Marathon to the Kingdom

INTRODUCTION

Sisters and Brothers in Christ, the Eucharist is our daily nourishment in our sojourn towards the Kingdom. It sets our minds to the mind of God, our hearts to the heart of God, and our lives to the life of God in the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ. This is the very goal of the Kingdom of God about which Jesus talks about in our Gospel for today. To be less unworthy to partake of this celebration, let us call to mind our sins and be sorry for all of them.

HOMILY | Nehemiah 8:1-4a,5-6, 7b-12 | Luke 10:1-12

The Kingdom of God must not be delayed. The urgency of the Kingdom of God is our primary concern as religious, as clergy and as lay no less. Jesus did not give the exact date in order to fuel this urgency but the immediacy and the necessity of working for the Kingdom of God lies not only in the fact that the world will end any time soon, or God will be coming anytime soon.

While we acknowledge this essential aspect of our faith, that second coming is inevitable and is urgent, the immediacy of working for the Kingdom of God lies on the values it stands for. There is urgency because there are values to instil; there are minds and hearts to cultivate.

The values of the Kingdom are love, justice, peace, integrity of creation, social justice, unity, solidarity.

Forgiveness: Luke 17:1-4

The first quality that members of this new kingdom are to embrace is forgiveness. The basis for membership in the kingdom of God is reception of God’s unmerited forgiveness of our sins, accomplished by Christ’s death on the cross. As recipients of God’s forgiveness, Christians are to freely grant forgiveness to others.

Faith: Luke 17:5-6

Second, Christians are to live their lives by the dynamic of faith. The question is asked of Jesus how His followers can increase their faith. Jesus indicates it is not the amount of faith that is important, but it is Who that faith is in, as well as stepping out in obedience upon that faith.

Humility: Luke 17:7-10

In their positions of spiritual leadership, the Pharisees had become prideful. Christians in contrast are to be characterized by humility. Our salvation was a product of grace, and our lives are lived as an overflow and extension of that same grace. There is nothing we can do of spiritual value, and nothing we can become, without God’s empowerment. It is such a realization that leads the Christian to true humility, which is an accurate perception of what and who we really are. Such a perspective holds no place for pride.

Thankfulness: Luke 17:11-19 When the Israelites were set free from Egypt, rather then being thankful, their hearts reflexively grumbled, and they became discontent with the great provisions of God. This lack of thankfulness plagued them through their entire existence as a nation. Christians, as the new people of God, are to be a thankful people. People who never lose sight of all that God has done for them, and is doing for them. An ever-deepening understanding of God’s grace leads to profound and abiding thankfulness.

The values of the Kingdom in turn are the means towards the attainment of the primordial work of God through the Church, and that is Salvation.

The urgency, immediacy and the rush or the Marathon towards the Kingdom is all about the end which is salvation, and at the same time the process and manner with which it is attained.

We attain salvation by the striving and living of the values because they prefigure and they give us the foretaste of the divine life; the trinitarian life. We approach the end gracefully because of the process. We reached the goal with dignity guided by the values. In instilling these values, it’s not enough to teach them. Values are not taught, they are shown. It is essential that we show them; thus making us witnesses to the Kingdom.