Category: Uncategorized

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Gospel: Matthew 13: 44-46

Jesus said to his disciples:
“The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,
which a person finds and hides again,
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
searching for fine pearls.
When he finds a pearl of great price,
he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Part of the brilliance of Jesus’ preaching was that he spoke in ways people could understand. 

Instead of using complex language that made people feel small, or speaking solely in the realm of mystery, he spoke humbly in parables.

“What is the kingdom of God like? To what shall I compare it?” he says. “It is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

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Like a treasure buried in the earth, there is an inestimable value to the Kingdom of God, but not everyone is aware of it; nor is everyone willing to risk all they have to buy that field and dig. 

But those who do find an irreplaceable joy. 

The focus here is not on the cost or effort it takes to acquire this treasure; rather, on the joy that comes from possessing it.

There’s also an urgency imbedded in these parables. They are not about the life to come; they are about the here-and-now. A person sells, buys, digs, and discovers. 

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Similarly, Christ calls his disciples to discover the joy of the Gospel today, not tomorrow. Tomorrow may never come. As the Psalmist says, “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”

This was a lesson the disciples learned firsthand.

When Jesus invited them to follow him, they left everything and everyone behind, even their families. There was an urgency to his invitation; it might never return. So, they re-ordered their lives to the point that nothing came before Jesus. 

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These parables leave a few questions for us to ponder today.

Have I discovered the joy of the Gospel, that treasure buried in a field? How much effort did it take to find it? 

And how might I share this treasure with others?

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Image credits: (1) Faith Fire International Church (2) Parable of the Hidden Treasure, Rembrandt (3) Truth for Kids

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Gospel: John 11: 19-27

Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary
to comfort them about their brother [Lazarus, who had died].
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming,
she went to meet him;
but Mary sat at home.
Martha said to Jesus,
“Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not have died.
But even now I know that whatever you ask of God,
God will give you.”
Jesus said to her,
“Your brother will rise.”
Martha said to him,
“I know he will rise,
in the resurrection on the last day.”
Jesus told her,
“I am the resurrection and the life;
whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live,
and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?”
She said to him, “Yes, Lord.
I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God,
the one who is coming into the world.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

What makes this Gospel scene so heartbreaking initially is the fact that Jesus knew his friend, Lazarus, was dying. But he waited until Lazarus was dead for four days to visit.

“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 

A crushing truth spoken by Lazarus’ sister, Martha.

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Is she rebuking Jesus for his delay? Or is she demonstrating her faith in Christ’s power to save?

Probably both. 

In that moment, Martha represents so many of us. She’s wavering between certainty and uncertainty, between fear and faith. She knew that Jesus had the power to save her brother physically prior to his death; Jesus healed many others.

But he chose not to.

Now she’s struggling to understand why.

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It’s only with hindsight that we see Christ’s reasoning.

The raising of Lazarus becomes the final miracle that Jesus performs before the Last Supper, leading to his own death and resurrection. 

Before being laid in the tomb like Lazarus, the Lord wants to firm up his disciples’ faith, that he has power over life and death.

What the resurrection will teach them is that Jesus can not only bring people back to life physically, but also eternally.

In the words of Saint Paul, “O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?”

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When we struggle to understand why things happen in life, or when we stand at the graveside weeping, we’re invited to deeper faith, remembering that Christ has power over all things.

Most importantly, because of him, we shall be raised into life eternal. There, and perhaps only there, will all that’s happened in this life make sense.

Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, pray for us.

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Image credits: (1) LDS Blogs (2) First Baptist Thomson (3) Property of Jesus, Blogspot

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Gospel: Matthew 13: 31-35

Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds.
“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.”

He spoke to them another parable.
“The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast
that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour
until the whole batch was leavened.”

All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables.
He spoke to them only in parables,
to fulfill what had been said through the prophet:

I will open my mouth in parables,
I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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One of the most difficult things about having faith in God is talking about it. When someone without faith asks us, “Why do you believe?” Often we are left tongue-tied, as if no answer is sufficient.

Faith is deeply personal, residing in the most secretive part of ourselves, where we ponder, hope, question, and dream. It can feel like a place beyond reason – to the point that, often our most honest answer boils down to something like:

“You just have to experience it.”

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I wonder if Jesus felt the same thing when trying to talk about God. How could he distill the great mysteries of the universe into language that people could understand? 

Ultimately, he turned to parables. 

The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed; a pinch of yeast; a treasure buried in a field; a lost coin.

Each parable points to an eternal truth, bridging the gap between the mind of God and the mind of man.

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In the case the mustard seed or a pinch of yeast, neither is worth much on its own.

But when the seed works in tandem with the soil, it becomes the largest of bushes. When the yeast is mixed with flour, it turns to bread – enough to feed a family, even a village.

So, what might Jesus be trying to say to us?

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God desires to transform our world from a dark and gloomy waste into an extension of his kingdom. But, like a seed in soil, or yeast mixed with wheat, we must work in tandem with grace. 

Together, we can turn this world into what it was created to be – a place where God is found – just beneath the surface, hidden in you and me.

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Image credits: (1) Knit Pray Share (2) The Sermon on the Mount, Carl Bloch (3) Catholic Preaching