July 10, 2024 at 9:30 a.m.
Go, prophesy to my people
God’s plan of salvation is given to us in the Scriptures and in the tradition of the church, which has been handed to us by the Apostles. This extraordinary plan of salvation is heard in Sunday’s Second Reading from St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians (1:3-14), “In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in his beloved.”
When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit … — Ephesians 1:13
Before we hear of this extraordinary plan of salvation, Paul provides the Church in Ephesus with a blessing. The blessing, which begins his letter, invites the members of the community to embrace the fullness of God's love. The blessing sets the tone of the entire letter for which Paul is inviting the Ephesians to participate in God’s universal plan of salvation.
Paul reminds us we are sharers in the triune nature of God and as adopted children we receive and participate in God’s destiny for humanity. A destiny that brings us in full union with the triune God. The destiny of God is brought about through acceptance and participation in God’s will for our lives. It is important for us to understand how the Church defines destiny. In no way does destiny take away our free will; on the contrary, our free will must be exercised completely in order for us to accept God’s perfect will for ourselves. We must first accept God’s will for us and then actively participate in God’s perfect will for our lives. In no way should we interpret the term destiny as meaning predestination. Rather, it is through the acceptance of God’s will for our lives that God’s plan of salvation moves forward.
Throughout salvation history, those who have been called by God have had to accept God’s will for themselves in their lives. From Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to Moses and the prophets such as Amos who we hear of in the First Reading. Amos is sent with a message to the King of Israel, Jeroboam, to turn away from false gods and to stop corrupting the people of Israel. Amos had a destiny laid out for him, but he had to be willing to accept that destiny that was part of God’s plan of salvation. Amos states how difficult it was to accept God’s plan for his life, “I was no prophet, nor have I belonged to a company of prophets; I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores.” (Amos 7:14) Amos attributes his vocation as a prophet to the personal intervention of God. Amos freely accepted the destiny God had waiting for him. He chose God’s perfect will for his life, and by doing so, he helped further God’s plan of salvation.
Our Lord Jesus Christ himself had to accept the Father's will for himself by being obedient to the will of the Father. Jesus’ obedience can be seen in the Agony in the Garden the night before he was crucified. Jesus’ acceptance of the Father's will can be heard in his prayer in the garden, “Father, if it is your will, take this cup from me; yet not my will be done but yours be done.”(LK.22:42) When Jesus sends out the 12 two by two in the Gospel of Mark 6:7-13, he instructed them to take nothing for the journey that would weigh them down and stop them from fulfilling their destiny of furthering God’s plan of salvation by bringing Christ’s loving, merciful forgiveness and healing into the world. As the Gospel passage states, there were people who did not accept the destiny God had planned for them, “whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust from your feet.” The apostles followed the will of God by announcing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, it was the choice of the people to accept or reject the message. We all have that very same choice today to accept or reject the destiny God has waiting for us just the same as the prophets, apostles and all disciples.
What happens when we say no to the will of God and the plan of salvation? Those who were to hear God’s plan proclaimed by us, will not hear it. God then will have to find another route by which God’s plan of salvation will be proclaimed. Jesus’ own example in the Garden of Gethsemane helps us to understand how we are called to surrender our wills to God. Our loving Father has a plan for us all and the plan is to accept salvation. So let us invoke Psalm 85 as we accept and proclaim God’s plan of salvation, “Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.”
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