Daily Meditation - Wednesday 9July 2008 - EVERY TIME WE GO TO CONFESSION WE BRING THE KINGDOM OF GOD NEARER

[BarbaraTherese]

Optional Memorial
Augustine Zhao Rong and companions

Mass Readings & Meditation
Readings

Meditation
Matthew 10:1-7

The kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matthew 10:7)

You might expect that any faithful Jew who heard this proclamation would be inclined to rush around and clean up so that he or she was ready for the Messiah’s arrival.

• And there’s nothing wrong with that:
• After all, both Jesus and John the Baptist coupled the announcement of the kingdom with a call for repentance.

But there’s so much more to the kingdom than a simple encouragement to do a rush of spiritual housekeeping.

• For example, do you know that every time you go to Confession,
• you are actually bringing the kingdom nearer?
• It’s true! The Sacrament of Reconciliation brings the kingdom of God into our lives in an immediate way
• because we’re uprooting sin, receiving forgiveness, and being reconciled with God and one another.

More than just cleaning us up,
this sacrament actually has the power to remove obstacles that block our experience of God’s kingdom.

• It actually has the power to open the way
• for a deeper and more profound experience of Jesus himself.

We’ve all probably thought to ourselves how much better the world would be if the kingdom of God were evident:

• Families would be more peaceful,
• neighborhoods or schools would become refuges of harmony,
• churches would be filled with believers.

But the truth is, we all have a role to play in making God’s kingdom present.

• *** As we allow God’s grace to move us and change us,***
• *** we will have a significant impact on the people around us***. The kingdom will truly be “at hand” because we are living as children of the king!

So let the Holy Spirit clear away everything in you that doesn’t belong in the kingdom of God.

• Don’t shy away when he puts his finger on an area of your life that needs healing or repentance.
• Know that every time you bring these areas into the Sacrament of Reconciliation,
• you are letting the kingdom break into your life more and more. You are becoming a vessel filled with the Holy Spirit
• . And that means that your words, actions, even your very presence can have a powerful effect on the world around you.
  “Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of Reconciliation! In this sacrament, you have given me not just the means to enter more fully into your kingdom myself but also to make it more present in my world.”