Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
In the history of human religions, many gods have been local or regional gods - gods specific to a particular place and/or people. But that is not the case with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the lord of the entire universe. To be sure, He chose the Israelites as the people of His covenant, but that does not mean that His providence does not include the other peoples. Hence, God sent Jonah to preach to the Ninevites, a people who were not Israelite and they were hostile to the Israelites - and yet the Ninevites were important to God. The other peoples of the world were destined to receive the word of God by God’s chosen instruments. Yet just as God’s providence includes those who are not Israelites for the reception of God’s word, God has also chosen them to be His instruments. In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, it is a non-Israelite who cares for and heals an Israelite. God’s inclusive providence does not promote a religious indifferentism, suggesting that all religions are basically the same or not particularly important; rather it shows that God - the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - is truly the God of the universe, a God whose embrace is limitlessly wide, whose concern is immeasurably extensive.
God’s providence includes each and every one of us. May the concern we show for others be similarly extensive.