiah and revealed that His mission was to bring glad tidings to the poor, release to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and a year of favor from the Lord.
Sounds like wonderful news to me! I am sure it sounded great to those who heard it then as well …except for one thing.
Those who heard Jesus speak thought this good news would be for themselves only. They were sure it was never meant for those awful pagan Greeks, those terrible Romans, or even unfaithful Jews. After all, they believed they were the “Chosen People.” The message of salvation should only be for them!
Jesus has a different plan. After reading this passage, He quotes from several other historical events in Jewish history where God offers miracles …to gentiles! (Non-Jewish people)
Apparently, people had gradually lost the original meaning of what it meant to be “chosen” by God. They had forgotten that God “chose” them long ago precisely to be a “light to the gentiles.” By their example, they were to reveal the universal love of God for all people!
Unfortunately, they had taken the word “chosen” to mean they were “better” than others, and therefore exclusively worthy of special benefits, such as those wonderful freedoms listed in the Isaiah passage.
It was just too much for them that Jesus was offering salvation to others and so they forcefully expelled Him from the synagogue.
They should have remembered the beautiful words from today’s First Reading from Jeremiah. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the gentile nations I appointed you.”
God loves every person even before they are born! The mission of Jesus is deeper than any culture, ethnicity, or nationality. He wants salvation to come to every human person no matter who they are, where they live, or in what culture they find themselves.
So here is a good question. When something wonderful comes your way, do you want to keep it …or share it? That is how we can discern the success of the mission of Jesus in our own lives. We believe we have received a wonderful grace in the person of Our Lord. Whatever blessings have come our way, let us use them well for the good of those around us. We have each been “chosen” to do so!
God Bless!
Fr. Dave
Wow, Father Dave! I have never heard anything like that before! You so clearly tie the message of the old Prophet into the message of Christ, identifying the weakness of us who are so centered on ourselves. I need to see the big picture beyond my narrow interests and keep focused on Jesus Christ and His teaching. Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful.
Yes, that is the prefect prayer for all of us!
What beautiful words Father Dave ” Before I formed you in the womb I knew you!! Before you were born I dedicated you!!! God loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees us soooooooooooooooooooo m,uch!!!! What a precious gift life is and what a precious God to give us life!!! Salvation is for all of us and soooooooooooo we must let Jesus’ light shine through us by touching peoples’ hearts every day in some beautiful way!!! Jesus’ love must radiate through us,in our love, in our actions ,in our words!!! Imagine if we all, everyday did a precious giving of self to others, what a beautiful world we would have!!!!! Father Dave, you share yourself lovingly for everyone every day!! Today and always, Dick and I will try to touch others in Jesus’ Love!!!
Love, Franca and Dick
A beautiful day to you in Jesus’ and Mary’s sweet love!!
Thank you!
Wonderful insights!
We look to Jesus as our guide in living life. He was never about Himself, but always for
others.
With God” grace we can show mercy, kindness, humility, acceptance and love.
Then God’s peace will reign in our hearts and in our homes We will be equipped to share
the blessings of the Lord with those around us.
Well said!
WOW is right. Your reflection reminds us how much God loves us all and we were each created for a purpose. Somewhere in one of the Bibles it said “He knit us together in our mothers womb.” When talking to the seniors who most of them could relate to I was reminded of when we knit, crochet or sew something, we put it out for all to see. We are so proud of the work done. We would never destroy or give disrespect to it, it was special what we made. That is how God sees us and it is so exciting to be reminded of that love, especially when the times are not going as we would like. He even has so much love for the Muslims that as I am reading and seeing on the computer God is even visiting them in dreams and visions and many are coming to the Lord risking their own lives.
As the Epistle said, we are to love and love unconditionally. It reminded me of the Torah reflection I was doing this week when Moses’ father-in-law came to visit after he heard of the success in getting the people out. Moses had such a high regard for him and when he made a suggestion Moses followed it but in seeing the fruits of Moses labor he knew that Moses’ God was the true God and even offered sacrifice. It shows a lot about submission and respect. As we show love and respect no matter how hard it can be it is a witness of God’s love.
Thanks for sharing your comments. I really like the image of a person wanting to wear and show off the sweater or clothing that they knitted together. Great image!
Fr. Dave,
A great reminder that “the Church is not an exclusive club”. “He died for all”
Thank you!
Bob and Rose Mary
Still a lesson that is much needed today.
Thinking about ‘the Michelangelo fresco called the finger of God, .also called the creation of Adam, reminds me that we are created, and then ‘touched by God throughout our lives The finger of God is upon us all in Baptism and repeatedly in the sacraments, and in ways beyond our comprehension. He is always ‘touching us, and ..that perfect fresco calls us all to faithfulness as we have been created/touched/called., . Michelangelo was inspired, , as are all of us when we study that fresco., which reminds us of how permeated in love we are, individually, and of course collectively since we are all born of God., and all of us are ‘chosen’ which you so aptly mentioned. Thank you for your good words: vocally and in print.
Madeleine
Great reminder of the spiritual genius of Michelangelo, especially presenting God as a person who reaches out to touch us with His grace and love.