Called & Chosen

 

Deacon David Previtali · Called & Chosen

Homily for the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time, July 11, 2021. Amos 7:12-15, Ephesians 1:3-14, Gospel of St. Mark 6:7-13. Theme: Called & Chosen 

Have you ever wondered why it is that out of the billions of people who inhabit planet Earth, you and I have been gifted with the Christian Faith? How is it that we are among the 30% of the world’s population that has received the grace and faith of baptism? It’s not as if any one of us has done anything spectacular to grab God’s attention, so to speak, and be chosen. It’s a great mystery to be called by God, to become part of a people uniquely His own, and it is what today’s readings are all about. 

In the first reading we encounter Amos, who lived about 700 years before Christ. He was ordinary like us; just a shepherd and gardener, but God called him to become a chosen prophet. In the second reading, we hear from St. Paul who was also ordinary like us; a professional tent-maker and a fierce persecutor of Christians before God called and chose him. He reminds us in today’s lesson from his Letter to the Ephesians that we have been called and chosen in Christ, to become God’s holy people destined for the glory of Heaven. Lastly, the Gospel shows us the twelve apostles who were called and chosen to carry on Jesus’ powerful ministry of preaching, healing the sick and expelling demons. They were just ordinary guys with ordinary jobs mostly as fishermen, although one had been a greedy tax collector. They had wives and families and were living pretty much just like us. There seems to be a pattern in Sacred Scripture of God calling and choosing those who are usual and ordinary. 

This mystery of God’s calling and choosing brings to mind a powerful experience from my childhood. If you were like me, growing up in a small town, then you might recall how the neighborhood kids (and there were tons of us back then) would gather in a local field for a game of ball. The older guys, the jocks of the neighborhood, were of course always the captains. The rest of us wannabes lined up for the ritual of choosing up sides where your talents and abilities (or lack thereof) were publicly acknowledged. I could hit the ball pretty well but man I just couldn’t run to save my life. While my typical at bat could send the ball far into outfield, I’d be lucky to pull a single out of what most guys could turn into a double. And so, I dreaded those line-ups before my peers. But there was this one guy, a jock named Charles, who even at our young age stood head and shoulders above the rest of us. No one dared to question his choices or doubt his selections. 

Whenever I saw Charles take up a captain’s spot I got a huge smile on my face. Because you see, I knew that whenever Charles was captain I was safe from total humiliation. No, he wouldn’t pick me in the first couple rounds (the guy was after all a jock and he wanted to win!) but I knew that I wouldn’t be standing there as the last pick of the day either. Why did he do it? Why did he risk the game at least somewhat? The only answer I could come up with is that he was just that kind of guy, with a heart as big as his muscles. As I got older I outgrew the field games, but I never outgrew the memory of Charles and his mysterious kindness in calling and choosing. 

And I think that is something we can also say about why God calls and choses each one of us. Simply put: it’s because He’s that kind of God, who has a big heart, an infinite Sacred Heart. Scripture tells us that He chooses those whom the world often considers to be nobodies to become somebodies in the Kingdom of Heaven. We all know that it’s not because we are better than others that we’ve been called and chosen. We have our own sins and shortcomings to remind us about that fact! Rather, we are very much like those kids standing around out in the field, and God looks us over like the captains choosing up teams… He sees our whole lives from beginning to end and everything in between; He sees the ups and the downs, the pluses and the minuses. And in all this I think He sees that most of all, we just need to know that we are personally loved and called and chosen by Him. 

Just as Charles’ inexplicable kindness helped me to think that just maybe there was something inside me that was good and worthy, so this calling and choosing by God informs us that we are lovable and worthwhile. It transforms us spiritually, from the inside out, making us His adopted sons and daughters, heirs to the Kingdom of Heaven, and anointed temples of the Holy Spirit. 

This is what it means to be called and chosen. This is what it means to be a Christian.