My Dear Friends,
I hope that you are feeling the love of the Lord!
 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.
John 15.16
I am continuing with the theme that I started last Sunday, and followed up on Tuesday, discussing  who we are. I picked up on Jesus words from John’s Gospel that we don’t choose God, but he chooses us.
This constantly surprises people because in their hearts they feel that they have been looking, and have made a decision for faith. Millions have committed their lives to the Lord after deep reflection, and deep searching only to discover that what they were looking for was there all along.
St Francis puts it this way ‘The one you are looking for is the one who is looking’.
Throughout the scriptures God is always present. Throughout the Gospels Jesus always takes the initiative. Throughout our lives we search, trying to make God fit our idea of what he should be like, and it is when we let go, and let God, that we discover that we have been looking when we should have been seeing!
So what does it mean that God has chosen us? Well so many things.
We are chosen to be included and that is the heart of the Good News. There was a time before Christ when the religious teaching was that if you were poor, or lame or foreign you were excluded, and that was a big deal. Not only excluded from social or religious gatherings, but excluded from the kingdom of heaven. So you could believe in God, and be told you were not welcome in heaven because of the situation of your birth.
But Jesus’ teaching changes all of this, and those who thought they were outcaste were welcome. Everything changed.
It means that God welcomes us as we are, warts and wrinkles and all. We don’t need to be someone else before we know that we are loved.
That doesn’t mean we don’t need to change. It means that once we realise how much we are loved and valued, we will want to love and value others, and that will generate a change in us  that we will want to embrace.
It means that God know us. That is a feeling that is terrifying until we think about it. He knows the secrets of our hearts, so there is no room for pretence. With God we can truly be ourselves, and that is so liberating.
It means that God calls us for a purpose. The greatest joy you will ever feel is to be loved, and to love back in return. When you feel loved and chosen by God, you will want o love him in return, and one of the ways of doing that is to exercise his will. That is where you will find true bliss.
The task is to discern his will. Our ego makes it difficult, but Jesus’ teaching makes it simple. The will of God is for us to trust in the one whom he has sent, and that means to listen to his teaching and put it into practice.
If you are not sure if a particular action fits with the teaching of Jesus, it probably doesn’t,  but it might, so talk with other folk who are mature in their faith, and it is likely to become clearer. But beware, some ‘Christians ‘ have very strange ideas!
Here on the Costa Blanca we have very experienced clergy who would be very happy to talk. Please don’t hesitate to ask.
It means that we all have a part to play in being the church in this place. In these changing times there is scope for new ways of thinking which itself can be very liberating and inclusive.
It means we have a part to play in building the church, and you have received gifts that equip you to do whatever it is that God calls you to do.
It means that the Body of Christ on earth is completely diverse, and we all have so much to learn from others. We learn most from those who are most different from us.
It also means, because Jesus says so, that you and I will bear fruit that will last. It is our job to spot that in one another, and to encourage it.
The consequence of all of this is that we can ask for whatever we want, and it will be granted – but you and I know that we would only ever ask that the will of God comes to pass.
 
Bless you, Bless you, Bless you.
As ever,
Fr Marcus