In today's first reading, Galatians 1: 13-24, St. Paul reminds his listener of his past effort murderous behaviors, saying to them: "You heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I persecuted the Church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it,...since I was...a zealot for my ancestral traditions. But...he, who from my mother's womb...set me apart and called me through his grace,...to reveal his son to me, so that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles...." God called a persecutor of the Church, one who was determined to destroy the Church, to have Christians imprisoned and put to death, to be an apostle proclaiming Jesus to Gentiles!
Only by the grace of God do you, do I, become a believer, one who stands up for the Church, proclaiming Jesus to others! Only by the grace of God, do you, do I, turn from evil, misguided, self-centered, narcissistic, sinful ways to following the Way of Christ Jesus! Let us , also, realize that there is nothing you or I have done in our past or present that prevents God from calling us, today or whenever, to a particular mission, to be His ambassador, an apostle of the Lord, one who spreads the word, builds up the Kingdom and gives birth to Christ each day! As God sent an angel to Mary to encourage her to not be afraid and to tell her that she had found favor with the Lord, so, too, does God send angels to us each day, saying to us: Be not afraid; you have found favor with the Lord. Or, God sends us into someone's life to give them positive messages and to affirm that they have also found favor with the Lord God!
With the psalmist, in today's responsorial psalm, Psalm 139, we pray: "Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way." And we thank the Lord that we are "fearfully, wonderfully made".
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