Thursday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 458

Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, 'The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.'



In today's first reading from the Book of Nehemiah we hear a plaintive story of the exiles' return to their beloved Jerusalem. In the course of their struggles through many years they have forgotten the Law of Moses, the law God had given them. That is to say, they had forgotten who they were.
In human history thousands, if not millions, of cities have been built and destroyed. People invested their hopes, lives and dreams in these necessary constructs, only to see them wasted by conquering armies, or by the neglect that comes with climate change.
Architects tell us a city, with its streets, buildings and open areas, expresses, shapes and forms the character of its people. Their identity is molded by the city they have built.  
Inhabitants of destroyed cities, those who survived the catastrophe, scatter to begin life somewhere else. Within a few generations they forget their native language, foods, clothing and customs as they are absorbed by another culture. Americans know the story well as millions have forgotten the ancient customs of Europe, Africa and Asia. How many Johnsons speak Norwegian or Garcias speak Spanish?  How many people with Irish names remember their Catholic faith? 
In today's first reading, the Emperor of Persia has graciously allowed the Jews to return to their homeland. Coming home to Zion, the hill where stood the city of their grandparents, they have found the ruins of a temple and some wretchedly poor survivors. Hearing the ancient law in their own archaic Hebrew, shouted from a makeshift wooden platform, they sob with grief at all they have lost. 
But the priest Ezra and the governor Nehemiah urge them to celebrate the new beginning, "for rejoicing in the LORD must be your strength!" 
Today's gospel also celebrates a new beginning. But if Ezra and Nehemiah tried to restore the ancient glory, the disciples of Jesus can hardly imagine the glory that is to come. 
What can "The Kingdom of God is at hand!" mean? What should we expect? We know of kingdoms and God but the kingdom of God? 
I want to head off a possible misreading of this text. The last two words, "for you," do not mean "the kingdom of God will be there if you imagine it to be there." This is not "my version of the truth." 
Rather, "for you" expresses the traditional understanding, "God is for us!"; "God is with us!" and "God has not abandoned us!"
We know the kingdom of God is at hand because we celebrate the Eucharist, because we live in peace with one another, because we show mercy to aliens, orphans, widows and our enemies. These signs are sure and true and irrefutable. Seeing these signs we remember who we are, the People of God.