Chotard Doll
Dear Friends,
In this week following All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day, the reading from Luke’s gospel gives us an arresting perspective.
Jesus says, “What is the Kingdom of God like?” And he uses the examples of a tiny mustard seed which grows to be a great tree, or grains of yeast which swell and form multiple loaves of bread.
When we think of the Kingdom of God and pray for all those who have gone before, or when we think of ourselves and our desire to enter the Kingdom at the close of this life, we can easily overlook the immediacy of Jesus’s parable.
But the seed and the yeast don’t sit far off in the future. The tree grows daily and swells, becoming a dwelling for the birds. The yeast multiplies and creates loaves which feed many.
The Kingdom of God is a living, active phenomenon. We are instruments in the spread of the Kingdom as we live out our baptismal covenant.
- When we participate in parish life by worship and service and prayer, we are helping to form the Kingdom.
- When we personally resist evil and repent, recognizing how our own selfish desires have separated us from God, we are experiencing the Kingdom.
- When we identify the ways in which God is present in our lives, giving thanks privately and publicly, we proclaim the Kingdom.
- When we seek Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor, respecting the dignity of all people, we are acting out the Kingdom.
In short, when we experience that seed growing in us, and that yeast swelling in our hearts, increasing, transforming, giving life, and changing us, we are experiencing the Kingdom of God.
The Kingdom of God is among us.
The Kingdom of God is us, responding to the Holy Spirit and putting into practice our love and service of the Christ who dwells among us.
Faithfully,
—Chotard