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Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2008 /  The Kingdom of Heaven is journey of faith with Christ

by Fr. Richard C. Macey, Special to The Michigan Catholic
Published July 18, 2008

First Reading: 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12

First Reading: 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12 The new King Solomon asked God for "an understanding heart." This would help him govern the people. It contributes to the national good, just like the list of building projects in the verses that begin this chapter. God goes even further than what Solomon requested. He grants "a heart so wise and understanding." The tradition of the wisdom of Solomon would be remembered for Israel.

Much later-written wisdom literature will be attributed to Him.

Solomon attributes his selection as ruler to God. It is interesting that this claim is made several times in these beginning chapters (I Kings 1:37,48; 2;15,24). However, it is always made by Solomon, not by God or the narrator of this work. It may already foreshadow the sinfulness of the king at the end of his reign.

The people are "chosen/elect." They have a special relationship with God. They are also "a people so vast that it cannot be numbered or counted." This is an allusion to and the reaffirmation of the covenantal promise to Abraham about descendants (Genesis 22:17).

The request of Solomon to "judge your people" has a wider meaning than our English use of the term. The Hebrew verb "to judge" is related to the noun "justice." It includes making just laws as well as deciding individual cases. There was no separation of powers in those days. Thus, Solomon refers to the entire ruling process over the people.

The Lord commended Solomon for choosing the most important thing in ruling. It would be a judgment upon all succeeding kings of Israel and Judah that they sought the other goods of ruling before the one that would bring a benefit to all the people, not just the ruler himself. The prophets would accuse them of seeking their own benefit at the cost of the people whom they were to serve in the name of the Lord.

Second Reading: Romans 8:28-30

By affirming that "all things work for good of those who love God," Paul affirms that even his suffering and the suffering of the members of the Church ("the sufferings of the present time" in verse 18) will be a source for a demonstration of God's goodness to overcome evil.

The "image" of His Son is the Greek word which is source for our word, "icon."

Paul emphasizes the inexorable progression of the human connection with the divine. There are five verbs, and the middle three are repeated twice: "foreknew … predestined … called … justified … glorified." They lead to the final stage of existence for mankind, being "glorified," a quality of life which can only be given by God. It is the final state of those who are gathered to God after the eschatological judgment. It is reflecting the likeness of God.

The predestined nature of the elect is not referring to an individual destiny. Rather, it has a corporate sense of the indefectability (inerrancy) of the Church. It is the goal toward which the Church is striving and which it is assured of achieving.

Nothing can overturn the ultimate victory of those who love God. They are bound together to share the destiny of all the faithful over the suffering and persecution of the present age.

There is a process of development which continues as a result of those "who are called." This is a term used by Paul for all Christians.

Gospel: Matthew 13:44-52 (short form: Matthew 13:44-46)

There are three collections of parables in the Gospel of Matthew: 13:3-52, 21:28 - 22:14, 24:42 - 25:30. In this reading, the story begins by mentioning the Kingdom of Heaven. The kingdom is mentioned 10 times in the Gospel of Matthew. Not all the parables are about the kingdom. There is a future element in the parables about the kingdom.

This reading includes the last three of seven parables. The long reading is collection of three short sayings. "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure buried in a field … a merchant searching for fine pearls … a net thrown into the sea." In each case, the efforts of someone to obtain it produces an abundance.

The short form has two parables that have several elements in the same order, giving them symmetry. They are tied to the preceding parables by their theme of hiddenness and smallness.

There are no explanations given for these parables. There is also a difference between them. In the first parable, the discovery is accidental. In the second, the discovery was made after a search for it. In both cases, the parable teaches that the Kingdom is beyond any other value. Also, the Kingdom is not something static, but an ongoing effort to bring it about. The Kingdom included the effort and search for it. It was not simply the treasure itself.

I visited Hershey, Penn., not long ago, and I learned the story about Milton Hershey. He was a man who built a chocolate empire – after some fateful earlier attempts. He used his fortune to provide for schooling and an opportunity for poor orphan boys. He was not successful in business in order to gain a fortune and live off it. Even the large house he built (not large by today's standards!), was only as a "gift" for his beloved wife. He lived in one small part of the house after his wife died. It was the in the struggle to succeed that he found his satisfaction in life, not enjoying the wealth which came from it.

I have seen the same story retold several times among people who have worked very hard in building up a business.

It was not the results which were their pride as much as the struggle they endured in order to achieve their success.

The success was only the proof which sealed the value of their efforts. Heaven may be very much like that – an acknowledgment of the struggle it took for us to get there, a struggle which prepared us to get there. Thus, the struggle itself becomes an inroad for the Kingdom, not simply the preliminaries to it.

The final parable is extended to have an eschatological meaning – the final judgment when "the wicked" and "the righteous" will be separated. The first meaning may be the words of Jesus Himself at the shore of the Sea of Galilee, when the people listening along the shore may choose to believe or not believe in the words they hear. Jesus begins the process of separation by the choice which is offered to people. Fish may be "clean" or "unclean." But the readiness of the people to enter the Kingdom will be by the practice of their lives.

The description of the net as "full" probably refers to the fullness of time. In the present age, the good and bad are mixed together. At the end, though, they will be separated. The fiery furnace was a symbol for destruction.

Jesus asks a final question to His disciples before using the image of the scribe. By asking them whether they "understand," he is not questioning their intellectual capacity. Understanding is demonstrated by the choices and actions of life.

The "old" and the "new" in the storeroom can refer to the continuity of the action of God in salvation history. It may also be the Matthean Church confirming the continuity of the life of the early Church in the days of the Risen Lord with the teaching and proclamation of the historical Jesus. "The scribe who has been instructed" may stand for the theologians and scholars who study the application of the Word of God for the life of the Christian.

"Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done." We cooperate with the Lord in bringing about the effects of the Kingdom which is already emerging among us.

Fr. Richard C. Macey is pastor of Our Lady of the Woods Parish, Woodhaven.