Chosen

 

God knows each one of us from all eternity, even the minutest details of who we are, even the things that we have already forgotten. He loves each one of us in a special way. And God's love for one doesn't diminish his love for the others. I don't know how God does it, after all, He is God and surely I cannot fathom the depths of God's being.
God chooses and calls each one of us from all eternity. He calls us for a mission. And on this depends the meaning of our life.
But mission is not equivalent to "role" or "work". Mission does include doing something, but it is just a part of it. Mission is our special participation in the building of the Kingdom of God. Of couse God can build His Kingdom even without me, but God is so generous and magnanimous that He wants me to have a part in the building of this Kingdom.
In today's Gospel, Elizabeth and Zechariah both insist that their child's name is John. The neighbors say that there is nobody in their family named John.
Well, to fulfill our mission means to create our own path, perhaps to venture on ways unknown. For some it may mean being alienated from the people closest to us. But it is okay. We have to look into our heart and hear the echo of the voice that is part of our truest self: I have chosen you. I send you. I am with you.