Homily | 3 September - You have not chosen me; I have chosen you

A contemporary spiritual writer has said that our vocation is God’s dream for our life. We realize that dream, only with the help of God’s grace, as we seek to live out our religious commitment, and do not misinterpret our struggles as a nightmare.

In his book “Augustine of Hippo,” author Peter Brown says: “Augustine makes it clear throughout the Confessions, that the evolution of the heart is the real stuff of autobiography.” (p. 29) “Wanderings, temptations, sad thoughts of mortality, and the search for truth; always have been the “stuff” of autobiography for souls, who refuse to accept superficial security.” (p. 159)

Reflecting upon Biblical stories, and our own personal stories, puts us in touch with the details and the reality of God’s dream for our lives. It enables us to see in the difficult moments of daily life, not disasters or nightmares, but how we are participating in the Paschal Mystery, becoming more like Christ. That is why interiority was such an important part of the life, and spirituality, of our Holy Father St. Augustine.

As we all know, the Rule of Augustine indicates that, we are called to live a life of intimacy with God, and in community with one another. According to St. Augustine, it is the reason why we come together. “Before all else, dear brothers, love God, and then your neighbor, because these are the chief commandments given to us. [Rule, Chapter 1, 1.]

We are constantly given opportunities to make a choice to love God or self. If we seek to love God, God’s grace [eventually] delivers us from self-absorption. We gradually learn to put the common good before our own personal desires. By seeking to live unselfish lives, we promote the values of God’s Kingdom, which, in turn, enriches our lives together. “For charity, as it is written, “is not self-seeking” meaning that it places the common good before its own, not its own before the common good. So, whenever you show greater concern for the common good than for your own, you may know that you are growing in charity. [Rule, Chapter 5, 31]

Augustine’s emphasis on the need for reflection, is what made him aware of what he called an “implanted providence,” whereby he realized that God uses everything, to bring us closer to Himself. Augustine saw all of life as God’s gift. All that Augustine did, that was good, or, the evil that he avoided, he believed, was accomplished by the amazing grace of God. He, the Doctor of Grace, came to that realization, after much reflection upon his misspent life. That same amazing grace has been, and continues to be, operative in our lives too.

In the events of our lives, we are challenged to believe that grace is still operative. When we experience infinite longings, radical optimism, unquenchable discontent or restlessness, protests against death, experiences of absolute love, encounters with personal guilt, and still have a sense of abiding hope, God’s grace is alive and well in us. In our restlessness, we find God.

Confidence in God’s providential care was brought home to me from my first days in the Order. When I entered the Order in 1965, before we were taught the mechanics of the Liturgy of the Hours, we were given prayers that we recited daily before Mass. One of those prayers I still recite today. Please allow me to share it with you now.

O my God, I know not what will happen to me today, I am wholly ignorant of it. One thing I know for certain is that nothing will happen to me that has not been foreseen, willed and pre-ordained by you, from all eternity. This is all I desire to know. I adore your inscrutable and eternal decrees, and for love of you, I most heartily submit myself to them. I unite this sacrifice of mine, to the sacrifice of my divine Savior, Jesus Christ; and in His name, and through His infinite merits, I beg of you, patience in my sufferings, and a perfect submission to whatever will happen to me, by Your good pleasure. Amen. That prayer has given me confidence throughout my journey.

Our ability to pick up the broken pieces of life after the death of a loved one, the ability to try again, after a failed experience of community has devastated us, the strength to settle into a new assignment, the grace to continue to fight against some sinful tendency, the power to accept those who have rejected us, are all manifestations of the implanted providence of God that connects us to what we celebrate on this altar today, as we seek to live daily our vowed commitment, not knowing what will happen to us today.

It is the gift of faith in God’s providence, that enables us to continue to be open to the endless possibilities of God’s wonderful and mysterious ways. When we truly believe that there is an implanted providence guiding our lives, God’s grace gives us the ability to persevere in following Christ, despite the many ups and downs, successes, and failures, of life, that we are “wholly ignorant of.”

When we celebrate the anniversary of our professions or ordinations, we may mistakenly concentrate on how we may have persevered these many years. But as St. John reminds us: “it was not you who chose me, but I who chose you.” God never changes his mind about whom he has called, if there is movement in the relationship, it is not on God’s part, but ours.

When we experience unfaithfulness, God redoubles the effort to remain faithful to us, even using our weakness, and regretted infidelities to bring us closer to Himself. This is when we recognize that all is gift. The gospel will be good news for us, if we acknowledge how “it was truly God who chose us,” [Jn 15] and that God chose us, knowing that He could use, even us, for his purposes.

Anniversary celebrations then are not about us, but about God’s fidelity to us! This fidelity is the reason for our calling to mind forgotten blessings with gratitude! Our physical disabilities, mental challenges, emotional and spiritual struggles all reveal “God’s power is made perfect in weakness.” [2 Cor. 12, 9]

So today, we remember our profession day; to remind ourselves how blessed we have been by God’s implanted providence, that has brought us to this point. Humbly acknowledging what King David asked in the 2 Book of Samuel, may help us be more grateful. He said: “Who am I Lord, that you have brought me to this point.” [2 Sam. 7, 18]

As we receive the body and blood of Christ in this Eucharist, let us call to mind all the forgotten blessings, so we may appropriately express our gratitude to God for bringing us to this point. May this moment of grateful remembrance, fill all of us with renewed zeal, so that we may experience the joy and peace God wants us to possess.



Penitential Rite:
Remembering the past brings a sense of contentment and gratitude. We become mindful of how much we have received from others, and how the lives of others, have so influenced our own.
Can we see in what we have received, what our Holy Father Augustine calls, an implanted providence?
As we gather to celebrate these sacred mysteries, let us call to mind our forgotten blessings, and thank God for them, and let us ask pardon for any lack of gratitude.



A reading from the 2nd Letter of Paul to the Corinthians
Chapter 12, 1-10

1 I must boast; not that it is profitable, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.
2 I know someone in Christ who, fourteen years ago (whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows), was caught up to the third heaven.
3 And I know that this person (whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows)
4 was caught up into Paradise and heard ineffable things, which no one may utter.
5 About this person* I will boast, but about myself I will not boast, except about my weaknesses.
6 Although if I should wish to boast, I would not be foolish, for I would be telling the truth. But I refrain, so that no one may think more of me than what he sees in me or hears from me
7 because of the abundance of the revelations. Therefore, that I might not become too elated, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.
8 Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me,
9 but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. 10 Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.







The Gospel according to St. John
Chapter 15, 9-16

9 As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.
10 If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.
11“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.
12 This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.
15 I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
16 It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
17 This I command you: love one another.