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| Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI |
(Sixteenth Sunday of the Year (A): This homily was given on
July 19, 2020 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond
Suriani. Read Wisdom:12-13, 16-19; Psalm
86; Romans 8:26-27; Matthew 13:24-43.)
[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Sixteenth Sunday 2020]
“The kingdom of God”—a biblical concept which is very
important and VERY CONFUSING!
Let me illustrate the confusion with a couple of
questions. Question #1: Is the kingdom
of God something that is inside of
us, or is it something that’s outside
of us? I ask that because in Luke 17:21
Jesus explicitly says, “The kingdom of God is within you”; but then in John
18:36 he seems to contradict himself by saying, “My kingdom is not of this world.”
Very confusing.
Question #2: Is the kingdom of God something that we can
experience NOW on this earth, or is it something we can only experience AFTER
WE DIE? The answer to that one is not
immediately obvious, because in Matthew 10:7 Jesus tells us, “The kingdom of
heaven is at hand!” (as if it is something we can experience right now!); but
then, in Matthew 25, in the scene of the Last Judgment, Jesus says to those who
are saved, “Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the
world”—as if the kingdom is something totally different from what we experience
here on earth.
Very confusing.
But in spite of all the confusion, this is a biblical
concept that we need to try to understand—because according to Jesus Christ the
kingdom of God (whatever it is!) is extremely important!
We know this simply because Jesus preached about the
kingdom all the time! He wouldn’t have
done that if he didn’t want us to take it seriously. Believe it or not, in just the 4 canonical
Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) the expression “the kingdom of God” or
“the kingdom of heaven” is used about 50 times (I know that because I made a
quick count in preparation for this homily!).
In today’s gospel alone, Jesus mentions it 3 times, using 3 analogies to
drive home his message.
My purpose in this homily is to give you one key insight
that can help you to make sense of this Gospel reading from Matthew 13 and
every other passage of the New Testament where the kingdom of God is
mentioned—including the ones that seem to contradict one another. The insight comes from our former Holy
Father, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, and it can be found in chapter 3 of his
book, Jesus of Nazareth.
I’ll paraphrase it in this way (which should be fairly easy
to remember): According to the former Holy Father, the kingdom of God is present wherever and whenever Jesus is enthroned
as Lord.
The
kingdom of God is present, in other words, wherever and whenever Jesus rules!
Think back, now, to the questions I posed at the beginning
of my homily.
Question #1: Is the kingdom of God something that is inside of us, or is it something that’s outside of us?
Pope Emeritus Benedict would say “It’s not an either/or
situation. Both can be true. The kingdom can be inside of us and outside
of us at the same time!”—which is precisely why Jesus said, “The kingdom of God
is within you,” and “My kingdom is not of this world.”
You see, whenever Jesus is ruling our inner thoughts and
attitudes, the kingdom is present.
Whenever we decide, by the grace of God, to forgive another person;
whenever we choose to be patient or compassionate or pure; whenever we say no
to sin and yes to what’s right, the kingdom of God is, in a very real sense,
present within us!
But, of course, none of us is perfect. So even though the kingdom is present within
us whenever we resist sin and practice virtue, it will never be fully present inside
us—or outside us for that matter—as long as we’re in this world. That’s why Jesus’ second statement, “My
kingdom is not of this world” is also true!
The fullness of the kingdom of God will only be experienced
in heaven, simply because that’s the place where Jesus “rules” completely! In heaven, there is no sin. Jesus truly is the Lord of all that happens
and the Lord of everyone who’s there.
So, is the kingdom of God something that we can experience
NOW on this earth, or is it something we can only experience AFTER WE DIE?
That was the second question, and, once again our former
Holy Father would say to us, “It’s not either/or; it’s both/and. Because of the nature of the kingdom, both
can be true. Whenever we make Jesus Lord
of a particular situation in our lives and do what he wants us to do, we
experience a little bit of his kingdom.
Right here, right now. But, once
again, the fullness of that kingdom will only become a reality for us in
heaven, where there’s no sin or death, and where Jesus is Lord completely.”
All of this is implied, believe it or not, in that simple
phrase “thy kingdom come” in the Lord’s Prayer.
We’re saying, “Lord, may your kingdom be present inside of me—in my
thoughts and in my heart; may it be present outside of me in my words and acts
of love and service. Help me, through my
attitudes and choices, to experience your kingdom right now to the extent that
I can; and prepare me for that glorious moment when I will experience the
fullness of your kingdom in heaven.” With
those 3 little words—“thy kingdom come”—we’re implying all those things. Let’s keep that in mind when we pray the Our
Father later at this Mass, and whenever we pray it publicly or privately in the
future.
