“The disciples approached Jesus and said, ‘Why do you speak to the crowd in parables?’
He said to them in reply, “Because knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven
has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted. To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away” (Mt 13:10-13).

This is a challenging statement because Jesus appears to be saying that the kingdom of heaven is only open to a select few.

The context is important. Jesus is speaking to address the reality that there were people who rejected him in his own time. Matthew reflects this, as well as the reality within his own community at the end of the first century, which was made up of Jewish Christians, Gentile Christians, and those Jews who rejected Jesus. The tension then was how to address this reality. Do you think the rejection of Jesus and his message is still an issue today? If so, why do you think people would reject Jesus?

One way Jesus addresses this tension is through parables. Each of the parables deals with the Kingdom of heaven. Just think of the parable from yesterday, the sowing of the seeds. God is the sower and Jesus is the seed. The only seeds that bear fruit are those that have found fertile, rich soil. The ones on the hardened path, within rocks, or among thorns do not bear fruit, and in most cases wither and die. Closed minds and hearts, fear, anxiety and worry or Satan come in the way of the seed’s germination. The ones who hear and understand the message of Jesus do so because they are willing to let go of that which keeps them bound from his invitation and they are willing to persevere and endure the trials they face. They enter into relationship with Jesus and come to know the Father. The parables of Jesus offer not so much a concrete answer, but draw us to think deeper, to surrender our control and preconceived notions. Many of us moderns do not like this approach. We want to know what is or isn’t and why or why not this is so, and we want to know it right now. We often do not want to think, we just want the answer. We want to be in control.

The key that Jesus is giving to us then is for us in come to know God, we need to understand that the Mystery of God is not a problem to be solved, we cannot conform him to our will and control, but God is a relationship that we are invited to enter into and embrace. We can see this when Jesus says: “Because knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted.” It has been granted to those who allowed and today allow themselves to experience Jesus, those who were and are willing to walk with him, and develop a relationship with him. Heaven is not so much a place as it is the reality of entering into full communion with God the Father. This is what his Son came to do, to show us the way to the Father by revealing him to us through himself.

As Jesus told Philip, “If you have seen me, Philip, you have seen the Father” (John 14:9). We will never fully comprehend the Mystery of God, but we will come to know him through experiencing him, and to do that fully means letting go of our ego, control, fears, prejudices, and anything that we are attached or addicted to. We do so through surrendering our self to Jesus and being about the hard work of developing a relationship with him and one another. This happens both on a physical as well as a spiritual level. If we only seek to understand the Kingdom of heaven through reason alone, it will not be granted to us. We enter the Mystery of God through our faith and reason, through our hearts, minds and souls.

You may be thinking right now, this is too much (this blog post today is too long), I am not sure how to begin, I don’t really even know how to pray. St Paul offers some guidance. In writing to the Romans, he states:

“But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait with endurance. In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. And the one who searches the hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because it intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will” (Romans 8:25-27).

The Kingdom of heaven is for everyone. Jesus wants none excluded. The point about the mystery of his Kingdom is that there is no problem to solve; there is just a relationship to enter into and embrace. Let us open our hearts, minds, and souls to God, trusting with endurance, that what Jesus says is true, that the Holy Spirit will guide us, pray in and through us, and let God the Father happen.

Mass Readings for today, Thursday, July 27, 2017:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/072717.cfm