Drawn

[A reflection on today's Scripture readings for the Mass of the 12th Sunday after Pentecost, which may be found here.]

Today Jesus continues the theme in the Gospel according to St. John about the Bread of Life. This particular Gospel passage was the focus of a lectio divina style Bible Study during the annual convocation of the Chapter of the Anglican Order of Preachers this week, in which we gathered in small groups to read and contemplate upon this passage (that's not the whole purpose of the convocation, mind you, but I digress).

Several of us gravitated toward the line, "No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me." (Jn. 6.44) This quite frequently has been taken by many to indicate that grace is limited and there are specifically chosen few that have any chance of salvation...the rest are cannon fodder. Needless to say, anyone who has any degree of self-awareness feels very uncomfortable with that statement...and any who do not more often than not have spent zero self-reflection upon their lives as Christians. The Scriptural passages abound that note that everyone has sinned and that any who say they have no sin are delusional. So what are we to make of this?

Clearly, the passage infers that there is an invitation out there and that people will either accept or reject the invitation. It is also clear that the invitation has been made by the Father. Earlier in this Gospel Jesus had told Nicodemus that "God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." (Jn. 3.16) Elsewhere, the Scriptural witness states that it is not God's will that any perish but that they take up His invitation. (2 Pet. 3.9)

So is grace limited or not? I would hazard that grace is as unlimited as God, Who is limitless and eternal. What remains is whether of those who are called come forward to be chosen. If we do not respond to the invitation, then the limit imposed on grace is our own. It comes down to faith: do we trust the message or do we not? Do we trust that God loves us and sacrifices Himself for us that we can have a restored relationship with Him that goes beyond time and space? Or do we just heave it into the bin like so much junk mail?

The invitation is there. Let us not resist the Father's pull to bring us to Him.