Yesterday, we heard in the Gospel how the Lord made the headquarters for his public ministry in Capernaum, and there he was wildly successful: evoking astonishment, perhaps even belief, and performing many healings, miracles, and exorcisms. But after not much time there, he tells the crowds that he must move on: “To the other towns also I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God”
What does that mean? What is the kingdom of God?
The kingdom of God is to replace the kingdom of Satan—the kingdoms—some
petty, some grand—which Satan rules over in this world.
Jesus’ miracles and exorcisms are proof that God is at work
to overthrow the kingdom of Satan. The demons are powerless to stop him.
Illness is banished at a word. The dead are raised, like Jairus’ daughter. Jesus’
public ministry signals the inbreaking of the kingdom of God and the end of Satan’s
reign over the earth and over souls.
The first reference to the kingdom of God in the Gospel of
Luke occurs at the annunciation. The Archangel Gabriel explains to Mary of
Nazareth that the son that she will bear “will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule
over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
The everlasting kingdom promised to David and proclaimed by
the prophets is at hand is something new, something different from the temporal
earthly kingdoms. In the Gospel of Luke, especially, we see the Lord going to
the marginalized, the sick, the demon possessed, the poor, and even to women
and children who had lower social status. The kingdom of God belongs to such as
these. It is a kingdom where the mighty are cast down from their thrones, and
the lowly are lifted up, the hungry are fed, and the rich are sent away empty.
We see Jesus also dining with sinners. Sinners, who sought
their happiness in sin, too are invited to membership in the kingdom through
repentance, to find their joy in God, and admitted to the kingdom through the
redemptive suffering and death of Christ the King on the cross.
The kingdom of God preached by Jesus is the long-awaited
reign of God over all time and space—a restoration of the order and justice of
God disturbed by evil and sin—an end of evil and violence and slavery and
destruction, suffering and sadness, and most of all death.
Through baptism we are made members of the kingdom of God, the
bonds of sin and death are broken, but that entails responsibility on our part,
to use our God-given freedom to continue the mission of gathering in the poor
and the sinner to God’s kingdom for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
As the month of August comes to an end, we pray for the
virtue of humility, for the ability to repent of our sins, pray as we should,
and seek God’s will over our own; for the grace and willingness to become
instruments for the building up of the kingdom of God.
For an end to indifference to God and human dignity in our government
& educational institutions, businesses, and personal attitudes and for a
flourishing of the Gospel in our land.
For the sick and afflicted, the homebound, those in nursing
homes and hospitals, for victims of natural disaster, those who suffer from war,
violence, and terrorism, for the mentally ill, those with addictions, and the
imprisoned, for those who struggle to practice Christian chastity, for the
comfort of the dying and the consolation of their families.
For the
deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, and all the poor souls
in purgatory, for deceased priests and religious, and for those who have fought
and died for our freedom; for the repose of the soul of Fr. Russ Lowe who will
be buried today.
O God, who
know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear
the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who
believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.
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