November 13, 2014: St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, Virgin
- ♥ tie bar: You've refreshed the saints' hearts.... I'm sending you Onesimus, my own heart, to you.... Refresh my heart in Christ. (1st reading) [♥ easier to see here]
- 'Crowns' tie: The Lord shall reign forever (psalm)
- '[Owl with] eyes' tie pin: The Lord gives sight to the blind (psalm); Some will tell you, "Look, there he is"... (gospel)
- Green shirt: Ordinary Time (season)
- Lord, come and save us/ Joncas (psalm); also fits for end of church year (and Advent)
The Kingdom of God is a celebration, not a spectacle. Celebrations like weddings are often transformed into spectacles where people seem more intent on being seen, but God's Kingdom is silent, growing inside through the Spirit and our willingness. Only at the end of time will it be manifest in all its power.
Think of the perseverance of Christians who care for children and elders and struggle with finances, but pray. There is the Kingdom hidden, in everyday holiness. It's near, every day. Even when Jesus describes his return in glory, he adds that first he must suffer and be rejected; even suffering, the cross of work, family, and doing good, is part of the Kingdom.
Ask the Lord for the grace to nurture the Kingdom within you with prayer, worship, and service of charity, silently. The Kingdom is humble, like a seed, but it becomes great by the power of the Spirit. It's up to us to to let it grow in us without boasting: let the Spirit come, change your soul, and carry you forward in silence, peace, and closeness to God, to others, in worship of God.
- Phlm 7-20 You've refreshed the holy ones' hearts. I urge you on behalf of Onesimus; he was once useless to you but is now 'useful' to you and me. I send him, my own heart, back to you. Perhaps he was away from you so you could have him back forever, not as slave but beloved brother. Welcome him, and if he owes you, charge me, though you owe me your very self. Refresh my heart in Christ.
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| "Lightning bolt" from today's readings Click to animate |
- Ps 146:7-10 "Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob." The Lord secures justice, gives food to the hungry, frees captives, restores sight, loves the just, protects strangers, sustains the fatherless and widow, and shall reign forever.
- Lk 17:20-25 “The coming of the Kingdom can't be observed; no one can announce, ‘Here it is.’ God's Kingdom is among you. The day will come when you'll long to see a day of the Son of Man but won't see it. Some will tell you, ‘Look, there!’ but don't run in pursuit, for as lightning lights the whole sky, so will the Son be in his day. But first he must suffer and be rejected....”
- Fr. Ed Benioff's homily podcast: God's Kingdom is inside you
- Creighton: Paul wants Philemon to see Onesimus with new eyes so they can have a new relationship. Whom do I need to see with new eyes?
- One Bread One Body: "Put out into the deep" (Lk 5:4)....
- Passionist: Onesimus was Philemon's slave. Paul presents opportunities to forgive, be forgiven, and ask and show mercy and love. May I be open to people God [re]sends into my life. / The gospel encourages us to persevere and hope amid suffering.
- DailyScripture.net: Jesus told the Pharisees the reign of God was already present and also would be manifested at the end of time. Image of lightning and the sudden appearance of Christ on Judgment Day: In arid Palestine, lightning would fill the sky with no warning and strike awe. Jesus: the "Son of Man" (Messiah; Dn 7:13-15) will come like that, and all will recognize him as clearly. Jesus himself was the sign. Is my hope in God and his Kingdom?
- Universalis: St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, youngest of 13, judged too weak to enter convents, founded Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to spread devotion to the Heart of Jesus by works of mercy, running schools, orphanages, and homes for the old and the sick.
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