Who am I Lord? A Reflection for 10/28/19:
In the Gospel of Luke today, we hear
about Jesus naming the apostles. He
chose twelve from the disciples, Simon (Peter), Andrew, James & John,
Philip & Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, Simon (Zealot), Judas the son
of James, and Judas Iscariot who later betrayed Christ before the crucifixion. In reading this short Gospel, I began to
contemplate as many have I’m sure, why Jesus chose these “blue- collar”
carpenters, fisherman, tent makers, etc., and not a more educated, highly respected few.
Clearly Christ was putting together a
team to go on before Him to spread the Gospel to the multitudes. One may argue that He should have picked
individuals who held a higher position within the public; perhaps a great
speaker or legal counsel. Still better,
a land owner or lord within the areas where He intended the Gospel to be
spoke. Regardless of the reasoning,
Christ didn’t do this and furthermore, we are all of the understanding that He
knew full well the hearts and minds of the individuals which He did pick. Peter would deny him, Judas would betray him
and all of them were born into sin. Yet,
Jesus still chose them. So, how does
this relate to us?
On more than one occasion, I have
felt as though there must be a better person to do what it is that I do. I have done this with every professional
position I have ever held. I have done
this in athletics all the way through college, and I did it in my academic side
of life as well. At times, I struggle
with how a broken individual such as I can serve God’s will while being
successful in the tasks that He places in my life. Perhaps, if I can be so brave as to assume,
you have done this as well. If you have
not however, then may God continue to bless you with that confidence. It was in this seemingly constant question,
this personal struggle, where reading today’s Gospel that something jumped out
that may help to address those concerns.
Just as Jesus chose the twelve from the group of disciples, He chose us
from a group of many.
Regardless of whatever reason we can
come up with as to why we are not worthy of God’s Grace, His mission in our
life, the position that He has placed us in, we are exactly where He intended
for us to be. Our job is to continue to
serve Him through whatever that platform may be and, as most of us do not have
a manual for each curve life will throw at us, we can trust that God’s plan is
greater than our anxiety to it. We must
stop asking “Who am I Lord” and begin proclaiming “Here I am Lord.”
Mr.
Swann/Principal
Our Lady of
Mount Carmel