Saturday 29 August 2026
The Beheading of St John the Baptist
1 Corinthians 1:26-31. Happy the people the Lord has chosen to be his own – Ps 32(33):12-13, 18-21. Mark 6:17-29.
God calls the imperfect
I take a lot of comfort from today’s first reading. Most days, it’s so easy to feel incompetent, like somebody who is only just managing to hold things together. Paul reassures us that ‘the foolish things of the world hath God chosen, that he may confound the wise; and the weak things of the world hath God chosen, that he may confound the strong.’
God isn’t calling me to be perfect. He isn’t looking for somebody who’s already on top of things, who is a worthy influencer, who is a model Christian. God doesn’t need me to be somebody who isn’t deeply flawed. God only calls me to love. We read through the Gospels of the many times God takes something small and works with it to make something great. I can be one of the foolish and weak things God has chosen. It strikes me that this reading is a good message against judging other Christians for not living up to an ideal. God calls the imperfect. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
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