What choice do we have?

Photo: Austin Neill | Unsplash

2 thoughts on “What choice do we have?”

  1. It is good to be reminded that we will gather to celebrate what God is doing , has been doing and commits Godself to continue to do in, with and through our catechumens

  2. The article “What Choice Do We Have” is a great starting reflection in relation to the Rite of Election. I think it is fundamentally right on target: God, in Christ, chooses us first, and we are chosen to be holy. That choice by God draws us into the very life of God, largely through the sacramental life of the Church, and sharing in that life always involves pouring ourselves out in loving service for the life of the world.

    The premise of the article also has its poignant truth: First world people are often obsessed with the notion of freedom of choice. It’s a birthright and to a large degree considered a responsibility.

    As true as as both these insights are–and appreciating the intent of the article in light of the Rite of Election–I’d like to have seen it approach the notion of choice in a more nuanced way. While a “luxury” in relation to the common reality of third-world people, who often have little choice regarding the areas of life mentioned–government, careers, friends…–choice is nevertheless a constitutive element of what it means to be human. What the social teaching of the Church calls “the integral development of the human person and human persons” requires choice: right choice as Deuteronomy says, we need to “choose today” between life and death, to choose to follow God’s way., We need to freely choose to accept God’ s call, whether it’s to engage in the RCIA process or to embrace the mission of the Church, as Christ freely chose to accent his mission, which included death on the cross. Even more, we are faced with the thousands of sometimes “overwhelming” choices as to how to live out our Christian life, including how we are to be good stewards of all our resources–from financial resources to the gifts of the Spirit given to serve the whole Body of Christ. Of course, the Spirit of God is always ready to help us discern the right choices we are faced with on a daily basis. Yet in emphasizing that God chooses us first need not minimize the appropriate role of choice in the Christian’s life and, indeed, the value and necessity of being possessed of the freedom of choice.

    In brief these two realities are both integrally true, and neither should be compromised in service of the other.

    Thanks for listening.

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