“Before the Foundation of the World”

As I sat in chapel yesterday morning, reading over the scripture readings for Mass, one phrase especially struck me: “…he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world…”

This passage from Ephesians (1:1–10) explains how God our Father chose us in Christ to be holy and without blemish. This whole reading is worth pondering, but that would be a topic for another article.

I’d like to go back to the titular phrase of this post: “Before the foundation of the world.”

Isn’t that amazing to think about? According to a quick Google search, our planet is about four and a half billion years old! That’s nine zeros (well, actually 8, with the five in place of one of them)! Can you imagine how long that is?

If you and I perhaps live to be 80, which seems to be about the average life expectancy nowadays, our planet’s foundations would have been laid 56,250,000 lifetime’s ago!

Holy macro!

God has had us in mind for a long time! He’s had a long time to figure things out. Actually, that’s not quite right, I think He’s had a plan all along. So when things aren’t going well, when things look dark, I can find consolation in this. I can remind myself of this; He has a loving plan for our good.

I am reminded of a scripture verse which articulates this message well. It was etched in my memory by a youth group trip a number of yeaers back: “For I know well the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not for your woe, plans to give you a future full of hope.” We went around the group (probably on the bus), inserting the name of each person into the passage, ending with an enthusiastic “Jeremiah Twenty NINE Eleven!”

It is beautiful and touching to realize that God’s loving plan for my life preceded the very foundation of the world.

Today, now, as we honor St. Margaret Mary (known for the revelations of the Sacred Heart), I gratefully recall the words of Psalm 33: “the plans of his heart [stand] from age to age.”