"The Kingdom Of Heaven Is Like..."

We have been hearing parables in which Jesus begins, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like….” According to the well-known parable of the sower and the seed, in those who “do not understand” what Jesus is saying, the seed is carried away from soil, and does not bear fruit. We need to understand what Jesus said, and what He means for us to understand.  For that reason, we will be focusing on the meaning of the phrase, “the Kingdom of God,” or in St. Matthew’s version, “the Kingdom of Heaven.”  What is “the Kingdom of God?”  And what is it not?

Jesus was a Jew speaking to Jews, and he used words that his people could understand. His words are expressions of His own thinking and understanding, and no doubt of His own spiritual experiences. When we truly attend to the words of Jesus, and think about their meaning, we are receiving into our minds and hearts His mind, His understanding, His way of doing things, at least to some extent. As Christ gives Himself to us in the Eucharist, so He gives Himself to us in his preaching, and however imperfectly, in the preaching and teaching of those who present Christ and His word to us. Again, if you and I do not listen and seek to understand what Christ Jesus means when He speaks to us, His words are in effect lost on us, they are “carried off by birds,” and cannot fulfill their purpose.  And what is the purpose of Jesus’ preaching? To open us up to the reality, the goodness, the beauty, the truth of the living God, and so to help us to do the will of God and live in His joy now and eternally. He wants us to “enter into the joy of the LORD,” to experience His peace, and “to bear much fruit.” Christ wants us to live fully as one with Him, with God Almighty, and so one with every creature to the extent possible.  

In preaching his parables, and in our listening with understanding, Jesus is drawing us into “the Kingdom of God.” Christ is sharing in God’s re-creation of reality, the restoration of God’s original will that all be happy and complete forever. Our duty is to accept God’s rule over us, God’s way of doing things. That is, I suggest, the primary meaning of “the Kingdom of God.” It is God bringing us, humankind, indeed all of creation into a complete and blessed union with He Who Is. To “enter the Kingdom,” to live in God, we must keep choosing God’s way, absorbing His mind, His words, and putting them into practice. As we do not do whatever we spontaneously want, but seek to do God’s good and life-giving will, we break from evil, sin, and death, and become “children of light,” advancing “from one degree of glory to another.”  

Sooner or later, many of us discover that God’s way really is the best way, and in this discovery, we are willing to let go of our own plans and pet projects in order to share in God’s life and joy. A disciple of Jesus learns again and again that God Himself is the “pearl of great price,” the one supreme good worth far more than all else the world can give. As with Jesus, so with His disciples: “Not my will, but your will be done.” To say these words, to mean them, and to forsake everything contrary to God’s way is to discover and to live in “the Kingdom of God.”

On Hearing the Word and Bearing Fruit

 

“Be not only hearers of the Word, but doers….who produce fruit a hundred-fold".

Fittingly, Gospel passages read at week-end liturgies during Ordinary Time often focus on Jesus as the Preacher of God’s Word, and Christ Jesus as the Word which must be heard and acted on, “if we will enter into Life.” The Word preached by Christ and his disciples derives its truth and power from its nature and origin in God. The Word of Christ embodies the mind of God for human beings. Through the Word preached to us, God Himself is reaching into our minds and hearts to draw us to Himself. We must cooperate in this drawing, in this divine movement in our souls, by heeding and obeying the Word. And that means that we must put into practice all that the LORD asks.

This much we all know, and may struggle to do. Why, we may wonder, do we resist? Why do some hear and not heed? What obstacles work in us, in one another? What is at work in you and me, keeping us from obeying the LORD wholeheartedly? Consider, for example, our recurring prayer, “Lord, have mercy on us.”  We ask for mercy, and we should know, that whatever we want from God, we are committing ourselves to act on to the best of our ability. In this case, that means that we who ask for mercy and forgiveness must extend it to one another, freely as the LORD gives to us. But then, we who ask God for forgiveness, must also seek to break from whatever sin or wrong-doing we are asking forgiveness for. Otherwise, we ask for forgiveness, and then in effect mock God by not seeking to change our ways in accordance with His will. “Do you not know that God’s mercy and forgiveness are meant to lead us to repentance?” What could it mean to ask for forgiveness, and not seek to change our ways? As we probably all know from going to sacramental confession, if we confess stealing, for example, we must also make full restitution for what we have stolen, or else our confession is meaningless, the absolution voided by our failure to return what we have stolen. Would it not be absurd for me to steal your cattle, and if caught, beg for your forgiveness, but not return the cattle? If I did not return your cattle, would you consider my begging forgiveness genuine, or a verbal ruse to cover up my crime? How many of us take from the LORD, ask for forgiveness, but do not amend and make restitution for what we have done?  

Hearers of the Word must act on it. Otherwise, thorns and thistles choke out the divine Word in us, as Jesus so pointedly warns. “God’s Word is living and effective, sharper than a two-edged sword.” We may seek to hide from the all-penetrating Word, as Adam tried to hide in the Garden of Eden, but it will not work. The Word will echo in our hearts, even if we try to ignore it or drown it out with another swig of booze. The Word of Christ will pursue us, even if we try our hardest to tune out to God and spend our lives watching television, or endless entertainment. Unfortunately, many in our culture have not really heard the Word, because they have avoided encountering it. But you and I have heard. We present ourselves to the LORD at the Eucharist. We listen. But do we act on it? “Be not hearers only, but doers of the Word.”