I recently received an email from a former business acquaintance. I hadn’t heard from him in several years, so it was one of those checking up to see how you’re doing emails.
Anyway, he’s an interesting guy. He’s young – well, he’s in his forties, and that’s young – very bright, and very successful. He owns his own software company and his business is booming. He and his lovely wife have two young children and live in a beautiful, large home in an affluent suburb. He has a Lexus and a BMW SUV. Life is good. Indeed, most people would assume he has a near-perfect life. I mean, what more could someone want?
And yet, judging by the email I received, my friend is anything but content. Listen to some of what he wrote…
“I'm really tired (mentally) and feel like this business is not the calling for me. It doesn’t seem possible to be a good businessperson and a good person at the same time. So we will see what happens. My wife and I have been talking a lot lately and feel like we're going after the wrong things in life... and can't seem to find a way out of the rat-race. So we're actually pondering on how to down-size, and try to lead a "simpler" life. Maybe our house, cars, etc. aren’t really worth it in the end.”Now you don’t have to be a psychoanalyst to see that this man is searching, searching for something more fulfilling than what he already has. And what he already has is just about the best that this world can give. After all he lives better than 99% of the world’s people. And yet his discontent is palpable.
Of course my friend’s not unique. All of us are searching for something better, something that will bring true and lasting happiness. And this is exactly what today’s Gospel reading is all about.
You see, Jesus is pointing the way for us, telling us that what we’re all really searching for is something only He can provide. He calls it “the Kingdom of Heaven,” a phrase that appears nearly 100 times in the Gospels. What exactly is it?Well, based on what Jesus says about it, we know it’s something to strive for; that it’s more difficult to enter if you’re rich; that it’s easier to enter if you’re childlike. It belongs to the poor, the humble, and the persecuted. It has humble beginnings and grows like seed and expands like yeast. It’s not here or there but it’s among us. And yet, even though it’s among us, we pray for the kingdom’s coming whenever we pray the Our Father.
The Kingdom is near because Jesus is near. It is proclaimed throughout the whole Gospel, and has been coming ever since the Last Supper, and in the Eucharist, it’s in our midst. And in today’s Gospel reading we learn even more about it. We learn that it’s supremely valuable, something for which we should give up everything. Now this might seem like a difficult thing to do, a hard decision to make, but in His parables Jesus says no.
 |
| Art above by David Bonnell |
He compares God’s Kingdom to a dragnet that collects all sorts of things. But at the end of time the catch in the net will be sorted out. Those who recognized the value of the reign of God and helped build it up will possess the kingdom, while those who hindered its growth by putting other things first will lose it.
In our second reading, St. Paul helps us appreciate the value of God’s Kingdom even more. According to Paul, to be part of God’s kingdom is to be part of God’s family, to become children of God, to become brothers and sisters of Jesus. And so Paul tells us that to possess God’s Kingdom is to achieve the end for which we were made, to enter into an intimate relationship with God.
He also gives us a message of hope, that for those who belong to God’s Kingdom, all things work for good. Not only is God’s Kingdom the fulfillment of our destiny, but it also brings nothing but good. And just as there is joy in finding the Kingdom, there is joy in helping to build it. This, brothers and sisters, is what you and I are called to do every day.
We build the kingdom whenever we trust completely in God, whenever our selflessness overcomes selfishness, whenever our love conquers sin and our faith overcomes suffering. We build the kingdom whenever our hope conquers despair; whenever we visit the sick, comfort the dying, feed the hungry, shelter the homeless.
When married couples help prepare engaged couples for marriage, they build the Kingdom.
When our parishioners work courageously for life, changing the hearts of those who would promote the culture of death through abortion, euthanasia, or capital punishment, they build the Kingdom. When our pastoral visitors bring love, compassion, companionship, and the Eucharist to the elderly and the homebound, they build the Kingdom of God.
When our faith formation teachers help parents build a solid foundation of faith for their children, they build the Kingdom of God.
When our outreach ministry assists families in need, they build the kingdom of God.
And we build the Kingdom in a very special way when we participate in the Eucharist, when the priest, acting in the person of Christ, makes present Christ’s redeeming sacrifice on the cross.
Some day we’ll all be caught up in that net, and what happens to us then will be determined by our faith and how we realize that faith in our lives, by what we consider valuable, whether we work to build up the Kingdom or try to tear it down.Are we so caught up in our world of materialistic values that we willingly sacrifice everything for nothing? Or like my friend, have we come to understand that happiness does not come from the things of this world, that only God can bring the lasting happiness we all seek.
Will we, like Solomon in today’s first reading, recognize the worth of that which is truly valuable and choose it above everything else?
Life is short, brothers and sisters, but it’s filled with opportunities to build the Kingdom. Let’s not waste them.
No comments:
Post a Comment