Why does God take chances on us?

“I’m still reeling from the euphoria of the papal visit!” These were the exact words a 70-year-old friend exclaimed when I asked her how she was. An acquaintance, someone baptized as an infant and schooled in Catholic institutions all his life but who has since grown cold to anything religious — an atheist on his worst days and an agnostic on his best, was surprised to find himself tearing up just watching the Pope on TV. “I guess, deep down inside, I am still a Catholic,” he admitted to me. I am sure you have your own Pope Francis stories. Perhaps, you were even one of the six million souls who went to Luneta to celebrate the Eucharist with him.

Why did people line up and brave the rains for a glimpse of the Pope, for the chance to touch him and maybe even have a selfie with him?

Some Jesuits were blessed to have short meeting with the Pope, and from their stories, I caught the beginning of an answer. “Just listening to the Pope, you could really tell that he was a man of prayer, someone with an intimate relationship with God,” one Jesuit shared.

People flocking to see the Pope and energized just by the sight of him – this image can help make our Gospel today more understandable.

Jesus saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Then they abandoned their nets and followed him (Mark 1: 16-18).

Why would men just abandon their livelihood — and the lives they knew — just because someone called them? Maybe they sensed power in this stranger, some kind of holiness they could not explain, and they were irresistibly drawn to him.

Record-breaking crowds gathering to see the Pope, fishermen dropping everything to follow Christ – this is just one side of the equation. As excited as we were to see the Pope, the Pope was also excited to meet us. As attracted as Simon, Andrew, James, and John were to Jesus, Jesus was attracted to them, too.

We might praise the first four disciples for risking their lives for Jesus, but Jesus was taking a risk with them as well. The other day, I overheard a young man talking on his mobile phone about a job application. He was delighted that he had passed the first interview. Now, he was being invited to take a written test. If he scored well on it, there would be two more interviews, and then hopefully, the “big boss” would see him. Three interviews and an exam only to be able to talk to the man in charge! In our Gospel today, Jesus did no background checks, demanded no transcript of records or NBI clearance, and did not even ask the people he was calling to be his closest associates — his partners in his great undertaking — their names.

Maybe those working in HR departments would say, “And this is exactly why Jesus ended up with a motley crew who did not really understand his mission.” Read the rest of Mark’s Gospel and feel the apostles’ hearts slowly harden. One of the 12 will betray him. His right-hand man will deny him three times. Everyone else will desert him in his darkest hour.

Why did Jesus take such a chance on his disciples? Why was he so attracted to them? I would like to think that Jesus is this way not only with the disciples we read about in the Bible. He is the same way with all of us. Jesus — God himself – takes a chance on us. Jesus — God himself – is attracted to us. Why?

Many times, while distributing Communion, I have often wondered how God just gives himself away so generously and so recklessly. If you line up and extend your hands towards me or stick out your tongue, I give you the Body of Christ with no questions asked. I do not need to ask you what you did last night or even if you had a meal less than one hour before. If you ask for Jesus, Jesus will be given to you. Why?

Let us be honest to ourselves: We are not that lovable. Our faults pile up one on top of the other. We promise to do better, and we try for a short time. But sooner or later, we fail. So why does God still keep on taking chances on us? Why does God give us chance after chance after chance? What does God see in us?

In prayer, I have asked God these questions many times. And in prayer, usually after going to Confession, I have always received the same answer. I challenge God, “Who am I that you take such chances on me?” God responds simply, “You are mine.”

Replay in your mind the scenes we witnessed while the Pope was here. See men and women, young and old, in the streets waiting for the Pope to pass by. Now change the image in your mind. See instead God out there in the rain waiting for you to pass by. And many times we just pass God by. See fishermen responding to Jesus’ call. Now imagine Jesus by the sea waiting for you to call on him.

This is the other side of the equation. But come to think of it, this is hardly a balanced equation. God’s desire for us is always greater than our desire for him. We can never love God as much as he loves us. He has risked everything for us. Are we willing to take a chance on him?