MATTHEW 10:26-33
THE EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS IN QUEBEC CITY IS ENDING THIS WEEKEND. FATHER REILLY AND OUR BISHOP, AND 66 OTHER PEOPLE FROM OUR DIOCESE ARE THERE. THE CONGRESS WAS PRIVILEGED TO HEAR AN ADDRESS FROM ELIZABETH NGUYEN THI THU HONG, THE YOUNGEST SISTER OF CARDINAL FRANCIS XAVIER NGUYEN VAN THUAN, WHO DIED IN 2002, AND IS A CANDIDATE FOR BEATIFICATION. HE WAS APPOINTED BISHOP OF HO CHI MIN CITY IN VIET NAM SHORTLY BEFORE THE COMMUNISTS TOOK OVER. HE WAS IMPRISONED FOR NINE YEARS, SIX OF WHICH WERE IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT. HE WAS ALLOWED TO CORRESPOND WITH SOME OF HIS FRIENDS, AND REQUESTED THAT THEY SEND HIM SOME MEDICINE FOR HIS STOMACH, THE KIND HE TOOK EVERY MORNING. THEY SENT HIM WINE IN A BOTTLE LABELED “STOMACH MEDICINE” AND FRAGMENTS OF EUCHARISTIC BREAD. WHILE IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, HE WOULD SAY MASS EVERY DAY WITH THESE ELEMENTS. WHEN HE WAS RELEASED TO THE GENERAL PRISON POPULATION, HE GATHERED TOGETHER CATHOLIC PRISONERS AND WOULD SAY MASS FOR THEM IN SECRET, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT; AND HE CONTINUED TO MINISTER NOT ONLY TO CATHOLICS, BUT TO ANY PRISONER WHO NEEDED HIM. DURING ALL THIS TIME, HE CORRESPONDED WITH HIS FRIENDS AND FAMILY, AND THE GENERAL TONE OF HIS WRITINGS WERE THAT HE WAS NOT AFRAID, HE WAS CONTENT, HE WAS IN FACT HAPPY, BECAUSE OF THE CONSTANT COMPANIONSHIP OF JESUS. WHEN HE WAS RELEASED AND EXILED FROM VIET NAM, HE BECAME THE PREFECT IN CHARGE OF THE JUSTICE AND PEACE COMMISSION IN THE VATICAN, A JOB HE HELD UNTIL HE DIED.
CARDINAL VAN THUAN TOOK JESUS' TEACHING LITERALLY; “DO NOT LET MEN INTIMIDATE YOU; WHAT I TELL YOU IN DARKNESS, SPEAK IN THE LIGHT; DON'T FEAR THOSE WHO CAN DESTROY THE BODY; IF YOU ACKNOWLEDGE ME BEFORE MEN, I WILL ACKNOWLEDGE YOU BEFORE MY FATHER IN HEAVEN.
HAVE YOU AND I IDENTIFIED OUR FEARS? WE ALL HAVE THEM. I FEAR GROWING OLD, AND LOSING MY STRENGTH, MY MENTAL AND PHYSICAL ABILITIES. I FEAR WHETHER I WILL HAVE ENOUGH TO HAVE A COMFORTABLE RETIREMENT. I FEAR WHETHER OUR COUNTRY IS GOING TO LAST, OR WHETHER, AS IT SEEMS MORE AND MORE LIKELY, IT IS GOING TO IMPLODE AS WE CAN'T AFFORD ENERGY, AS THE GAP BETWEEN RICH AND POOR INCREASES, AS VIOLENCE BECOMES PART OF OUR DAILY LIVES. I COULD MAKE ALONG LIST OF MY FEARS, WHICH I MOSTLY TRY TO IGNORE, BUT EVERY NOW AND THEN ONE OF THEM WILL SURFACE LIKE A GHOST IN A HAUNTED HOUSE, AND REMIND ME HOW FRAGILE EVERYTHING IS.
