Building the Kingdom of God

Today's Gospel, Mark 4: 26-34, speaks about the Kingdom of God and that such is "as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and through it all the seed would sprout and grow,  he knows not how."   God's Kingdom "sprouts and grow[s]", day by day, night by night! How? By our loving and forgiving one another! By our honesty with one another. By our mercy! By our caring about one another, seeing other people's affliction,  hearing their cries for food, water, clothes; hearing other peoples' cries for justice and truthful living. We sow seeds of the Kingdom of God by, not just knowing what other people are going through but getting out of ourselves to do something that will enhance the life of a person in need. We see God's Kingdom sprouting, blossoming, growing as we witness husband and wife, a grandmother and a grandfather,  loving one another and pouring out that love in self-sacrifice for their children and grandchildren. We see this Kingdom growing by those who give us medical, dental, physical and emotional help; by those in public service who act justly, love tenderly, and walk humbly with their God (See Micah 6:8) as they provide honest and just service to others.

In what ways am I contributing to the growth of God's Kingdom: Am I sowing seeds of love and justice, mercy, truth, and forgiveness? Or am I living a life of lies, holding grudges, living a narcissistic life, a life of revenge, a  lustful life, a life lacking justice, a life without mercy or love?

God's Restorative and Reconciling Presence in our World

In today’s first reading, Nahum 2: 1, 3; 3:1, 6-7, the prophet  vividly describes the horror that descended upon the Israelites through their enemies.   “Woe to the bloody city, all lies, full of plunder, whose looting never stops! The crack of the whip, the rumbling sounds of the wheels; horses a-gallop, chariots bounding, cavalry charging, the flame of the sword, the flash of the spear, the many slain, the heaping corpses, the endless bodies to stumble upon!....”  Sounds like recent descriptions in our evening news: bodies piling up in Palestine, in Syria, in the Ukraine, in our city streets; children abandoned at our borders, persons dying of Ebola and other diseases, Christians driven out into deserts  left to die by Iraqis.  Many times, we wait to hear what the Israelites heard from Nahum when God delivered them from the violence and destructive forces of their enemies: “Celebrate your feast, O Judah, fulfill your vows! For nevermore shall you be invaded by the scoundrel; he is completely destroyed. The Lord will restore the vine of Jacob, the pride of Israel, though ravagers have ravaged them and ruined the tendrils [vines].”   
 
All of us, obedient to God’s laws,  striving for justice, loving tenderly, and walking humbly with God (Micah 6:8), will experience God’s restorative powers, the reconciling love that unites us with our compassionate, loving, merciful God. Already, we have been made one with the Father through Jesus’ death and resurrection.  As we journey through this “vale of tears” there are times when we experience this union, especially when we receive the Eucharist or are Eucharistic people to others, giving of ourselves in love in our own brokenness to bring healing to others, to comfort those in pain. We will also know the fullness of being one with our Creator when we pass through the doors of our suffering and death and enter into eternal life, as did Jesus in His resurrection from the dead.
 
Praise and thanks to our God!