Contemplating today's Gospel
Today's Gospel + homily (in 300 words)
And she, who is one, can do all things, and renews everything while herself perduring; and passing into holy souls from age to age, she produces friends of God and prophets. For there is nought God loves, be it not one who dwells with Wisdom. For she is fairer than the sun and surpasses every constellation of the stars. Compared to light, she takes precedence; for that, indeed, night supplants, but wickedness prevails not over Wisdom. Indeed, she reaches from end to end mightily and governs all things well.
Through all generations your truth endures; you have established the earth, and it stands firm.
According to your ordinances they still stand firm: all things serve you.
The revelation of your words sheds light, giving understanding to the simple.
Let your countenance shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes.
Let my soul live to praise you, and may your ordinances help me.
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 kingdom of God is among you"
Fr. Josep Mª MASSANA i Mola OFM (Barcelona, Spain)Today, the Pharisees ask Jesus, with a mixture of interest, curiosity, fear... something that has always been of interest for all of us: When will the Kingdom of God come? When will the last day be, the end of the world, the return of Christ to judge the living and the dead at the Last Judgment?
Jesus says that it is unpredictable. The only thing we know is that it will come suddenly, without warning: it will be “as lightning flashes” (Lk 17:24), a sudden event, full of light and glory. As for the circumstances, Jesus’ Second Advent remains a mystery. However, He gives us a true and reliable clue: “the Kingdom of God is among you” (Lk 17:21). Or: “inside you.”
The great event of the last day will be a universal reality, but it also takes place within the small microcosm of each one’s heart. It is there that we must seek the Kingdom. Heaven is within us, where we are called to find Jesus.
This Kingdom, which will one day come unpredictably “outside,” can already begin “inside” us now. The final day is already taking shape within each of us. If we wish to enter the Kingdom on the last day, we must welcome the Kingdom within us today. If we want Jesus to be our merciful judge on that definitive day, we must invite Him now as our friend and inner guest.
Saint Bernard, in an Advent sermon, speaks of the three comings of Jesus. The first coming was when He became man; the last will be when He comes as judge. There is also an intermediate advent, which takes place now in the heart of each person. It is here that the first and last comings become present, personally and experientially. The sentence Jesus will pronounce on the Day of Judgment will be the one that already echoes in our hearts. What is yet to come is already a present reality.
Thoughts on Today's Gospel
“When the day was already declining towards its sunset, the Lord delivered, on the cross, the soul that he would later recover, because he did not lose it against his will. We were also represented there!” (San Agustin)
“Even suffering, the daily cross of life —the cross of work, of the family, of carrying out things well— this small daily cross is part of the Kingdom of God” (Francis)
"In the Eucharist… as distinct from the prayers of the old covenant, rely on the mystery of salvation already accomplished, once for all, in Christ crucified and risen." (Catechism of the Church Catholic, no. 2,771)
