Why Them? Why Me? Why us?

Today's readings come from Hosea 10:1-3, 7-8, 12; Psalm 105:2-7; and Matthew 10:1-7

It was just under a year ago that I was moving my things into the residence hall at Mundelein Seminary. Even though I had visited the campus twice before, this was my first opportunity to look at the little details. One of the things anyone notices once they start looking around is that the builders found a way to put a cross just about anywhere. They're on the doorknobs, the lampposts, the tops of the buildings, pretty much anywhere you look, basically. As joyously has I had received the Rite of Candidacy, and as happy as I was to be there with David and Michael, all I was saying to myself was, "What the *%&$# was I thinking to come here?! Let's see… I could probably get down to O'Hare pretty easily from here and jump a plane to… just about anywhere but here would do." Thankfully, I didn't run; I stayed and went through a period of adjustment during which God placed the right people in my life to say the right things at the right time.

One day, I was having a conversation with (now Father) Lance who lived across the hall from me. Lance was in his mid-late forties, had been and accountant, and at one time had even been the CFO of one the native tribes in Wisconsin. (Translation… high-powered job handling tens of millions of dollars.) We were discussing the questions that arise for a man as he goes throughout seminary formation: worthiness, feasibility, confusion, and so forth. He said to me,

Jay, I've become convinced that the Gospels are explicitly clear on these issues. Whenever I find myself asking the question, "Why am I here?" I remember the example of the apostles. Look at who Jesus picked to surround himself and carry out the mission of spreading the gospel: fisherman, laborers, a tax collector… not a single scribe or Pharisee among them. I'm sure that at the time, they had no idea why Jesus called them, but they persevered in a trust that they had some role to play in God's plan of salvation.

If you think about it, Jesus didn't say to Peter when he met him, "Come, follow me, I want you to be the head of the People of God in a new covenant that I am mediating between God and all of humanity." NO! I highly doubt that he would have gotten anywhere with that approach! All he said was, "Come, follow me." And Peter followed, putting one foot in front of the other, making mistakes, but eventually allowing God's plan for him to unfold over time.

We cannot know why it is that Christ chose those twelve men, including Judas, or why God chose Israel, or why the Spirit chooses us now. As we look at this week's readings from Hosea, it is abundantly clear that we all cause God no small amount of grief! Nevertheless, God has chosen us, and all he needs from us is our assent to put one foot in front of the other, following him each day until our role in his plan of salvation unfolds throughout our lives.

Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory Forever!

~J