Laborers in God’s Family Business
I went on retreat several years ago and heard a priest say that “the Universe is God’s Family Business”. We might call it, GodandSon.com. And like most businesses its purpose is to produce an end-product. The end-product of this family business is the Kingdom of God.
Deacon Lex Ferrauiola
As followers of Jesus, we’ve been hired to be day laborers in that Kingdom, that family business. Our job description was prepared by Jesus himself and can be found in the pages of the Gospel: in the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, and in his many parables.
That job description calls us to use our hands and our feet, our voice, and our heart to build the Kingdom of God. And as Jesus tells us, that Kingdom is not meant to be in some far-off, heavenly place; it’s meant to be right here, around and among us.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who was recently canonized a saint by Pope Francis, knew all about that job description. She walked the talk and lived the Gospel every day of her life. As a builder of the Kingdom of God, Mother Teresa is a role model for all of us. Today is a good day for each of us to measure ourselves against that job description, to examine how well we are doing as a builder of God’s Kingdom.
Building the Kingdom of God takes more than piety and prayer. Coming to church and reading the Bible are very important parts of our Catholic faith, but building the Kingdom requires something more. It requires that we listen to Jesus’ words in the Gospel and act on them, that we make his words come alive within all the circles of our life.
Building the Kingdom of God requires that we love and forgive unconditionally; that we live out the Beatitudes, and the Parables of Jesus, not just on Sundays and Holy Days but every day of every year. And it requires that we treat every human being like we would treat Christ himself.
Building the Kingdom of God requires that we do more than just follow the rules. Those rules call us to reject personal sin and to be pure of heart and deed. But we are also called by Jesus to reject the structures of sin in our society: to stand up vocally against the social sin inherent in neglect of the poor and the sick, in racism, and in bigotry in all its forms.
Building the Kingdom of God requires that we respect the sanctity of life. We are called by Jesus to promote a seamless garment of protection for all life: to be vocal advocates not only for the unborn, but for the prisoner on death row, and the refugee fleeing violence and oppression as well. And as our Holy Father Pope Francis has reminded us, we are called to protect the life of our planet, our environment, and all God’s creatures that live within it.
As we go through these waning days of summer, and every day that follows, let us remember and rejoice that we are laborers in God’s family business. And let us commit ourselves to make the world into a wonderful place, a place filled with peace and love, a place that will be known from one end to the other as the Kingdom of God.
With love, Deacon Lex
deaconlex@nullgmail.com