A certain catechist in a rural African village had a favourite saying, "If this did not happen, something worse could have happened." When a man comes to him crying that his bicycle has been stolen, his words of admonition were, "Take heart, if this did not happen, something worse could have happened." When a woman loses her husband or new-born child, his predictable admonition to her was, "God knows the best; if this did not happen, something worse could have happened." Now this was getting on the nerves of the villagers. They deemed the catechist naive and insensitive. As a reality check, the rough boys of the village decided to teach him a bitter lesson. They decided to kill the catechist's son and see what he would say.

The catechist's son usually played soccer with the village boys. The boys hatched a plan one evening to mob and kill him on their way back from the football playground. Just before the end of game that fateful day, the ball was kicked across the road. The catechist's son ran to retrieve the ball and was knocked down by a passing car. He sustained multiple cuts and bruises, for which he was taken to the local hospital. This means that the plan of the boys to mob and kill him that evening had failed. On hearing what happened, the villagers came to sympathise with the catechist. All that the catechist said was, , "If this did not happen, something worse could have happened." How right he was!

In today's second reading, from the Letter of Paul to the Romans, we read that "all things work together for good for those who love God" (Romans 8:28). This is a very important teaching that could transform the life of every child of God into a life of peace and happiness. Having given our lives to God, we have God's assurance that whatever He allows to manifest in our lives, no matter how painful it might be, is indeed for our own good. Whatever pill a mother or father gives the child, no matter how bitter it is to swallow, is intended for the good of the child. The bitter pill might be administered to cure a present illness or to forestall a possible illness in the future. If children were mature enough to realise this truth, they would not cry so much when they are receiving their vaccinations. As mature children of God, we should receive everything and everyone that God sends into our lives, knowing that it is for our ultimate good.

But how we often behave like immature children, raising a tantrum and running away as the divine physician visits us to administer the painful or bitter remedy. God allows some sickness to visit us and we immediately quit trusting Him and go shopping for any self-styled healer. God sends us a partner to bring us to our knees and we run to file for divorce. God allows our church to experience humiliation in order to bring us to the right path and we immediately think of leaving the church. If only we knew and believed that all these things work together for our good, we might have exercised more patience in such trying times.

Today, the word of God invites us to trust more fully and more unconditionally in God's goodness, no matter the condition in which we find ourselves. This does not mean that we should not make an effort to change the bad conditions of our lives, as if everything that comes to us was directly sent by God. No, that would be determinism. When we are sick we should take steps to change the situation by going to a hospital. When we are jobless we should take steps to change the situation by looking for a job or training for one. But we must work for change not with the belief that overcoming the bad situation is a test of whether God is with us or not, but with a disposition of implicit confidence in God's unconditional love for us. The prophet Habakkuk gives us an example in this regard when he prays:

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Saviour. (Habakkuk 3:17-18)

Before we conclude this reflection we must say a word about predestination. Our passage is one of the few Bible passages that speak of predestination. What does the Bible teach on predestination? Predestination simply means that God has a goal for each and everyone of us before He created us. It does not mean that we must attain that goal, whether we like it or not. There are two ways of understanding biblical predestination. One is to understand predestination as tantamount to determinism. Here it is believed that whatever happens and whatever we do in life, including whether we end up in heaven or in hell, is already predetermined and pre-planned by God. The universal Church rejects this understanding because it effectively denies human free will. The other way of understanding predestination is to see it as God's benevolent plan for all His children, although we still retain the freedom to say yes or no to God's plan for our lives. This is a more balanced understanding of the Bible's teaching on predestination.

God's word today invites us to cooperate with God's plan for our lives. We do this by trusting God completely and submitting our lives' plans to God's great design for us, knowing that "all things work together for good for those who love God" (Romans 8:28). In the face of the contrarieties of life, may we always remind ourselves that "If this did not happen, something worse could have happened."

In Christian philosophy there is a something known as the summum bonum or the supreme good. The summum bonum is believed to be not just the best thing one could ever have but also that good which contains in itself or brings along with it all other good and desirable things, that which completely satisfies the otherwise insatiable desires of the human heart. The summun bonum sounds like an abstract idea but it can be illustrated with a childhood experience in a typical African village.

It is not uncommon that a child be asked to round up a mother hen with a brood of, say, seven chickens. The child, invariably, would start with the small chickens. But as the chickens run and duck the child would fall over so many times before catching even one chicken. Worse still the mother hen, to defend her little ones, would come after the child with her beak and claws. After so many falls with little result to show for it, the child gives up the futile pursuit and it is then that the child’s mother comes to the rescue.

First she would get a large basket, lure the mother hen into the basket and cover her up. The mother hen safely covered in the basket would then chuck for the chickens and they would all gather around the basket. Raise the basket a little and the chickens all rush into it to be with their mother hen. In a couple of minutes you’ve got the mother hen with her brood of seven chickens. In this example the baby chickens can be compared to the many good things of life and the mother hen to the summum bonum, the supreme good which brings in its train all other goods.

Today’s readings invite us to ask ourselves this important question: Among all the things I desire in life, which are the chickens and which one is the mother hen? What is the one desire of my life that once found will bring all my other legitimate desires in its train? The gospel calls this ultimate desire of the human heart “the kingdom of God.” “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

The kingdom of God is God’s reign in our hearts, in our lives, in our homes, in our society, and in our world. The one who finds the kingdom of God finds everything desirable besides. That is why it is compared to hidden treasure in a field which someone discovers, then goes and sells all that oeverything he has and buy this one pearl. In fact, these parables invite us not only to seek first the kingdom of God but to seek only the kingdom because with the kingdom of God comes every other good thing that we desire and long for.

Solomon in the first reading is a good illustration of a man who went for the mother hen rather than the chickens. As a young king Solomon had many legitimate needs. He needed wealth, military might, fame, security, prosperity, long life and happiness. But when God asked him to ask for one thing, he asked for the summum bonnum, wisdom from above. He knew that with wisdom comes every other good thing he needed and desired. And God confirmed his choice in these words:

Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you. I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor all your life; no other king shall compare with you. (1 Kings 3:11-13)

If God came in your dream tonight and asked you to ask for one thing and one thing only, what would you ask for? Would you ask for wealth or success in business or love life? Would you have the wisdom of Solomon to ask for the reign of God in your personal and business life? Is the kingdom of God so important to you that you are prepared to sell and part with all you have in order to have it? Remember, the kingdom of God is not just one among so many other good and desirable things. It is the summum bonum, the supreme good, the one and only good thing we shall ever need to achieve total satisfaction and fulfilment in life. If you have the kingdom of God you have everything and if you don’t have the kingdom of God you have nothing.

Rt. Rev. Prof. +Kasomo Daniel is a Professor of Religious Studies and the bishop of the Society of St Peter and Paul (SSPP)