BUT FEAR IS NOT CHRISTIAN. JESUS TELLS US, HE COMMANDS US, NOT TO FEAR, NOT TO BE INTIMIDATED. AND HE TELLS US HOW. HE SAYS, MAKE IT YOUR BUSINESS TO PROCLAIM WHAT HE HAS REVEALED TO YOU. BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN CREATED FOR, TO PROCLAIM THE GOOD NEWS, WITH YOUR WORDS, WITH YOUR LIFE. THE GOOD NEWS WILL BE PROCLAIMED, WHETHER YOU DO IT OR NOT. BUT IF YOU DO IT, YOU ARE ACKNOWLEDGING JESUS BEFORE MEN, AND JESUS PROMISES THAT THIS WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN. HE ASSURES US THAT NO POWER EXCEPT THE FATHER CAN AFFECT US WHERE WE REALLY LIVE, IN THAT PART OF OUR BEING WE CALL OUR SOUL. AND HE REMINDS US THAT THE FATHER LOOKS AT EACH ONE OF US WITH GREAT LOVE, AND CARES ABOUT EVERY HAIR ON OUR HEADS, EVERYTHING ABOUT US, GOOD AND NOT SO GOOD. IN ANOTHER PART OF SCRIPTURE, IT SAYS THAT THE FATHER TAKES DELIGHT IN US.
AND FEAR IS WHAT KEEPS US FROM DOING WHAT JESUS ASKS. CAN YOU THINK OF ANY TIME DURING THE PAST WEEK WHEN YOU FAILED TO PROCLAIM WHAT YOU'VE BEEN TAUGHT? WHEN YOU FAILED TO ACKNOWLEDGE JESUS BEFORE MEN? I CAN. THIS LAST WEEK, I'VE HURT A FEW FEELINGS – VERY UNCHRISTIAN; I HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK UP WHEN SOMEONE MADE AN IGNORANT REMARK ABOUT CHRISTIANITY, BUT IT DIDN'T SEEM LIKE THE RIGHT TIME OR PLACE. I COULD TELL THAT ONE OF MY CO-WORKERS WAS TROUBLED, BUT I DIDN'T WANT TO GET INVOLVED, SO I ACTED AS THOUGH I WASN'T AWARE OF HER PROBLEM. I AM SURE THAT IF YOU LOOK AT YOUR WEEK, YOU COULD THINK OF TIMES WHEN YOU FAILED TO PROCLAIM WHAT YOU'VE BEEN TAUGHT AS WELL.
JESUS CAME INTO THE WORLD AND DESIGNATED HIS APOSTLES TO BEGIN THE GREAT WORK OF BRINGING ABOUT HIS KINGDOM. THE KINGDOM WILL COME, THAT IS A PROMISE. AND IT WILL COME BECAUSE OF THE WORK OF THE APOSTLES, OF THE SAINTS, OF YOU AND I. THE KINGDOM, IN FACT, IS WHAT HUMAN BEINGS ARE FOR – AND IT IS FOR US HUMAN BEINGS. THE KINGDOM IS PEACE, AND JUSTICE, AND SUFFICIENT RESOURCES FOR ALL, SO THAT EVERY PERSON CAN REALIZE ALL OF HIS OR HER HUMAN POTENTIAL. BUT PERHAPS THE CHIEF CHARACTERISTIC OF THE KINGDOM IS THAT THOSE WHO ARE IN IT WILL HAVE NO FEAR BECAUSE THE WORDS JESUS SPEAKS TODAY WILL BE PART OF THEIR MAKE-UP; THEY WILL BE MUCH MORE THAN WORDS, THEY WILL BE AT THE CORE OF OUR LIVES. AND THE MOST AMAZING THING IS THAT WE CAN ENTER THAT KINGDOM NOW, EVEN IF NO ONE ELSE DOES.
