The Kingdom
Thursday of the Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time
Read this Gospel passage aloud to the family
Luke 17:20-25 – Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, Jesus 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."
(Parent) Reread this part a few times aloud
“For behold, the kingdom of God is among you.”
(Parent) Read this meditation aloud to the family
Whenever Jesus says “behold,” it is a good idea to behold—to stop and attend to what He is saying. Here He is saying, “Pay attention—the kingdom of God is right here among you.” What are we waiting for? The time to be better Christians is now. Have we deeply considered what it is that Jesus has put in front of us?
Jesus tells us to behold that which is right in front of our eyes. We need to give our best attention to this marriage and this family here in front of us. We need to give our best attention to the Mass and to the word of God in the Gospels. We need to pay attention to the crosses in our life that we cannot escape, like work, school, chores, inconveniences—and recognize that all of these are part of our path to God. Let’s open our eyes. The kingdom of God is right here.
As a family, pray a portion of the Rosary together (very short if children are young) reflecting on the Scripture passage above.(Optional: allow a brief time for discussion or questions from children concerning their thoughts and prayer.)
Reminder for Parents: Pier is just meant to be a jumping off point. The real goal is that you pray & eventually use the fruits of your personal prayer as the content of your family’s prayer. Duc in altum.
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