The Feast of St Leo the Great | Thursday 10 November 2022

Today is Thursday the 10th of November, the feast of St Leo the Great, in the 32nd week of Ordinary time.



The Community of Taizé sing “the Kingdom of God is justice and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Come, Lord, and open in us the gates of your kingdom.”

Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Luke.

Luke 17: 20-25

Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, “Look, here it is!” or “There it is!” For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.’

Then he said to the disciples, ‘The days are coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. They will say to you, “Look there!” or “Look here!” Do not go, do not set off in pursuit. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must endure much suffering and be rejected by this generation.'

The kingdom of God comes quietly, hidden, unseen. It is within and among us. How is it to sit with that sense of God’s kingdom being within you?

We are also given a very different image, that of lightning that fills the sky, unmissable as Jesus will be in his day. In your life, where is Jesus unmissable for you?

Jesus names our longing for his return in all its fullness. As you listen again to the reading, what might that longing do in you?

Twice Jesus cautions about getting distracted from what is important by looking here and there. For the next moments, perhaps we might simply look upon his face and open ourselves to his loving gaze.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.