32nd Sunday Homily - Wise People fueled by the Love of God.

When we hear these parables about the Kingdom of God, especially those that end with the king or groom coming back at the end and some are left out, killed or punished and other are rewarded….when we hear these do we think of the end of the world, or death and heaven?
If so, not exactly wrong, BUT not quite correct either.
A deeper understanding of them brings us closer to experience the salvation of Jesus Christ.
Key to remember is that Jesus says the Kingdom of God is LIKE...he is making an analogy.  And analogies need to be explored and contemplated.
One of our virtues as Catholics is that we maintain all of scripture in mind when we read it; we just don’t isolate one verse and interpret it in isolation from the rest of the text.
So we remember Jesus said the Kingdom of God is at hand!  Meaning it can be here…
And what Jesus said in John 10:10...He came so that we may have life in the full.
See, the Kingdom of God is about experiencing life, as God lives, in the full.  Not simply in heaven after we die, but that it can be lived and experienced in the here and now.
This is Salvation!
Let’s me repeat that...the Kingdom of God is about NOW!
It is about Life and how we live life.
And as God revealed in Scripture and Jesus revealed in his life, death and resurrection, Life is about love.
This is the meaning of the Eucharist.
Eucharist, the whole mass, is the visible sign of the invisible reality that...
Life is about living for and with others.
Life is about experiencing other’s goodness and our own goodness.
Loving and letting ourselves be loved, including God, is living life to the full.
The Wise person understand this, and has this at the core of their being.
The wise person experiences God’s love and God life!

It sustains them.  It fuels them as they go through life.
It keeps them alert to those moments when Love comes and love is needed.
This opens us to the fullness of life, of being open to seeing the good in others, and letting others see the good in us.
This creates unity.  This creates peace.  This creates harmony.
I have met such wise persons.
Always ready to help, to support, to share.
Generous, merciful, kind, humble
Never looking to gain anything.
I have met husbands and wives who work so hard to be with their families, and still work so hard to provide.
Friends helping one another, and forgiving one another when it was needed.
And when there were problems in life, they progressed forward and were strong!

These persons full of love created unity.
They found joy.
And the fools, well known plenty of them too, including myself.
More interested in their own desires, always angry at the world, greedy
Using others, never considering others.
The results, very little joy in their lives.
Superficial marriages, superficial friendships, superficial lives.
Very little joy, a lot of division and loneliness.
This is not the life that Jesus desires for any of us.
Which brings us back to church.
We need to be those refueling stations.
Church, I hope, is not simply a building, but a community in which we come and participate in God’s love for us, in Word, Sacrament and Prayer.
A community in which love thrives and is practiced among all.
A community through which all can come and pray, give thanks, cry, be held and hold one another;
A community sought out by all those in need; the hurt and wounded;
the lonely and dejected.
A Community of true wisdom, in the here and now.

A wise people in which the Kingdom of God is thriving.

Comments

  1. rosalNovember 12, 2017 at 4:32 PM

    I had to read after listening it. It is just beautiful! You are an inspiration to all those that listen to your words, I am sure people get healed and refreshed at your masses. I wish you had your own church, most likely it would be packed every Sunday. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete

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