“He saw two brothers “

“He saw two brothers”

What attracted Jesus to Peter and Andrew? The text at first appears to make the encounter quite fortuitous. Jesus was walking along, and happened to see these two. [But] Christ knows exactly what he is about. The scene by the Sea of Galilee is reminiscent of the Lord walking about the Garden of Eden looking for Adam and Eve after our first parents had sinned. As he begins his redemptive mission, Jesus appears to be on a search to undo the rebellion that had been perpetrated in Eden. Human beings had sinned then, it must be human beings who obey now. 

God loves primary realities, those solid foundations of the life of man in his relationship to nature that seem to have escaped the distortion of sin. Two brothers by the lakeside silently carrying on with their life as fishermen: something is right in this corner of the world, and the internal harmony, unselfconsciousness, dedication, and simplicity of the scene attract the Savior. To this he saw we could append the refrain of the opening chapter of Genesis: and it was good…. Jesus saw them clearly, profoundly—with divine clairvoyance—for what they were, and their unpretentiousness and dignity in carrying out a humble task…. Could Peter and Andrew have imagined with whom, on that particular day, they would be brought into contact on account of their simple fidelity to their profession, to their family, to their lake?

Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis 

Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, now known as Father Simeon, is a Cistercian monk serving in Rome. He is the author of Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word, a three-volume commentary on Matthew’s Gospel. 

What it’s all about the end

What It’s All About in the End

The ultimate goal of all prayer is the coming of the Kingdom of God, and hence first of all the sanctification of his name, so that, in a word, his will, his whole will and nothing but his will may be accomplished….

If God, if the knowledge of God, if, in a word, the love of God should interest us so strongly, it is not only because that is the way of salvation, for ourselves…and for the world. On the contrary, we should say that the salvation of the world and our own are only worthy of interest because God wishes to be known and loved, known and loved for himself.

In the last analysis, that is the great Christian revelation. For the Christian, for the Church, God is not just a “Good” to be revealed to people so that they can profit by it. God is Someone: Someone who loves each and every one of us, who expects us all to love him, above all who expects each of us, this very day, without waiting any longer, to recognize his love and surrender to it as completely as possible.

Father Louis Bouyer

Father Bouyer († 2004) was a French priest, theologian, author, and convert. He was a member of the Congregation of the Oratory of Jesus and Mary Immaculate

Así es el Adviento que necesitamos

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ASÍ ES EL ADVIENTO QUE NECESITAMOS

Written by Florentino Ulibarri

Como el viento que silba en plena noche,
como las luces que parpadean en el horizonte,
como el rocío que empapa la tierra de madrugada,
como el campo arado para acoger la simiente...

Como los resoles de mediodía que mantienen la vida,
como los relojes con sus horas y notas musicales,
como los visillos que desvelan y esconden interioridades,
como los atardeceres que se cuelan por ventanas y rendijas...

Como el silencio de la naturaleza que duerme y crece,
como los oteros que se yerguen siempre inmutables,
como los manantiales que crean corrientes y fuentes,
como los árboles que muestran sus yemas humildemente...

Como la semilla que cae, muere y renace,
como las estrellas que tiemblan y lucen,
como las sendas y caminos llenos de cruces y señales,
como la vida siempre a la intemperie...

Mensajeros que van y vienen,
vigías apostados en almenas y torres,
profetas cargados de promesas,
peregrinos en busca de destino...

Los sueños desbocados de nuestras ilusiones,
las esperanzas de los que nada tienen,
los surcos del Espíritu hechos historia,
Dios bailando en nuestro vientre...

Así es el Adviento que necesitamos
y que se nos ofrece gratis cada instante.

Thanksgiving Day 2019

Thanksgiving Day

The year which is drawing to a close has been free from pestilence; health has prevailed throughout the land; abundant crops reward the labors of the husbandman; commerce and manufactures have successfully prosecuted their peaceful paths; the mines and forests have yielded liberally; the nation has increased in wealth and in strength; peace has prevailed, and its blessings have advanced every interest of the people in every part of the Union; harmony and fraternal intercourse restored are obliterating the marks of past conflict and estrangement; burdens have been lightened; means have been increased; civil and religious liberty are secured to every inhabitant of the land, whose soil is trod by none but free men.

It becomes a people thus favored to make acknowledgment to the Supreme Author from whom such blessings flow of their gratitude and their dependence, to render praise and thanksgiving for the same, and devoutly to implore a continuance of God’s mercies. 

Therefore, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States, do recommend that Thursday…be observed as a day of thanksgiving and of praise and of prayer to almighty God, the Creator and the ruler of the universe; and I do further recommend to all the people of the United States to assemble on that day in their accustomed places of public worship and to unite in the homage and praise due to the bountiful Father of All Mercies and in fervent prayer for the continuance of the manifold blessings he has vouchsafed to us as a people. 

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Ulysses S. Grant 

Ulysses S. Grant († 1885) was the eighteenth President of the United States of America. [From Pilgrim Hall Museum. 

Wisdom in Speaking

Wisdom in Speaking

What is this tremendous mystery which is being fulfilled in me? 

Neither the spoken word nor my poor written word

can praise and glorify the One

who transcends all praise, who transcends all speech.

If, in effect, that which is being fulfilled in me, the prodigal child, 

is unutterable, inexpressible, how would the One,

who is the giver and author of it,

how, tell me, would he need to receive praise or glory from us?…

I repeat, I do not know what I can say about it

and I would wish to be silent—if only I had been able to—

but the tremendous marvel causes my heart to beat faster

and opens my mouth, my tainted mouth,

and makes me speak and write in spite of myself.

You, who rose in a moment in my darkened heart,

You who descended even to me as to the last of all,

You who made me a disciple and son of an apostle….

You, the sun who before all ages shone in the depths of hell 

and who then enlightened my soul enveloped in darkness

and who have blessed me with the gift of endless light

—ah! how difficult this is for cowards and lazy people like me to believe!—

You, who lavished all blessings on my former misery,

give me a voice, provide me with words to tell to all Your amazing works

and what You still are doing in us, Your servants, today,

so that those who slumber in the darkness of negligence

and who say: “Impossible for sinners to save themselves

and to find mercy, like Peter and the other holy, blessed, and just apostles,”

may they know and learn that that was easy, is still easy, and will always be so 

because of kindness such as Yours.

Saint Symeon the New Theologian

Saint Symeon († 1022) was a spiritual master and a monk in Constantinople

Offering ourselves to God

Offering Our Whole Livelihood

How can I prove my friendship to God? By keeping his commandments. How can I prove my love to him? By giving myself to him from the bottom of my heart, in such a way that no other loveever dwells in it. In this sense, God is jealous. He is not jealous of our friendships, on the contrary, he encourages them. But he is jealous of that particular gift of the heart which is love, and which is total and exclusive in its nature….

[O Lord,] I have nothing to give you. But my heart I have given you. I know that by the price it has cost me. I do not yield my heart to creatures, you keep it, you hold it sweetly enchained. I give it to you and continually regive it you. This poor and wretched heart. But which is my heart, the most personal possession I have to dispose of. I give it you. It is the share that you demanded of me at baptism, still more at my First Communion….

I only experience any comfort and joy when, talking to someone, I feel a certain good being done, something being done for God and for souls.

Raïssa Maritain

Raïssa Maritain († 1960) was born in Russia. She was a convert to Catholicism and the wife of philosopher Jacques 

A reading from 
the holy Gospel according to Luke 21:1-4

When Jesus looked up he saw some wealthy people putting their offerings into the treasury and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins. He said, “I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

Canticle of Simeon

Canticle of Simeon

Lord, now you let your servant go in peace;
your word has been fulfilled:

my own eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared in the sight of every people:

a light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be for ever. Amen.

Canticle of Zechariah

Canticle of Zechariah

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets he promised of old
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.

He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.

This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.

You, my child, shall be called the prophet
of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness
and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory to the Father…

Canticle of Mary

Canticle of Mary

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever. 

Glory to the Father…

Te Deum

Te Deum

You are God: we praise you;
You are the Lord: we acclaim you;
You are the eternal Father:
All creation worships you.

To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,
Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise:
Holy, holy, holy, Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.

The glorious company of apostles praise you.
The noble fellowship of prophets praise you.
The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.

Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you:
Father, of majesty unbounded,
your true and only Son, worthy of all worship,
and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.

You, Christ, are the king of glory,
the eternal Son of the Father.

When you became man to set us free
you did not spurn the Virgin’s womb.

You overcame the sting of death,
and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

You are seated at God’s right hand in glory.
We believe that you will come, and be our judge.

Come then, Lord, and help your people,
bought with the price of your own blood,
and bring us with your saints
to glory everlasting.

The Kingship of Christ

The Kingship of Christ

It has long been a common custom to give to Christ the metaphorical title of King because of the high degree of perfection whereby he excels all creatures. So he is said to reign in the hearts of men, both by reason of the keenness of his intellect and the extent of his knowledge, and also because he is very truth, and it is from him that truth must be obediently received by all mankind. He reigns, too, in the wills of men, for in him the human will was perfectly and entirely obedient to the holy will of God, and further by his grace and inspiration he so subjects our free will as to incite us to the most noble endeavors. He is King of hearts, too, by reason of his charity which exceeds all knowledge (Eph 3:19), and by his mercy and kindness which draw all men to him, for never has it been known, nor will it ever be, that man be loved so much and so universally as Jesus Christ.…

On many occasions, when…the populace thronged around him in admiration and would have acclaimed him King, he shrank from the honor and sought safety in flight. Before the Roman magistrate he declared that his Kingdom was not of this world. The Gospels present this Kingdom as one which men prepare to enter by penance, and cannot actually enter except by faith and by baptism, which…signifies and produces an interior regeneration. This Kingdom is opposed to none other than to that of Satan and to the power of darkness. It demands of its subjects a spirit of detachment from riches and earthly things, and a spirit of gentleness. They must hunger and thirst after justice, and more than this, they must deny themselves and carry the cross.

Christ as our Redeemer purchased the Church at the price of his own blood; as priest he offered himself, and continues to offer himself as a victim for our sins. Is it not evident, then, that his kingly dignity partakes in a manner of both these offices?

Pope Pius XI

Pope Pius XI, whose motto was “the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ,” canonized many saints, including Saint John Vianney and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. He reigned from 1922 to 1939. [Quas Primas # 7, 15, 16. Used with permission of the Libreria Editrice Vaticana. www.vatican.va.]

The Resurrection of the dead

The Coming Age and the Resurrection of the Dead

Let us consider, beloved, how the Master continually calls our attention to the future resurrection, the first fruits of which he has made the Lord Jesus Christ by raising him from the dead. Let us consider, beloved, the kind of resurrection that occurs at regular intervals. Day and night give us examples of resurrection: the night sleeps, the day rises; the day departs, the night comes on. Let us take the crops: the sowing—how and in what manner does it take place? The sower goes out and puts each of the seeds into the soil: when they fall on the soil, they are dry and bare, and decay. But once they have decayed, the Master’s wondrous Providence makes them rise, and each one increases and brings forth multiple fruit….

Do we, then, consider it a great and remarkable thing if the Creator of the universe will bring about a resurrection of those who have piously served him in the assurance engendered by honest faith? For somewhere it is said: And you will raise me and I will give you praise. And, I lay down to sleep, and I slept; and I awoke again, for you are with me. And, again, Job says: You will raise up this body of mine, which has patiently endured all these things.

Saint Clement of Rome

The Cleansing Jesus Brings

The Cleansing Jesus Brings

No one will deny that avarice, a passion for ­material enjoyment, vanity, and a desire of personal success were widely prevalent even at the time when the power of the Church was at its highest…. But it is only our right to remember that in a Catholic community materialism has never been recognized as an ideal—and people who pursued such ideals were in any case intellectually honest enough not to compose delightful theories which might excuse their greed; they had the redeeming impudence necessary for admitting: I am like this because I wish to be like this, and that’s an end of it. The ideal continued to be the person who can dispense with this world as far as possible—and let us not forget that for every religious order which broke down under the weight of its wealth, a new one sprang up and grasped the ancient banner….

Catholicism fought against Manichaeism and the heresy of the Albigenses since these systems taught that matter is evil in itself, the work not of God, but of the devil—but it has fought, and must go on fighting to the end of time, to keep materialism in its place, under the dominion of the spirit. Saint Francis speaks of his sister the earth, as though she were a sweet baby sister whom he caresses on his way to his work. But it is a new thing…that in our day it is held to be meritorious to acquire a steadily growing fortune, a worthy object of human effort to make a name for oneself which will live for centuries (might not Saint Francis have thought this a curious ambition for an immortal soul!) and success is held to be a thing which ought to inspire respect….

[We must] humbly acknowledge we can do nothing that is good and lasting unless we pray for Christ’s Spirit and try to allow it scope to work within us—without offering resistance when it attacks that in us which is our own and which we love egoistically, and without wishing to reserve any room or closet within us and put a notice on the door: No admittance for Christ….

Finally—let us remember that Christ has promised his Church that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. We believe that the Church of Christ will subsist on earth as long as human life stirs on this globe.

Sigrid Undset

Sigrid Undset († 1949) was a Norwegian novelist, laywoman, convert to Catholicism, and winner of the 1928 Nobel Prize for Literature. Her most famous work is the trilogy Kristin Lavransdatter. [From Stages on the Road, Arthur G. Chater, Tr. © 2012, Elizabeth Scalia, Ava Maria Press, Inc., PO Box 428, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556.

The presentation of Mary

The Presentation of Mary

Oh my God, how I wish I could adequately picture to myself the sweetness and consolation of this trip from Saint Joachim’s home to the Temple of Jerusalem! What contentment this little child displayed in seeing that the long-awaited hour had finally come! Those who went to the Temple to adore and offer gifts to the divine majesty sang all along the way. The royal prophet David composed a psalm expressly for this purpose, and Holy Church has us say it every day in the divine office: Beati immaculati in via (Ps 119)—happy are they whose way is blameless, who walk in your way, Lord, without stain of sin. “In your way”—that is to say, in the observance of your commandments.

The blessed Saint Joachim and Saint Anne sang this canticle along the way, and our glorious Lady and Mistress with them. O God, what melody! How she sang it a thousand times more sweetly than the angels ever sang. So much were the angels taken with this that choir after choir of them came to hear the heavenly harmony. The heavens opened up and they leaned over the balustrades of the heavenly Jerusalem to see and admire this darling child.

Saint Francis de Sales

Faith to see the talents

Faith to See the Talents

Faith is sharing in God’s vision of reality…. If you have faith, it is like seeing every day of your life through the eyes of Jesus. Only then will you see the unceasing opportunities for your conversion and sanctification. Then, in the light of faith, you will also begin to understand that suffering is a cross and something that will therefore spiritually transform you to the extent that you accept it. If in your difficulties you recognize the cross as an opportunity toward transformation, then your difficulties truly become gifts for you. If you could see all the countless talents that God is continuously ­giving you, then you would never be sad. Talents such as poor health or situations filled with conflicts and failures would then bring joy to your heart—joy because God bestows something invaluable on you and shows you exceptional trust. He trusts that you will not bury or reject his gifts. He counts on your faith since it is only in the light of faith that you can recognize the talents given to you….

Only a person who has faith is able to be grateful for everything. This gratitude will be visible on your face as joy, for everything may be changed into good. This reflection about talents refers to the teaching of Saint Paul and to the famous thesis of Saint Augustine, we know that all things work for good for those who love God (Rom 8:28)—even sin. Therefore, even a fall, which is a great misfortune and at the same time hurts Jesus, can be an opportunity within which is hidden some kind of talent given to you from which you can profit. You only need your faith, or your conversion toward such faith, to enable you to see through the eyes of Jesus. He is never sad when looking at your life that may be filled with failures, problems, conflicts, unfulfilled plans, everyday difficulties, and spiritual difficulties. He is joyful because he expects all those things to bear fruit. He expects that you will take advantage of them and you will be joyful and grateful for everything he gives you: Mother Agnes said to the ailing Thérèse of the Child Jesus, “You had a lot of trouble today,” and she ­answered, “Yes, but…I love everything that God gives me.”

Father Tadeusz Dajczer

Father Dajczer († 2009) was a Polish priest and professor of theology in Warsaw, and co-founder of the Families of Nazareth Movement. [From The Gift of Faith/Inquiring faith. Edited by Anne Mary Hines, Mary Jane Bartee, Erin Rice, Michelle Curtis, Joyce Pfaffinger, Andree Wagatha. © 2011, Leszek Jan Pliszka. Published 2012 by In the Arms of Mary Foundation

O Eternal Father

“What do you want me to do for you?”

The true lover of Jesus is so gripped with the desire to imitate her divine model that she cannot live without experiencing the sword-thrust that must pierce the soul of every sincere follower of Christ. Nor can she resist that holy longing that springs from ardent love and finds satisfaction in no earthly thing….

O Eternal Father, I come to you through the Heart of Jesus, my Way, my Truth, my Life. Through this divine Heart I adore you for those who do not adore you, I love you for those who do not love you, I acknowledge you for those who in willful blindness and contempt refuse this recognition of your goodness. By this divine Heart I desire to make satisfaction for the neglect of all mankind. In spirit I go through the world in search of every soul redeemed by the Precious Blood of Jesus, in order to make reparation for all through his Sacred Heart. I embrace them all in order to present them to you, O Eternal Father, through him, and by him I ask for their conversion.

Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne

Saint Rose († 1852) founded the first houses in America of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. [From Philippine Duchesne: Frontier Missionary of the Sacred Heart 1769-1852. © 1957, The Newman Press, Westminster, MD. ]

By your perseverance you will secure your lives

“By your perseverance you will secure your lives”

In the time of trial it is of great profit to us patiently to endure for God’s sake, for the Lord says: By patient endurance you will win life for yourselves. He did not say by your fasting, or your solitude and silence, or your singing of psalms, although all of these are helpful in saving your soul. But he said: By patient endurance in every trial that overtakes you, and in every affliction, whether this be insolent and contemptuous treatment, or any kind of disgrace, either small or great; ­whether it be bodily weakness, or the belligerent attacks of Satan, or any trial whatsoever caused either by other people or by evil spirits.

By patient endurance you will win life for yourselves, although to this must be added wholehearted thanksgiving, and prayer, and humility. For you must be ready to bless and praise your benefactor, God the Savior of the world, who disposes all things, good or otherwise, for your benefit. The Apostle writes: With patient ­endurance we run the race of faith set ­before us. For what has more power than virtue? What more firmness or strength than patient endurance? Endurance, that is, for God’s sake. This is the queen of virtues, the ­foundation of virtue, a haven of tranquility. It is peace in time of war, calm in rough waters, safety amidst treachery and danger. It makes those who practice it stronger than steel. No weapons or brandished bows, no turbulent troops and advancing siege engines, no flying spears or arrows can shake it. Not even the host of evil spirits, nor the dark array of hostile powers, nor the devil himself standing by with all his armies and devices will have power to injure the man or woman who has acquired this virtue through Christ.

Saint Nilus of Sinai

Saint Nilus († 430) was a monk, theologian, and ascetic writer. He was a student of Saint John Chrysostom. [From Celebrating Sundays: Reflections from the Early Church on the Sunday Gospels © Stephen Mark Holmes 2012.

A simple way to pray always

A Simple Way to Pray Always

After my liberation many people said to me: “Father, in prison you must have had a lot of time to pray.” It was not as simple as one might think. The Lord permitted me to experience all my weakness, my physical and mental fragility. Time passes slowly in prison, particularly in solitary confinement. Imagine a week, a month, two months of silence…. There were days when I was so worn out by exhaustion and illness that I could not manage to say a single prayer! This reminds me of a story. 