SO WHAT ARE YOUR FEARS? HOW HAVE YOU FAILED TO PROCLAIM WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN TAUGHT? HOW HAVE YOU FAILED TO ACKNOWLEDGE JESUS BEFORE MEN? AND FINALLY, AS YOU THINK ABOUT THE KINGDOM, DO YOU FIND YOURSELF HUNGERING AND THIRSTING FOR IT? BECAUSE THAT IS THE BEGINNING – TO IMAGINE THE WORLD THAT COULD BE, THAT SHOULD BE, THE WORLD WHERE JESUS IS KING AND THERE IS NOTHING HIDDEN, AND THERE IS NO FEAR.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A
MATTHEW 9:36-10:8
WHEN I WAS ABOUT 10, SOME OF MY CLASSMATES TOOK PRIDE IN PETTY THEFT. THEY WOULD GO INTO A STORE AND STEAL SMALL OBJECTS-- MINIATURE SQUIRT GUNS BEING ONE PRIZED ITEM. AT FIRST I JUST WATCHED MY FRIENDS WITH ENVY, BUT FINALLY GOT ENOUGH NERVE TO STEAL MY FIRST SQUIRT GUN. I GOT AWAY WITH IT! A COUPLE MORE PETTY THEFTS FOLLOWED; I CAPTURED A HERSHEY BAR, A COUPLE OF ROLLS OF LIFE SAVERS, A PEN. ONE EVENING MY DAD, MY SISTER AND I WERE VISITING MY GRANDMOTHER AND GRANDFATHER. GETTING BORED WITH GROWN UP TALK, SHE AND I ASKED TO BE ALLOWED TO GO TO THE LITTLE CORNER STORE. AS USUAL, SHE WENT OVER TO THE CANDY COUNTER AND LOOKED AT CANDY, WHILE I STUDIED THE COMIC BOOKS. IT OCCURRED TO ME THAT SINCE I WAS AN ACCOMPLISHED THIEF, I SHOULD HAVE NO PROBLEM IN STUFFING A FEW OF MY FAVORITE COMIC BOOKS UNDER MY JACKET. I DID. AS WE WALKED OUT THE DOOR, I FELT A HAND GRAB MY SHOULDER. I WAS BUSTED! I HAD VISIONS OF GOING TO JAIL, OF ENDING UP IN REFORM SCHOOL, OF A LIFE RUINED. MY SISTER WAS CRYING. I MAY HAVE BEEN AS WELL. THE STORE OWNER KEPT ASKING ME MY NAME, AND WHEN I BLUBBERED IT OUT, HE ASKED ME HOW HE COULD GET IN TOUCH WITH MY PARENTS. I GAVE HIM MY GRANDMOTHER'S NUMBER. OVER THE NEXT FEW MINUTES, SEVERAL PAINFUL HOURS WENT BY, AND THEN MY DAD SHOWED UP. THE STORE OWNER WAS ANGRY, AND HE LET MY FATHER KNOW HOW UPSET HE WAS THAT KIDS WERE TAKING THINGS FROM HIS STORE, AND HE COULDN'T JUST BLAME THE KIDS, IT WAS THEIR PARENTS FAULT AS WELL. MY FATHER STOOD THERE AND DIDN'T SAY A WORD. WHEN THE MAN FINISHED, MY DAD APOLOGIZED ON MY BEHALF, AND SINCE NOTHING HAD ACTUALLY BEEN STOLEN, I WAS ALLOWED TO GO. MY FATHER WAS VERY QUIET. I KNEW I WOULD BE GROUNDED, I KNEW I WOULD BE PUNISHED, AND MOST OF ALL, I KNEW THAT WHEN MY MOTHER FOUND OUT, I WOULD REALLY BE IN TROUBLE. AND THEN HE SPOKE. “I'M DISAPPOINTED,” HE SAID. “I THOUGHT YOU NEW BETTER.” I TOLD HIM THAT I DID, AND I PROMISED THAT I'D NEVER STEAL ANYTHING AGAIN. AND I NEVER DID, NOT BECAUSE I WAS AFRAID OF GETTING CAUGHT, BUT BECAUSE I NEVER WANTED TO DISAPPOINT MY FATHER LIKE THAT AGAIN. MY FATHER DIDN'T PUNISH ME, DIDN'T GROUND ME, DIDN'T EVEN TELL MY MOTHER. IN FACT, HE NEVER MENTIONED IT AGAIN. IT WAS AS THOUGH HE FORGOT ALL ABOUT IT.
I LEARNED SOME THINGS THAT DAY. I WITNESSED MY FATHER BEING HUMILIATED IN MY PLACE; I LEARNED THAT HE LOVED ME AND FORGAVE ME COMPLETELY; AND I HAD A SENSE AT TEN YEARS OLD THAT MY FATHER WOULD BE THERE TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT WHEN I WENT WRONG.
THAT IS WHAT ST. PAUL IS TALKING ABOUT; IT IS PRECISELY IN THIS THAT GOD PROVES HIS LOVE FOR US; WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US. AND IN THE GOSPEL, JESUS DEMONSTRATES THIS; HE IS MOVED WITH PITY FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE LEADERLESS, WHO SEEM TO HAVE NO DIRECTION, NO PURPOSE. HE GIVES HIS APOSTLES A SHARE IN HIS POWER, AND SENDS THEM OUT TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND.
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. WHAT JESUS WANTS EVERYONE TO KNOW IS THAT WE HAVE A FATHER WHO LOVES US, WHO IS THERE WITH US, SHARING OUR JOYS AND OUR PAINS, A FATHER WHO IN THE PERSON OF HIS SON TAKES ON HIMSELF WHAT WE DESERVE FOR DISOBEYING HIM, FOR OFFENDING HIM; A FATHER WHO GUARANTEES THAT NO MATTER HOW THINGS LOOK NOW, ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER TO FULFILL HIS PURPOSE.
