“THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND”
Meditation
for Wednesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Hosea
10:1-3, 7-8, 12; Mt 10:1-7)
It is often the case that once individuals or a nation
began to prosper, they easily drift away from God. Hosea highlighted how God
blessed Israel and made the prosperous. Unfortunately, “The more his fruit
increased the more altars he built; as his country improved, he improved his
pillars.” Wealth can give one a false sense of security, for the people said to
themselves, “We have no king, for we fear not the Lord, and a king, what could
he do for us?” But Hosea announced that the people had relied on false
foundation that would soon be destroyed; the idol altars and pillars would be
brought down. Then, “They shall say to the mountains, cover us, and to the
hills, fall upon us.”
In the gospel of today, Jesus called the twelve apostles
and gave them authority over unclean spirits, and to heal every disease and
every infirmity. He sent them out, and commissioned them to preach, saying, “The
Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The apostles are the foundation stones of our
faith, of which Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone (Eph 2:20). If our lives
are rooted on this solid foundation, no matter how much we prosper, we will
never drift away from God. That is why we must recognize and exercise the
authority we have in faith through the preaching of the apostles. With such
solid foundation, we shall prosper and still remain secure. And we too shall bear
witness that the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Amen.
Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi, Lagos.
Wednesday July 6th, 2022.
