July 20, 2014

16^th Sunday in Ordinary Time A

Wisdom 12:13, 16-19; Romans 8: 26-27; Matthew 13: 24-43
For the next two bulletins I will be concentrating on an expression of Jesus that Matthew uses in both gospels: “The Kingdom of God.” What does this expression mean? Added to the confusion is that different translators use different expressions for ‘The Kingdom of God” that seem like they change the meaning: “The reign of God…the rule of God…the kingdom of heaven…the kingdom of Christ…’ Do these mean the same? The Catechism of the Catholic Church gives a nice workable description for “Kingdom of God (of Heaven): The reign or rule of God: ‘the kingdom of God is…righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit’ (Rom 14:17). The Kingdom of God draws near in the coming of the Incarnate Word; it is announced in the Gospel; it is the messianic Kingdom, present in the person of Jesus, the Messiah; it remains in our midst in the Eucharist. Christ gave to His Apostles the work of proclaiming the kingdom and through the Holy Spirit forms His people into a priestly kingdom, the Church, in which the kingdom of God is mysteriously present, for she is the seed and beginning of the Kingdom on earth. In the Lord’s Prayer (‘Thy Kingdom come’) we pray for its final glorious appearance, when Christ will hand over the Kingdom to His Father.”
Scholars say that the word kingdom means ‘reign,’ not ‘realm’ or domain.’ Unfortunately there are a number of times when ‘reign’ is awkward. The basic meaning is the reign of God, but this so easily slides into realm or kingdom. What is clear is that the kingdom is both taking place now and it is also a future event, which comes in our personal union with Christ in heaven. Fr. John McKenzie’s The Dictionary of the Bible gives clarification and help, “Jesus tells His disciples to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness; the text is somewhat parallel to the definition of the kingdom as righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17), a state which is achieved by present submission to the rule of God. When Jesus is aksed the time of the coming of the kingdom, He answers in an obscure phrase that it is ‘in your midst’ (Luke 17:20f). This phrase is best understood as signifying the kingdom is a present but unrecognized reality, and most probably identifies the kingdom with Jesus Himself, in whom the establishment of the reign of God is being accomplished. Admission to the kingdom demands that one become as a child, that one exhibit righteousness, do the will of the Father, abandon one’s wealth….The texts do not define the kingdom purely as a moral ideal but show that the reign of God is in complete opposition to merely human values and to sinful desires. The accomplishment of the reign of God demands a moral revolution in those who submit themselves to the reign and is itself the means by which the moral revolution is achieved.”
So what does all this mean…what can I take away from the message of Jesus today? How am I living the life Jesus commanded me to live? My life, as each persons, is filled with sin and suffering. This will be a constant until the day I die. Paul calls this ‘weakness’ as living in the flesh and not in the Spirit. I know I’m a sinner; I know and believe that I am a loved sinner; I know and believe that I am a redeemed sinner. Until I come to share in the glories to come, I cannot escape the trials and tribulations of this life I live. This is not discouraging because I live in trustful hope of what Jesus taught.
Jesus’ parable of the weeds and wheat helps me so much in this. The fields are loaded with weeds snuck in and planted by the devil; the wheat planted by God. The servants are concerned that the weeds will kill off the wheat. Yet if they pull out the weeds, much wheat will be harmed. The master tells his servants to let both grow until harvest time, to get the perfect yield of crops. This is like my daily growth in the spiritual life: I advance, I go back many steps…I beat myself up, yet know that I am loved…I want to never sin again, but I sin. I want to be perfect, but I fail. The sin of perfectionism in the spiritual life is loaded with temptations. Faith Catholic uses the example of perfectionism to clarify Jesus’ parable.
In today’s gospel parable, the servants want to remove all that is not perfect. In my spiritual life, I can be so over-zealous in removing what I consider impurities that I cut out people from my life. St. Paul tells me to avoid sin but tolerate people…when I become overly zealous I also become self-righteous felling that ‘I am right and therefore better’ and thus others who do not agree with me are not right…are wrong…are not good. Jesus teaches that God is best at His mercy, am I living that mercy? Am I being merciful?
Another temptation in the spiritual life is when I ignore the weeds in my life and pretend that I’m OK, I’m not really a big sinner, just a little one. Like, it’s not a lie, it’s only a ‘white lie’….Shakespeare said that a rose is a rose is a rose…a lie is a lie is a lie. Or I can say that God already knows me and knows I’m sorry so I don’t have to do any more…I don’t have to receive the sacrament of His forgiveness, Reconciliation. I’m the one who is deciding that I am Ok and thus don’t really need God’s help.
Another temptation is to wait before I turn to God. I’ll just wait to the end or pray when I have some beautiful words to say to God. I’ll practice my faith when I become more perfect or when I have my life in order. I forget that Jesus said that He came to call sinners, to show sinners they are loved, to redeem sinners.
God loves me just the way I am now…am I too much in love with me that I don’t need God? Is my God the God that I am comfortable with or is it the God Jesus taught? If God loves me just the way that I am now then I come with all my warts, and moles and pimples and scars…I come with all my worries and insecurities along with my hurts and pains and being rejected and unloved. I come with all my sins. This is the ‘me’ God wants to shower with His gifts of mercy and forgiveness, of love and hugs, of peace and comfort; why am I not letting God be God to me?
So I reflect on:

• Living the Word asks: “Are there people whom I think the church would be better off without? How does my attitude toward them measure up against God’s mercy?
• Can we make judgments about the rightness or wrongness of people’s actions without passing judgment on the people themselves?”
  
• I look at times in my faith journey when I seem to be at a low point…what do I do? Do I continue to pray and ask for help? It is so easy to give up.
  
• Do I avoid retreats, or days of prayer or spiritual talks because I feel I don’t need these?
  

Sacred Space 2014 shares:

“The idea that good and bad might coexist troubles the tidy mind. Jesus does not encourage a simplistic approach but calls us to humility and patience as we allow God to work in our lives.

There are ‘weeds’ in my life for sure, but they are the measure of the harvest that God values in me. I ask for help that my habits and choices may give growth to what is good and true.”