THE COMING OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN


THURSDAY, THIRTY SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Philemon 7-20; Ps 146:7-10; Lk 17:20-25

The coming of the Kingdom of Heaven

Once the spouses have established their faith in Jesus Christ, we consider their marriage similar to our Lord’s sending out the disciples in twos to preach the gospel. In their going out, the disciples recognised that the Lord entrusted his mission to them. Thus, they did everything in the authority of his name. The same applies to building a new family by Christian spouses; they must understand that the Lord gave them the mission. They are, therefore, to do everything in the name of Jesus Christ. They are to love each other, bear with one another’s faults or shortcomings, serve each other, bear children, provide and care for them, and die for each other and their children in the name of Jesus Christ. With this understanding, we have conceived the family as a place of sacrifice, namely, the basic unit of the Church. Just as the mission of the disciples carried out in twos prepared for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to the places they ministered, the ministries of the spouses prepare the family for the coming of our Lord Jesus into the family. We referred to this yesterday as giving way to Christ in our lives in the family. If we take on our family ministries with courage and faith in Jesus Christ, nothing will stand in our way of realising the will of God in our families. The disciples reported that demons were subject to them when they used the name of the Lord.

St. Paul’s letter to Philemon extends our ministries in the family to those who become part of the family by the will of God, extended family members, household helpers, and visitors. We are also to minister in faith to these added members of our families. By our ministry as priests of the Lord, we are bound to give them holy things, just as Paul encouraged Philemon in the case of his returning runaway slave, Onesimus. “Now, although in Christ I can have no diffidence about telling you to do whatever is your duty, I am appealing to your love instead, reminding you that this is Paul writing, an old man now and, what is more, still a prisoner of Christ Jesus. I am appealing to you for a child of mine, whose father I became while wearing these chains: I mean Onesimus.” Paul demanded from the Christian man, Philemon, the performance of his Christian duty to his slave Onesimus, returning a Christian brother. Our ministries as Christians in the family are duties given to us by the Lord. We hasten the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in our families, the local community, and our society by carrying out these ministries prayerfully and conscientiously.

The Lord clarifies this secret coming of the kingdom of God in the gospel in answer to the question asked by Pharisees. “Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was to come, Jesus gave them this answer, ‘The coming of the kingdom of God does not admit of observation and there will be no one to say, “Look here! Look there!” For, you must know, the kingdom of God is among you.’” The authority of these words from our Lord supports our explanation above on the gradual coming of the Lord into our families through our faithful ministration of his love to every member of our families. The grace and strength come as we drink from the fountain of life flowing from the right side of the altar of Eucharistic sacrifice. In the Church, we drink in life and grace from the sacred Word of God and the Sacrament of his body and blood. These enable us to imitate his sacrifice in our families. The Psalmist testifies to the Lord being the source of our strength and sanctification. “It is the Lord who keeps faith for ever, who is just to those who are oppressed. It is he who gives bread to the hungry, the Lord, who sets prisoners free.” We frequent the Church and participate in the Eucharistic communion because the strength to serve does not come from us but from the Lord. The water flows from the sanctuary and enters the city, bringing healing and abundant fruits wherever it flows.

Let us pray: Grant us, Lord, the grace to understand the vocation you have given us, that contemplating the mysteries of our Lord Jesus Christ daily, we may make it alive in our families and work for the coming of the kingdom of heaven among men. Through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever.    

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