Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the holy ones who are in Ephesus. The daily readings move on from Paul’s letter to the Galatians to the one to the Church in Ephesus. The shift in tone is notable, so much so that some scholars even speculate that Paul was not the principle author. The theme of the epistle is found in the opening greeting of the letter — the mystery of [God’s] will. Paul wants us to undertand that God has “a plan for the fullness of times,” that “he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world,” that we have been blessed “with the favor of his will.” No doubt he stressed this theme because the Ephesians, like us, can at times wonder if God is attentive to all the troubles in the world and in our lives. There is a plans, the Apostle insists, God is at work. We need to learn how to see things from God’s point of view and trust that, in the end, all will be well.
