Today, Our Lord Jesus Christ tells
us about the wonderful destiny, which He has prepared for all, who love Him and
follow Him according to the commandments.
That which He promises us is the Kingdom of God, which He describes here
as: “You that would follow me: when the new world is inaugurated, when the Son
of Man sits on His throne of glory, you will sit on twelve thrones, judging the
twelve tribes of Israel. Everyone, who has left home, brothers, sisters,
father, mother, wife, children, or land for my name’s sake, will receive a
hundred times more, and, as their inheritance, everlasting life.” The Gospel of
St. Luke is clearer, for that Gospel says: “There is no one, who has left home
or wife, brothers or children for the sake of the Kingdom of God, who will not
receive much more in this time, and in the age to come, eternal life.” Saint
Luke speaks here about the beginning of the Kingdom of Heaven already in this
world, for our inheritance begins already in this world. In the mysteries of Christ, we share in the
Life of God, and we already begin to become God by grace. In the Most Holy Eucharist, for example, we
receive the true essence of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ. Through this personal experience with the
Risen Christ, we begin to rise from the consequences of death, just as the
Gospel of St. Matthew says to us: “The Lord spoke to them another parable: “the
Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast, which a woman took and kneaded into three
measures of flour, until the whole mass begins to rise.” When the mysteries of
Christ are kneaded into us, we begin to rise to our resurrection and union with
God.
In
the Gospel of Saint Mark, we see another valuable idea, since we should note
the important difference between this Gospel and the other two versions. This Gospel says: “there is no one, who has
left his home or brothers, or sisters, or mother or father, or children, or
land, for my sake and the Gospel’s, who will not receive a hundredfold now, in
this time, and persecution besides… and in the age to come, eternal life.” Here
Saint Mark emphasizes the fact of our journey in this world. Truly, through the mysteries of Christ, we
already live in the Kingdom of God, but we still live in this world as well. We must transform this world, little by
little, into the Kingdom of Heaven through prayer and good works, by the grace
of God. If we decide to live that life,
which tries to transform the world, then we will receive persecution, because
the world will try to destroy us. For
us, this doesn’t matter. When the world
tries to destroy us, then we remember that we live in the Kingdom, since this
world is not able to harm us, just as the Lord says to us in the Gospel of St.
John: “In the world you will have tribulation.
Be of good cheer! I have overcome the world.”
Our
challenge is to live more and more in the Kingdom, instead of in this
world. In order to do this, we must
consecrate the present moment through prayer and sacrifice in the name of the
Lord. We return to this theme over and
over again, because this is the essence of the Christian life—the imitation of
Christ according to our circumstances.
We have no obligation to consecrate and sanctify any other life or any
other moment than this life and this moment.
Why do we continue to do evil things, which have no place in the Kingdom
of God? Why are we not steadfast against the evils of the world? We must reject
the evil agenda of this society, since this society and this state, seeking to
control every aspect of the life of its citizens, continuously commits evil and
calls it good. There can be no
compromise with tyrants, who desire to coerce and force people to act against
their consciences. We need to recognize
that we have a share in the Kingdom of God, but this share comes together with
persecution. If we reject persecution,
then we also reject the Kingdom. “Everyone, therefore, who acknowledges Me
before men, I will acknowledge before my Heavenly Father. Whoever denies me before men, I will deny
before my heavenly Father.”
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