Taken, Blessed, Broken, Given

When we go to a mall, we go from one floor to the other taking whatever we want depending on our likes and our budget. What we leave behind is far more than what we take. What we choose is what we like and needed for us.

By our Christian call and more specifically by our call to be Priests and Religious we are chosen and called by God. He has seen you and picked you because he wants you. There is something special about you that not even you are aware of. God has reasons you know not.  What you may think is your strength may very well be your weakness leading you often to your downfall. What you think is your weakness may well be God’s strength.

Before the call came to the twelve apostles they had no plans to follow Jesus. The call came to them suddenly. Some of them did not even know about Jesus. As Mark tells us, Jesus spent a whole night in prayer, and “He called those whom he wanted”(Mk 3.13). The Twelve were chosen and wanted by Jesus. God chooses, we respond. We are chosen and called because he wants us. 

He blessed….

We are chosen and called for a blessing. From this blessing comes power, strength, and energy. We are made energetic, new, and alive with his blessing.  We are empowered and made different because he has blessed us.

Five loaves of bread was enough for five thousand people since it had a blessing on it. One seed is enough for a hundredfold if it is blessed and broken. A touch on the hem of his garment is enough for a cure. The paralyzed get up and walk with his blessing. One throw of the net into the sea at his word is enough to have a boat full of fish. With a blessing from Jesus Peter becomes a Rock against which nothing can prevail, and Saul the persecutor, will turn into Paul, the evangeliser. Water becomes wine with a blessing. Bread becomes his Body and wine becomes his Blood with a blessing. 

A marriage becomes a Sacrament with a blessing. Forgiveness is granted through a blessing. One is admitted to be part of his close Community through a Blessing. Blessing is power. It transforms. It changes. Blessing makes a person new.

“He called those whom he wanted… to be with him”( Mk 3.13). The greatest blessing one can have is to be with him. Our vocation is to be with him. Holiness is being with him. We are called for a blessing.

He broke …

We are taken and blessed so that we can be broken. Bread cannot nourish and bring life until it is crushed and eaten. A seed remains a single seed until it dies. Salt is useless until it goes into boiling water and loses its color and form. A candle is useless until it is lit and gradually dies. The vine has to be pruned so that it can yield more fruit.

Suffering, pain, and  death are not a misfortune for those who have been blessed. They are the pathway to greater life, to the fullness of life. There are no saints in heaven who were not Cross-bearers on earth. “ Whoever loses his life will find it.”

It is the power of his blessing that makes us endure the pain and death. The knife that prunes is held by the hands of a loving Father. The bread is broken by none other than the one  who has blessed it.

He gave …

We are chosen, blessed and broken to be given. Bread is broken to be shared. Vine is pruned so that it can produce more. Salt loses itself so that it can bring taste. A light is lit and dies so that many can find their way. Death on the Cross is for a Resurrection, New Life , and a Pentecost.

“ He called those whom he wanted to be with him and to be sent out” (Mk.3.13). We are blessed so that we are enabled to give. We are consecrated so that we can be sent out.  We are broken so that we can be shared. We die so that we can bring new life.

Jesus was chosen and blessed by the Father, sent into the world, and broken on the Cross for the life of the world. What Jesus did with the five loaves and two fish, and later at the Last Supper and again at Emmaus with the two disciples was the summary of his life. Every time we celebrate the Eucharist, every time we take the bread, bless it, break it and give it, we proclaim that our life is taken, blessed, broken, and given.

-        Fr T.V. George sdb