When our Lord speaks about the kingdom of God
in terms of the seed growing in the ground
as the farmer sleeps and the mustard seed
that sprouts up into the largest of plants,
our Lord is talking about the life of grace
which will ultimately be fulfilled in heaven.
The kingdom of God ultimately is heaven.
But as our Lord says elsewhere in the gospel,
the kingdom of God is within you.
We already have a little heaven within our souls,
to use the words of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity.
The kingdom of God begins now.
We have a foretaste of heaven in the life of grace
and especially in the Eucharist
and the grace that we receive from the real presence of our Lord
that is made available through this great sacrifice
of his cross and sacrament of our salvation.
The kingdom of God is within us and it begins even now.
But as our Lord says,
it is something that is silent and unseen
as the seed growing in the ground as the farmer sleeps.
It is the smallest of things like the mustard seed
which one day will become the largest of plants.
But it is a small thing because it is,
first of all, an interior thing which people don't see
and which is largely the work of God.
The small thing that we do is give our assent to God.
We say yes to Him.
And while that is a very simple and small thing,
it is, in the end, everything.
Everything hinges on our willingness to say yes to God,
to overcome selfishness and fear
and self-preoccupation
and turn ourselves outward to God
and say yes to Him.
Every sin is a no to God.
Every act of selfishness or self-centeredness,
every act of uncharity,
every lack of, every act of compromise,
every withholding of our faith to God
is a no to God.
Especially, you can understand it in regard to faith.
We talk about believing in everything the Church teaches
and in the creed,
which, of course, is absolutely what it is.
But in the first place,
believing the creed and the teaching of the Church
and all that we're obliged to believe according to faith and morals
is our way of saying yes to God.
When we refuse to believe what the Church teaches,
we are saying no not just to a doctrine,
for example, contraception.
We're saying no to God.
So it always comes back to this.
And in the end,
every time we go forward in the spiritual life,
every time we make progress,
every time we repent of a sin
or put something that's sinful behind us
and cultivate a virtue,
it is the function of God's grace.
It is a gift from Him.
And our part is to say yes.
Our part is to break down all the barriers.
And there are barriers in our life.
There are the barriers of our pride and our selfishness,
of our fear of not getting what we want.
And it's a small thing,
and yet it's so difficult to overcome.
And this is why we need to pray every day for the grace,
always to say yes to God
and to have the desire to do that.
In the Introduction to the Devout Life,
St. Francis de Sales,
at the very end of the book,
talks about certain practices
that the soul that is trying to follow God can cultivate.
And one of the things he says is,
pray not for devotion,
but the desire for devotion.
He wasn't really saying don't pray for the grace of devotion,
but he was trying to emphasize
that we should pray for the desire.
And sometimes when we are having a hard time in the spiritual life
through selfishness or temptation,
that's really what we need to do.
We need to pray for greater desires.
We need to have the desire to do the will of God above all things.
We really have to have the desire to surrender to him in every instance.
And we don't always have that desire.
We need to pray for it.
We need to ask for it.
And it's that simple act of devotion
whereby we humble ourselves
and kneel down and ask for God's grace
in which providence opens up to us,
in which the power of God
infuses itself into our souls.
It's this little act.
You know, it's a small act of faith
that opens us up to the kingdom of God,
which is the infinite power of God,
his presence and his grace in our lives,
which begins not just in heaven,
but even now,
because indeed the kingdom of God is within us.
And it is a small thing and silent,
and yet it is everything.
And our consent is the key.
May we have the grace to give God
our full consent and assent,
to give him our minds and our hearts
this day and always.
God bless you.
May we pray that His Father will count
for one another.
May we pray that He is our love
to our andour 있습니다.
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May we pray that God
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