Reconciliation: How is this not just some more good advice that we could have gotten from any decent psychologist? Jesus isn’t in the business of giving good advice for the sake of good advice. This is good news! Why?

It is through a life lived in faith and allegiance to the King that the Kingdom grows. Through our witness, countless people can be inspired to live their lives in service to this King. It is people living their baptism, people living with Christ as their King. It is people who take up their cross daily and follow him.

Peter is confessing his allegiance to, his faith in Jesus Christ. Peter has come to realize that Jesus is the true king and emperor of the world, God’s anointed king who has come to overthrow the kingdoms of this world. And that is revolutionary in nature.

Faith is what happens when you encounter an exceptional presence, and you recognize this Presence as containing the “answer” you’ve been looking for, and you adhere to this Presence (beg for mercy, for help).

Faith, in its most basic form, when we talk about faith—faith is trust. Faith is that very human, very rational, behavior of trusting another; trusting another because you have freely interpreted all of the signs which point to the conclusion that you can trust them.

The issue is, “Ok, I have the answer. What do I do now? I know a relationship with Christ is the most important, that in a relationship with Christ I experience the Kingdom, great. How do I do that? How do I experience the Kingdom?”

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) – July 12, 2020 St. Mary – Derby, KS Isaiah 55:10-11; Psalm 65:10-14; Romans 8:18-23; Matthew 13:1-23 (1) Today and for…… Read more ““They Comes and They Goes. But Mostly They Goes.””

The Kingdom of God is not a structure, or a program, or legislation, or political or any of that! The Kingdom of God is found in relationship to a person.

Why wouldn’t you want to take up your cross?