Coming to his home town, Jesus taught the people in their synagogue
Where is Home for you?
I have thought about where home is for me at different times of my life. When I was a kid, it was West Allis, Wisconsin. When I was a teenager or young adult it was Saint Petersburg, Florida. Now I live with my wife, Anna, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I have felt a strong sense of community and belonging in many places in my life.
I think home is wherever the Kingdom of God is present in my life. I still have friends and relatives in many places, and I do have a great sense of connection to all of them. Home is with them also, but it is also here and now in Oklahoma. Home is family and friends just like it was with Jesus in Nazareth. In a larger sense it is the places we worship and serve the Kingdom of God wherever we are located.
In reality our home is Heaven. Nonetheless, we share part of Heaven when we are open to the Kingdom of God in our lives. Understandably the Kingdom of God is located partly on Earth and mostly in Heaven. We are only home when we are experiencing the Kingdom of God. It is not a physical place except in Heaven, but it can be experienced here on Earth.
Luke 17:20-21 Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he said in reply, “The coming of the kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is’. For behold, the kingdom of God is among you..” This is our true home. Where Jesus is among us, there is the Kingdom. There is our home.
Saint Ignatius Loyola was the founder of the Society of Jesus. or Jesuits. . He was a veteran and had a conversion experience recuperating from wounds from battle. He read the lives of the saints and that encouraged him to live his life for God. Everything he did was for the great glory of God and his life was an example. Today you are the example for future generation of the faithful to witness at home and in the Kingdom of God the dedication to the scriptures and worship of God.
Glory to God in the Highest!
God Love You Always
Bob Burford
PS: Please Pray for Pope Leo XIV. Please Pray for Cancer victims and their caregivers. Pray for those in Hospice. Pray for the conversion of Russia and the salvation of the Ukrainian and Russian people and their soldiers. Pray for the Holy Land. The impossible could and can happen. (Saint Rita) Never deny God! Pray for justice for all victims of human trafficking and immigrants! Pray for justice for our President and all government officials! Pray for Peace!
