Gospel: Luke 17:20-25
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.”
We
already have the Kingdom of God in our hearts when we welcome Jesus into our
lives and allow Him to reign over us. We experience His Kingdom when we feel
His love within us, when our hearts are filled with peace and contentment, and
when our lives reflect His goodness, mercy, and compassion.
Yet,
many of us, including some of our politicians today, continue to seek the
kingdom of this world. We accumulate wealth, sometimes even through corruption.
We acquire vast properties and possessions as though we were building kingdoms
that would last forever. But these earthly kingdoms will eventually fade away.
No
matter how much wealth we accumulate or how much power we possess, we will
leave everything behind when our time on earth comes to an end. Let us never
forget that we came into this world with nothing, and we will leave this world
with nothing.
What
price are we willing to pay just to build our earthly kingdoms? Are we willing
to sacrifice our integrity, abandon our faith, and even sell our souls to the
devil just to acquire worldly wealth and power?
Let
us wake up before it is too late! We must never allow greed and our endless
desire for material possessions to lead us away from God. Otherwise, the
earthly kingdoms we struggle so hard to build could become the very things that
lead us away from eternal life.
In
our Gospel for this Thursday, the Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God
would come. Jesus replied, “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” (Luke 17:20–21).
Indeed,
the Kingdom of God is already in our midst. It cannot be physically seen or
measured, nor can it be bought with any amount of money. It is not established
through wealth, political influence, power, or earthly recognition. Rather,
God's Kingdom becomes present in our lives when we welcome Jesus, accept His
teachings, and allow Him to reign in our hearts.
Let
us not spend our entire lives building earthly kingdoms that we will eventually
leave behind. Instead, let us allow Jesus to establish His Kingdom in our
hearts. Let us make room for Him through humility, love, forgiveness,
generosity, and faithful service to others. For when Jesus truly reigns in our
hearts, we discover the peace, joy, and contentment that no amount of earthly
wealth can ever provide.
As we continue building our lives here on earth, what kind of kingdom are we really building: one that will perish when we die, or one that will lead us to eternal life with God?— Marino J. Dasmarinas
No comments:
Post a Comment