Good News Reflection
Wednesday of the 33rd Week of Ordinary Time
November 17, 2010
Today's Saint: Elizabeth of Hungary
Pray for the salvation of all rich persons:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/ElizabethHungary.htm
Today's Readings:
Rev 4:1-11
Ps 150:1b-6
Luke 19:11-28
http://www.usccb.org/nab/111710.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_11_17.mp3
Investing in the kingdom
As we approach Advent, the Church focuses us on Christ's kingship, because Jesus was born among us to open up for us the KINGdom of God. The parable in today's Gospel reading, about a victorious king, gives us a glimpse into the mind of Jesus.
As he headed for Jerusalem, he knew he would suffer. He knew he faced a tremendously horrific battle in order to win victory over the devils who want to hold shut the kingdom's door and keep us out: "Now as for those enemies of mine who did not want me as their king, bring them here and slay them before me."
In our daily temptations, we fight demons who don't want Jesus to be our king, but guess what, Jesus has already been crowned! Despair and worry are merely an attempt to make us forget that Christ is already the Victor King. Hope and joy come from remembering that we are already members of his kingdom, safe and secure in the power of his presence.
We are princes and princesses of this kingdom. We have received an inheritance of many gifts – time, talents and treasures – which our King has asked us to invest for the sake of increasing the profits of his kingdom. Are you investing your gifts wisely? Are you hiding anything? Are you holding tightly onto any treasure so as not to lose it?
Notice that the only person in this parable who lost what he'd been given was the one who tried to protect it. When we invest nothing, when we do only the mediocre or the bare minimum, nothing grows. We are useless. Worse than that, we're wicked. It's wicked to do nothing for the kingdom when so much needs to be done! Evil flourishes when we keep the gifts of God hidden, using them only for ourselves.
Okay, but why does the King give more to the one who already has much? Isn't the person who starts out with less in greater need of God's generosity? Yes, but we are not the only investors here. God is investing in YOU. Are you a good investment? Do you have a good history of using well what he has given you? Have you proven yourself worthy of receiving more by giving more?
In the economy of God's kingdom, there is no such thing as a failed investment. Nothing is wasted unless nothing is done. Even if we make poor choices, the benefit is greater than doing nothing, because Jesus will make good come out of everything if we let him be our King.
When we do our best, even if it's not great, we become better. We don't become a top investor overnight. But if we truly desire to excel in the use of our gifts and talents for the sake of the kingdom, God invests his time in our "invest-ability". He puts his resources where it can increase and spread.
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
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The Kingdom of GOD is the Catholic Church!
ReplyDeleteWhy did Jesus Christ become Incarnate in the first place? Was it to leave us with a book, or to establish a Church? Well, in this verse He told us one of the reasons why:
"But He said to them, "To the other towns also I must PROCLAIM THE KINGDOM OF GOD, FOR THIS IS WHY I HAVE BEEN SENT"." (Luke 4:43)
"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." (Luke 19:10)
And how are we, who are the lost ones, to be saved? It is through the Church which He founded.
"Therefore, if you harken to My voice and keep My covenant, you shall be My special possession, dearer to Me than all other people, though all the earth is mine. YOU SHALL BECOME A KINGDOM OF PRIESTS, A HOLY NATION." (Exodus) 19:5-6
"You, however, are a chosen race, A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PURCHASED PEOPLE; that you may proclaim the perfections of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." (1Peter 2:9)
The Kingdom of GOD will last forever:
"And when your days shall be fulfilled and you shall sleep with your fathers, I will raise up your seed after you, which shall proceed out of your bowels, and I WILL ESTABLISH HIS KINGDOM. HE SHALL BUILD A HOUSE TO MY NAME, AND I WILL ESTABLISH THE THRONE OF HIS KINGDOM FOREVER...AND YOUR HOUSE SHALL BE FAITHFUL, AND YOUR KINGDOM FOREVER BEFORE YOUR FACE AND YOUR THRONE SHALL BE FIRM FOREVER." (2Samuel 7:13, 16)
"And among my sons (for the Lord has given me many sons) he has chosen Solomon my son, to sit upon the THRONE OF THE KINGDOM OF THE LORD OVER ISRAEL. And He said to me: Solomon My son SHALL BUILD MY HOUSE AND MY COURTS, FOR I HAVE CHOSEN HIM TO BE MY SON, AND I WILL BE A FATHER TO HIM." (1Chronicles 28:5-6)
And He said, "To what shall we liken the Kingdom of GOD; or to what parable shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown upon the earth, is the smallest of all seeds upon the earth; yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than any herb, and puts out great branches, so that the birds of the air can dwell beneath its shade." (Mark 4:30-32. See also, Mark 4:26-29.)
This is a clear analogy of the Church which Jesus Christ founded.
"Amen I say to you, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death, till they have seen the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom." (Matthew 16:280)
Obviously all of those He spoke to died, so His Kingdom had to be that of His Church on earth.
"But woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because YOU SHUT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN AGAINST MEN. FOR YOU YOURSELVES DO NOT GO IN, NOR DO YOU ALLOW THOSE GOING IN TO ENTER." (Matthew 23:13)
Did the Scribes and Pharisees have any control over a heavenly kingdom? It had to be earthly.
"And I appoint to you a Kingdom even as My Father has appointed to Me." (Luke 22:29)
Jesus passed His Kingdom to His Apostles.
"Then comes the end, when He delivers the Kingdom to GOD the Father, when He does away with all sovereignty, authority and power."
(1Corinthians 15:24)
The Church is the "Kingdom which cannot be shaken", (Hebrews 12:28)
"But in the days of those kingdoms the GOD of heaven will set up a Kingdom THAT SHALL NEVER BE DESTROYED, and His Kingdom SHALL NOT BE DELIVERED UP TO ANOTHER PEOPLE; AND IT SHALL BREAK IN PIECES, AND SHALL CONSUME ALL THESE KINGDOMS, AND ITSELF SHALL STAND FOREVER."
(Daniel 2:44)
Saint Paul had fellow workers who were members of the Kingdom of GOD, (Colossians 4:11)