Homily for the 17th Sunday of Ordinary
Time, July 26, 2020. Romans 8:28-30; Matthew 13:44-52. Theme: Predestined and Called
Today’s
Gospel speaks about the Kingdom of God and, though I want to focus on the second
reading, I cannot totally ignore the Gospel because it is about the “kingdom of
God” which is the primary theme of Jesus’ mission. “Kingdom of God” is found 99 times in the four
gospels and 90 of those times it is found on the lips of Jesus himself. It was
the #1 theme of his preaching, teaching and miracles. So, we better learn what
he means!
What is the kingdom of God? First of all, it is not a
place. People often make this mistake because Matthew uses “kingdom of heaven”
in place of “kingdom of God”. But he did this because he was composing
his gospel for observant Jews who would not utter the word “God” for they
thought it to be a sin against the 2nd commandment. The kingdom of God is a state of
being, a way of living, a way of looking at life and reality.
What it
means is this: “God rules and reigns as supreme Lord and Master of my life.
My heart and my choices are to be governed by his law of love and mercy.” This
is why, when Jesus finds a person who is compassionate to others and sincere in
his or her quest for God, he declares that this person is “not far from the
kingdom of God.”
This
actualy dovetails nicely into the second reading, because in it St. Paul tells
us how God acts towards those who enter into his kingdom. He
begins by writing that, “We know that all things work for good for those who
love God, who are called according to his purpose.”
He’s assuring us that for those who love God
everything - no matter what it is, no matter how terrible it might seem - can
and will be used for our ultimate good. Note that he is not saying that only
good things happen to those who love God. No, he is stressing the truth that
nothing whatsoever can outsmart God and his plans for each one of us, not even
COVID or the violence and anarchy in our cities or the dirty politics that use
citizens like pawns on a chessboard.
He reminds us that God makes everything work out
because he has a purpose in mind for each one of us and nothing is going to get
in the way of that purpose becoming a reality.
And his purpose is this: that we come to know, love and serve God in
this life so as to live forever with him in the next.
But as we make our way through this life with
our eyes on the next, we have to remember that right now we only see a little
tiny part of that plan. So, when things get difficult or we wonder why we are
undergoing a particular difficulty, we have to trust in God and that he is good
and that it’s all part of that plan. It
can be as if we are putting a jigsaw puzzle together without the advantage of
the cover picture to guide us. But God sees the bigger picture. He’s got the
cover of the puzzle box in front of him, so to speak, and knows precisely where
each piece goes. And so we trust him.
Next, St.
Paul says to us, “For those he foreknew he also predestined…And those he
predestined he also called…“
I find this to be utterly amazing! These few
words reveal to us that the God has had plans for us from way before we were
born. From all eternity, eons before any of us existed, God foresaw each one of
us clearly and perfectly in his mind. He foresaw both the good and the bad. the
beautiful and the ugly within us. And he
fell in love with what he foresaw! Right then and there, God predestined us to
live and called each one of us into existence at the time in history that would
be best for us. Isn’t that awesome?!
None of us are a mistake or an accident no matter
what the circumstances of our conception or birth might be. None of us are just a face lost in a sea of a
billion faces to God because he knows and loves each one of us, individually
and personally and passionately. Now
with this kind of love in mind, how can we doubt that God will not make all
things work out for our ultimate good, so that we can live a real life with him
forever?
But as if
that’s not enough St. Paul continues… “and those he called he also justified
and those he justified he also glorified.”
It was not enough to God that we exist as humans
on planet Earth, he wanted to do more good for us. And so, he justifies us,
which means that we are put into an intimate relationship with him. And he glorifies us, which means that we
participate in his awesome goodness and powerful greatness. It’s part of his plan, part of his purpose in
calling us, that we begin this journey to eternal life with Baptism, which
washes sin away and makes us his actual adopted children, brothers and sisters
of Jesus, and living temples of the Holy Spirit predestined to live forever.
And this double-blessing of justification and glorification is increased within
us each time we mindfully receive the Eucharist, the Bread of Eternal Life,
though which God lives in us and we in him.
All this was made possible for us by God taking
the most horrible example of bad things happening to good people, the Passion
and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and turning it completely around by means
of the Resurrection! What looked like the ultimate evil that humans could do to
their Lord and God became instead the ultimate blessing for those who love God
and live according to his plan. The power of death is destroyed and transformed
instead into a doorway to eternal life; God making all things work out for our
good.
Now if God has gone to the trouble, so to speak,
of doing all these things for us, why should we ever doubt the depths of his
fatherly love? He calls us into existence, justifies us by Baptism, glorifies
us with the gift of his Holy Spirit, and sustains us with the Gift of his very
Self in the Eucharist so that he can live life with us. Why in the world then
should we doubt and worry about anything whatsoever? The coronavirus cannot take away our call
from God. Dirty politics and violence
cannot rob us of our glory. Even life itself turned totally upside down cannot
shake us free of God’s firm grasp.
Deacon David Previtali · Predestined and Called
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