“The kingdom, Jesus taught, is right here--present yet hidden, immanent yet transcendent. It is at hand--among us and beyond us, now and not-yet. The kingdom of heaven, he said, belongs to the poor, the meek, the peacemakers, the merciful, and those who hunger and thirst for God. It advances not through power and might, but through missions of mercy, kindness, and humility. In this kingdom, many who are last will be first and many who are first will be last. The rich don't usually get it, Jesus said, but children always do. This is a kingdom whose savior arrives not on a warhorse, but a donkey, not through triumph and conquest, but through death and resurrection. This kingdom is the only kingdom that will last.”

There can be no Kingdom of God in the world without the Kingdom of God in our hearts. - Albert Schweitzer: (1875 – 1965: was a theologian, organist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician)

Gospel Text: (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.”
 

Reflect, today, upon the presence of the Kingdom of God present among you.  Do you see it in your heart?  Do you daily invite Jesus to rule your life?  Do you acknowledge Him as your Lord?  And do you see the ways He comes to you through your daily circumstances or in others and in your daily situations?  Seek Him out constantly and this will bring joy to your heart.

“Great things happen to those who don't stop believing, trying, learning, and being grateful.”

“True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.” ― Seneca: (4 BC – AD 65 was a philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and—in one work—satirist from the Silver Age of Latin literature.

 

Gospel Text: (Lk 17:11-19)

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem,
he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying,
“Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”
And when he saw them, he said,
“Go show yourselves to the priests.”
As they were going they were cleansed.
And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.
He was a Samaritan.
Jesus said in reply,
“Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”
Then he said to him, “Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you.”

 

Reflect, today, upon your approach to the goodness of God.  Of the ten who were healed, only this one leper manifested the right attitude.  The others may have been grateful, but not to the extent that they should have been.  How about you?  How deep is your gratitude toward God?  Are you fully aware of all that God does for you every day?  If not, seek to imitate this leper and you will discover the same joy that he discovered.

  

“What is the real origin of my own anger? Is it the ego defending its territory, or is it something that has its source in the desire for the well-being of all?

 

“Hate the sin and not the sinner is a precept which, though easy enough to understand, is rarely practiced, and that is why the poison of hatred spreads in the world... It is quite proper to resist and attack a system, but to resist and attack its author is tantamount to resisting and attacking oneself. for we are all tarred with the same brush, and are children of one and the same Creator, and as such the divine powers within us are infinite. To slight a single human being is to slight those divine powers, and thus to harm not only that being but with him the whole world.” - Mahatma Gandhi: (1869 – 1948 was an Indian lawyer who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British rule)

Gospel Text: (JN 2:13-22)

Since the Passover of the Jews was near,
Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves,
as well as the money-changers seated there.
He made a whip out of cords
and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen,
and spilled the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables,
and to those who sold doves he said,
“Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.”
His disciples recalled the words of Scripture,
Zeal for your house will consume me.
At this the Jews answered and said to him,
“What sign can you show us for doing this?”
Jesus answered and said to them,
“Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”
The Jews said,
“This temple has been under construction for forty-six years,
and you will raise it up in three days?”
But he was speaking about the temple of his Body.
Therefore, when he was raised from the dead,
his disciples remembered that he had said this,
and they came to believe the Scripture
and the word Jesus had spoken.

 

Reflect, today, upon the righteous anger God may want to put into your heart at times.  Again, be careful to discern it correctly.  Do not allow yourself to be deceived by this passion.  Rather, allow the love of God for others to be the driving force and allow a holy hatred for sin to direct you to act in a holy and just way.

 

If you believe that there’s a heaven and hell and people could be going to hell—or not getting eternal life—and you think that, well, it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward. . . . How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that? That we only get there by abandoning “self” and bending our knee to God….. Heaven is God’s house and we only enter on His terms, not our own

How well I have learned that there is no fence to sit on between heaven and hell. There is a deep, wide gulf, a chasm, and in that chasm is no place for any man. - Johnny Cash: (1932 – 2003: was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor) 

Gospel Text: (LK 16:1-8)

Jesus said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward
who was reported to him for squandering his property.
He summoned him and said,
‘What is this I hear about you?
Prepare a full account of your stewardship,
because you can no longer be my steward.’
The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do,
now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me?
I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg.
I know what I shall do so that,
when I am removed from the stewardship,
they may welcome me into their homes.’
He called in his master’s debtors one by one.
To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’
He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note.
Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’
Then to another he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’
He replied, ‘One hundred measures of wheat.’  
He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note;
write one for eighty.’
And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.
For the children of this world
are more prudent in dealing with their own generation
than the children of light.”

 

Reflect, today, upon your priorities in life.  Are you focused on building up riches that are eternal?  Or do you continually find yourself caught up in the manipulations and shrewdness that has as a goal only worldly success?  Strive for that which is eternal and you will be eternally grateful.