LET US SET OUR HEARTS ON THE KINGDOM OF GOD

XVII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Matthew 13:44-52

This Sunday’s gospel presents us with a new set of parables about the Kingdom of God, which is presented as a highly desirable goodness that is worthy of all investment, even if we must forsake everything else to get it. When they set their hearts on anything, human beings can put up with and overcome many difficulties to achieve the proposed goal. According to Jesus, the Kingdom of God surpasses everything else, thus being worthy of all effort and commitment to obtain it. It is like the biggest treasure hidden in a field and suddenly found by us. It is like a pearl of great value that deserves to spend everything on it. On the road to Damascus, Saul (Paul) made that radical experience. Later in life, he would remember it, when he wrote to the Philippians: “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him” (Phil 3:8-9).

Nowadays, society in general has forsaken Jesus Christ and despised the Kingdom of God, as not being worthy of any sacrifice. People set their hearts on other things, earthly things, hoping to find their happiness in them. They will do anything to become famous, gain power and get all the riches of the world. They dream of a new world without God and against his commandments, a world drawn upon their rules, which they are ready to impose on the whole world. They are the ones who establish political correctness and decide to ban and cancel all those who do not conform to the new set of rules which they promulgate and impose as the road to heaven, a false heaven that turns out to be hell.

With the third parable in this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus warns us about our attitudes and the choices we make. The time for judgement will come. The Kingdom of God is like “a dragnet cast into the sea that brings in a haul of all kinds.” Then, the fishermen sit down and separate the good from the bad. The rotten one is thrown away. We are living in a rotten society which is turning itself upside down, destroying the great values that connected us to God. They pretend to design a humanity different from the one God created and established on earth. That is a road that we follow at our own peril.

Aware that “God co-operates with all those who love him” and that he turns everything to their good, let us put our trust in the Lord and remain faithful to his commandments.

 GOOD AND EVIL MIXED TOGETHER

XVI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Matthew 13:24-43

Throughout the ages, there have been people who are fast in condemning whoever thinks differently. There are the correct - or politically correct and the heretic, that is those who do not conform and have their ideas. Some follow the established rules of behaviour and some others don’t fear to break the rules. There are the pure and the impure, the saints and the sinners. And those who consider themselves pure think that they must rid the world of the impure and the sinners. The Pharisees were nicknamed so, because they set themselves apart, refusing to mix with the sinners and the impure. In our modern times, we are going through the same phenomenon. Those who are not politically correct are denied the right to free speech and are banned from the public square. Those who reject the woke ideology, or the transgender ideology are insulted and ostracised. Time and again, we are confronted with those who are ready to cancel and ban all those they consider to be sinners. The parable of the darnel mixed with the wheat speaks of such an attempt.

In the field of the world, we see good and evil mixed and we, the servants of the Lord, may have the desire of uprooting the evil for the world to be pure and holy. However, the Lord forbade the servants to do such a thing, because they would not be able to distinguish clearly the good from the evil. The judgement belongs to the Lord, not to us. And that will take place at the end of time. Meanwhile, we live mixed together, each one making an effort to do better. The main effort must consist in overcoming the evil which dwells in our hearts. In each one of us, there is good and evil and we must fight the evil intentions of our hearts so that we grow in faithfulness to the Lord. May the merciful Lord be kind to us, guide us through his Spirit and give us the strength to walk on the path of righteousness.

IMPROVE THE SOIL OF YOUR HEART FOR THE SEED 0F GOD’S WORD

XV SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Matthew 13:1-23

In chapter 13 of the Gospel of Matthew, we are told that “Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing.” (Mt 13:34) And we may ask ourselves why? Mark tells us that “privately to his own disciples he explained everything.” (Mk 4:34). To the crowds, Jesus spoke in more general terms and in a simpler way. Some parables might be understood as riddles, but most of them were simple stories, presenting common characters and quite common human behaviour. which can function like a mirror that allows us to see ourselves and be challenged by what we see. The impact of the parable depends on the readiness of the listener to be confronted and on the openness of his heart to see an alternative way that will change his life, giving meaning and purpose to it. In general, the parables are clear and easy to understand. Through the parables Jesus “utters what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.” (Mt 13:35). However, for those not disposed to listen, the parable may sound like a senseless story. Jesus quoted a passage from Isaiah  saying; “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.”

