St. Paul wrote to the Romans: “The gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.” He is thinking of his own people, the Jews, who were chosen by God to bring the divine word into the world. Even though they seemed to Paul to have missed the new revelation of God in Jesus, the Apostle is sure that the plan of God still includes them. At our own baptism we were named and claimed by God. Since God’s gifts and call are irrevocable we can be sure that God is with us. No matter what is going on in our lives the word of love spoken to us at baptism is still in force: “You are my beloved child. I am well pleased with you.”
