THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN OUR MIDST
God’s Kingdom is undoubtedly the greatest treasure ever. It invites search, exploration and discovery. But where can we find it? Not in faraway lands or
beyond the deep blue sea. No need to look far, in fact. The Kingdom of
God may very well be found right in front of our noses, right in our
midst, right smack within us.
What our Lord stated in today’s Gospel is very true: “You cannot tell
by careful watching when the reign of God will come. Neither is it a
matter of reporting that it is ‘here’ or ‘there.’”
On the other hand, our First Reading is a beautiful attempt to “pin
down” something which would otherwise be nebulous and elusive. This is
no other than divine wisdom. Here it is personified, with various characteristics which
render it tangible and distinct. The passage concludes, “Indeed, she
reaches from end to end mightily and governs all things well.”
Just like the reign of God, it also reaches from end to end mightily —
for it is not bound by geographical considerations. It governs all
things well, for it is not subject to whims or false assertions.
Truly we need not “go running about excitedly.” Jesus states that He will
be “like the lightning that flashes from one end of the sky to the
other.” But lest we be misled to think that He will be a flashy Messiah,
He strips down our wrong notions with a drastic reality check: “First, however, he must suffer much and be rejected by the present age.”
That is precisely why the reign of God escapes any categorization, why it is difficult to pin down. It works on an entirely different plane. Suffering and
rejection are among the things which befall and await both its king and
its subjects — these, certainly, are not the typical trappings of
royalty and power. If we, too, only learn to embrace such suffering and
rejection (after the example of Jesus, our Lord and Master), then indeed
the reign of God is already in our midst. Fr. Martin Macasaet, SDB
REFLECTION QUESTION: How do you handle suffering and rejection in your life?
Lord Jesus, grant me strength to endure all the sufferings that will come my way.
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