Fr Kevin Kilgore

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Gospel: Matthew 13: 54-58

Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue.
They were astonished and said,
“Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?
Is he not the carpenter’s son?
Is not his mother named Mary
and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?
Are not his sisters all with us?
Where did this man get all this?”
And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them,
“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and in his own house.”
And he did not work many mighty deeds there
because of their lack of faith.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Mother Teresa used to run a school for street children in downtown Calcutta. Written on the wall outside the school’s entrance was a set of teachings everyone was encouraged to follow, including the following: 

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People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

The good you do today will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

In the end, what you do is between you and God. It’s never between you and them anyway.

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In the Gospel, Jesus returns to his hometown, where he’s not welcomed like one might expect. Rather, he’s bombarded with skepticism and doubt as people question, “Where did this man get such wisdom? … Is he not the carpenter’s son?” 

Rather than trying to fit in, the Lord chooses to be himself, to preach the truth, and then move on to the next town.

Some will come to believe in him because of his words, while others will not. But he’s not out to please the locals anyway; he only wants to do his Father’s will.

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Similarly, sometimes the good we do either goes unnoticed by others or is taken for granted. 

Do good anyway.

The one we seek to please is not of this world; like Jesus, we serve our Father in heaven.

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Image credits: (1) Cornerstone Magazine (2) The Independent (3) Pinterest

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Gospel: Matthew 13: 47-53

Jesus said to the disciples:
“The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea,
which collects fish of every kind.
When it is full they haul it ashore
and sit down to put what is good into buckets.
What is bad they throw away.
Thus it will be at the end of the age.
The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous
and throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”

“Do you understand all these things?”
They answered, “Yes.”
And he replied,
“Then every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven
is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom
both the new and the old.”
When Jesus finished these parables, he went away from there.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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There were two different kinds of nets the Apostles used as fishermen. One was a casting net. The other was a drag net.

A casting net was tied to a fisherman’s arm while standing along the shoreline and thrown into the sea. It collected a minimal number of fish with minimal effort.

A drag net was capable of collecting a far greater number of fish, as it was released from the back of a fisherman’s boat. 

Once he started accelerating, the drag net would slowly sink into the water, gathering whatever was in its path. After the net was hauled ashore, the fisherman would separate what was good from what was rotten.

This is the word Jesus uses to describe the Kingdom of God, and by extension, the Church. It’s like a drag net thrown into the sea, “which collects fish of every kind. When it is full, they haul it ashore.”

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Until Christ returns, the Church remains at sea.

It is not our mission to judge or to separate those caught in our drag nets; rather, to continue collecting people of every kind. 

At the end of time, the Lord will haul the Church ashore, allowing his angels to separate those who belong from those who don’t – if any.

Such an image may leave some feeling comforted while leaving others feeling uncomfortable. But this is, perhaps, what is needed most in our age:

Mercy.

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“The kingdom of heaven… collects fish of every kind,” Jesus says.

Until the end of time, may we cast our drag nets far and wide.

And sail onward.

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Image credits: (1) First Mission Church of Clemmons (2) Shutterstock (3) Peter Brueghel the Elder, Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee

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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