In a homily he gave shortly after being elected to lead the Church, Pope Benedict XVI said that "each of us is the result of a thought of God." The thoughts of God are eternal. God had you in mind from all eternity, not just at some moment in time preceding your conception and birth. The Holy Father went on to say, "Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary."
Me?! Necessary?! Yes! We have a tendency to think along the lines of the people of Nazareth whom we see in today's Gospel (Luke
4:21-30). They had an agenda and expectations about what the Messiah
would be like. They thought he would be a great religious leader, a
great military leader. Jesus, the hometown boy and son of a carpenter,
didn't meet those expectations. They saw Him as insignificant. We too have expectations. We too judge according to worldly standards of greatness. Paul confronts that in our second reading (1 Corinthians
12:31-13:13). He writes that what's important is not prophecy or
speaking in all sorts of human or heavenly tongues. What's important is
not the miraculous moving of a mountain or being able to "comprehend all
mysteries and all knowledge." What's important is not giving up
everything and living a life of poverty like that of St. Francis of
Assisi. What's important is not even undergoing great sufferings for
the faith or undergoing martyrdom. All of these can become the source
of pride, that which first separated the devil and the first humans from
God. What matters is love. We and what we do are nothing without
love. Why? Because God is love and we're made in the image and likeness of
love. We are here on earth for one reason--to learn to love. We exist to
love God with all our heart, mind, and strength. Loving God totally, we
will love what God loves--our neighbor, those others whom God also had
in mind from all eternity.
Link (here) read the full text of Fr. James Kubicki, S.J., his post is at Offer It Up
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