Twelve Are Summoned

Dear Parishioners, 

The Second Reading for this Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, taken from the beginning of St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, is one of my favorites. While we will hear a fuller version in the church at Mass, in this message I wanted to share a part of this passage:

-- Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved. In him we have redemption by his blood, the forgiveness of transgressions, in accord with the riches of his grace that he lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight, he has made known to us the mystery of his will in accord with his favor that he set forth in him as a plan for the fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth. In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3-12)  --

There's so much packed into these ten verses. Paul begins with an exclamation praising and thanking God who has blessed us not merely with various things or graces, but with the very person of Jesus Himself. He then spoke powerfully of our identity, our purpose, our destiny. We are each chosen by God, chosen for holiness. That word “holiness” as used Scripture is something much more profound than piety – it is the fullness of life, a life lived in harmony with God and all creation, a wholeness, a completeness of being. Out of super-abundant divine love, God destines us for union with God’s own Self. Many of the early Fathers of the Church speak of this in a powerful word that might sound strange to our ears – divinization. As early as the second century, St. Irenaeus of Lyons taught that Jesus “became what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself.” (Against Heresies, Book 4, Chapter 38). St. Augustine (referring to St. Athanasius) proclaimed: “To make human beings gods, he was made man, who was God” (Augustine, Sermon 192,1). The Catechism of the Catholic Church summarizes this theme by pulling together several statements of the Scriptures and saints: 

-- The Word became flesh to make us “partakers of the divine nature” (from 2 Peter 1:4). “For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God” (from St. Irenaeus). “For the Son of God became man so that we might become God” (from St. Athanasius). “The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods” (from St. Thomas Aquinas). (Catechism of the Catholic Church, article 460) --

This is God’s purpose. This is the reason for our creation. This glory is God’s will for us. As we hear these words proclaimed, hopefully they will sink deep into us and inspire us to join Paul in praising the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who calls us to holiness, to the fullness of life, and blesses us 

Jesus, Brother and Savior, thank you for your transforming love. Holy Mary, pray that we live up to our deepest identity, purpose and calling. 

​Father Craig