(1 Kgs 17:1-6, Mt 5:1-12)
At certain moments in life, there are times when it feels like a desert—an endless drought where nothing bears fruit and a breathless silence surrounds us. Even when we try to find our direction, it can feel like the lyrics of that song: “A road wrapped in a flickering mist, a road like a fading rainbow.” In those moments, a sense of vagueness and loneliness can steal into our hearts.
Then, because the journey of life feels so wearying and we cannot fathom what we will face or when, we might find ourselves living passively—losing our sense of agency and struggling to find self-worth. When we feel we lack the ability or the foundation to overcome the practical barriers before us, or when comparing ourselves to others cuts even deeper, that pain can be redoubled. Moreover, it is incredibly difficult to have those feelings understood by someone without any prejudice and to gain strength from them. The weight of that uncertainty becomes truly indescribable.
That is why, in such moments of desperation,our thirst for hope becomes all the more earnest, and we must never stop struggling to somehow break through our reality. No matter what our circumstances may be,everyone has the right to be happy. Furthermore, we have a vocation and a duty to build a world where the humble hope that these moments of living with all our hearts will accumulate and surely return as goodness and beautiful fruits is never dismissed as a mere mirage or delusion.
Therefore, the Word of the Lord today leads us to the faith thatwe are by no means living in this world alone, and to the comfort and peace that the Lord will provide for us.
In the First Book of Kings, chapter 17, verses 3 and 4, the Word of the Lord comes to the prophet Elijah—who has foretold a drought where God's word cannot take root, and who will consequently face hunger and thirst himself:“Leave here, go east and hide in the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan. You shall drink from the stream, and I have commanded ravens to feed you there.”
Whenever I dare to feel His presence—the mercy that leads us to quench our thirst away from the barren places, the embrace filled with warmth that offers a reliance amidst hardships, and the Lord who reveals His mercy through wondrous encounters when we are floundering in despair—I have deeply encountereda God of delicate, maternal lovewho never disregards even my infinitely small, humble voice and tearful prayers. This has been the firm fortress that sustained my vocation, and the pinnacle of the response I must make in faith.
The Gospel of Matthew, from chapter 5, verses 3 to 12, teaches us with such a warm and clear certainty, engraving upon our heartsthe grace of the Lord who most precisely understands our situationwhere we stand at a standstill, and who will fulfill us.
In the Holy Sermon delivered as He looks down upon us, His disciples, on the mountain, the actual, raw pains that we—the spiritual people of Israel today—experience in reality are brought to light. Poverty and sorrow, the meekness revealed in the strength to endure the world, the thirst for righteousness felt before the reality of those suffering within the world's injustices and contradictions, the longing for purity maintained amidst countless temptations, the prayer for peace that cannot be abandoned despite violence and oppression, and the reality of persecution that follows true commitment—these are, after all,the concentrated, agonizing cries of trying our absolute best to hold onupon this harsh earth.
Yet, God returns the conclusion as a spiritual answer. However, He tells us that this spiritual answer never ends as an idealized faith detached from our reality, butwill be realized at this very moment, here, upon this earth where we are aching. The Kingdom of Heaven, eternal consolation, a heavenly dwelling place, mercy, the grace to see God, and the vocation as children of God—these do not remain solely in an unknown realm looking toward an afterlife that will come “someday.”
When we live out Gospel values, this very place becomes the Kingdom of Godthat we are to live in. For when we convey heartfelt respect filled with warmth to the person right beside us, the consolation engraved there will sprout into life's hope. When that happens, this earth upon which our two feet stand will becomea heavenly foretasteworth living for. It is because we will gaze upon the face of God within one another and confirm that we are precious beings.
In this way, the Kingdom of God is near, but its pieces are merely scattered through each of us. When that love is gathered and gathered again, so that the whole picture comes together, we will finally realize thatthis place is the fulfillment of prophecy, the Kingdom of God made real, which will wash away and satisfy our thirst and hunger. We are the irreplaceable, precious children of God, called to make that dream come true. Amen.