Daily Reflections- June 23, 2012

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

 

Today’s Gospel reminds us to seek first the kingdom of God and to trust that everything else, in its own time, will follow. What does this really mean?

For me, it is a call to know and act upon what is important in my life, and there is nothing more important than my relationship with God. It is my relationship with God that helps me to know where I should place my priorities in life. The Gospel clearly states that this is working towards the gift of eternal life. This makes a lot of sense as it is difficult to see how there could be anything more important than eternity. Sure, there are things in this life that can seem very important, and indeed are so, but even these must be sought within the context of eternal life.

It can be helpful to reflect on the lives of saints as they stand as models of integrity and faith. Perhaps St. Maximilian Kolbe is the best example of a saint that depicts the tension between the good things of this world and those of the next. He chooses to offer his life in place of another prisoner picked out for execution because the latter had a wife and children and had more to live for in this life than he, a priest, who had no other real responsibilities of this kind. The miracle is that not only did the other prisoner survive detention in the concentration camp — he was reunited with his family and lived long enough to be present at the beatification, as well as the canonization of Maximilian Kolbe.

Kolbe is an extraordinary response to the call to place our focus on the Kingdom of God over and above everything else in the world. He literally demonstrates and imitates the words of Jesus, that there is no greater love than for a person to lay down one’s life for another (John 15). Kolbe had made the decision that the most important value for him was his relationship with God, and hence, the promise of eternity with God in heaven. Everything else, including life here on earth, paled in significance to this promise. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: How strongly do you allow the promise of eternal life to be the guide of the choices you make in this life?

 

Holy Spirit, help me to believe and trust in the promises of God. Help me to build my life and the choices I make within the context of these promises.