IN ANOTHER PART OF THE GOSPEL, YOU REMEMBER WHEN JOHN THE BAPTIST SENDS HIS DISCIPLES TO ASK JESUS IF HE IS THE ONE WHO IS TO COME, THE ONE WHO IS TO USHER IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD; AND HE REPLIES, GO TELL JOHN WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN, THE LAME WALK, THE BLIND SEE, THE POOR HAVE THE GOOD NEWS PREACHED TO THEM. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS THERE WHEN WE DO THE WORKS OF JESUS, WHEN WE LIVE AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT SOMEONE TO LIVE WHO HAS SO WONDERFUL, SO GREAT A FATHER.
WHEN ONE OF MY DAUGHTERS WAS ABOUT TEN, I GOT A CALL FROM A LOCAL CLOTHING STORE, ASKING ME TO COME DOWN BECAUSE MY DAUGHTER HAD BEEN CAUGHT WALKING OUT OF THE STORE WITH A SCARF THAT SHE HAD NOT PAID FOR. WHEN I WENT IN, SHE SITTING ON A CHAIR WITH TEARS RUNNING DOWN HER FACE, BARELY ABLE TO CATCH HER BREATH FOR CRYING. THE MANAGER LECTURED ME ABOUT MY RESPONSIBILITIES AS A FATHER, AND I WAS TEMPTED TO POINT OUT THAT SHE WAS JUST A KID, AND THERE HAD BEEN NO REAL HARM DONE, AND I WOULD TAKE CARE OF MAKING SURE SHE WAS ADEQUATELY PUNISHED. BUT OF COURSE I COULD NOT FORGET HOW MY OWN FATHER HAD HANDLED THE SITUATION; SO I EVENTUALLY APOLOGIZED, ACCEPTED THE BLAME, AND WALKED OUT WITH MY DAUGHTER. AND AS I WAS THINKING UP THE PUNISHMENT I WAS GOING TO GIVE HER, I LOOKED AT HER AND KNEW THAT SHE HAD LEARNED HER LESSON, AND I TOLD HER THAT I WAS DISAPPOINTED, AND THAT SHE KNEW BETTER, AND THEN I LET IT GO.
JESUS SAID, “THE GIFT YOU HAVE RECEIVED, GIVE AS A GIFT”.
JESUS COMMISSIONED HIS APOSTLES AND US TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND. IF WE ARE TO DO THAT, WE NEED TO EXPERIENCE THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IN OUR OWN LIVES, AS I DID SO MANY YEARS AGO, AS MY DAUGHTER DID. WE NEED TO REFLECT ON THE FATHER WHO LOVES US AND GIVES EVERYTHING TO US. WE NEED TO LOOK AT ALL THE GIFTS THAT HE HAS GIVEN US, EVEN SOMETIMES THOSE THINGS WHICH WE DON'T SEE AS GIFTS RIGHT AWAY – BECAUSE SOMETIMES AN ILLNESS IS A GIFT, LOSING SOMETHING IS A GIFT, AND THERE ARE GIFTS THAT WE NEVER REALIZE ARE GIFTS UNTIL MANY YEARS LATER. IN FACT, OUR WHOLE LIFE IS A GIFT, EVERYTHING IN IT IS A GIFT. THAT IS THE PROMISE OF THE KINGDOM.
AND EVERY TIME WE DO A WORK OF GOD, A WORK OF HEALING, A WORK OF INCLUDING SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN EXCLUDED, A WORK OF BRINGING A PERSON WHO WAS DEAD TO THE LIFE THAT IS JESUS – THERE ARE SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES -- WE SHOW THAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND.
AND FEW OF US MEET THE MARK. SO LET US PRAY TODAY THAT WE WILL TAKE SERIOUSLY THE MISSION THAT JESUS GIVES US. AFTER ALL, EVERYTHING JESUS DID AND CONTINUES TO DO, HAS ONLY ONE PURPOSE, TO SHOW THE GLORY OF THE FATHER. AND THAT IS WHAT HE WANTS US TO DO AS WELL.
