Within and Among!

Thursday, November 12, 2026

Philemon 7-20; Lk 17: 20-25

Today’s Gospel highlights that the Kingdom of God quietly manifests itself through love, justice, forgiveness, and mercy rather than through externally observable phenomena. 

By answering the Pharisees that the ‘Kingdom of God is among you,’ Jesus directs people to find God’s Kingdom in two ways. 

The Kingdom Within: The question of the Pharisees reveals their expectations of the Kingdom of God as an externally observable sign. But through his answer, Jesus directs them inward. He knows that it is easy to get distracted by the Kingdom as an external phenomenon. This is why Jesus’ answer underlines the fact that finding the Kingdom within oneself is the most challenging task because the journey within is often the hardest. Here, Jesus also helps us realize that our distractions often expose our inability to examine and course-correct our lives. A transformed heart that commits itself to the Gospel values is an authentic sign of God’s Kingdom within. 

The Kingdom Among: Jesus explains ‘the Kingdom among’ through the quiet but powerful works of love, mercy, forgiveness, and justice. In other words, Jesus wants his audience to find the Kingdom present in their midst through his loving and transforming ministry. By alleviating pain, eliminating misery, abolishing distinctions, and crossing boundaries, Jesus instantiated the Kingdom among people. Looking at Jesus, we realize that the Kingdom is present where love prevails. Jesus wants his followers to build heaven on earth by closely imitating him and his Gospel. In Jesus, people saw that ‘God has come to help his people’ (Lk 7:16). We are the Kingdom practitioners if we can help people find God in us. 

Let us pray that we may become the living signs of God’s Kingdom. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar