Monday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
My husband and I recently returned from a pilgrimage to Turkey where we traveled in the footsteps of St. Paul and visited sites of the early church. It was an inspiring experience to witness the thousands of miles that St. Paul traveled by land and sea to spread the Good News. When reading the scripture reading today, St. Paul helps these parables come to life for me. Through his personal encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, the seed was planted. St. Paul recognizes God’s love has been lived out in the life of Christ. He takes this understanding, and like yeast in a loaf of bread, spends his life sharing all about Christ, His love and salvation. We too are called to be missionaries for the kingdom of heaven. Jesus calls each of us to a personal encounter with Him, so we can experience His great love and mercy. With prayer, scripture, sacrament, and community this love and faith grows. Then, like St. Paul, we are sent out to be leaven for this world which is so in need of God’s healing love, grace, and mercy.
In today’s scripture reading Jesus uses the parables of the mustard seed and the yeast to help describe the kingdom of heaven. As I reflected on this reading, my first question was “what exactly does Jesus mean by the kingdom of heaven and why does He explain this difficult concept using parables?” For me the “kingdom of heaven” describes a state of living in the presence of God. If God is love, then the kingdom of heaven exists when we live in the assurance of God’s love for us, and we are able to reciprocate that love with God and others. Jesus meets us where we are in our humanity. He uses the everyday experiences of growing plants and baking bread to help us begin to have a glimpse into how we might view this love, and how it takes root and grows within our lives.
St. Paul’s life helps these parables “take flesh” for me. In his dramatic encounter with Christ, the seed of faith is planted. It is here that Paul is introduced to the great love of God expressed through Jesus. Like the tiny mustard seed Paul begins to recognize God’s plan of salvation and the great love of God that is lived out in the life, death and resurrection of Christ. Paul’s knowledge of Jewish scripture helps him to understand that the “kingdom of heaven” is fulfilled through Jesus. St. Paul’s passion for Christ grows, and like a “large bush that the birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches,” (Mt 13:32) his writings becomes a source of inspiration for generations of Christians.
As we covered the many miles of Paul’s ministry in Turkey, I was able to better understand how Paul’s life was also like the yeast used in the parable of Jesus. His knowledge of the love of Christ empowered him to go forth to many places and peoples to share this Good News. Nothing stood in his way- not persecution, not illness, and not the opinions of others. He wanted all people- Jews and Gentiles alike- to know and experience the love of God through Jesus, and thereby come to live in the kingdom of heaven. Although we don’t know exactly, Paul traveled probably over 10,000 miles by land and sea to spread the gospel of Jesus. What an amazing testimony to the love of God! Paul spends his missionary journey sharing what “has lain hidden from the foundation of the world-” (Mt 13:35) the limitless love of God. “For I am certain that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, neither height nor depth nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God that comes to us in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-38) St Paul believed this passionately and lived his life preaching about the kingdom of heaven with great courage and enthusiasm. He shows us in a real way how to bring these parables to life.
Living out this call as a missionary for the kingdom of heaven, is the calling of every Christian. Just like Paul, it is through an encounter with Christ that we will be able to come to know and understand this eternal and limitless love. Although we probably won’t be knocked to the ground, we can encounter Jesus though prayer, scripture, sacrament, and the world around us. On our trip to Turkey, I was struck by the call to prayer that sounded from every mosque in each city, town or village across the country. Five times a day the people are called to worship God and to look to Him for His guidance. I wonder what would happen if Christians practiced a similar routine of 5 times a day stopping what we were doing, making ourselves mindful of God, praising and thanking Him for His love, and asking for His guidance to share this love within the activities of our daily routine. What would the world look like if we truly allowed the kingdom of heaven- God’s love (expressed in the love of Jesus) - to take root and grow through our openness to Him? Once we are aware of this love in our life could we share His love and grace, so it would spread out and “infiltrate” the very corners of the earth? As I ponder the violence, hatred, injustice and prejudice that exist throughout the world, it is obvious to me that we are in great need of God’s transforming love. As a disciple of Jesus, He invites us to know Him and His love, so we can bring Him to the world. Like St. Paul, we are being sent forth to be missionaries for the Kingdom of Heaven, so that all people”may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. “(Ephesians 3:18-19)
"Heavenly Father, we come to know your eternal love through the life, death and resurrection of Your Son, Jesus. May our encounter with Him help us to grow in your love, and with Your Spirit may we then share this love with the world. May our lives of love leaven the world, so Your kingdom will come and we will bring you glory and praise. We pray this through Christ our LORD. Amen."
- Marylynn Herchline