This wicked people who refuse to obey my words, who
walk in the stubbornness of their hearts, and follow strange gods to serve and
adore them, shall be like this loincloth which is good for nothing. For, as close as the loincloth clings to a
man’s loins, so had I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of
Judah cling to me, says the LORD; to be my people, my renown, my praise, my
beauty. But they did not listen. Jeremiah 13:10-11
“The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a
person took and sowed in a field. It is
the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the ‘birds of
the sky come and dwell in its branches.’” Matthew 13:31-32
Piety
Father, help us to devote
time to better understanding the message in your parables. Help us to be your
people and dwell in the branches of your Kingdom. Amen.
Study
The readings have been
overdosing on similes and metaphors over the past few days. The Kingdom of God is like:
- A peal of great price.
- A net thrown into the sea.
- A loincloth.
- A blossoming mustard seed/large bush
- Yeast.
- A man who sowed good seed.
- A house with many rooms.
- All of the above and more.
The question posed yesterday
in the Sunday Gospel continues to apply today:
“Do you understand all these things?” Our study is intended to
help us to understand these and more that is revealed to us in studying
scripture. Sometimes we are helped by
the homily when we attend Mass. But on
weekdays, most of us are on our own.
The parables used by Jesus
are stories and allegories that illustrate and compare Christian truths and
events of everyday life. The notes to the NAB explain that, “Since a
parable is figurative speech that demands reflection for understanding, only
those who are prepared to explore its meaning can come to know it. To
understand is a gift of God, granted to the disciples but not to the crowds. In
Semitic fashion, both the disciples’ understanding and the crowd’s obtuseness
are attributed to God. The question of human responsibility for the obtuseness
is not dealt with.”
Our work is to think about
these stories and understand all of the various meanings. The fact that Jesus uses many different
stories means that heaven is not one-dimensional. In fact, the Kingdom of God has many
dimensions and each parable illustrates a different attribute of life. Our understanding is enhanced as we add each
allusion to our understanding of life.
Action
Some of the parables
continue to hold meaning today. A pearl
of great price in ancient Palestine is understood the same way today because we
still value a string of pearls or pearl earrings. However, we mostly buy our bread in grocery
stores, bakeries and restaurants so some might not understand the relevance of
yeast. We also get our mustard in a
condiment jar, spice bottle or little yellow packet. Rarely do we grow it in Northern
Virginia.
Cursillo uses lots of
other images: rainbows vested across the
blue sky; fields of flowers dressed for spring; and witnessing the sunrise on
clear and bright mornings.
How do you view the Kingdom
of God? What is your modern parable for
the Kingdom of God? What is your
favorite image or parable?
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