( Memorial of st. Josaphat)
1st Reading: Wisdom
7:22-8:1
Wisdom reaches from end
to end and governs all things well
There is in her a
spirit that is intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, mobile, clear,
unpolluted, distinct, invulnerable, loving the good, keen, irresistible, beneficent,
humane, steadfast, sure, free from anxiety, all-powerful, overseeing all, and
penetrating through all spirits that are intelligent, pure, and altogether
subtle.
Wisdom is more mobile
than any motion; because of her pureness she pervades and penetrates all
things. For she is a breath of the power of God, and a pure emanation of the
glory of the Almighty; therefore nothing defiled gains entrance into her. She
is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and
an image of his goodness.
Although she is but
one, she can do all things, and while remaining in herself, she renews all
things; in every generation she passes into holy souls and makes them friends
of God, and prophets; for God loves nothing so much as the person who lives
with wisdom.
She is more beautiful
than the sun, and excels every constellation of the stars. Compared with the
light she is found to be superior, for it is succeeded by the night, but
against wisdom evil does not prevail. She reaches mightily from one end of the
earth to the other, and she orders all things well.
Gospel:
Luke 17:20-25
The reign of God is not
"out there" but is already among us
Once Jesus was asked by
the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered , " The
kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they
say, ' Look, here it is! or ' There it is! For, in fact, the kingdom of God is
among you."
Then he said to the
disciples, " The days are coming when you will long to see one of the days
are coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you
will not see it. They will say to you, ' Look there!' or ' Look here!' Do not
go, do not set off in pursuit. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side
to the other, so will the son of Man be in his day. But first he must endure
much suffering and be rejected by this
generation.
REFLECTIONS
AND MEDITATIONS ON THE READINGS
Once I read this story
about a little girl who was standing with her grandfather by an old- fashioned
open well. They had just lowered a bucket and had drawn some water to drink.
She asked her grandfather: " where
does God live?" the old man picked up the little girl and held her over
the open well. " I see myself," said the little girl. ' That's where
God live, " said the old man," He lives in you."
Dear brothers and
sisters in today's gospel, the Pharisees asked Jesus about, when the Kingdom of
God would come. Jesus surprised them with the answer that the Kingdom of God
cannot be observed. It's not "here" or " there," but ' the
Kingdom of God is among you,' that is within our hearts. God's kingdom has
already appeared in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Savior of the world. He speaks
also of the coming of God's kingdom as both present event ( imminent
eschatology), and an event which would be manifested at the end of time (
future eschatology) or is already but not because its completion will happen at
the end time.
In addition to this,
the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us also that the Kingdom of God is
the reign or rule of God. The Catechism says: " The Kingdom of God is
....righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" ( Rom14:17). The
kingdom of God draws near in the coming of the Incarnate Word; it is announced
in the Gospel; it is the messianic Kingdom, present in the person of Jesus, the
Messiah; it remains in our midst in the Eucharist.
The Kingdom of God
begins from within and transforms our hearts to be like God and a people who
know the power of His love, mercy and forgiveness. The Lord Jesus is present in
His word, in His Body the Church and in the " Breaking of the Bread,' the
Holy Eucharist. Jesus reveals Himself in many countless ways to those who seek
Him with eyes of faith.
The
kingdom is right here among us
Sometimes we can miss
something great significance; it is right there before us but somehow we do not
notice it. When the Pharisees ask Jesus when the kingdom of God would come, he
tells them, "the kingdom of God is already among you." They failed to
see that the kingdom of God was present in and through the person of Jesus.
They failed to understand the signs of God's kingdom through Jesus' ministry of
healing and teaching. Thus the kingdom of God was there but in a less dramatic
form than they expected it. The gospel reading today reminds us that the
kingdom of is present among us in a more ways than we realize it. The kingdom
of God is really present especially in the words and deeds of people that build
up and heal and bring life. The Lord has assured us that we will be never be
without his presence. What we need here is eyes and ears of faith to see and
hear the message of God's kingdom.
At the end in addition
to the above truth, the article, Experiencing God, says something about what
about what God does to us. It says that:
1. God is always at
work around us.
2. God pursues a
continuing love relationship with us, that is, real and personal.
3.God invites us to
become involved with Him in his work.
4.God speaks by the
Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances and the church to reveal
Himself, His purposes and His ways.
5.God's invitation for
us to work with Him always leads us to a crisis of belief that requires faith
and action.
6. We must make major adjustments
in our life to join God ins what He is doing.
7. We come to know God
by experience as we obey Him and as He accomplishes His work through us.
Hakuna maoni:
Chapisha Maoni