To say that we must wait for the other world, to know the mind of Him who came to this world to give Himself to us, seems to me the foolishness of a
worldly and lazy spirit. The Son of God is the Teacher of all people, giving to us of His Spirit—that Spirit which manifests the deep things of God, being to a person the mind of Christ.
… George MacDonald (1824-1905), The Higher Faith”, in “Unspoken Sermons
(Ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit this day.)
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Phmn 7-20; Ps 146:7, 8-9a, 9bc-10;
Lk 17:20-25
Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come,
Jesus said in reply,
“The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed,
and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’
For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.”
Then he said to his disciples,
“The days will come when you will long to see
one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.
There will be those who will say to you,
‘Look, there he is,’ or ‘Look, here he is.’
Do not go off, do not run in pursuit.
For just as 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 suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation.”
Reflection on the
Scriptures |
“For behold, the kingdom of God is among you.”
Given the volatile state of the world, the idea that the kingdom is among us seems unfathomable. The world bears little resemblance to what most would envision the kingdom to be. Maybe that’s why many consider it to be a faraway place or a far off time. We need look no further, however, than to our
own longing to glimpse the kingdom. It is among us because it is within us. Jesus’ ministry is our model. It is our direct instruction on how to live for the kingdom. When we fight, discriminate against or ignore others, we deny the presence of the kingdom within each of us and stray from the example. No wonder the kingdom seems hard to grasp.
“That we may acknowledge your presence, O God, within all your people, we pray.”
- by preacherexchange.com
Revelations of Divine
Love - by Julian of Norwich
Thirteenth Revelation, Chapter 29
“How could all be well, for the great harm
that is come by sin to the creature?”
BUT in this I stood beholding things general, troublously and mourning, saying thus to our Lord in my meaning, with full great dread: Ah! good Lord, how might all be well, for the great hurt that is come, by sin, to the creature? And here I desired, as far as I durst, to have some
more open declaring wherewith I might be eased in this matter. And to this our blessed Lord answered full meekly and with full lovely cheer, and shewed that Adam’s sin was the most harm that ever was done, or ever shall be, to the world’s end; and also He shewed that this [sin] is openly known in all Holy Church on earth. Furthermore He taught that I should behold the glorious Satisfaction : for this Amends-making is more pleasing to God and more worshipful, without comparison, than ever was the
sin of Adam harmful. Then signifieth our blessed Lord thus in this teaching, that we should take heed to this: For since I have made well the most harm, then it is my will that thou know thereby that I shall make well all that is less. |
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