5th Sunday Reflection
Can our world be a better place? What would it take to change our world into something more reflective of our true humanity, of compassion, justice, equity, peace, and joy?
Our current trajectory seems to be in the opposite direction with commercialisation and beneficiation of every aspect of creation, the elements, and even creatures.
Yet in this great scramble for wealth and amid such plenty, our lives appear to have become ever more impoverished, our humanity ever more diminished.
Human history emphasises the trajectory of these earthly kingdoms, based on values opposing our common humanity. This was the same world in which the Christ event takes place. God breaking into our history and proclaiming the kingdom of God.
Perhaps we still stand too close to this event horizon to fully come to grips and to fully appreciate the miracle that has taken place; a New World trajectory that even today continues to unfold within our consciousness. This is the continued blossoming of the kingdom of God, the recognition of the intrinsic human dignity of every human person.
What did it mean to be a person, a human person, before this Christ event? Our history points to a world in which personhood was reserved to those of ancestry, wealth, and power having a ‘face’ before the eyes of the law, possessing the rights of a free and propertied citizen, entrusted to testify on the strength of one’s own word.
An accident of birth and your status in law and in society was determined. For the rest, there was no face, no countenance as a person, of no esteem, and of no value. How high has this Christ event raised our vantage point? Can we start to see it now? This is the proclamation of the kingdom of God that changes everything.
This is the kingdom of God that continues to unfold as our consciousness breaks upon us and reaches ever-higher levels. This is the core of the gospel message where no person is inconsequential, of no value, and of no esteem.
Yes, the kingdom of God is with us, is within us, and our world is a better place, ever becoming a better place in which all of creation constitutes this universal kingdom of God.
This is the promise of God and our hope, the foundation of our faith. This is the reign of God in our hearts, by God’s grace coming to fruition within us and moving us ever closer to the desire of our hearts and towards justice, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Our work is to continue this proclamation not merely by our words, but by the reflection of our lives mirrored to the world. Perfect we are not, and this is reflected in all of our human institutions, even the church, and so we continue to pray for God’s reign to be made perfect and complete.
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