Sorry for the late post. Here is my homily from yesterday morning’s Mass.
Jesus tells us today that we are to go out and proclaim that “The Kingdom of God is at hand!” Yes, the Kingdom of God…. who and what is the Kingdom of God? The Kingdom is Jesus Christ, God become man who lives among us. The Kingdom of God is his mystical body, the Church, his presence working in the world today. The Kingdom of God is in your heart, in the heart of all who believe and have received the gift of the Holy Spirit in baptism. This is the Kingdom we are called to proclaim.
Every deacon, at his ordination, is handed the book of the Gospels by his bishop and told that he is now a herald of that Gospel, a herald of the Kingdom, and that he must go forth and preach that Kingdom to all, with a clear conscience in all charity and with spiritual discipline. No deacon forgets that moment. I, as a deacon, must preach this Gospel. I cannot help but do so, for I will be judged on the last day as to whether or not I have done so well. And you, in a different way, are called to proclaim that Kingdom because you have been baptized, call yourselves Christian, and have been given the Holy Spirit.
My friends, let us not shirk from our responsibility to go out and proclaim the Kingdom of God to all men and women. Let us not be afraid to open our hearts to that Kingdom, to Jesus Christ who seeks to draw us to himself, to his Kingdom, where we may reign with him for all eternity!
