17th Sunday Homily - The Kingdom of Heaven in the here and now.

Recently a friend has begun fly fishing. He got hooked, figuratively, and then got all the gear. Putting in the energy and time, and enthusiasm.  It has been quite fun to watch. I showed my nephew in laws a couple of years ago how to fly fish, and they all had new poles and gear by the following Christmas.

Anyone have similar experiences? Been drawn into something, some activity and went full bore. Got all the equipment and read up on it. Think too of tv shows How many got into Tiger King? Game of Thrones? Sports fans go crazy for the Giants, the Sox, Red, not white; Yankees. The live it, breathe it.

Passion is great! That drive, that energy, that excitement...for a time.


Parables bring us to wisdom in a roundabout way. We are taught sideways.  Jesus is a genius with these. He tries to break open our minds and our hearts to understand the Kingdom so as to experience the Kingdom. He wants us to get hooked, to find the passion for the kingdom.

I would be willing to bet that most of us as we hear the phrase “Kingdom of Heaven” or “kingdom of God” we assume the afterlife. A Reality beyond ours in which all is taken care of; no annoyances, no pain, no suffering. Many people are passionate about getting into heaven.   But that is not quite it, and maybe our passion is misplaced?  Jesus also said the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand...that was part of his preaching, and part of his miracles, his forgiveness.  It is a reality to be experienced in the here and now; it is a reality of freedom, a reality of experiencing the freedom as a child of God; the freedom to do what is truly good; the freedom to live as a human person, and with all the messiness that comes with it. 

It is not about an escape from reality, but an embrace and transformation of this reality, of ourselves.

The person who understands this pursues the kingdom with fervor, with passion. This pursuit of this life becomes the focus of their lives. They make a positive change in this world. They fulfill themselves.  We are born into this world and we are meant for this world. God came into our world and walked with us. God still exists in our world and desires those walks.

This means we surrender control. We “sell off” all that we have with which we try to control this universe, this reality. We surrender and then we find life.  This is the mystery of the Cross and Resurrection.  Jesus surrendered all; and was raised to new life. Inaugurating the Kingdom.

We remember this and make it real through our Eucharist. We come to give thanks to God for this salvation; we remember the Risen Lord transformed and present in the bread and wine; we consume, and we go forth into this reality; to renew it, to transform it; to be transformed as well.  

It means that we will still experience anger, sadness and fear; we don’t escape it. However we also have the hope and strength to know that these do not dominate us. We go forward and do what is good. We embrace the child of God that we are; we embrace the children of God that is everyone else as well.

That is the reality of which we are born for. Grab it and don’t let it go.

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