Working Toward the Kingdom of Heaven

Dear Parish Family,
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us three parables to describe the Kingdom of Heaven. The wheat and the weeds, the mustard seed, and the yeast. He speaks in parables (stories) because not everyone is ready to hear the truth. Just like when we have something difficult to explain to a child, we choose our words and how much detail we share, especially if we feel it will be perceived as very sad or scary. Jesus spoke to us in the same way; not everyone is ready to hear the truth clearly. This gives us time to absorb and be able to understand what has been revealed to us.

All three parables use commonplace experiences to describe aspects of the Kingdom of Heaven. The parables give us a warning and much encouragement. Jesus’ explanation to the disciples cautions, any effort to judge the progress of the Kingdom of Heaven is premature. As the wheat and the weeds must grow together until the harvest, so we may not know whether our actions contribute to God’s Kingdom until God’s final judgment. With this word of caution in mind, we act always in prayer that our actions will be consistent with God’s plans. How often are we quick to judge others’ behavior and not see our own? To judge and uproot the “weeds” prematurely will harm the wheat; final judgment rests with God.

In the parables of the mustard seed and the yeast, we are consoled by the message that God can work wonders and produce abundance from even the smallest beginnings of the Kingdom of Heaven. Just as a mustard seed — the smallest of all seeds — will become a large bush, so too God will bring His Kingdom to full bloom. As a small amount of yeast will leaven the entire batch of bread, so too God will bring about the expansion of his Kingdom.

This means that even the little things that we do can make a big difference in the lives of others. What are some of the little things that we can do in our family that help to make things better for others?

“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.” - St. Teresa of Avila

​Siempre Adelante,

Tere Delgado
Faith Formation Minister