8 July 2020
Wednesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
“The kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 10:7). This is the essential message that Jesus entrusted to the twelve apostles when he sent them out. This was their proclamation as they journeyed from town to town. Jesus also gave them miraculous powers: casting out demons and curing “every disease and every illness” (Matthew 10:1). These miraculous cures and exorcisms were meant to testify to the validity of their proclamation. “The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
The kingdom of hell is at hand, too, and that kingdom may even be closer than we realize. The forces of chaos, discord, evil, sin and vice are hard at work, trying to infiltrate our conscious and our unconscious thought patterns and behaviors. How much time do we spend meditating on the kingdom of hell, even if only by accident? How much time do we spend reflecting on the despicable behavior of others or of ourselves? In our thoughts and reflections, does the kingdom of hell overshadow the kingdom of heaven? Have we forgotten how close to us the kingdom of heaven already is? Jesus and his twelve apostles have affirmed that it is “at hand.” More literally, it “has drawn near,” appropinquavit, ἤγγικεν (Matthew 10:7). The fact of this closeness is known only by faith. We must hold firm. “Moreover, we possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable. You will do well to be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19).