Not what we expect

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary underline the theme of how God builds relationship with us in a manner that is not what we would expect.

Paul describes to the Philippians the advantages of his birth and heritage which we would expect would offer him a good life of power and prestige in the Jewish community. Friar Jude Winkler explains how Paul surrendered all this to live in the Way of Christ. The Scribes and Pharisees with whom Jesus is in dialog in the Gospel from Luke expect that people on a journey to holiness would avoid association with sinners, as Friar Jude comments. The surprise which Carol Zuegner finds in the Gospel is gratitude for the continuous desire of God to welcome us home from being lost. Don Schwager reflects on the common theme in this chapter of Luke about a Seeker in search of the lost. The psalmist today praises those who rejoice in their search for God. The desire for people to fill the God shaped void in their lives is evidenced in our action to find explanations and practices to help relieve our sense of wandering aimlessly from situation to situation in lives with too much uncertainty. The unexpected truth is that God is searching for us. The unexpected encounter with people who we may have ignored in the past may place us in the centre of God’s rejoicing when we are returned to the fold.