Thursday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

The glory of God's dwelling was always seen as far off, distant and unreachable for mere humans. And indeed it is. But what for us isimpossible, God has made possible. In today's first reading from the Book of Exodus, we see a glimpse of how awesome God's dwelling, God's very presence, is. The readings move from an image of God's dwelling as awesome and holy, terrible and mighty, to the Psalmist longing for God's dwelling place. The Psalmist yearns to dwell in the courts of the Lord. And this too should be our own longing. The movement continues in today's reading from the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus describes the very kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is where the righteous may dwell: in the very presence of God, in God's heavenly dwelling. God's heavenly dwelling will not only be for the angels, but for us as well. Jesus has done for us what we could never have done on our own; He has brought heaven to earth, and raised earth up to heaven.

We encounter this movement in every celebration of the Liturgy. Every Eucharist acknowledges the awesome holy God, Creator of all the world, of bread and wine. Every Eucharist also brings us into the very presence of God, by allowing God to dwell within us, and thereby transform us. At the Eucharist, we enter into the heavenly mystery of God; God dwells within us.Let us share the glory of heaven with others. Let the heavenly light that lives within us, break free and shine on everyone we encounter, especially through our acts of love and kindness.

Jeff Morrow