Dear Parish Family,

There are almost one-hundred and fifty references to God’s Kingdom in the New Testament, fifty-two of them in St. Matthew’s gospel alone. The more Jesus spoke about the Kingdom the more it seemed to His listeners to be another-worldly place. Perhaps that’s because in a world gone insane, sane things seem to be unreal. Today we seem to be no ‘wiser’ as the Kingdom of God, appears somewhat mysterious for us, alien to our mind-set but was always on the mind of Jesus.

In today’s gospel account Jesus referred to the Kingdom as a hidden treasure, a box filled with golden coins buried somewhere in a field. Likewise, He spoke of the Kingdom as a precious pearl, a jewel found by a businessman who astutely sold everything he owned in order to buy it. He spoke, too, of the Kingdom as a fishing net filled with fish both good and bad. Later He referred to the Kingdom as leaven in dough, as light, salt and seed. Likewise, He called it a ripe harvest, a royal feast and as a wedding banquet.

We might wonder what the Kingdom is for us, in everyday terms, as we live out life here in our town this week, next month, throughout the rest of this year, and beyond. How do we identify and describe God’s Kingdom here on earth? Some folks think of the Kingdom as a remote and distant heaven in another world at the end of life. Others think it’s an ideal political and economic order. Some think that the Kingdom is exclusively God’s business, not ours, and we have only to wait and receive it from God’s hands. Some identify the Kingdom as the Church; what’s inside the Church is the Kingdom, what’s outside of the Church is not a part of God’s Kingdom.

To get an adequate answer about what entails ‘the kingdom of God’ we need to look at the creation story. God fashioning the first human and breathing life into him and creating his partner from part of his body. The whole narrative speaks of ‘right relationship’ as the code, heart and soul of God’s kingdom. Recall that the reign of God in Jesus' teaching and preaching refers to the end-time coming of God to rescue his people. It is, in other words, the fresh initiative of God inaugurated through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus—and still to be fulfilled completely in the future.

Simply put, these little parables are ways of reflecting on the love life of a disciple. Jesus puts it yet another way in the Sermon on the Mount when he says, “But seek first the kingdom [of God] and his righteousness, and all these things [food, clothing] will be given you besides” (Mt 6:33). Or again, “Where your treasure is, there also will your heart be” (Mt 6:21). In still other words, Paul, in this Sunday's Second Reading, catches both elements, divine initiative and the simplification of life that comes from “selling all” to receive the treasure: “We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28). The ‘kingdom of God is within you’ and it grows as you deepen your relation with the God in you! When Faith moves from head to the heart, you become a conscious kingdom dweller!
 

Fr. Tom Kunnel C.O