Three times in Matthew’s Gospel Jesus gives us the same message: “The Kingdom of God is at hand.” At hand indicates ‘nearby.’ Perhaps Jesus wants us to understand not that the end of our lives is near, but that the Kingdom is near. So near that all we have to do is realize we are in it now.
In today’s gospel, Jesus tells us that the Kingdom – Paradise – is near, and in the next sentence, gives us our assignments: cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons.
In his book Barking to the Choir, Jesuit priest Greg Boyle, S.J. writes that “Paradise is not a place that awaits our arrival, but a present we arrive at. A place, in fact, we are already in. How many chances a day are we given to recognize this – an opportunity to practice sacred presence?”
We find Paradise by opening our hearts to the people around us. By recognizing how sacred and beloved by God each person we meet really is, it changes our interactions.
We already have all we need. Jesus cautions us against feeling we need some special equipment or training: “Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts; no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or walking stick.”
We have what we need to be in the Kingdom, except an awareness of that. It takes practice to be aware. Each morning we can ask Jesus for the focus and open heart to really encounter each person we come across. In the smallest interaction, we can look into the eyes of the person we are with, as we really see the person, the life before us, recognizing the person before us is as beloved by God as deeply as we are beloved. That is when miracles can begin. Healing of the sick might mean reaching out to someone we are angry with or who annoys us. It might mean healing of our impatience with others. Our mindful love for others might cleanse the lepers of judgement and drive out demons of anger.
Fr. Boyle writes, “The discovery that awaits us is that Paradise is contained in the here and now. We let go of the desire to expect anything beyond it. The awareness of this keeps us from the suffering generated by resisting life as it is.” Boyle adds, “If your anchor is not centered in today, then you’ll blink and miss the delight of this very moment, which is always with us and is the perfect teacher.”
The beautiful reading from Hosea offers an image of God loving as deeply as a parent. “When Israel was a child I loved him… It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, who took them in my arms.” And in a phrase that is inexplicably moving, God assures us, “I drew them with human cords, with bands of love,” and gives us the image of tenderly raising an infant to his cheeks.
God’s love for us is not an intellectual situation but a personal love for us as individuals. We are loved by God beyond what we can comprehend, and today Jesus invites us into a taste of sharing that kind of love by being present and being aware of the sacredness in this present moment. “Whatever town or village you enter, look for a worthy person in it,” Jesus tells us, but in the world and love of Jesus, every person is a worthy person.
And so, Jesus advises, “wish them peace.”
Maureen McCann Waldron
The most important part of my life is my family – Jim my husband of 47 years and our two children. Our daughter Katy, a banker here in Omaha, and her husband John, have three wonderful children: Charlotte, Daniel and Elizabeth Grace. Our son Jack and his wife, Ellie, have added to our joy with their sons, Peter and Joseph.
I think family life is an incredible way to find God, even in (or maybe I should say, especially in) the most frustrating or mundane moments.
I am a native of the East Coast after graduating in 1971 from Archbishop John Carroll High School in suburban Philadelphia. I graduated from Creighton University in 1975 with a degree in Journalism and spent most of the next 20 years in corporate public relations in Omaha. I returned to Creighton in the 1990s and completed a master’s degree in Christian Spirituality in 1998.
As our children were growing up, my favorite times were always family dinners at home when the four of us would talk about our days. But now that our kids are gone from home, my husband and I have rediscovered how nice it is to have a quiet dinner together. I also have a special place in my heart for family vacations when the kids were little and four of us were away from home together. It’s a joy to be with my growing family.
Writing a Daily Reflection is always a graced moment, because only with God’s help could I ever write one. I know my own life is hectic, disjointed and imperfect and I know most of us have lives like that. I usually write from that point of view and I always seem to find some sentence, some word in the readings that speaks right to me, in all of my imperfection. I hope that whatever I write is in some way supportive of others.
It’s an incredibly humbling experience to hear from someone who was touched by something I wrote. Whether the note is from someone across campus or across the world, it makes me realize how connected we are all in our longing to grow closer to God.
