Memorial of Saint Stanislaus Kostka, Religious (Frances Xavier Cabrini, Virgin)
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus tells the Pharisees who are looking for the Kingdom of God to make a grand entrance into the world (probably a military-political entrance, many thought), The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed. . . . For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you. This kingdom which Jesus preaches again and again in the Gospels is of a different order than earthly kingdoms, and it is founded on different principles: righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, as Paul says (Rom 14:17). Those who look for a kingdom of might and power will be disappointed, for the Father’s kingdom is one of mercy.
We can see flashes of this Kingdom of God among us in the way Christ manifests his presence in the lives of the saints. One such lightning flash is Stanislaus Kostka, a Jesuit from Poland who died of illness at only 17 years old who is celebrated by Jesuits (and Jesuit churches) today. Stanislaus was not a Jesuit for long; he died only ten months into the novitiate, after having walked hundreds of miles from Vienna to Augsburg and then to Rome in order to enter the Jesuits against opposition from his family. Nevertheless, his short life lights up the sky from one side to the other in the way that he reflects the holiness of God.
Let us pray today that, like Stanislaus Kostka and so many other holy witnesses, the Kingdom of Christ might be manifest in our lives, so that all people may be drawn to dine together in the fullness of the heavenly banquet.