A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke 17:20-25
(Glory to you, O Lord!)
Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come,
Jesus said in reply,
“The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed,
and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’
For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.”
Then he said to his disciples,
“The days will come when you will long to see
one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.
There will be those who will say to you,
‘Look, there he is,’ or ‘Look, here he is.’
Do not go off, do not run in pursuit.
For just as lightning flashes
and lights up the sky from one side to the other,
so will the Son of Man be in his day.
But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation.”
The Gospel of the Lord (Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ!).
Reflection: The Kingdom of God is among us
Dear friends, in the last few days and weeks we hear from Jesus sharing in the Gospel readings on how the kingdom of God will be like, how we can be faithful followers of Jesus, as well as how we are sent out to gather everyone to the great banquet with God. Today we hear the Pharisees questioned Jesus about when the Kingdom of God will come. Jesus answered them by saying that the kingdom of God cannot be observed, and that the kingdom is actually among us, that a day will come when they will long for His return, and Jesus prophesied that He must first suffer greatly and be rejected by that generation. To what? To suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation?
A little backstory. Beginning with defeat and fall of the Northern kingdom of Israel to the Assyrians, and the later fall of the Southern kingdom of Judah to the Babylonian empire, there has been a great longing for the return of a new king, a successor from the line of King David. The people of Israel were waiting for the rise of an earthly king to liberate and lead the people against the Romans, and against all their enemies. Little did they know that they were standing in the midst of their king, and not just any king to rule all nations, but the king and creator of the whole universe. How disappointing it must have been to the ears of the disciples, Pharisees, and to all those who were listening for Jesus to say that a time is coming that they long to be with Him but they will not see Him, and that He must suffer greatly and be rejected by that generation.
Most of us dislike disappointment, to receive unwelcome news, specially if we have high expectations for something or someone. We hate to admit and know that we were mistaken. To realize that our expectations were not met, or not what we thought because of, because of assumptions that we made based on either our misunderstanding, bias, lack of knowledge, or even by a decision to believe unfounded gossip or hearsay shared as fact by someone, a friend, or a group of people with an agenda, without doing the proper research and discern to verify the truth.
Overall, we are fortunate that we have a creator who is very aware of all our weaknesses and limitations. Regardless of all our failures, we have a God who allows us to learn from our mistakes and to learn how to discern, to help us get back on our feet, to help us gain wisdom and humility so that we can then use for accompanying one another. Remember, “The kingdom of God is among us “, our Lord Jesus suffered greatly, died and was risen from dead to be our King in Heaven, here on earth and of all creation. God is with us here and now. He will be there to guide us on how we can choose to follow Jesus. Brothers and sisters! Allow the Holy Spirit of Jesus to guide us on how we can gather everyone to His kingdom.
Action for the Day:
In silent prayer, ask our Lord how we can best serve him through the people around us. There are those among us who may be grieving, may be in need of prayer, may need comfort or encouragement, may need a helping hand, or may just need someone to listen to them. Lord Jesus, we are your humble servants. Guide us on how we can share Your love and accompany one another, to share about your kingdom.
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