In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the sower and then explains it to his disciples. In this parable, we are called to look at three factors (main participants) in the story: the sower, the seed and the soil. The sower casts his seed far and wide. He is forceful in his work. He is committed. He must cast the seed, that is to proclaim the word. Jesus is the sower. He came to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God. His disciples - that is all those who call themselves Christians - are entrusted with the same mission: we are sent to proclaim the Good News, and we cannot get tired or discouraged. of carrying out this mission. The seed may fall on all kinds of soil. In the parable, the result does not depend on the quality of the seed or the commitment of the sower, but on the quality of the soil, that is on the readiness of the listener to accept the word. To have a poor or a rich harvest depends on the soil. And Jesus explains the different types of soil on which the seed may fall. We are the soil. What type of soil? Do we have an open heart ready to be touched by God or we are deaf to God’s word? Maybe we are proud and look for power and wealth and concentrate our efforts on that, rejecting anything that might distract us from that. Maybe poverty and misery don’t allow us to be sensible to open our hearts and allow them to be filled with hope.

Each one of us must be concerned with improving the type of soil that is found in our hearts, so that the word of God may produce abundant fruits in us.

MY BURDEN IS LIGHT

XIV SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Matthew 11:25-30

In this Sunday’s gospel, we find three important sayings of Jesus that were probably pronounced on different occasions and, then, put together by the evangelist. Matthew considered them important and we should pay attention to them and reflect upon them with a prayerful attitude.

During his public ministry, Jesus was faced with doubt, suspicion and rejection. In the gospel of Matthew, chapter 11 begins with Jesus going with the disciples “to teach and proclaim his message in their cities” (Mt 11:1). His preaching was not successful and he reproached the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum “because they did not repent” (Mt 11:21-23). Then, having reproached those cities, Jesus gives thanks to the Father because the humble and the simple, the children like (infants), were able to listen and to respond, while the “wise and the intelligent” closed their hearts and their minds to the proclamation of the Kingdom of God. Certainly, Jesus was alluding to the Scribes and the Pharisees who, in their pride and self-righteousness, would not allow themselves to be challenged and converted. They behaved like the owners of knowledge who have a perfect understanding of God’s mysteries. The reality is the opposite: “You have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants.” To be touched by the word of God, we must be aware of our shortcomings and our sinful situation. Only then, the word of God will come to us as the good news of salvation.

Jesus is well aware of his relationship with the Father. He knows that the Father put everything in his hands and that he is the only way to the Father. For us to know the Father, we must learn from the Son, Jesus Christ. Only he can reveal the Father.

That’s why Jesus invites us to come to him. In him, we can find rest and peace. “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Jesus is gentle and humble and in him we find God’s compassion and mercy. Jesus invites us to approach him with confidence and love, so that our “joy may be complete”: “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.” (Jn 15:11).

WHO LOSES HIS LIFE FOR MY SAKE WILL FIND IT.

XIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Matthew 10:37-42

One day, while Jesus was surrounded by a big crowd, they told him: Your mother and your relatives are looking for you. It seems that Jesus did not bother and gave an answer that left his listeners puzzled. To the crowd, he asked: “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mk 3:32-35). Jesus’ answer made it clear that blood ties don’t matter. He has a different family - the true family of believers, whose only concern is to do the will of God. The will of God is paramount, taking precedence over everything else. The ones who do that follow Jesus’ footsteps and are his true disciples.

In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus demands a clear-cut decision from all those who follow him: they must put God first and above everything else. Among the Bembas, there is the saying “abafyashi e balesa ba bubili” (parents are a second god). We may accept the statement as true, since they cooperate with God in the work of creation, bringing forth new life. However, we have to be reminded that there is not a second god. Only God is God and to him alone we give honour and glory. There is a commandment ordering us to honour father and mother (Ex 20:12). However, if they take the place of God and demand the obedience that belongs to God alone, then we must prostrate ourselves before God.

The discipleship of all those who have chosen to follow Jesus is very demanding: “Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me. Anyone who finds his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.” We must carry the cross, as Jesus did. And the saving of our lives is not of paramount importance and doesn’t override everything else. Throughout the centuries, many Christians seemed to be reckless with their lives, being ready to shed their blood for Jesus Christ. They are the ones who found true life. Being one with Christ in death, they became one with him in resurrection. Indeed, “But we believe that having died with Christ we shall return to life with him” (Ro 6:8).