The right perspective will unfold the Kingdom of God

These days with the COVID-19 restrictions, we have to be innovative in a lot of things. Recently, the sacramental team of the parish has been discussing how to re-organise the Sacramental Preparation Programs without calling for the parents to gather and risk the spread of corona virus. Zoom meetings is the suggestion that would pop up in many minds. But will online teaching be adequate enough to bring a sense of greater affinity among the families with their Church and Jesus Christ? In adapting to the new ways of communicating and reaching out, we should not lose sight of the original values and goals we have set for the faith formation. In every age our faith practices were faced with challenges to bring what is old and the new for a selecting process. The Kingdom of God on earth is constantly
demanding the disciples to sort out what is good in their culture and family traditions and what he or she has discovered new.

You may have a tradition of mourning the passing away of a family member. You may have a tradition of fasting or novena prayers. There may be daily prayers you are used to. There are inherited ways of greetings, social life, and so on. In all these your faith life demands a great
commitment. Keeping up that deep commitment, how would you adapt new ways of praying, fasting, socialising and using modern ways of living? A person of faith should be able to bring out the old and the new and sort them out for greater joy of faith life.

The Gospel writers used the Old Testament to present the mystery Jesus and their experience of Jesus’ Resurrection. The Gospels show us how Jesus discarded some of the unhelpful things of the past and presented some new ways of understanding God’s love and mercy.

When people come to me with their life issues, (which happens every week) let it be family problems or personal crises, my job as a pastor is to help them to sort their problems out in the light of the Word of God. The Word of God is nothing new, it has been there always. The art of living our faith life is to bring the current issues of life and the old wisdom of the Gospels and see the life in the right perspective. With that perspective we see the Kingdom of God unfolding in and around us.