Anytime you go outside of your limitations, it will be a constant struggle. Don't let that be you! Instead, stay focused on what you're good at. Follow peace in your heart and know your limitations because God has created you just the way He wants you to be!

Wednesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Jeremiah 15:10, 16-21

Psalm 59:2-3, 4, 10-11, 17, 18

M atthew 13:44-46 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. (45) "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, (46) who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Meditation by Tom Bannantine, S.J.

In today's short gospel reading the subject is the Kingdom of heaven.  As I thought about this gospel I was reminded of the teacher in a Catholic elementary school.  This teacher put the following question to one of her second grade boys. "Why do you want to go to heaven?"

The boy replied, "Because God lives there."  That boy was very wise.  He understood the main reason why we should desire to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Here Jesus does not describe heaven. He knows that the idea of heaven is a difficult one for human beings to grasp. The difficulty is that the people have no frame of reference.  Heaven is not like anything here on earth. So Jesus tries to help the disciples to understand heaven by giving them earthly examples to which they can relate. We know that when the predictions of the coming messiah were first made, many of the people of Israel misunderstood. They thought of an earthly kingdom and of the messiah as an earthly king.  That was still true of many of the people to whom Jesus preached.

Jesus desires to counter that perception and help his listeners to learn that the Kingdom of heaven is not of this world.

The disciples of Jesus are his students. He spent the time of his public life here on earth teaching the people. He is teaching them many things. One of the lessons is the true meaning of the Kingdom of heaven. It is probably the most important lesson that Jesus taught. But because it was a difficult lesson to understand, Jesus had to explain very carefully and patiently. And he had to keep on repeating his teaching so that it would sink in and be really understood by his listeners.

Today countless numbers of people throughout the world aspire to the Kingdom of heaven. The words of Jesus in today's gospel and in other places in the gospel as well as our faith help us to focus our desire for the kingdom. Like the disciples to whom Jesus spoke, none of us has any personal experience of heaven. We do know that our moments of greatest happiness here on earth are finite. They last only for a certain period of time.  We desire the great happiness of the Kingdom of heaven which will never end.

Supplementary Reading

Know Your Limitations

If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.—(1 Corinthians 12: 17-18, NIV)

In the New Testament, John was baptizing a crowd of people and drawing a lot of attention. Somebody came up and said, "John, are you the Christ or should we keep looking?" Without missing a beat John said, "No, I am not the Messiah."

See, John knew what he was, but he also knew what he was not. It's just as important to know what you're not because if you don't realize your limitations, you'll get drawn into areas that may look impressive and may feed your ego, but they are outside of your gifting and calling; outside of what God anointed you to do.

Anytime you go outside of your limitations, it will be a constant struggle. Don't let that be you! Instead, stay focused on what you're good at. Follow peace in your heart and know your limitations because God has created you just the way He wants you to be!

 Heavenly Father, thank You for loving me. Thank You for choosing me. I ask that You help me to know my limitations. Help me to know my place in the body of Christ so that I can bring glory and honor to You. In Jesus' Name. Amen.—Joel & Victoria Osteen

GOD BLESS US ALL!

O Theos Na Mas Evlogisi!
PRAY as if everything depended on HIM. ACT as if everything depended on YOU.

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