Daily Reflections - January 28,2013

THE TRUTH OF THE KINGDOM IS TO MAKE THE KINGDOM TRUE   To say that St. Thomas Aquinas, whose feast we celebrate today,was an intellectual giant is an understatement. His vast works in almost all areas of theology and beyond is more than enough to fill a library. But more than an intellectual, he was a mystic. He wrote on theology not because he had to write to earn his keep. His works were the fruit of his rich interior life. This reminds me of what Archbishop Whatley once said: “Preach not because you have to say something but because you have something to say.” There are professional preachers — they have to say something, otherwise they will grow hungry as preaching is their livelihood. There are, however, de facto preachers. They preach because they have (read: they possess) something to say. They possess the treasure, the Pearl of Great Price. They cannot hold it in. Their lives simply proclaim it. When Jesus ordered Christians to “proclaim that the Kingdom of heaven has come near,” it was not simply an academic task of explaining the truth of the Kingdom, although it certainly contains an aspect of it. Rather, it is visibly making the Kingdom true in their lives. And what is that Kingdom? It is making the Apostles’ presence a living presence of God to others. And this is the best kind of evangelization we need nowadays. We can claim that we are all apt to partake of the same mission and be His Apostles. To be an apostle and sent into mission is simply to let the people acknowledge that God is really true, that He is loving, compassionate, forgiving, understanding, and that He is never far from those who call on Him. God does not require us to make ordinary things extraordinary to make His presence known. What He asks from us is only to make the extraordinary things ordinary in our own little ways every day. That way, we can be effective apostles or “proclaimers” in today’s time. You don’t even have to speak. Fr. Joel Jason   REFLECTION QUESTION: Think about this line: “What you do speaks so loud, I cannot hear what you are saying.” Is your “doing” aligned with your “saying”?   Lord Jesus, give us the grace to overcome selfish desires that block us from being more like You. Help us that, by our presence, others may see that Your Kingdom has really come near. Amen.