In the Gospel today Jesus continues to preach about the Kingdom of Heaven.
During an interview In the latter year’s of his life, St. Pope John Paul II was asked about heaven. He responded by saying that heaven is not so much a place as it is a relationship with God. This is very helpful for us to have a proper sense of what the Kingdom of Heaven (which is different from heaven) is about, namely discovering God in the person of Jesus, who is the fulfillment of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Because God created everything and everyone, even now we live in God’s kingdom. Thus, Jesus came into the world, and as the 3rd Luminous Mystery of the rosary instructs, ‘preaching the Kingdom of heaven and the conversion of life.’ We also know Jesus says “the Kingdom of Heaven is in your midst” otherwise translated as “the Kingdom of Heaven is within you.” (Luke 17:21) Even in the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray for the coming of God’s Kingdom, ‘on earth as in heaven.’
The parables of Jesus instruct that the Kingdom of Heaven is of great value! Indeed, greater than all else!
The Kingdom of Heaven is hidden. Indeed, the deepest desire of the human heart is for relationship with God.
A search is required to discover the Kingdom of Heaven. The human person can spend many years searching for the one thing that satisfies the deepest longing of her or his heart. For those who have truly met Jesus, we know we have discovered this ‘buried treasure’, this ‘pearl of great price’, and we spend the rest of our days discarding things and relationships that hinder this one, most valuable, life-giving relationship.
You can listen to the entire homily in the video of today’s Mass below.
St. Paul sums up the purpose of God for each of us, namely, to conform us to the image of his Son, Jesus Christ.
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time 8:30am Mass from Archdiocese of Seattle on Vimeo.
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