Being chosen is never a random act. It is an act filled with purpose. The one chosen is singled out, identified and desired by the other. Though we might wish to believe that our faith is the result of our own intelligence, righteousness or talents, and that it was an act that we ourselves made, the Lord reminds us, “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you” (John 15:16).
Since we belong to Him we are saved from the terrible fear of loneliness, of living this life in isolation from everyone and everything. It means that we do not have to create meaning to our lives or search endlessly for some kind of hope or direction. Truth, love, beauty and everything else we truly desire has “chosen” us.
Before we were created God wished to share himself with others. He wanted to share his love, power, creativity, tenderness, His fatherly concern and all the other qualities that God possesses. In choosing who or what he would share himself with He made a conscious decision not to reveal himself to other creatures. Rather, he chose to reveal himself to us.
God does not make mistakes. We are chosen by God, chosen to experience in him all the beauty, love, happiness and peace that we truly desire. By choosing us God has saved us from the misery of those who view themselves merely as strangers and their life as a waste of time.
God bless you,
Fr. Jeremiah Myriam Shryock, CFR
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