In everything it is God who takes initiatives. It is God who chooses us.

In the first reading the Israelites remembered their history of suffering and deliverance and felt the glory of having been chosen by God. In the Gospel Jesus calls each and every person to be a follower by letting go of the self and taking up the cross.

A significant difference lies in the fact that the Lord God spoke from the heart of the fire to the people; whereas Jesus speaks to each individual heart. Through the power and might of the Lord God, a nation was saved. Through renouncing the self and the world, as Jesus instructs, a heart is changed, a person is converted. Individuals are thus chosen to collaborate with Christ, and the whole world is saved by the Cross.

Can we be less protective of our interests, more willing to come out from our comfort zone? The Cross of salvation is always within sight of the Christian.