Rev. Fr. John Damian Adizie, OCDs Desk: Daily Celebration of Christ: 6th Sunday A, July 20, 2014 First Reading: Wisdom 12:13. 16-19 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 86:5-6. 9-10. 15-16 (R. v. 5) Second Reading: Romans 8:26-27 Gospel Acclamation: Matthew 11:25 Gospel Reading: Matthew 13:24-43 Celebration of Christ: Jesus, the kingdom promoter Message: Heaven is real The main reason why Jesus came into this world is to inaugurate the kingdom of God. When he started his public ministry the first message he proclaimed was the kingdom message. He told his audience, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is close at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). The coming of Jesus into the world is indeed the coming of God’s kingdom. His mission is kingdom oriented and most of his preaching focused on the kingdom. Nobody has ever entered into God’s kingdom except our Lord Jesus Christ who came from heaven above. When he came into this world he took his time to explain to his followers what the kingdom look like and what it is all about. In the gospel of Matthew 13:24-43 our Lord Jesus Christ gave series of parables describing the nature of God’s kingdom. The kingdom is like a farmer: a farmer who planted good seed in his field but the enemies went secretly and planted weeds. The farmer did not allow his servant to remove the weed least they remove the wheat alongside with the weeds. He told his servants to allow the two to grow together until harvest day when the good people will be separated from the evil ones. This is the reason why God allowed the evil people to co-exist with good people. God does not want to loose you alongside with evil people. If God should destroy this world as he did during the time of Noah many people will be affected. Think of the inconvenience it will cause on the good people. In this parable our Lord Jesus Christ is the sower. The devil is the enemy who sowed the evil weeds. The weeds represent the children of devil. Jesus is waiting for the judgment day when his angels will separate the good ones from the evil ones. Jesus told his disciples, “Judge not that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1). Never take the law into your hand. God is the only one that will decide the fate of sinners and the wicked. He is the One that will reward the righteous. Jesus also taught his disciples that the kingdom is like a grain of mustard seed: Mustard seed is the smallest of all seed. But when it is planted it grows into the greatest shrubs and it becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches. Everything that is kingdom oriented evolves slow and steady. This is true of any ministry that is inspired by God. It does not start with crowd. It grows gradually like a mustard seed. Jesus used the parable of the leaven bread to further explain the expanding nature of God’s kingdom. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened.” Child of God, if you are a kingdom citizen everything about you must grow like the mustard seed. Like the leavened loaf God will expand whatever you lay your hands. I wish you heaven at last, in Jesus name – Amen!
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 11:51:42 +0000
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