Reading: Luke 12:32-40 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. “But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.” Reflection One of my absolute favorite moments in all of Monty Python and the Holy Grail finds a knight in his castle speaking to his grown son. The knight gestures toward a great, open window and says grandly, “One day, lad, all this will be yours.” And then the son replies, “What? The curtains?” It gets me every time. But sometimes I think that we’re not unlike that rather clueless son. Jesus looks out over the great kingdom of God, sweeps his hand before him and says, “One day, little flock, all this will be yours.” And we say, “What? The curtains?”
So often when we think about heaven, we think of clouds and angels and feasts and getting to see our loved ones who have died. But that, in a sense, is looking at the kingdom of God and seeing only the curtains. There is so much more to the kingdom that the Father is giving us. This week’s gospel reading urges us to make ourselves a little less clueless about this kingdom. Jesus tells us make ourselves ready for the coming kingdom of God. Interestingly, he points to only one concrete action: “sell your possessions and give alms.” Luke’s gospel is all about how God comes to help the poor (both the economically poor and the spiritually poor). The kingdom of God is not just a paradise; it’s a place where all that has been wrong is made right. The kingdom of God is the place governed both by God’s justice and God’s mercy. So, when we tend to the poor, we give to others a foretaste of the justice and mercy that God has and will give to us. When we help the poor, we live as though God’s kingdom is already here. So brush aside the curtains and look out!—God’s kingdom of justice and mercy is waiting for us! --Jim Vitale Prayer God of mercy and justice, keep us alert to your coming kingdom and teach us to live as though it were already here. Amen.
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