Bible
Study: Philemon 1, 7 to 20 and Luke 17, 20 to 25.
Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and
he answered, "The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be
observed; nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There it is!' For, in
fact, the kingdom of God is among you." Luke 17, 20 to 21. In other words,
Jesus was saying: “the kingdom is already in your midst.”
What then is this kingdom of God that has begun already? Remember this
song?
The time to be happy is now!
The place to be happy is here!
The way to be happy is to make Someone Happy!
And we’ll have a little heaven down here!
The essence of being in heaven is happiness or eternal bliss so to say
and each time we experience sadness, loss, dejection, sorrow or grief, it is a
foretaste of hell.
And one of the ways to start enjoying heaven on earth according to this
primary school rhyme is to MAKE SOMEONE HAPPY. How do we make someone happy? By
putting ourselves in the person’s shoes and doing something good for that
person to make that person’s life better than we met it.
How do we make someone happy? Today’s first reading gives us a clue. By
FORGIVENESS and acceptance of everyone. Onesimus is a slave who ran away from
Philemon his master for probably doing something wrong but ended up in Prison where
he met St. Paul. Ordinary, we would condemn such a slave and wish him to remain
in prison forever but St. Paul says: “Formerly he was useless to you, but now
he is indeed useful both to you and to me… welcome him as you would welcome me.
If he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my
account.” Philemon 1, 11 to 18.
This is heaven, this is God’s kingdom – loving our neighbors as
ourselves, this is God’s kingdom – forgiving one another as many as seventy
times seven without counting the cost, this is God’s kingdom – seeing the face
of Jesus in the people who have offended you like Onesimus, this is God’s
kingdom – welcoming the earth’s rejected, the sick, the imprisoned, the
orphans, giving to these little ones as much as a cup of water without
expecting anything in return.
Today, we remember Pope St. Leo the Great. St. Leo restored discipline
to the church during a very critical period of its history. He worked hard to
crush certain heresies that were leading the faith of believers astray and
through his intercession and pleading with relevant authorities, he prevented a
total destruction of the city of Rome in the year 461. Not every pope is given
the title “Great” but St. Leo was one of such well-deserved popes.
Let us pray: Lord Jesus, use me to bring heaven to this world by
forgiving and loving everyone. Amen.
Be Happy.
Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you.
Fr. Abu
No comments:
Post a Comment