DESTINED AND CHOSEN
Some
years ago, a national politician became the laughing stock on social
media for mishandling a hammer and pretending to be working hard. He did
not know how to handle the simple tool. It was an elementary rule in
basic woodworking. A tool is an instrument of the worker. Any carpenter
would know that a screw driver is used to drive in a screw and a hammer
is used to drive in a nail. The human worker would do well to respect
the purpose for which they were made.
Years ago, someone I knew could not close the baggage compartment
of his car. The hook was not aligned with the latch. While the hook was
fixed, the latch was movable. So he looked for some tool and found a
screw driver. What he did was a good example of not respecting the
purpose for which things were made. He hammered the latch using the
screw driver’s head, instead of loosening the screws with the screw
driver and adjusting the latch to align with the hook.
God knows how many times I have disrespected the purposes for
which some things were made. This is what sin is basically — a kind of
“missing the mark,” or misusing what God has given us as tools for
something nobler.
God gave us the human mind to pursue truth, particularly saving truth.
The human will was placed by the same God so that we could propel
ourselves to pursue the good, and find “accord with the purpose of the
One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of His will.”
These two — intellect and will — ordinarily should work in tandem and
not at cross purposes with each other. But you and I know from
experience that, at times, we cheat. Like the Pharisees, we claim to
know the good but still do the opposite. We act like the hypocrites condemned by the Lord in
today’s passage.
We are chosen. We are destined — in love. “Blessed be the people the Lord has chosen to be His own.” Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB
REFLECTION QUESTION: Are you using your God-given gifts and talents for the right purpose?
Dearest God, grant me the wisdom to know how to use the gifts and talents You have given me for the right purpose. Amen.
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