Click here for today’s Scripture readings.
Rom 11:20-36
Luke 14:12-14
“Who has known the mind of the Lord?” Paul has been struggling to do just that as he tries to explain the mystery of God’s election of Jews and Gentiles. In the attempt, his reasoning becomes pretty convoluted. In today’s passage he abandons the effort in order to just stand in wonder before the inscrutable ways of God.
The answer to Paul’s question is, of course, “no one.” Nevertheless, if a completely coherent explanation is impossible, some conclusions are certain, though mysterious. These are truths to which we cling as bulwarks of hope. God’s ultimate purpose is mercy. In spite of indications to the contrary, God’s gift and call are irrevocable. Truly, “How deep are the riches and the wisdom of God! How inscrutable his judgments, how unsearchable his ways!”
In the Gospel Jesus demonstrates some of these inscrutable ways. God has a preference for “beggars and the crippled, the lame and the blind,” and also for those who reach out unselfishly to these beloved ones of the Lord. The mind of God is too deep for our comprehension, but Jesus shows us how to conform to it.
- Sr. Mary O’Brien, C.P. is a member of the Passionist Sister’s community in Union City, NJ.
Related articles
- The Apostles and Matthew’s Community Meet a Woman of Great Faith (thepassionists.org)
- Questions about God (thepassionists.org)
- God of our Salvation (thepassionists.org)
