Paulist Fr. Rich Andre preached this homily for the 17^th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A) on July 26, 2020 at St. Austin Catholic Parish in Austin, TX. The homily is based on the day’s readings: 1 Kings 3: 5, 7-12; Psalm 119; Romans 8:28-30; and Matthew 13:44-52.

Today, we wrap up Jesus’ third teaching discourse in the Gospel of Matthew. It’s often called “The Parabolic Discourse” because it features so many parables. It’s sometimes called “The Discourse on the Kingdom of Heaven,” because Jesus repeatedly says, “the kingdom of heaven is like” one thing or another. Scripture scholars tell us that the phrase “the kingdom of heaven” is a Jewish equivalent to saying “the reign of God.”

As God grants Solomon wisdom in our first reading today, Jesus has given us a vast array of teachings about the kingdom of heaven. Today, we’ll look at what the combination of parables in the entire discourse tell us about the reign of God.

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure, a merchant, and a net. The reign of God is like a field of wheat, a mustard seed, and a bit of yeast. It is filled with abundance and surprises, including the surprise of God’s abundant mercy, a mercy we do not deserve but receive anyway. Let’s take a moment to celebrate that!

When Matthew grouped all these parables together about the nature of the kingdom of heaven, he had a very specific audience in mind: Jewish Christians who were questioning what their relationship should be with other Jews who had not accepted Christ. In last week’s parable of the wheat and the weeds, and this week’s parable of the net and the fish, the message is clear. It was not the job of the Jewish Christians to judge or condemn the other Jews. Just like it made no sense to try to keep bad fish from being caught in the net, and just like it would have been damaging to the wheat to uproot the weeds, Matthew’s community would only suffer if it spent its energy and resources keeping people out. At the end of the age, the righteous will receive their reward, and the Jewish Christians might be surprised to discover who all were among the righteous.

Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure in a field worth selling everything to obtain, but he also says that the kingdom is like a merchant who sells everything to obtain a pearl. Those parables sound the same, but they are very different. One says that a person should give up all else to have a relationship with God; the other says that God will give up all else to have a relationship with each and every one of us!

Last week, we also heard parables comparing the kingdom of God to mustard seed and to yeast. In both cases, a tiny, almost invisible thing has the power to transform the environment in profound ways. Mustard plants can quickly overtake an entire hillside. The yeast in the parable is sufficient to make 50 loaves of bread.

When we pull all these parables together, they say something profound not only to the Jewish Christians of Matthew’s day; they also present us with wisdom beyond that of Solomon. I think about some of the questions that people most frequently ask me as a priest:

• My children no longer go to Church. What did I do wrong?
• Will my atheist boyfriend go to heaven?
• I struggle with some of the Church’s teachings. Am I still allowed to receive communion?
• My best friend became a Buddhist. How do I get her to come back to Church?
• Can I vote for a politician who opposes Church teaching?

The short answer to each of these questions is the same: make an appointment with someone on the church pastoral staff. Many of these questions are worth us having a long, one-on-one conversation, because they are complex, and the answers depend on specific circumstances. But when in doubt, let’s look at what Jesus says:

• The kingdom of heaven is powerful and surprising. It takes only the slightest bit of faith to produce something magnificent. 
• The kingdom of heaven is patient and pragmatic. The righteous can flourish even if the environment around them is not ideal.
• The kingdom of heaven is single-minded in its love. Each and every one of us is worthy of God’s love and God’s effort.

As Church, let’s live our lives – and interact with others – in harmony with the parables contained in Jesus’ Discourse on the Kingdom of Heaven. God destines all of us for heaven. Church teaching allows for the possibility that someone can reject God’s invitation to enter the kingdom of heaven, but it is worth noting that while the Church has named thousands of saints whom we are sure are within the kingdom, the Church has never named any individual whom we are sure is suffering the pains of hell. 

When I talk with people considering joining the Church, I invite them to read a  reflection by Fr. Ron Rolheiser in his book, The Holy Longing. Near the end of that reflection, he writes:

To be connected with the church is to be associated with scoundrels, warmongers, fakes, child-molesters, murderers, adulterers, and hypocrites of every description. It also, at the same time, identifies you with saints and the finest persons of heroic soul within every time, country, race, and gender. To be a member of the church is to carry the mantle of both the worst sin and the finest heroism of soul.

Or, as one bishop jokingly – and truthfully – asks the candidates and catechumens at the Rite of Election at the beginning of Lent every year: “Do you want to join a perfect Church? It won’t be perfect once you join it!” Who are we hypocrites to keep others from joining us in stumbling together towards the kingdom of heaven?

When we interact with other people, may we not be obsessed with whether they are wheat or weeds, good fish or bad fish. Let us recognize their deepest identity: they are beloved children of God. And maybe, if we live our lives as if the kingdom of heaven were a field with treasure, these people will come to recognize that God sees them as the pearl of great price. And in that recognition, the Holy Spirit can be like mustard seed on a hillside, like yeast in three measures of flour, or like grain that produces fruit a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. May we be surprised, and even overwhelmed, at just how far the reign of God has spread here upon the earth!