Daily Thoughts: “The Kingdom of God is among you.” These are
Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel (Luke 17:20-25). What do they mean?
On the one hand Jesus could be talking about himself. He is
the Kingdom of God at that moment. The religious leaders are looking around for
God and signs of God yet God is in their midst. The Kingdom of God is among
them and they are missing it!
Another way of looking at Jesus’ words is that Jesus does
not say that the Kingdom of God is in us or above us or around us; Jesus says
the Kingdom is among us. Perhaps Jesus is saying that none of us alone
possesses the Kingdom of God. Each of us shares in the Kingdom, thus we need
each other for the Kingdom to be fully appreciated.
With this in these two understandings of Jesus’ words today
our challenge is to be on the lookout for marks of the Kingdom. We need to be
on the lookout for the presence of Jesus in our life. And what will help us not
miss the marks of the Kingdom and the presence of Jesus? Well as the first
reading tells us (Wisdom 7:22b-8:1) the gift of the spirit of wisdom and
remember wisdom produces friends of God!
Have a wise and wonderful Thursday everyone!
Daily Prayer: O God of all wisdom, hear our prayer today, as we
call upon your spirit of wisdom, and grace us with your spirit of wisdom so
that we may know and understand what things we ought to do and say. Touch us
with your presence so that we may have grace and power to faithfully accomplish
all that is put in front of us today. We make our prayer through Jesus Christ
our loving Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,
now and forever. Amen.
A Runner’s Thoughts: “I run because it's so symbolic of life.
You have to drive yourself to overcome the obstacles. You might feel that you
can't. But then you find your inner strength, and realize you're capable of so
much more than you thought.” (Arthur Blank) So to in the spiritual life…
Daily Blessings: Thursday greetings and blessings to all! I
hope your day has started off well? If not just remember you are in my prayers
throughout the day in the hope by the end of this day you will have encounter
the presence of God that will make all the difference.
It looks like another cloudy rainy day here in Pelham. I get
the sense that we are not far from winter as there is a coolness to the air,
most of the colors are gone and there are more cloudy gray days than not. Yes
winter is not far away at least according to the Fr. Paul Seasons Meter!
My prayer of blessing for all us today is – Loving God,
giver of all good gifts, bless us today with hearts that love you, so that by
deepening our sense of respect and reverence for you we may nurture within
ourselves and others only what is good. Bless us with your watchful care
throughout this day so that wherever we go and whatever we do it will be for
you. Bring us home safe to those we love that we might celebrate the gift of
family, of friendship, of community, of your love so that our sleep will be
restful and we will be energized to welcome you tomorrow! Blessings upon
everyone as you journey through this day! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul
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