Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Thursday Morning Eucharist and Prayer - Br. Benedict, Celebrant

[St. Josaphat (1580 – 1623), a monk and the archeparch of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, was killed by a mob of Orthodox Christians.]

 In the Gospel reading the Pharisees ask Jesus about the coming of the Kingdom of God. Jesus replies that indeed the Kingdom of God was already at hand, though they do not see or refuse to see and recognnize it in the ministry of Jesus.

  Vatican Council II declares, “In the Old Testament the revelation of the Kingdom is often conveyed by means of metaphors. In the same way, the inner nature of the Church is now made known to using different images taken either from tending sheep or cultivating the land, from building, or even from family life and bethrothals, the images receive preparatory shaping in the books of the Prophets.” (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, 6)



     In the life of Jesus the Kingdom is definitively established in his passion, death and resurrection: “But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this people.”



 The mystery of the Kingdom of God is that, while already present, its definitive fulfillment is still to come: “The Church, like a stranger in a foreign land, presses forward amid the persecutions of the world and the consolations of God, ‘announcing the cross and death of the Lord until He comes.’ ” (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, 8)

  In the first reading, Wisdom is praised as a special gift of God. Let us pray for the gift of Wisdom as we live and look forward to the coming of the Kingdom of God, “as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”


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