Kingdom and Holy One are present

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today illuminate the immanence of God that is experienced as we attend to our lives in the present.


The Prophet Hosea speaks of God drawing the northern kingdom to Him through love that is likened to that of a parent for a child.

* [11:4] I drew them…with bands of love: perhaps a reversal of the yoke imagery of the previous chapter, i.e., not forcing them like draft animals, but drawing them with kindness and affection.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus sends the disciples as witnesses to life in the Kingdom of God.

* [10:8–11] The Twelve have received their own call and mission through God’s gift, and the benefits they confer are likewise to be given freely. They are not to take with them money, provisions, or unnecessary clothing; their lodging and food will be provided by those who receive them.

Maureen McCann Waldron quotes Jesuit priest Greg Boyle, S.J. who writes that “Paradise is not a place that awaits our arrival, but a present we arrive at.  A place, in fact, we are already in. How many chances a day are we given to recognize this – an opportunity to practice sacred presence?”

We have what we need to be in the Kingdom, except an awareness of that.  It takes practice to be aware. Each morning we can ask Jesus for the focus and open heart to really encounter each person we come across.  In the smallest interaction, we can look into the eyes of the person we are with, as we really see the person, the life before us, recognizing the person before us is as beloved by God as deeply as we are beloved. That is when miracles can begin.  Healing of the sick, might mean reaching out to someone we are angry with or who annoys us. It might mean healing of our impatience with others. Our mindful love for others might cleanse the lepers of judgement and drive out demons of anger.

Don Schwager offers a prayer that we might be witnesses to the Kingdom.

“Lord Jesus, may the joy and truth of the Gospel transform my life that I may witness it to those around me. Grant that I may spread your truth and your light wherever I go.”

The Word Among Us meditation on Hosea 11:1-4, 8-9 notes that St. John and Hosea wanted people to experience the mercy of God, not just hear about it. The author quotes Pope Francis.

“It is not easy to entrust oneself to God’s mercy, because it is an abyss beyond comprehension. But we must! ‘Oh, Father, if you knew my life, you would not say that to me!’ Why, what have you done? ‘Oh, I am a great sinner!’ All the better! Go to Jesus: he likes you to tell him these things. . . . He forgets, he kisses you, he embraces you, and he simply says to you, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.’ That is the only advice he gives you.”

Friar Jude Winkler comments that God is a loving parent to the northern kingdom of Israel and not a judge. He notes we cannot force people to believe when we preach but those who consciously choose not to accept the message choose to live outside the love, a foretaste of hell. The mandate to the disciples is to show the Kingdom of God is at hand, that is, God’s Law on the earth.

In an article for Sojourners Richard Rohr notes that political movements or leaders today that promote fear, hate, and bigotry are only able to rise because all of these things were first in the hearts of people.

If you walk around with hatred all day, morally you’re just as much a killer as the one who pulls out the gun. We can’t live that way and not be destroyed. Yet, for some reason, many Christians have thought they could think and feel hatred, negativity, and fear. The evil and genocide of World War II was the final result of decades of negative and paranoid thinking among good German Christians. The tragic fascism of Nazi Germany was fomenting in people’s hearts long before a political leader came to catalyze their hate and resentment.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, reminds us that in his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus directly says that our inner attitudes and states are the real sources of our problems, preceding our outward behaviors.

Jesus insists that we love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). For Jesus, prayer seems to be a matter of waiting in love, returning to love, trusting that love is the unceasing stream of reality. Prayer isn’t primarily words; it’s an attitude, a stance, a state that precedes “saying” any individual prayers. That’s why Paul could say, “Pray unceasingly” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). If we think of prayer as requiring words, it is surely impossible to pray always. Whatever we do in conscious, loving union with the Reality right in front of us is prayer. As Leonard Cohen sang, we have had far too much of “killers in high places [who] say their prayers out loud.” [1] You know this is true.

Our mandate may be to understand as Leonard Cohen shares “The crack in everything is how the light gets in” and be that light to others.

References

(n.d.). Hosea, chapter 11 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved July 12, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/hosea/11

(n.d.). Matthew, chapter 10 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved July 12, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/10

(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved July 12, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html

(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved July 12, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/

(n.d.). Saint Benedict, Abbot (Memorial) - Mass Readings and Catholic Daily .... Retrieved July 12, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/

(2016, June 1). 'Radical' Politics? | Sojourners. Retrieved July 12, 2018, from https://sojo.net/articles/radical-politics

(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archives - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved July 12, 2018, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/