Wis 7:22b–8:1 Ps 119:89, 90, 91, 130, 135, 175 Lk 17:20-25

Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer The Daily Reflections

For she is the refulgence of eternal light,
the spotless mirror of the power of God,
the image of his goodness. Wisdom 7:26

Indeed, she reaches from end to end mightily
and governs all things well. Wisdom 8:1

“The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed,
and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’
For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.” Luke 17:21

The pairing of the first and second readings today leaves us with a very hopeful picture. The Kingdom of God is here among us. As children of God and members of the Kingdom, it is our responsibility to build up the kingdom in our world. God invites us to participate with him in his grand project. We do this with and through Wisdom, God’s grace, which “governs all things well.” We can’t go wrong with this Wisdom, this grace.

The world I see around me, full of petty hatred and ambition, brutal competition and violence, a great lack of understanding and love all around, is clearly not the Kingdom God envisions. If it is here among us, then where is it? We have been empowered, we have been given an important role in this Kingdom. It lies within ourselves and what we do to change the world, however small that contribution may be.

I can think of many examples of people building the Kingdom of God around them. People like Mother Teresa come to mind, those who give up all their life to serving the poor or marginalized. But we can build the kingdom of God with this Wisdom the Holy Spirit has given us in our own lives, day to day. We can teach others, not only with our words, but through our example. We can reach out to someone with love, whether it be a random person we meet in class or at work or the roommate that we see every day. Every time we do a good deed, a random act of kindness, or “pay it forward,” we are working with the light of grace and building up the Kingdom little by little.

I think of St. Therese of Lisieux and her Little Way. She definitely took this challenge, this responsibility from God to heart and did her small parts, each and every day, to find and build the Kingdom around her. She is a saint who brings great hope to me and I think to all of us, because she showed that you don’t have to do great, world-changing acts to make the world a better place. As Theodore Roosevelt put it, you do what you can, where you are, with what you’ve got.