vangelo del giorno

The coming of the kingdom of God cannot be observed

15 NOVEMBER (Lk 17,20-25)

The Kingdom of God is a gift, a revelation of Wisdom. Never might who  lives of foolishness be able to recognize the kingdom of God. Never will who burns down in ignorance be able to see the kingdom of God that comes in so discreet, humble way as to be able to attract attention. Wisdom is all for a man. A man sees the invisible work of God with it.

The works of God are so discreet, so invisible, so long in time as to prove to be imperceptible in the end. If one does not possess wisdom, which is the work of the Holy Spirit in the human heart, this can never see God working in our history. Instead, who is full of the Holy Spirit always sees God even in the smallest breath that blows in our history, around and away from us.

She preserved the first-formed father of the world when he alone had been created; And she raised him up from his fall, and gave him power to rule all things. But when the unjust man withdrew from her in his anger, he perished through his fratricidal wrath. When on his account the earth was flooded, Wisdom again saved it, piloting the just man on frailest wood. She, when the nations were sunk in universal wickedness, knew the just man, kept him blameless before God, and preserved him resolute against pity for his child. She delivered the just man from among the wicked who were being destroyed, when he fled as fire descended upon Pentapolis –  Where as a testimony to its wickedness, there yet remain a smoking desert, Plants bearing fruit that never ripens, and the tomb of a disbelieving soul, a standing pillar of salt. For those who forsook Wisdom first were bereft of knowledge of the right, And then they left mankind a memorial of their folly –  so that they could not even be hidden in their fall. But Wisdom delivered from tribulations those who served her. She, when the just man fled from his brother’s anger, guided him in direct ways, Showed him the kingdom of God and gave him knowledge of holy things; She prospered him in his labors and made abundant the fruit of his works, Stood by him against the greed of his defrauders, and enriched him; She preserved him from foes, and secured him against ambush, And she gave him the prize for his stern struggle that he might know that devotion to God is mightier than all else. She did not abandon the just man when he was sold, but delivered him from sin. She went down with him into the dungeon, and did not desert him in his bonds, Until she brought him the scepter of royalty and authority over his oppressors, Showed those who had defamed him false, and gave him eternal glory. The holy people and blameless race – it was she who delivered them from the nation that oppressed them. She entered the soul of the Lord’s servant, and withstood fearsome kings with signs and portents; she gave the holy ones the recompense of their labors, Conducted them by a wondrous road, and became a shelter for them by day and a starry flame by night. She took them across the Red Sea and brought them through the deep waters –  But their enemies she overwhelmed, and cast them up from the bottom of the depths. Therefore the just despoiled the wicked; and they sang, O Lord, your holy name Because Wisdom opened the mouths of the dumb, and gave ready speech to infants. (Wis 10,1-21).

Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he said in reply, “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.” Then he said to his disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. There will be those who will say to you, ‘Look, there he is,’ (or) ‘Look, here he is.’ Do not go off, do not run in pursuit. For just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be (in his day). But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation.

Jesus warns his apostles. He came in the flesh only once. He will no longer return coated with fragility, smallness, humility, and a mortal body. Never might any one say he is in one place or another, at one time or another, for by now he has gone out of the scene of this world. He lives glorious in his body made entirely spiritual by the omnipotence of the Father. When he comes at the end of time, all will see him in a moment, clothed with glory and power. He will come in the splendor of his glory on the clouds of heaven. He will come for judgment. Every man will present himself before him in order to be examined in all his works. Good works will lead him to Paradise, the bad ones will open the gates of hell, of eternal damnation. It is most pure truth.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints make us see the Kingdom of God.