15th Sunday in Ordinary Time – B

“Praised be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has bestowed on us in Christ every spiritual blessing in the heavens. God chose us in Him before the world began to be holy and blameless in His sight.”

With these words from the letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul gives us an example of gratitude and a reason for humility.

St. Paul praises God for all of the blessings God has bestowed on us in Christ Jesus. These blessings include the gift of life, the world we live in, our health and material well-being and the faith, the family, the friendships that make our lives meaningful and fill them with love.

Each one of us could specify our list of things to be grateful for, and while we designate one particular day as a Thanksgiving Day holiday each year, if we are honest with ourselves, we would recognize that every day is a day to be grateful and every day is a day to gives thanks many times and in many ways for all that God has given and continues to give as signs of His love for us.

St. Paul also teaches us the reason for us to live always in a spirit of humility – we have been chosen from the very beginning of time by God for life in Christ Jesus in a way that also evokes in us a recognition of our calling to be holy and blameless in God's sight.

These are tremendous mysteries for us to contemplate – a God who loves us and cares for every one of our needs and concerns and a calling to be holy because we are chosen in a unique way to share life with God in Christ Jesus.

These mysteries may be ones we take for granted or neglect to ponder during the course of the year when we are very busy and anxious and concerned about many things. But maybe the summertime is meant to be the opportunity to consider the depth and the richness of the love of God with is ever-present in our lives.

Gratitude and humility are virtues that go hand in hand. We can only be truly grateful if we are first humble enough to acknowledge that it is God and not we ourselves who is the source of all we have and are. And when we are grateful, we cannot help but be humble because we recognize that we who have been given much most clearly express our thanks by serving others and sharing the gifts we have been given with others.

Today's second collection for “Special Kids with Special Needs” is an opportunity to live the virtues of gratitude and humility. In this collection, we share our treasure with those who are supporting developmentally challenged youth in our diocese through such programs as the Options Program at Paul VI High School , the Helen Keller Institute at George Mason University , Special Religious Education programs at various parishes in our diocese and Gabriel Homes throughout the Diocese of Arlington, including here in Reston . Our contributions to the “Special Kids, Special Needs” collection also gives us the opportunity to practice the virtue of humility because it enables us to recognize that no matter who we are or what we do or what challenge we experience in life, we are all equal as children of God because we have been called to share this life with God as brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus from the very beginning of the world.

There are many ways for us to practice the virtues of gratitude and humility and to reflect on the great mysteries of God's love for us and our calling to experience new and eternal life in Christ Jesus.

May the words of St. Paul linger in our minds and hearts throughout this day and throughout this week, and throughout our lives.

May we always feel the inspiration to pray with conviction:

“Praised be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has bestowed on us in Christ every spiritual blessing in the heavens. God chose us in Him before the world began to be holy and blameless in His sight.”

Thomas P. Ferguson
July 16, 2006