Heavenly realities

Saturday of week 20 in Ordinary Time

Matthew 23:1-12 

What is described in the first reading is the glory of God, something we hope to see in the future - to be included among the saints in God's kingdom.

Unfortunately, the pharisees who are supposed to know this are the ones corrupting the faithful.  They are more concerned with earthly externalities that they forget that the very heart of the faith is not themselves but God and their relationship with him.

How do we maintain our focus on heavenly realities?  We can focus on our relationship with Jesus through the following:

Rabbi - teacher; take time to learn only from the Master who teaches righteousness, no more, no less.  His teachings are found in the teachings of the Church.

Father - this is not to belittle the priests when we call them "Father"; but Fatherhood connotes trusting and loving the Father who provides for his children.  This loving relationship puts peace in our hearts instead of being anxious about our lives, simply because the Lord provides.

Third, servant - It is to place ourselves at the total disposal of the Master instead of treating ourselves as too busy to do God's work here on earth.

Focus on heavenly realities and you'll see heaven even here on earth.

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