Therefore, I say to you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.
- The Kingdom of God
- Spreading the Gospel with foodur
- What we have to do to produce food
My wife, Anna, and I have experienced how this comes together in your life and mine.
Whenever, God’s people get together to pray, socialize or celebrate, the Kingdom of God is in their midst. We went to support a smaller parish who was having a Saint Patrick’s Day Dinner. My wife and I had never been to this specific congregation, but we were accepted and welcomed. The Knights of Columbus had prepared the meal and the people at the table we joined were most pleasant. We both felt at home and accepted because we all had good food and people who knew the Gospel and showed it by their lives and the way they “Loved one another”. It was a picture of this church and the how they spread the Gospel. God was their focus.
The second experience was at our home. Our church has a group of 4 couples that open up their homes. One couple hosts the main entre’ and they take turns every month in the Spring and Fall. The other couples take turns bringing appetizers and desserts. The couples rotate and there is a new group every season. We got involved because it was a nice way to get to know the Parish. Sometimes we are lucky enough to have our Parish priests join us. Since we hosted the first meeting, we had Spring cleaning, dusting, purchasing and preparing food. At the most recent get together we were joined by our Pastor, Father Stuart. We had a great time. Everyone brought something, shared their lives, food and good spirits. They also shared and witnessed how God has worked in their lives.
The common bond was the food, but the evangelization of all the people was where the Kingdom of God was celebrated. In our first reading, Reuben, one of Joseph’s brothers is the only one to save Joseph. Come on, let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns here; we could say that a wild beast devoured him. We shall then see what comes of his dreams. “When Reuben heard this, he tried to save him from their hands, saying, “We must not take his life. The sons of Israel were not part of the Kingdom of God that day but Reuben was.
In the parable of the vineyard describes people like the Pharisees who try to get into the Kingdom by skipping a relationship with God. It didn’t work for them, and it will not work for us.
We can’t take shortcuts to the Kingdom. We have to arrive with a relationship with God and His son, Jesus Christ. God wants us to enjoy the journey of life with Him. There may be twists and turns and the journey may take you to places that you do not want to go, but remember you are not alone in your journey. You have Jesus and the Children of God that together are on the same journey.
The Kingdom of God is at hand!
God Love You Always
Bob Burford
PS: Please Pray especially hard for our Pontiff, Pope Francis who may be doing better now. Please Pray for Cancer victims and their caregivers. Pray for the conversion of Russia and the salvation of the Ukrainian and Russian people and their soldiers. Pray for the Holy Land. Pray for peace! It looks like the impossible could happen. Never deny God.
