{"id":8307,"date":"2021-06-13T08:00:29","date_gmt":"2021-06-13T12:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/?p=8307"},"modified":"2021-06-13T07:24:29","modified_gmt":"2021-06-13T11:24:29","slug":"from-fr-tom-41","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/2021\/06\/13\/from-fr-tom-41\/","title":{"rendered":"From Fr. Tom"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hopefully, your week was blessed!<\/strong> Today\u2019s gospel has two parables: The Seed growing by itself and sowing the Mustard Seed. These parables point to what the Kingdom of God is becoming. In other words, how God\u2019s kingdom will grow.<\/p>\n

When Jesus said, \u201c…and the seed would sprout and grow…\u201d, His message is clear \u001a The Kingdom of God, even if it requires our collaboration, is first and foremost a grace and a gift coming from God. It is not primarily a product of human effort.<\/p>\n

There is a story about how, in the first few months of his Pontificate, Pope John XXIII was beset by a host of problems and could not sleep. One night he had an inspiration in the form of a dream: \u201cPope John,\u201d the voice sounded, \u201cdon\u2019t take yourself too seriously. You must remember I am still the head of the Church, not you.\u201d After that dream, his insomnia disappeared.<\/p>\n

This does not mean, however, that we have to be passive spectators. We must cooperate with the grace of God. God works in and through us to make this world already a \u201clittle heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n

These parables are about the gradual growth of God\u2019s Kingdom which is the center of Christ\u2019s teaching and preaching. If we do God\u2019s will, it becomes already a part of God\u2019s Kingdom.<\/p>\n

Based on what I know from my theological studies and readings about this, the Kingdom of God has different characteristics that we should know and follow, namely: First<\/strong> is the condition for entry. If we want to enter God\u2019s kingdom, there are conditions to follow and to fulfill. The conditions are<\/u> that we must have conversion and repentance. Second<\/strong> is the membership which we gain by becoming disciples of Jesus Christ who are in constant learning at His feet and becoming His true followers and servants. Third<\/strong> is a life of loving service grounded on God\u2019s love for us. Fourth<\/strong> is the basic law which is new life in the Spirit. This law is not legalistic, but filial love. Fifth is the charter or the constitution that we should uphold, that is, the Beatitudes.<\/p>\n

What should be our response so that we can cooperate in making God\u2019s kingdom grow in our midst? There are so many ways. Some of them could be: respect for one another, solidarity with everybody, especially the poor, fidelity to God and to one another, and many more.<\/p>\n

Now, can we say that God\u2019s kingdom has already begun to grow especially in our own self? Are we already practicing love, compassion, forgiveness, and reconciliation with one another? Can we accept ourselves for who we are in front of God? As a modern-day disciple of Christ, do you help others grow in faith? If our answer is yes, then we are not far from the Kingdom of God. God is already near to us. May your week be holy, let God and His Grace grow in your hearts and lives<\/p>\n

Fr. Tom<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hopefully, your week was blessed! Today\u2019s gospel has two parables: The Seed growing by itself and sowing the Mustard Seed. These parables point to what the Kingdom of God is becoming. In other words, how God\u2019s kingdom will grow. When Jesus said, \u201c…and the seed would sprout and grow…\u201d, His message is clear \u001a The Kingdom of God, even if it requires…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[151],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fr-tom","ctfw-no-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8307"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8308,"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8307\/revisions\/8308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgenevieve-stmaurice.org\/parish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}