"I have chosen you"

It was not you who chose me, but I have chosen you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will last (Jn 15:16).

Jesus Christ in this passage tells us that we are not in this world by accident. Each human being is the image of God: “single, unique, and unrepeatable, someone thought of and chosen from eternity, someone called and identified by name" (John Paul II, Christmas Message, 25 December 1978). All human life is created in the image and likeness of God. Nothing surpasses the greatness or dignity of a human person. Human life is not just an idea or an abstraction; human life is the concrete reality of a being that lives, that acts, that grows and develops; human life is the concrete reality of a being that is capable of love and of service to humanity. (Pope John Paul II, Homily, Mass at the Capitol Mall, Washington DC, 7 October 1979). God has put us here “as the crowning work of his creation” (Pope Benedict XVI, Homily, 28 May 2006).

We have been born in this world for a purpose and that is to live for God. “What is our purpose in the world? To love God with all our heart and all our soul and to spread this love to all” (Conversations with Msgr. Josemaria Escriva, 106). St. Josemaria Escriva adds: “You and I belong to Christ's family, for 'he himself has chosen us before the foundation of the world, to be saints, to be blameless in his sight, for love of him, having predestined us to be his adopted children through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his Will'. We have been chosen gratuitously by Our Lord. His choice of us sets us a clear goal. Our goal is personal sanctity, as St Paul insistently reminds us, haec est voluntas Dei: sanctificatio vestra, 'this is the Will of God: your sanctification' ” (Friends of God, 2).

Christ’s call is unceasing. Come to me. Follow me. There is only one response that Jesus Christ desires from us. And that is the path of love. But then, it is not enough to say that we love Christ. “Jesus does not only look for people to acclaim him. He looks for people to follow him” (Pope John Paul II, Homily, 21 June 1998). Our love has to be expressed in deeds of prayer and work, and of service to others beginning with those closest to us. All our activities from morning to night can and should lead us to God and nourish our intimacy with him (cf Christ is Passing By, 10). In this way we achieve the true purpose of our journey on earth, which is communion with God (Pope Benedict XVI, Homily, 26 May 2005).

And having found Christ, we need to make him known to others, for indeed we have been not only chosen but sent forth into the world, which is what being an apostle all means. For apostolate is love for God that overflows and communicates itself to others. (Christ is Passing By, 122). Whoever remains in Christ will bear much fruit of goodness, light, enthusiasm, generosity, a spirit of sacrifice, constancy in work, cheerfulness and perfect charity (cf Furrow, 921). Because without Christ we can do nothing (cf Jn 15:5). “He, Jesus, is everything. We, without him, are worth nothing: nothing” (The Way, 780).

God has chosen us; let us choose him. With him as the shepherd of our life, we will lack nothing (cf Ps 23:1).

Unity of Life with God

“Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: “I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me” (Jn 17:20-21; Thursday, 7th Week of Easter).

Jesus Christ is praying for the unity of all his believers, that all may be one in the same way that he and his Father are one. The Father is in him and he is in the Father. Other parts of the Gospel speak of the unity of the Holy Spirit with Christ and his Father. “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me” (Jn 15: 26-27).

Christ’s prayer is not only for the unity of his believers with one another, but he is calling us to a unity of life with God; thus, his words that “that they also may be in us.”

This is the essence of holiness. We become a whole person when we make God an integral part of our life. In this way we are not only truly human but we become truly divine: a friend, brother and follower of Jesus who is perfect God and perfect man.

What binds us in unity with God and with one another is love. This love flows from God to us through Jesus. "As the Father loves me, so I also love you." "As I have loved you, so you also should love one another" (Jn 15:9;13:34).

Holiness is for everyone. It is demanded from the carpenter or the fish vendor as much as it is from a lawyer or a businessman or a politician. All the faithful, whatever their condition or state, are called by the Lord, each in his own way, to that perfect holiness whereby the Father himself is perfect (Lumen Gentium, 11).

“God does not want us simply to be good, he wants us to be saints, through and through. However, he wants us to attain that sanctity, not by doing extraordinary things, but rather through ordinary common activities. It is the way they are done which must be uncommon. There, in the middle of the street, in the office, in the factory, we can be holy, provided we do our job competently, for love of God and cheerfully, so that everyday work becomes, not ‘a daily tragedy,’ but rather ‘a daily smile’" (John Paul I, Il Gazzettino [Venice], July 25, 1978).

Which of our life must be united to God? The answer is everything, the whole of our life, body and soul, flesh and blood, mind and heart, emotions and senses. "There is just one flesh, made of flesh and spirit. And it is this life which has to become, in both soul and body, holy and filled with God” (Conversations with Msgr. Josemaria Escriva, 114).

The love for God permeates our every thought, activity and relations. The big things and small things that take place everyday in our life from the moment we wake in the morning up to the time we go to bed at night take on great importance. “Great holiness consists in carrying out the little duties of each moment” (The Way, 817). Holiness is shown in the smile with we greet the security guard; the courteousness with which we deal with our secretary or colleagues in the office; the patient guidance we give to our subordinates; the time and attention we give to our family members; our effort to avoid or not to participate in off-color conversations. There are a thousand and one things everyday that are things apparently insignificant, but when they are carried out of love for God, they are transformed from the ordinary to the supernatural. “Do everything for Love. Thus there will be no little things: everything will be big” before the eyes of God (cf The Way, 813).

Our Lord has come to bring peace, good news and life to all men. We are all children of the same Father, God. So there is only one race, the race of the children of God. There is only one color, the color of the children of God. And there is only one language, the language which speaks to the heart and to the mind, without the noise of words, making us know God and love one another” (cf Christ is Passing By, 106).