[Pearls Ep 155: Bringing Sunday into the week.]
We’re looking at Jesus’ words that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. We have only to hold fast to Christ and we can live in His kingdom even as we pass through this fallen world.
First and foremost, we hold fast to Christ through His Sacraments, meditation, and staying close to our Blessed Mother (especially with the rosary).
But what about through the moments of the day? Here are a few simple (and related) suggestions, that we’ve looked at in detail in the past:
- Practice the presence of God, as taught by Brother Lawrence. We call to mind that we are always in God’s presence (we can even set an alarm to remind us to reflect on Him during the day – a good use of our soul-sucking-devices…). He’s watching over you right now. He likes the cloths you picked out today. Just ask Him.
- Remind ourselves daily that we are not just “bags of water.” We have a spiritual soul that is more real than our physical body. Our body has its needs – food, rest, exercise, etc. Our spiritual soul also has needs. Our spirit needs the company of its Lord in meditative prayer. Our spiritual intellect needs to be fed by what is good, true, and beautiful. Our spiritual will needs to be exercised by saying “yes” to serving God and neighbor.
- Practice looking at the entire world through spiritual eyes. For example, we’re seldom more hungry than on a day we’re fasting. If we’re tempted to give in to a craving, what if we actually saw it being served to us by something from the 3rd ring of hell, or an IRS auditor (no offense to IRS agents, but they are scary)? In a very real sense, many of our temptations slither to us from a demonic source. At the same time, our guardian angel is always by our side at the ready if we but call on him. And when we’re talking with someone, we’re talking with a child of God, created in His likeness and image and with an eternal, spiritual soul.
Wishing you a good week in His kingdom –
Steve and Karen Smith
Interior Life
Postscript: Matthew 4:12-17
When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee.
He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled:
Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen.
From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say,“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”