Monday, November 23, 2015

The Kingdom of God is in our midst

Today’s Gospel Reading: Luke 17:20-25 - At that time, when Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, he answered them, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, 'Lo, here it is!' or 'There!' for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you." And he said to the disciples, "The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, 'Lo, there!' or 'Lo, here!' Do not go, do not follow them. 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 suffer many things and be rejected by this generation."

When Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of Heaven, He spoke of the future and, as in today’s Gospel lesson, in the present. His desire to live within our hearts is nowhere more obvious than His reminder, “The Kingdom of God is in the midst of you,” He was speaking of Himself being in their immediate presence, but we cannot forget that in the Church, through the Holy Eucharist, He is STILL present among us. Every time we are in Church we are in His presence and therefore in Heaven. Something to think about next time we are tempted to look only to the future. 

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