20261015 THE WISDOM OF GOD’S PLAN
15 October 2026, Thursday, 28th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
Ephesians 1:1-10 |
Before the world was made, God chose us in Christ
From Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, to the saints who are faithful to Christ Jesus. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ.
Before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ,
to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence,
determining that we should become his adopted sons, through Jesus Christ
for his own kind purposes,
to make us praise the glory of his grace,
his free gift to us in the Beloved,
in whom, through his blood, we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins.
Such is the richness of the grace
which he has showered on us
in all wisdom and insight.
He has let us know the mystery of his purpose,
the hidden plan he so kindly made in Christ from the beginning
to act upon when the times had run their course to the end:
that he would bring everything together under Christ, as head,
everything in the heavens and everything on earth.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 97(98):1-6 |
The Lord has shown his salvation.
Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
The Lord has shown his salvation.
The Lord has made known his salvation;
has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.
The Lord has shown his salvation.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.
The Lord has shown his salvation.
Sing psalms to the Lord with the harp
with the sound of music.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
acclaim the King, the Lord.
The Lord has shown his salvation.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps110:7,8 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your precepts, O Lord, are all of them sure;
they stand firm for ever and ever.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 11:47-54 |
You have not gone in yourselves and have prevented others who wanted to
Jesus said: ‘Alas for you who build the tombs of the prophets, the men your ancestors killed! In this way you both witness what your ancestors did and approve it; they did the killing, you do the building.
‘And that is why the Wisdom of God said, “I will send them prophets and apostles; some they will slaughter and persecute, so that this generation will have to answer for every prophet’s blood that has been shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was murdered between the altar and the sanctuary.” Yes, I tell you, this generation will have to answer for it all.
‘Alas for you lawyers who have taken away the key of knowledge! You have not gone in yourselves, and have prevented others going in who wanted to.’
When he left the house, the scribes and the Pharisees began a furious attack on him and tried to force answers from him on innumerable questions, setting traps to catch him out in something he might say.
THE WISDOM OF GOD’S PLAN
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [EPHESIANS 1:1-10; LUKE 11:47-54]
Why is it so wonderful to be a Christian? It is the great privilege to share in the wisdom of God regarding His plan for creation. Many people in the world do not know their own identity, much less the goal of creation. They do not know where they come from, what their purpose on earth is, or what goal they are seeking to arrive at. Not knowing our origin, identity, and destination means that we simply drift through life–keeping ourselves afloat, living only for the moment, and trying to live as comfortably and happily as we can. As the saying goes, “You only live once!” So we feel we must make the best of life, drawing as much as we can from it while we can, lest we miss the boat and leave this world without having enjoyed or taken something from it.
But even if we are able to take as much as we can from this world, what kind of life would that be? What do we do when we meet misfortunes in life–losing our loved ones, or losing our health and mobility? What happens when there are many things we can no longer do, eat, or enjoy? What, then, is life? What is the use of our achievements when they soon become history and irrelevant in today’s world, leaving us relegated to the margins and forgotten? What is the use of possessing great wealth and fame when we cannot use them or take them with us when we leave this world, or when we are forgotten as we grow older and are no longer active in the community?
This is where we need to search for the wisdom of God and His divine plan for humanity. But we can do this only when we are humble and recognise our finiteness and limitations. Most of all, we must realise that we are not gods; we are merely creatures of this universe. Where could we have come from if not from the Creator? And this Creator, of course, is God our heavenly Father! St. Paul made it clear that God the Father is the source and origin of every blessing we enjoy: “Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven.” If only we come to realise this truth, we will be able to live this life decisively, meaningfully, and purposefully–regardless of our status in society, what we do in life, the position we hold, whether we are healthy and strong, or sickly and weak, rich or poor.
God does not leave this search entirely to us, however. In his search for God, St. Augustine heard Him say, “Take heart, you would not be seeking me if I had not already found you!” Indeed, God in His goodness and mercy comes searching for us; otherwise, no matter how hard we search, we could never find Him. God sent us His prophets and apostles to help us find Him and find ourselves. Jesus said, “And that is why the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles.'” St. Paul was one of those chosen to be His apostles. He claimed this privilege when he wrote, “From Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, to the saints who are faithful to Christ Jesus: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul was conscious of the fact that he was appointed and sent by God to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ.
