*09 July 2015*
*Thursday, 14th Week in Ordinary Time*
1st Reading: Gen 44:18–21, 23b-29; 45:1–5
Gospel: Mt 10:7–15
Jesus said to his disciples, “Go and proclaim this message: The kingdom of heaven is near. Heal the sick, bring the dead back to life, cleanse the lepers, and drive out demons. You received this as a gift, so give it as a gift. Do not carry any gold, silver or copper in your purses. Do not carry a traveler’s bag, or an extra shirt, or sandals, or walking stick: workers deserve their living.
“When you come to a town or a village, look for a worthy person and stay there until you leave. “As you enter the house, wish it peace. If the people in the house deserve it, your peace will be on them; if they do not deserve it, your blessing will come back to you.
“And if you are not welcomed and your words are not listened to, leave that house or that town and shake the dust off your feet. I assure you, it will go easier for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than it will for the people of that town.”
D@iGITAL EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience
Bringing the kingdom closer to the people determined Jesus’ activities. When he freed the possessed from the devil’s control, when he healed the sick, and when he embraced the outcasts (Mt. 8:5-13) he gave God’s people a foretaste of that kingdom. In conducting his activities by the power of God he was effectively giving people an initial experience of how God works, thereby bringing them closer to God’s reign. Thus Jesus said: “If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” (Mt. 12: 28).
The ministry of Jesus inaugurated God’s kingdom on earth (Mt. 12:28). The fullness of it, however, was yet to come. Theologians describe it as “the now and the not yet”: “now” because the kingdom of God is already experienced in the present; “not yet” because its consummation is yet to come. As to its being a present reality (the ‘now’), it reveals God as a saving God through Jesus’ healing ministry continued by the Church. As to its being a future reality (the ‘not yet’) it promises fullness when all shall have exercised personal conversion leading to social transformation.
While enjoying, the kingdom as the “now”, we our bound to facilitate its “not yet” dimension. This task gives our life a missionary slant. If we rid structures of the evils of corruption and endeavor to uplift the quality of life of the poor, we heighten peoples’ desire to hasten the perfection of the kingdom and jolt them into concerted action to hasten the coming of the kingdom. This way, Jesus’ mission becomes our mission too. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email:
dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.