Today's Gospel in Art - The kingdom of God is among you

Heaven is Within, by Robby Donaghey, 2013 © Robby Donaghey artist

Gospel of 12th November 2020 - Luke 17:20-25

Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was to come, Jesus gave them this answer, 'The coming of the kingdom of God does not admit of observation and there will be no one to say, "Look here! Look there!" For, you must know, the kingdom of God is among you.'

He said to the disciples, 'A time will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man and will not see it. They will say to you, "Look there!" or, "Look here!" Make no move; do not set off in pursuit; for as the lightning flashing from one part of heaven lights up the other, so will be the Son of Man when his day comes. But first he must suffer grievously and be rejected by this generation.'

Reflection on the Digital Painting

Jesus says in our reading today: 'the Kingdom of God is among you'. It is indeed among us in two ways. Firstly, the kingdom is deep inside each of us. Each of us holds the soil where God's Word has been sown the day we were conceived. Through prayer and living our faith inside the Church, we cultivate that ground deep inside our hearts, so that the seed of the Word can flourish and blossom and grow to try and reflect God's image into the world. Besides allowing the Kingdom of God to grow within us, we also have to work on building God's kingdom outside ourselves, in our communities, in our parish, in our families… to produce growth and new life there too. As José Maria Escrivá wrote: 'Yes, you are to be in God, to enlighten, to give flavor, to produce growth and new life. But don't forget that we are not the source of this light: we only reflect it' (St. Jose Maria Escriva, Friends of God, 250).

Our artwork by San Francisco based artist Robby Donaghey, illustrates poignantly the flow from the interior life to the exterior life. A bright light is emanating from Jesus' Heart and illuminating the space around Him. The watchful eyes around Him are the lenses through which we see the world when we nurture the kingdom of God deep inside us.

We often look for extraordinary signs of God's presence. Yet God and His Kingdom are to be found in the quietness deep inside us and outside us through the kindness, goodness and love of others. Lord, help us to be quiet, so that we may find you there. Lord, open our eyes, so we can find you in others.

LINKS

Today's story - https://christian.art/en/daily-gospel-reading/604

Christian Art - www.christian.art