1 Kgs. 3:5, 7-12; Ps 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-130; Rom. 8:28-30; Mt. 13:44-52
Jesus compares the Kingdom of heaven to a treasure we can hold, fine pearls to appeal to the eyes, and a great catch to appeal to the appetite and yet it is none of this. Jesus has a way of drawing us in appealing to our interests yet taking us to a place we cannot imagine. That is because the kingdom of heaven is not a “thing” we hold but a way of being. Being in the kingdom of God is something that is lived. We cannot grasp it with our hands but we can know we are there by living it and by the fruit of our lives where we can see the hand of God at work to sanctify us, save us and answer our prayers.
There is the story of an atheist teacher who said to the class “There is no God. Has anyone ever seen God?” One student then asked the teacher, “Have you ever seen your brain?” The teacher said “no”. Then the student replied “then you have no brain”. The kingdom of God come to us through invisible grace seen at work through visible signs. We hear in the Old Testament how no one can see the face of God and live and yet God reveals himself indirectly through visible signs, the burning bush, the voice in the clouds, the angels as messengers. It is the will of God to reveal himself to us but we have to seek him. That requires our time to be in prayer, receiving the sacraments, and responding to the movement of the spirit in us.
The Kingdom of God is reflected in what Solomon asked of God. He asked for understanding as a way of being able to see, hear, and know how to lead his people. The inspiration of understanding produced the fruit of a good leader. The kingdom of heaven comes to us through the spiritual gifts from God while we are in this world. They allow us to see him in our world and to serve him by our very being in this world. The kingdom of God is transformative of our humanity into his divinity.
God plants his law into the heart of a person to live in freedom within his kingdom. It is a kingdom where two hearts are united as one. The sacred heart of Jesus united to the sacred heart of Mary, the giving of self in the sacramental love of a man and a woman in holy matrimony, the call to Holy Orders for a priest consecrated to the Church and our baptismal vows for every Christian to be one with Jesus all reflect the real kingdom of God. It is a kingdom of love in the giving of ourselves to the other. This was the request of Solomon to receive the gift of understanding in order to give of himself to his people as a wise leader and servant of God.
How do we reflect the kingdom of God in our lives? Perhaps we don’t realize the great miracle of how God is working in and through us each day simply because from within the kingdom we have been sheltered by his grace not having lived outside of his mercy and love. Recall the story of what is commonly known as the prodigal son who left his father and went outside the kingdom to live his own life. How soon he discovered the consequences of mortal sin coming from being outside of the kingdom. At the same time the other son who always stayed within the kingdom of the father did not appreciate all that was his and felt resentful of the father for his mercy to his brother. The kingdom of God “revealed to little ones the mysteries of the kingdom” and in baptism we are all his little ones. Sometimes we simply don’t know what to ask for that God is ready to grant us.
The Lord’s desire is to enrich us with the gifts of the Spirit that we may all be saints. This cannot be unless we ourselves come to him with the desire to serve and not be served as Solomon did. Solomon was the prototype of Jesus who was to come to serve the Father for our salvation. The love of God is the love of his commands. It is to see in his commands the good seed of his word given to us in order to serve him by our lives. Service is at the heart of being Christian.
There is an expression in Spanish “cada cabeza es un mundo”, every head is its own world. It implies that we are all a unique individual, and in many ways different than any other individual that has walked this earth. Thus, we often focus on our differences and what separates us. We should also recognize what unites us is that we are all created in the image of God. Jesus prayed to the Father that we may all be one. It is a prayer that we may all find our identity in Christ and follow in his footsteps.
In baptism we then all carry a new beginning with a Christ centered image and purpose. Christ is the sower of the field and the field is our heart. In our hearts he places his law to come to him, to know him and to love him. The seed is his word that is to bloom in our hearts and the fruit of the bloom is our love for God and others. The pearl of life then is our identity in Christ to know ourselves not only as a child of God but as a saint in the kingdom of God reflecting the image of Christ by the gifts we have received and live by.
This all seems great until we recognize his image includes the wood of the cross, love through sacrifice and justice through mercy. Can we really love our enemies? How can this be? It can only be in the heart of the one who knows “all things work for good for those who love God.” Our God is a transformative God. Recall those toys called “Transformers” of the 1980s, how they transform objects to come to life as action heroes and villains. God is the ultimate transformer of lives from what is to what we are called to be.
Whether in life or death, God promises “those he called he also justified; and those he justified he also glorified”. In the end it is not whether we live or die in this life but how we lived and died for the eternal promises of the kingdom of heaven.
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