Elvis was right. We ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog. Not just because we’re crying all the time but because we’re growing into all that skin God gave us. Today’s readings are about the process of becoming what God made us to be. Jeremiah quotes God in today’s first reading: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. Before you were born I dedicated you; a prophet to the nations I appointed you.”
We’re all called to be prophets by bringing God’s message of love to those around us. In the second reading, Paul seems to be saying that we are all conceived in God’s love and we must continue growing into it once we’re born. In other words, we are God’s concept, and our life is a process of living up to it. Paul says, “At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.” God knows who we are. Our life is a process of learning what He knows—of growing into the skin he gave us.
In today’s gospel, Jesus reveals what he himself has learned from the Holy Spirit: that he is the fulfillment of scripture. His mission of spreading God’s word was just starting at that time, which is why he was able to slip through the hands of those who were ready to throw him off a cliff. His time was not yet at hand. God’s will is unstoppable, and whatever he wills for us is our destiny. It envelops each of us and our lives must be dedicated to growing into it.