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” (Lk 17:20-21).

The Pharisees were scrutinizing Jesus’ every word and action, unfortunately, with a hard heart. They weren’t looking for the truth, they were looking for ways to accuse him, to catch him, to have cause to show him to be a fraud. They were closed to the actual events happening around Jesus that the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, lepers are healed, the dead have arisen, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them (cf. Matthew 11:5).

They missed the very reality that the Kingdom of God was in their midst. We see this very much today through a mental posture of “scientism”. This is the belief that the only reality is that which can be measured empirically, through the five senses. Scientists have brought about advances and innovations that we enjoy today, but science is limited to the physical, material, finite realm of existence. There is a reality beyond the physical, what we would commonly term as the spiritual. That which transcends time and space in the three dimensional reality that we experience through our senses. We understand the world around us best when we embrace both reason and faith.

If our mind is closed to an idea, a reality, a belief we will not only resist believing, we will also seek rationalizations to explain it away. We brush off acts of synchronicity, such as thinking about someone and then they give you a call, as mere coincidence. The one who believes in a spiritual reality of interconnectedness beyond what which we can measure in a finite way, might call these incidences, not coincidences, but God-incidences.

God cannot be solved, we cannot prove him like a problem because God is not in the genus of being, he is not an animal, a human, an angelic, spiritual, or even as supreme being. There are no words to adequately describe him. We can say more about what he is not than what or who he is! The best attempts we have are in the phrasing of St Thomas Aquinas, that God is an Infinite Act of Existence. Or as God said to Moses, “I am, who am” (Exodus 3:14). He is completely transcendent, beyond the grasp of our finite minds.

God cannot be solved or proven, but he, as our creator, can certainly be experienced. We can develop a relationship with him as we develop a relationship with other people. We are able to do so because he reaches out to us in his love. As far beyond the grasp of our comprehension as he is, at the same time he is also closer to us than we are to ourselves. The most unique and powerful way we come to know the Father is through the God man, Jesus, who is fully divine as Son of God and fully human, born of Mary. Jesus reveals the Father to us. As we spend time with Jesus, in personal and communal prayer and worship, through his Word, in the sacraments, through our interactions and service with one another, and as we follow the lead and intuitions of the Holy Spirit we come to know the Father. As Jesus said to Philip, “Whoever has seen me, has seen the Father” (Jn 14:9).

The Kingdom of God is among us. Jesus, help us to know you so that we can experience the Father. Help our minds and hearts to be open and aware of the Kingdom of God operating in our lives today. Help us to identify those sinful areas that distract and block us from entering into a deeper relationship with you. Free us from our fears and anxieties that keep us bound so that we may experience and share the forgiveness, mercy, and grace of God the Father through the love of the Holy Spirit so that we can help others to experience the Kingdom of God as well.

Photo: Painting hanging at Cardinal Newman on the second floor near the 400’s hallway.

Link for today’s Mass readings:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/111617.cfm