May Jesus Christ be
praised and may his holy Mother pray for us.
I was truly surprised
by God’s choice. Six years ago yesterday
I was sitting in the rectory of the cathedral in Charlotte waiting for my
ordination to the diaconate to begin. I
was truly surprised that God had chosen me to share in the ministry of his Son. Yet God, in his infinite mercy and goodness,
had made his choice. In his providence,
God had revealed his choice unto me and to the Church. And confident in his grace, I responded. But I was truly surprised by God’s choice.
David was probably
surprised by God’s choice. Samuel the
prophet and Jesse of Bethlehem, and certainly the brothers of David were
surprised by God’s choice. David was the
youngest of the brothers. In the line of
the family, he would be the last to receive the blessings. And yet, God in his infinite mercy and
goodness, had revealed his choice unto Samuel and unto David. Through the holy anointing by the prophet,
the Spirit of God rushed upon David.
They were all surprised by God’s choice.
The man born blind in
our Gospel reading today was surprised by God’s choice. There had never been a healing of someone who
was blind from birth, and this man did not even ask to be healed. The Lord Jesus saw him. The Lord Jesus rubbed clay on the man’s eyes
and told him to wash his face in the pool of Siloam. And then the man could see. He was surprised by the choice of God. The neighbors of the man and the Pharisees
were certainly surprised that the man had been healed of his blindness. They were even more surprised that this
miracle of healing had been performed by the Lord Jesus.
But what is more
surprising, my dear brothers and sisters, is that David and the man born blind
were not chosen for their own good. They
were not chosen because they asked to be chosen. They were not even chosen so that they could
be the special recipient of divine blessings.
God chose them so that through them the glory of God would be revealed
to the world. They were not chosen for
their own glory, but for His.
They were called, and
we are called, to live in the light of Jesus Christ. We are often surprised by God’s choice. Yet God made his choice before the foundation
of the world. God made his choice, that
you and me, and the man born blind, should gaze upon the glory of his face, and
reflect the glory of his grace. God has
chosen us. The Light of the world, the
light that no darkness can overcome, has chosen to shine through us, so that
the world, the whole world, will gaze upon Him alone. Amen.
Preached
at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC
