Monday of Week Two
It is a case of knowing where to look
‘There is no good saying, ‘Look, Here it is.’ Or ‘Look! There it is’. God’s Kingdom is here with you.’ Luke 17:21; Matthew 24:23-28 Jesus does not wax lyrical about shining angels, harps and singing choirs. When he speaks about the Kingdom of God he uses everyday examples; the mustard seeds growing into a large tree, yeast making the dough rise, salt adding savour.We who live in a modern urbanised society must look for God’s Kingdom in our everyday circumstances.The point is well made by Francis Thompson in his poem, The Kingdom of God. Just as the fish doesn’t go anywhere special to swim, nor the eagle to fly, neither must we go anywhere special to discover Jesus; he is here, in the street, the home, the college, the workplace. Thompson was a down and out nineteenth century poet. Most famous for his poem The Hound of Heaven he was a well educated Catholic and frequented the poorer parts of London. He ended up addicted to laudanum, being rescued from time to time by his publishers Alice and Wilfred Meynell, and is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery. In our search for the spiritual we often look to beautiful scenery, quiet beeches and gorgeous sunsets. God is there, of course, overwhelming us with the miracle of his creation. However, the heart of God is with the lost and forgotten. Thompson understood this. Seeing with the eyes of faith, he knew God was with him, and with us, at the lowest and most unlikely points, building the Kingdom. From Gaudium et Spes (Church in the Modern World) 40.Thus the Church, at once ‘a visible organisation and a spiritual community,’ travels the same journey as all of humanity and shares the same earthly lot with the world: it is to be a leaven and as it were, the soul of human society in its renewal by Christ and transformation into the family of God.
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