WHEN I WAS ABOUT 10, SOME OF MY CLASSMATES TOOK PRIDE IN PETTY THEFT. THEY WOULD GO INTO A STORE AND STEAL SMALL OBJECTS-- MINIATURE SQUIRT GUNS BEING ONE PRIZED ITEM. AT FIRST I JUST WATCHED MY FRIENDS WITH ENVY, BUT FINALLY GOT ENOUGH NERVE TO STEAL MY FIRST SQUIRT GUN. I GOT AWAY WITH IT! A COUPLE MORE PETTY THEFTS FOLLOWED; I CAPTURED A HERSHEY BAR, A COUPLE OF ROLLS OF LIFE SAVERS, A PEN. ONE EVENING MY DAD, MY SISTER AND I WERE VISITING MY GRANDMOTHER AND GRANDFATHER. GETTING BORED WITH GROWN UP TALK, SHE AND I ASKED TO BE ALLOWED TO GO TO THE LITTLE CORNER STORE. AS USUAL, SHE WENT OVER TO THE CANDY COUNTER AND LOOKED AT CANDY, WHILE I STUDIED THE COMIC BOOKS. IT OCCURRED TO ME THAT SINCE I WAS AN ACCOMPLISHED THIEF, I SHOULD HAVE NO PROBLEM IN STUFFING A FEW OF MY FAVORITE COMIC BOOKS UNDER MY JACKET. I DID. AS WE WALKED OUT THE DOOR, I FELT A HAND GRAB MY SHOULDER. I WAS BUSTED! I HAD VISIONS OF GOING TO JAIL, OF ENDING UP IN REFORM SCHOOL, OF A LIFE RUINED. MY SISTER WAS CRYING. I MAY HAVE BEEN AS WELL. THE STORE OWNER KEPT ASKING ME MY NAME, AND WHEN I BLUBBERED IT OUT, HE ASKED ME HOW HE COULD GET IN TOUCH WITH MY PARENTS. I GAVE HIM MY GRANDMOTHER'S NUMBER. OVER THE NEXT FEW MINUTES, SEVERAL PAINFUL HOURS WENT BY, AND THEN MY DAD SHOWED UP. THE STORE OWNER WAS ANGRY, AND HE LET MY FATHER KNOW HOW UPSET HE WAS THAT KIDS WERE TAKING THINGS FROM HIS STORE, AND HE COULDN'T JUST BLAME THE KIDS, IT WAS THEIR PARENTS FAULT AS WELL. MY FATHER STOOD THERE AND DIDN'T SAY A WORD. WHEN THE MAN FINISHED, MY DAD APOLOGIZED ON MY BEHALF, AND SINCE NOTHING HAD ACTUALLY BEEN STOLEN, I WAS ALLOWED TO GO. MY FATHER WAS VERY QUIET. I KNEW I WOULD BE GROUNDED, I KNEW I WOULD BE PUNISHED, AND MOST OF ALL, I KNEW THAT WHEN MY MOTHER FOUND OUT, I WOULD REALLY BE IN TROUBLE. AND THEN HE SPOKE. “I'M DISAPPOINTED,” HE SAID. “I THOUGHT YOU NEW BETTER.” I TOLD HIM THAT I DID, AND I PROMISED THAT I'D NEVER STEAL ANYTHING AGAIN. AND I NEVER DID, NOT BECAUSE I WAS AFRAID OF GETTING CAUGHT, BUT BECAUSE I NEVER WANTED TO DISAPPOINT MY FATHER LIKE THAT AGAIN. MY FATHER DIDN'T PUNISH ME, DIDN'T GROUND ME, DIDN'T EVEN TELL MY MOTHER. IN FACT, HE NEVER MENTIONED IT AGAIN. IT WAS AS THOUGH HE FORGOT ALL ABOUT IT.
I LEARNED SOME THINGS THAT DAY. I WITNESSED MY FATHER BEING HUMILIATED IN MY PLACE; I LEARNED THAT HE LOVED ME AND FORGAVE ME COMPLETELY; AND I HAD A SENSE AT TEN YEARS OLD THAT MY FATHER WOULD BE THERE TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT WHEN I WENT WRONG.
THAT IS WHAT ST. PAUL IS TALKING ABOUT; IT IS PRECISELY IN THIS THAT GOD PROVES HIS LOVE FOR US; WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US. AND IN THE GOSPEL, JESUS DEMONSTRATES THIS; HE IS MOVED WITH PITY FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE LEADERLESS, WHO SEEM TO HAVE NO DIRECTION, NO PURPOSE. HE GIVES HIS APOSTLES A SHARE IN HIS POWER, AND SENDS THEM OUT TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND.
