Commentary on the Gospel of
Doing the Kingdom
There is a certain urgency to whatever Jesus is seen doing in today’s gospel. He goes around many towns and villages, teaching and healing. He is busy calling disciples and training them. He sends them out on a mission. He asks us to pray for more hands to help with the harvest. He urges us to keep healing, cleansing, raising to life, giving freely, as the Kingdom is near. Thus, it is evident that realizing the Kingdom is a hard act that calls for our best efforts. The Kingdom is our shared dream with God, but we must wake up and make it happen. What poet Ellen Sturgis Hooper wrote about life can be applied to the life in the Kingdom:
“I slept, and dreamed that life was Beauty
I woke, and found that life was Duty.
Was thy dream then a shadowy lie?
Toil on, sad heart, courageously,
And thou shalt find thy dream to be
A noonday light and truth to thee.”
