Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (July 14, 2024)
We have just heard St. Paul remind us that we are an integral part of God’s mysterious plan of salvation. Think for a moment about the wonderful truths he tells us about ourselves. Like the prophet Amos and the Twelve in the gospel, we are ordinary people.
Yet Paul tells us, in the eyes of God who made us, we are special:
- before the world came into being, God has chosen us in Christ
- to be holy
- because God loves us, he has destined us to be his adopted children in Christ
- in Christ, we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing
- in the blood of Jesus, our sins are forgiven; we are redeemed
- the riches of God’s grace have been lavished upon us
- God has revealed to us in Jesus his mysterious plan of salvation
- we are chosen by God to praise his glory
- we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit as God’s possession
- the Spirit within us is the sure promise of our inheritance – life with our God forever.
No matter how ordinary we may appear in our own eyes or in the eyes of the world around us, our God has made us special – each of us, all of us. And God sends us into the world, as Jesus sent the Twelve, to announce that good news of God’s gracious love to everyone we meet.
God wants us to live in a way that shows that we have understood what God has done for us – that we treasure the work in grace in us. How we choose to live today and every day reflects what we believe about ourselves. If I believe I’m ordinary, then I don’t have much to bring to others. If I believe that God’s grace makes me and others special, then I have something worthwhile to bring to others, and they to me.
God has given each of us a destiny – an inheritance. Our God made us to be holy as God is holy. How we choose to live our daily lives will give honor and praise to our God who has loved us and chosen us in Jesus. As we place our hope and trust in Jesus and try to follow the inspirations of the Spirit within us each day, we are being led home to our Father’s house.
May the words we have heard from St. Paul today help us to remember who we really are. The mercy and grace of our loving God has made us so.