The beginning of the letter of St Paul to the Ephesians starts as a prayer of thanksgiving. Thus, we read: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens….” We have here a revelation of who we are, and the eternal will of God for us. For St. Paul, God’s plan for us started even before the foundation of the world. So, we can say unequivocally that the revelation of God in Jesus was not accidental; it corresponds to the eternal will of God, therefore goes beyond the fall of Adam and Eve and its consequences.
Blessed and Chosen; This is Who We Are
What does this mean? From its Latin origin, benedicere, means: “to speak well of….” In other words, in Christ Jesus, God has spoken well of us, pronounced words of blessings on us. It means that all the spiritual blessings we need in our earthly journey have been provided to us. Given that Christ is the unique mediator between God and mankind, (Cfr. 1 Timothy 2:5) it means that it is by relating with him personally that we can receive our own spiritual blessings.
Connecting With Divine Blessings Through Faith
Furthermore, understanding the mystery of Christ, and entering into a personal relation with Him is not possible without faith. Faith should be understood here as adherence of the whole person, intellect, freewill, heart, soul…to God who reveals himself. We remember that Abraham, the father in faith, was declared just because of his faith in God. No wonder why God made this promise to him: “in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because you have obeyed my voice,” (Cfr. Genesis 22:17). Mary was declared blessed among all women because she believed in the accomplishment of the promise of God. So, one of the signs of faith is obedience. Obeying God’s word revealed to us in Christ is faith in action.
Chosen to Be Righteous Before Him
Reflecting on the primary purpose of our life on earth is very important. If we believe that God does not act by chance, that God is the master of time and history, then we should make this call to be righteous the primary objective we pursue. What does it mean to “be holy and without blemish before him”? Proverb 24:16 says: “for the righteous falls seven times and rises again…” So, holiness does not mean to be without sin. Beyond the symbolic meaning of the figure seven, I understand that holiness consists of striving each day to believe in God’s infinite and unconditional Love for us, to keep one’s eyes focused on Christ Jesus, irrespective of the storms of life. If we see this as the primary purpose of why we are here on Earth, then we need to constantly review our lives in the light this divine call.
Redeemed in Christ
Beyond the reality of sin and evil in the world today, we can strive to see the larger picture of God’s will for humanity. As St Paul said, “In Christ we have redemption by his Blood, the forgiveness of transgressions.” Believing that we have been redeemed and forgiven thanks to the precious blood of Jesus provides us with inner strength to continue our earthly pilgrimage. This leads us to constant renewal of our inner life and help us experience the blessing of inner peace. Because God has adopted us in Christ, as Christians we have this beautiful but demanding mission of being expressions of God’s spiritual blessings lavished for all humanity.
As we celebrate today the 105th anniversary of the apparition of our Blessed Mother Mary in Fatima, (October 13, 1917- October 13, 2022), may it be for us an opportunity to rediscover the message of Fatima which remains relevant for our world today. It is essentially a call to repentance and penance for offenses against God’s Love and reconciliation. Our “Lady of the Rosary” continues to address this urgent call to us today.
Very insightful.