Philemon 7-20 / Luke 17:20-25
The Coming of the Kingdom of God
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: “Lolo, where does God live?” the old man picked up the little girl and held her over the open well. “Look down the water,” he said, “and tell me what you see.” ‘I see myself,” said the little girl. ‘That’s where God lives,” said the old man, “He lives in you.”
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 a present event and an event which would be manifested at the end of time or is already here but not because its completion will happen at the end time.
We often look to the extraordinary for reassurance that God is in our present situation. In other words, we wish that God would work a miracle to resolve a troubled and desperate situation. And when we are in distress, whether in illness or in danger, our instinct will be to look here or look there for an immediate solution. The Pharisees asked when the kingdom of God was to come. Their idea of the kingdom of God is not that different from our idea of a God of quick solutions.
We want God to show His power and might, to bring about retribution to the evil people, and protect us from harm and danger. After all if God is king, then He should be doing all this to show what His kingdom is about. Yet God is more often found in the quiet: in quiet endurance, quiet joy, quiet kindness and goodness. The kingdom of God is present when there is forgiveness and reconciliation and acceptance, like how St. Paul urged Philemon to forgive and accept Onesimus, his former slave, to be his brother.
Yes, the kingdom of God is found in the ordinary and quiet, humble acts of love. May we have quiet and love-filled hearts to see it.
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At the end in addition to the above truth, the article, Experiencing God, says something about what God does to us. It says that:
- God is always at work around us.
- God pursues a continuing love relationship with us, that is, real and personal.
- God invites us to become involved with Him in His work.
- God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes and His ways.
- God’s invitation for us to work with Him always leads us to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action.
- We must make major adjustments in our life to join God in what He is doing.
- We come to know God by experience as we obey Him and as He accomplishes His work through us.
Let us Pray:
Lord our God, your kingdom is not an established order but something that is alive and always coming. Make us aware that it is to be found where we let you reign, where we and the kingdom of people give way to your kingdom, where we let your justice and love and peace take the place of our fumbling and stumbling. Lord, establish your kingdom among us through Christ Jesus, our Lord.
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Saint Leo the Great
Feast day November 10
Only two popes have earned the title Great—Gregory I and Leo I. Leo was born in the beginning of the fifth century, probably in Rome. When he was a deacon, other church leaders looked to him for advice and for explanations of the faith. Leo was sent to settle arguments between leaders. He was on such a mission in 440 when he was elected pope. He helped the Church stay united when it was being attacked inside by false teachers and outside by warring tribes.
In 452, the Huns, led by Attila, marched toward Rome to destroy the city. Pope Leo went out to meet Attila and was able to stop him by agreeing to pay tribute to him every year. Three years later, another tribe marched on Rome—the Vandals, led by Genseric. Again Leo went out to meet the enemy, but this time, Leo was only able to stop the tribe from burning the city. For two weeks, the Vandals pillaged and looted Rome while the people sought shelter in the churches. Leo helped rebuild the city after the invaders departed, and he then sent missionaries to Africa to minister to those who had been captured and taken there by the Vandals.
Leo is often remembered for his writings and explanations of the faith, especially during the Council of Chalcedon in 451. His words were so powerful that the 600 bishops gathered there felt they had heard Saint Peter speaking through Leo. Pope Leo the Great died in 461.
