English EspaƱol Mary Immaculate
Catholic Church / Pacoima, CA

The Kingdom of God is at Hand

2nd Sunday of Advent

“Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace forever.”Ps. 72

Within our reach is the Kingdom of God, that is, we can let God reign in our lives and dethrone our ego and the false idols of this world to enjoy the true Kingdom of God, the fruits and gifts of the Spirit: kingdom of love, joy, peace, goodness, meekness, kingdom of knowledge, strength, wisdom,…

God’s desire is for his Spirit to invade and guide us, so that we can live together in peace, wolves with lambs, because only if we let him enter and guide our lives, we can experience his Kingdom of Love. The instinct and tendencies of the ego lead us naturally to hurt and devour each other.

It is true that in this world we can only live these values of heaven in an imperfect way, as a consequence of sin. But Christ makes available to us this own experience of children of God and citizens of heaven, because such is the dignity that He gave us and that we can live if we open it by faith.

“To those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe…”John 1, 12

The good news is this: The Kingdom of God is within your reach. Nothing and no one can take it away from you, as the Word expresses to us in many ways:

“who will separate me from the love of God? Anguish, hunger, persecution,…? Nothing of all this, neither death nor life, neither present nor future, will be able to separate us from the love of God manifested in Christ.”Cf. Romans 8,35

They will be able to handcuff your body, as they did with John the Baptist, but they cannot manipulate your soul or faith. This is the spiritual level that no one can change more than oneself. One decides what he(she) believes, what he(she) accepts in his(her) mind and in his (her) heart and no one can impose anything else on him(her).

You don’t have to wait to have more money, or to get better conditions, new governments, etc. We can live the Kingdom of God today, and we are called to live it today, without leaving it for tomorrow. This is why Jesus came, to make us participate in his divine life, to teach us to live the Kingdom, which, if we begin to live it here, no one can take it from us and we will live it eternally and fully after death.

It is about living the Christian, divine, spiritual and eternal life. You don’t have to wait until you die to start living it. We must open ourselves to this Gift of God by faith, by free and voluntary decision, already in this world, in order to receive and enjoy it for all eternity.

He cannot impose it on us, just as we cannot impose faith so that anyone can have life, it is a decision that each person must make to open their hearts to Jesus through faith. And faith requires preaching, because they will not be able to believe in a God they have not heard of.

I am at the door and knock, if anyone hears me and opens I will enter… Convert because the Kingdom of God is near. Prepare the way for the Lord.

Readings for the Week

Monday: Is 35:1-10; Ps 85:9ab, 10-14; Lk 5:17-26
Tuesday: Is 40:1-11; Ps 96:1-3, 10ac, 11-13; Mt 18:12-14
Wednesday: Is 40:25-31; Ps 103:1-4, 8, 10; Mt 11:28-30
Thursday: Gn 3:9-15, 20; Ps 98:1-4; Eph 1:3-6, 11-12; Lk 1:26-38
Friday: Is 48:17-19; Ps 1:1-4, 6; Mt 11:16-19
Saturday: Sir 48:1-4, 9-11; Ps 80:2ac, 3b, 15-16, 18-19; Mt 17:9a, 10-13
Sunday: Is 35:1-6a, 10; Ps 146:6-10; Jas 5:7-10; Mt 11:2-11

Saints & Special Observances

Sunday: 2nd Sunday of Advent
Tuesday: St. Nicholas
Wednesday: St. Ambrose; Pearl Harbor Remembrance
Thrusday: Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Friday: St. Juan Diego
Saturday: Our Lady of Loreto International Human Rights Day

Accessibility Statement