There was an older man named Jim who would go to church every day at noon for just a few minutes, and then he would leave. The sacristan was very curious about Jim’s daily routine, and one day he stopped him to ask: “Why do you come here every day?” “I come to pray,” Jim answered.

“That’s impossible! What prayer can you say in two minutes?”

“I am an old, ignorant man. I pray to God in my own way.”

“But what do you say?”

“I say: ‘Jesus, here I am, it’s Jim.’ And then I leave.” After some years, Jim became ill and had to go to the hospital, where he was admitted to the ward for the poor. When it seemed that Jim was dying, a priest and a nurse, a religious sister, stood near his bed. The priest asked, “Jim, tell us how it is that from the day you came to this ward everything changed for the better? How is it that the patients have become happier, more content, and friendlier?”

“I don’t know. When I could walk around, I would try to visit everyone. I greeted them, talked a bit with them. When I couldn’t get out of bed I called everyone over to me to make them laugh, to make them happy. With Jim they are always happy!”

“But why are you happy?”

“Well aren’t you happy when you receive a visitor?” asked Jim.

“Of course, but we have never seen anyone come to visit you.”

“When I came here I asked you for two chairs. One was for you, Father, and one was reserved for my guest.” “But what guest?” the priest asked.

“I used to go to church to visit Jesus every day at noon. But when I couldn’t do that anymore, Jesus came here.”

“Jesus comes to visit you? What does he say?”

“He says: ‘Jim, here I am, it’s Jesus!’” Before dying, Jim smiled and gestured with his hand toward the chair next to his bed, as if inviting someone to sit down. He smiled for the last time and closed his eyes. 

When my strength failed and I could not even pray, I repeated: “Jesus, here I am, it’s Francis.” Joy and consolation would come to me and I experienced Jesus ­responding: “Francis, here I am, it’s Jesus.” 

Venerable Francis Xavier Nguyên Văn Thuân

Cardinal Nguyên Văn Thuân († 2002) was imprisoned by the Vietnamese government for thirteen years. [From Five Loaves & Two Fish, Tinvui Media, Tr. © 1997, Edizioni San Paolo, Pauline Books & Media/The Daughters of St. Paul, Boston, MA. All rights reserved.

St Albert the great

Where the Body Is, There We Gather

The Lord, condescending to us in every way and perfecting the nourishment of spiritual food co-naturally with natural food, so that we may desire this food more greatly, has placed in it himself, in whom is life as in the Father from whom all life flows, to make us to live interiorly in himself, who is the principle of our lives in grace and in glory: As the living Father has sent me, and I live by the Father, so he who eats me, he shall also live by me (Jn 6:57). So this nourishing food of life carries the life of grace to us, and it carries the life of glory to the blessed, which was signified when God planted the tree of life in the midst of paradise (Gn 2:9). 

The Lord Jesus Christ presents himself in the life-giving sacrament in the midst of the Church to all who, nourished by him, receive from him the same life by which he lives. For since…life is continually flowing from the serene being which is the fount of life into those things which are alive, it is clear that this nourishment of life is the food in which the Father pours forth life into the Son, and the Son, having life in himself, pours life into the sacrament, and then the sacrament pours life into us.

Saint Albert the Great

God’s Kingdom

The Kingdom of God is among you”

The new proximity of the Kingdom of which Jesus speaks—the distinguishing feature of his message—is to be found in Jesus himself. Through Jesus’ presence and action, God has here and now entered actively into history in a wholly new way. The reason why now is the fullness of time (Mk 1:15), why now is in a unique sense the time of conversion and penance, as well as the time of joy, is that in Jesus it is God who draws near to us. In Jesus, God is now the one who acts and who rules as Lord—rules in a divine way, without worldly power, rules through the love that reaches to the end(Jn 13:1), to the cross….

In this context we understand Jesus’ statements about the lowliness and hiddenness of the Kingdom; in this context we understand the fundamental image of the seed…in this context we also understand his invitation to follow him courageously, leaving everything else behind. He himself is the treasure; communion with him is the pearl of great price.

Pope Benedict XVI