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. WHAT JESUS WANTS EVERYONE TO KNOW IS THAT WE HAVE A FATHER WHO LOVES US, WHO IS THERE WITH US, SHARING OUR JOYS AND OUR PAINS, A FATHER WHO IN THE PERSON OF HIS SON TAKES ON HIMSELF WHAT WE DESERVE FOR DISOBEYING HIM, FOR OFFENDING HIM; A FATHER WHO GUARANTEES THAT NO MATTER HOW THINGS LOOK NOW, ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER TO FULFILL HIS PURPOSE.
IN ANOTHER PART OF THE GOSPEL, YOU REMEMBER WHEN JOHN THE BAPTIST SENDS HIS DISCIPLES TO ASK JESUS IF HE IS THE ONE WHO IS TO COME, THE ONE WHO IS TO USHER IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD; AND HE REPLIES, GO TELL JOHN WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN, THE LAME WALK, THE BLIND SEE, THE POOR HAVE THE GOOD NEWS PREACHED TO THEM. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS THERE WHEN WE DO THE WORKS OF JESUS, WHEN WE LIVE AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT SOMEONE TO LIVE WHO HAS SO WONDERFUL, SO GREAT A FATHER.
WHEN ONE OF MY DAUGHTERS WAS ABOUT TEN, I GOT A CALL FROM A LOCAL CLOTHING STORE, ASKING ME TO COME DOWN BECAUSE MY DAUGHTER HAD BEEN CAUGHT WALKING OUT OF THE STORE WITH A SCARF THAT SHE HAD NOT PAID FOR. WHEN I WENT IN, SHE SITTING ON A CHAIR WITH TEARS RUNNING DOWN HER FACE, BARELY ABLE TO CATCH HER BREATH FOR CRYING. THE MANAGER LECTURED ME ABOUT MY RESPONSIBILITIES AS A FATHER, AND I WAS TEMPTED TO POINT OUT THAT SHE WAS JUST A KID, AND THERE HAD BEEN NO REAL HARM DONE, AND I WOULD TAKE CARE OF MAKING SURE SHE WAS ADEQUATELY PUNISHED. BUT OF COURSE I COULD NOT FORGET HOW MY OWN FATHER HAD HANDLED THE SITUATION; SO I EVENTUALLY APOLOGIZED, ACCEPTED THE BLAME, AND WALKED OUT WITH MY DAUGHTER. AND AS I WAS THINKING UP THE PUNISHMENT I WAS GOING TO GIVE HER, I LOOKED AT HER AND KNEW THAT SHE HAD LEARNED HER LESSON, AND I TOLD HER THAT I WAS DISAPPOINTED, AND THAT SHE KNEW BETTER, AND THEN I LET IT GO.
JESUS SAID, “THE GIFT YOU HAVE RECEIVED, GIVE AS A GIFT”.
JESUS COMMISSIONED HIS APOSTLES AND US TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND. IF WE ARE TO DO THAT, WE NEED TO EXPERIENCE THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IN OUR OWN LIVES, AS I DID SO MANY YEARS AGO, AS MY DAUGHTER DID. WE NEED TO REFLECT ON THE FATHER WHO LOVES US AND GIVES EVERYTHING TO US. WE NEED TO LOOK AT ALL THE GIFTS THAT HE HAS GIVEN US, EVEN SOMETIMES THOSE THINGS WHICH WE DON'T SEE AS GIFTS RIGHT AWAY – BECAUSE SOMETIMES AN ILLNESS IS A GIFT, LOSING SOMETHING IS A GIFT, AND THERE ARE GIFTS THAT WE NEVER REALIZE ARE GIFTS UNTIL MANY YEARS LATER. IN FACT, OUR WHOLE LIFE IS A GIFT, EVERYTHING IN IT IS A GIFT. THAT IS THE PROMISE OF THE KINGDOM.
AND EVERY TIME WE DO A WORK OF GOD, A WORK OF HEALING, A WORK OF INCLUDING SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN EXCLUDED, A WORK OF BRINGING A PERSON WHO WAS DEAD TO THE LIFE THAT IS JESUS – THERE ARE SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES -- WE SHOW THAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND.
AND FEW OF US MEET THE MARK. SO LET US PRAY TODAY THAT WE WILL TAKE SERIOUSLY THE MISSION THAT JESUS GIVES US. AFTER ALL, EVERYTHING JESUS DID AND CONTINUES TO DO, HAS ONLY ONE PURPOSE, TO SHOW THE GLORY OF THE FATHER. AND THAT IS WHAT HE WANTS US TO DO AS WELL.
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