Dedicated to God for God's Purposes

In today's first reading, Jeremiah 1: 4-5, 17-19, God tells us, through the prophet, that God knew us "before [God] formed us] in [our mother's] womb" and that He "dedicated" us before we were born. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God asks us "to gird" ourselves and to do and say what God commands us to do or say; "Be not crushed on [account of others], as though I would leave you crushed before them....[Others] will fight against you but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord."

And God does not break His promise!  We see that truth in Christ Jesus. In today's Gospel,  Luke 4: 21-30, after Jesus spoke in the synagogue of his hometown, the people turned against Him. They took Him "to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong." Jesus "passed through the midst of them and went away."  God the Father delivered His son from the evil ways of those plotting to harm Him and He does so for us, as well!  God is on the side of those who do His will and who follow the plan God has marked out for them!

Who am I in today's Gospel: those who, out of anger or jealousy, rise up against others or those who, girded with grace and the power of the Spirit,  speak the truth as directed by God, as Jesus did?  Do I, like Jesus, trust the Father in fighting for us and protecting us from evil?

Belonging to God

Today, I would like to continue to share with you a quote from Archbishop Jean-Louis Brugues, OP, concerning the call we received in our baptism into Christ. Our baptism was not just into Christ. It was also for Christ. As Mary presented Jesus to the Lord at the Presentation, our parents, knowingly or unknowingly, presented us to the Lord at our baptism.  We belong first and foremost to the Lord and not to anyone else.  Whether we like it or not, Archbishop Brugues says, we are his. In the Archbishop’s own words of what the Lord says to us about our baptism:  “You belong to me, completely to me. You belong to me forever, and never will I turn my face away from you.  I have marked you with an indelible sign; I have forged an eternal alliance with you. You can pretend that you have heard nothing, you can turn away from me, you can behave as if this baptism never existed, for I love those who are free.  But you can also risk this adventure with me, you can respond to my love by a love for me. However, know that I have given you a name and that this name marks you for eternity” (Archbishop Jean-Louis Brugues, OP, "Vocation as a Lifelong, Personal Adventure for Every Christian, Horizon, Winter 2012, p. 6-7). 

Wow! Think of the fact that we, you and I, belong to God. Don’t we, you and I, then, believe that God will take good care of us!  The person caring for us is God Himself. The Almighty, the Perfect One, the all-loving, all-caring, the totally compassionate and understanding, the infinitely merciful and forgiving One is our caregiver and protector.  Fear no evil. God is our bodyguard and the guardian of our salvation.