So what is this Good News that Paul wants to reveal to us? Firstly, St. Paul tells us that God has chosen us all in Christ to share in the blessings of the Heavenly Father: “Before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ.” We have been chosen in His eternal, divine plan to be for the Father in Christ. God wants us to share in His life. To share in His life is to share in His holiness, as St. Paul wrote that we are chosen “to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence, determining that we should become his adopted sons.” This is our great calling: to be like God, holy and pure, and above all, to become His adopted sons in Christ. This godly life–though we are not God by nature–becomes ours when we live in His love and in His presence. Such is our great privilege.
In the divine plan of God, this is possible only through Christ and in Him. It is “through Jesus Christ for his own kind purposes, to make us praise the glory of his grace, his free gift to us in the Beloved, in whom, through his blood, we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins.” Without Christ, we cannot gain our place as God’s adopted sons and daughters. It is only because of the grace given to us in Christ through His passion, death, and resurrection that we have received the forgiveness of sins and the freedom belonging to the children of God. Receiving His Spirit–given to us at His resurrection and now poured into our hearts–we too can cry out, “Abba! Father!” because “it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.” (Rom 8:16f; cf. Gal 4:5)
Through Christ, the Father brings about a radical transformation in us by granting us full freedom from evil and sharing His Spirit with us. Furthermore, we are not redeemed only for this earth, but for the world to come. Indeed, we know that “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” (Rom 8:18-21) Truly, we will be transfigured in Christ, sharing in His resurrection, as we “ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.” (Rom 8:22f)
This, then, is our identity, our calling, and our hope. Realising God’s plan for us should be a source of joy and freedom, because we no longer live merely for this world, but for eternal life with God. Jesus is our guarantee. Indeed, as St. Paul said, “Such is the richness of the grace which he has showered on us in all wisdom and insight. He has let us know the mystery of his purpose, the hidden plan he so kindly made in Christ from the beginning to act upon.” History, therefore, is the arena in which the will of God and His plan are unfolded.
In Christ, everything finds its place. History is neither meaningless nor aimless; it is not, as some believe, simply an endless cycle of birth and death. History has a goal, and that goal is God. This is the glorious purpose of life. In Christ, everything finds its place and meaning. As Vatican II teaches, “She likewise holds that in her most benign Lord and Master can be found the key, the focal point and the goal of man, as well as of all human history. The Church also maintains that beneath all changes there are many realities which do not change and which have their ultimate foundation in Christ, Who is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever.” (Gaudium et spes, 10c) In Christ, as St. Paul wrote, is the revelation of the hidden plan of God to unite all creation: “when the times had run their course to the end: that he would bring everything together under Christ, as head, everything in the heavens and everything on earth.”
In light of such a great mystery revealed to us, what should our response be? We can be like the religious leaders during the time of Jesus who rejected the message by killing the prophets and apostles God sent to them. Or we can be like the scribes who made God inaccessible to ordinary people, taking “away the key of knowledge!” because they would not enter themselves and “prevented others going in who wanted to.” Instead, let us share this secret of God’s plan with all men and women so that they too may live a meaningful and purposeful life. Let us not distort the Gospel of grace and transform it into a matter of human merit. Let us be humble and docile to the wisdom of God spoken to us in Christ through the apostles. We must listen attentively and be filled with gratitude and joy. Recognising our sonship means accepting our responsibility as His children, seeking to live a holy and blameless life that reflects who we truly are. Sharing this relationship with God as our Father means taking on the obligation to imitate Him and reflect His holiness in our lives, as we pray in the Lord’s Prayer: “May your name be kept holy!” Having received His gifts of deliverance and forgiveness, we must also set others free by helping them attain true freedom in Christ from sin, anger, and resentment. Indeed, in Christ, we are set free to be God’s adopted children!
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
