Mass Readings for the 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time - July 23, 2017
First Reading Wis 12:13, 16-19
Topic: The Kingdom of Heaven is Like...
When biblical scholars examined the New Testament to discern a primary or recurring theme of Jesus' preaching, they discovered that the phrase "Kingdom of God" appears 122 times. It appears 99 times in the 4 Gospels; and 90 of these times it comes directly from the lips of Jesus! This HAS to grab our attention and cause us to reflect on what is meant by "kingdom of God".
First of all we need to know that Kingdom of God (used in Mark and Luke) and Kingdom of Heaven (used in Matthew) refer to the same reality. The reason for the difference is that Matthew must have been a more traditional Jew who would not used the word "God" out of respect for the Divine Name. Even today, many orthodox Jews maintain this custom. When I was a new grad out of USF and working for a media company in San Francisco, we had an Orthodox Jewish staff member who would omit the word "God" whenever it was used in a script and substitute it with another divine title. I prefer "Kingdom of God" to avoid confusion with our future life in Heaven.
The second thing to know about the Kingdom of God is that it is supposed to be the motivating goal of our lives. The Kingdom of God is something so precious, so vital, so worthwhile and above anything else, that we would do anything to assure our part in it! Our Kingdom-motivation is something that can be very influential when lived authentically, and so it will be opposed by the powers of darkness who do not want people to enter the Kingdom.
The third thing we need to know is its definition: what Is the Kingdom of God? It is the dwelling place and presence of God - together with His grace or power to change and transform us. It is an attitude within us and environment around us wherein God is adored above all and his will is done for his glory and our happiness. So you can see why many people have mistakenly thought that this phrase refers only to Heaven, to our ultimate destination of life with God. But "heaven" begins on earth when we allow God to live and rule in our hearts. You can also see why the powers of darkness oppose it: the Kingdom warriors (us!) threaten their status quo!
When Jesus preached and taught on this topic, his original words in Aramaic can be translated three different ways, all of which contribute to a fuller understanding of this teaching:
"The kingdom of God is near to you." This means that the presence and power of God, his plan to restore and renew humanity, is breaking into human history through the presence and preaching of his son, Jesus. This is why the Gospels all have the Baptism of Jesus and his preaching ministry as the attention-getting opening event of his public ministry.
"The Kingdom of God is upon you." This means that the Kingdom is knocking at the doors of our hearts, waiting to become part of our lives. It is to be realized and expressed by the conversion of our hearts as we seek to strive after peace, love, justice, mercy, compassion. This is why the Gospels all contain the parables and teachings of Jesus, calling us to a new way of thinking, a new way of looking at life, a new way of living.
"The Kingdom of God is within you." This means that all those who respond to Jesus, to his Gospel, will receive the grace to live within the Kingdom of God both now and hereafter. The power and presence of God will be within us. The reign or action of God will touch the lives of others through us, bringing them justice, mercy, peace, compassion, love. But this is made possible for us human beings only through the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which we share in by Baptism and the other sacraments. This is why all the Gospels contain the Passion Story of that first Holy Thursday through Easter Sunday in Jerusalem, two thousand years ago. Jesus, our Elder Brother and Lord, is the one-only Savior who makes Kingdom-living possible for us!
So the Gospel for this Sunday should inspire us to really examine our relationship with Jesus. Where can I improve? How can I grow in it? Am I living the Kingdom values of mercy, justice, peace, compassion? Is the Kingdom of God the highest value and priority in my life? Do I realize that the more I focus on living the Kingdom of God, the better person I will become, enabling me to see to all the other lesser priorities in life?
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