July 17, 2011
Liturgical Year A, Cycle I
Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
First Reading: Wisdom 12:13, 116-19
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16
Second Reading: Romans 8:26-27
Gospel: Matthew 13:24-43
These readings can be viewed at http://www.usccb.org/nab/071711.shtml.
Reflection Questions
1. List the similarities and differences between each of the three parables in this Gospel passage. Make a list of the characteristics of the Kingdom of God.
2. Why does God choose the quiet approach to establishing His kingdom?
3. Why is it important to believe that the spiritual concepts that Jesus was talking about (angels, devil, etc.) are real? What happens to the ‘weight’ of Jesus’ teaching if they were just ‘make-believe concepts?
Gospel Reflection
If God is so strong, why is He often so silent? For the second week in a row, our Gospel passage focuses on Jesus’ use of parables to teach us important lessons about our relationship with God. God’s Kingdom is described in three parables, the parable of the weeds and the wheat, the parable of the mustard seed, and the parable of the yeast. God’s Kingdom is unlike any other kingdom the world has seen. Other kingdoms are based on power and force: God’s Kingdom enters our lives in a quiet, unobtrusive way, but in the end is the only kingdom standing. It is a Kingdom based on humility and love, not strength. Through these parables, Jesus teaches us that the Kingdom of God is a real reality, not just make-believe. What we see here in our world is a backdrop for a spiritual battle. Jesus names the key players involved in this drama: Himself (the Son of Man), the devil, the angels, the children of the Kingdom, and the children of the evil one. Notice that, as Jesus was explaining the parable, He didn’t talk about the devil and the angels as if they were a myth, but rather He talked about them as if they really existed. This ‘reality’ may be difficult for us to believe because so often God seems distant from us. Our society is constantly telling us that our faith in God is silly, that it is like having faith in the ‘tooth fairy’. Many ‘intellectuals’ see faith as superstitious. They often see it as a problem that God is invisible to us. Jesus addresses this problem in His parables: though it seems like God is distant, He is rather just quiet. Although He is standing next to us, is even in our hearts, He is not getting in our face. God respects our freedom, and doesn’t force us to make a decision to follow Him. This is a risky proposition on God’s part, because we have the ability to reject Him, and to ‘cause others to sin’ and be counted as an evildoer. As followers of Jesus, we must be convicted of the reality of Jesus, the reality of His love for us, and the reality of the truth of His teachings. Let us ask God for the grace to accept His small, quiet invitation to allow the Kingdom of God to grow within our hearts and become a beautiful place of His love. In this way God will safely bring us to His dwelling place in heaven and reveal to us the fullness of His Kingdom with total clarity.
No comments:
Post a Comment