Fr Kevin Kilgore

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Gospel: Matthew 11: 11-15

Jesus said to the crowds:
“Amen, I say to you,
among those born of women
there has been none greater than John the Baptist;
yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 
From the days of John the Baptist until now,
the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence,
and the violent are taking it by force. 
All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John. 
And if you are willing to accept it,
he is Elijah, the one who is to come. 
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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This is one of the most obscure passages in all of the Gospels. “The Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force,” Jesus says.

What on earth does he mean?

These words come at the end of a monologue from Jesus, delivered to an anonymous crowd, after he hears of the imprisonment of John the Baptist. Certainly, the Lord could read the times. 

John was nearing his end.

And so was he.

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Some scholars break this verse down into two separate events – “the kingdom of heaven suffers violence,” and separately, “the violent are taking it by force.”

First, Jesus and John the Baptist are representatives of the kingdom of God. The Lord may be acknowledging the sad reality that they – as well as a long succession of prophets before them – have suffered, even to the point of death, for spreading the kingdom.

The kingdom of heaven suffers violence because there are forces of evil in this world that will do anything to fight against God.

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Separately, there are those who will do anything to enter into God’s kingdom. These may be the ones whom Jesus says, “are taking it by force.”

Consider Saint Paul. Some of his final words ever written were these: “I have fought the good fight, I have competed well, I have run the race to the finish, I have kept the faith.”

Much like Jesus and John the Baptist, Paul had to fight to do God’s will. Notice he uses very athletic language to describe his ministry – he fought, competed, ran. He’s racing towards heaven, hoping to thrust himself inside the narrow gates. 

The “violent” in this sense are those fighting for their salvation.

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In what ways do we experience faith as a struggle? How do we battle against temptation, sin, and the voices in this world attempting to lead us astray?

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May the Lord give us the grace we need to fight the good fight, to compete well, to run this race to the finish. And, if we must, take heaven by storm.

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Image credits: (1) Active Christianity (2) Christian Life Church (3) ShareFaith Media

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Gospel: Matthew 11: 28-30

Jesus said to the crowds:
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Some years ago, a story went viral about a lost sheep named Shrek.

Shrek lived an otherwise ordinary life until he became separated from his shepherd. For six long years, he wandered the hills of New Zealand alone, often resting at night in cold, rocky caves.

Without his shepherd to shear his wool, Shrek’s coat ballooned to sixty pounds, six times the average weight a sheep normally carries. That’s enough wool to make 20 adult suits!

After he was found, it took Shrek’s shepherd about 20 minutes to shear all of that excess wool. Imagine that – six years of weight lifted in a matter of minutes.

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There’s something arrestingly human about that.

Like Shrek, how often do we carry around unnecessary weight, even five or six times what we actually need to carry? 

We can hide our emotions, bury our grief, or lug around years of unnecessary guilt, leaving us with an arthritic spirit. Why not just let it go?

“Come to me, all of you who are heavy burdened,” Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “and I will give you rest.” This command – “come to me” – implies movement. We must be on the go, leaving the cave we may find ourselves in, leaning into the arms of our shepherd. 

Only then can Jesus do what he does best: shear our “wool” and lift our burdens. 

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This is true not only in prayer, but also in confession, when the Lord forgives – and forgets – our sins.

Today, may we allow ourselves to be found, leaving what no longer serves us behind.

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Image credits: (1) Love Letter Daily (2) your love.blog (3) Business Insider

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Gospel: Matthew 18: 12-14

Jesus said to his disciples:
“What is your opinion?
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray?
And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it
than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.
In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father
that one of these little ones be lost.” 

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Packed inside this tiny parable are a few important reminders for the Church today.

First, notice the source of the shepherd’s joy. It does not come from passively tending to his flock; rather, from the active pursuit of the lost.

Meaning, faith prevents us from standing idly while others wander away from the Church. We have to seek them out until they’re found.

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Second, consider who wandered off – one of the original members of the flock. This parable is not about bringing new souls to the faith; it’s about caring for those who already belong, but have strayed.

I’m sure we can all think of someone who is either on the margins of the Church, on their way out, or has lost their faith. While Christ commands us to have a missionary spirit, we must also be intentional about not losing those already baptized into the Church. 

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What would it look like for the Church to care for Catholics on the margins? How can we re-invigorate the faith of those who’ve fallen away?

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Finding concrete answers to such questions should make us rejoice.

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Image credits: (1) EDUCAUSE Review (2) Holy and Healthy Catholic (3) Facebook