Homily: 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time - The Kingdom of Heaven & St. Francis

The phrase “the kingdom of heaven” occurs over thirty times in Matthew’s Gospel.   The first time is from the lips of John the Baptist who preaches, “Repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  After his baptism and time in the desert, Jesus begins his own preaching ministry with this same words, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  It is the subject of his most important sermon, his sermon on the mount .  

And when he commissions the Twelve Apostles, he instructs them to seek out the lost sheep, proclaiming: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  In one teaching Jesus offers those chilling words that not everyone who calls him Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of his Father: the kingdom of heaven is about more than paying lip service to God.  After calling Peter, the Rock, he says that he will give him the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

In chapter 13 of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus offers several parables explaining what the kingdom of heaven is like. 

First, he says the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field which a person finds and hides again so that he can go and sell all that he has in order to buy the field.  Notice, the Lord doesn’t say that the kingdom is the buried treasure, but the kingdom is selling everything you have in order to obtain the buried treasure.  Yes, the kingdom is more precious than silver and gold, but it involves willingness to give all of the silver and gold in the world to be a part of it.  The kingdom involves completely reorienting all of our priorities so that we may be in right relationship and communion with God. 

Secondly, Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for the pearl of great price.  Again, he doesn’t say that the kingdom is the pearl, but like a merchant searching for a pearl and then selling all he has to obtain it.  A sign of the kingdom reigning in our hearts is that we are like that merchant, spending a lifetime, looking, searching, seeking. 

Being a Christian is a lifelong effort.  We are to never stop searching and seeking for ways to grow in Christian holiness.  There is no retirement from the vocation of holiness.  We just don’t stop praying or being charitable when we reach a certain age, nor do we allow our children to be sinful and selfish just because they are young.  There are no plateaus in the spiritual life, we are either ascending the mountain of God or falling down the mountain.  The sin of Pride is so dangerous because it can lead us to think we are ascending, when really we are descending.  It can lead us to think we are searching for the pearl of great price, when we are really wasting our time on a counterfeit.

Thirdly, Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea.  While the net is dragged through the sea it picks up everything, not just plump healthy fish, but debris, seaweed, and anything else that might be in its way.  And when you get back to shore, you have to separate what is good from what is bad.  Like the weeds that will be thrown into the fire, the bad fish are going to be separated from the good fish.  

And Jesus is saying the kingdom of God is like that. 

Here Jesus teaches about the judgment at the end of time, when he returns, he will judge whether you or I will belong in his eternal kingdom or not, period. 

“Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous
and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”

There is a prevailing attitude in our culture which says that it doesn’t really matter how you act or believe, everybody goes to heaven.  That attitude is very dangerous; It’s not the teaching of Jesus   Christ.  St. James writes, “there is but one lawgiver and judge.”  That means I don’t get to decide what is good or evil, a majority of voters doesn’t get to decide what is true or not.  Jesus is saying there will be a judgment, and where we spend eternity will depend on if we have embraced his truth or not. 

When I think of these three short parables, I can’t help but think of St. Francis of Assisi. 

He was like the man who sold everything he had to buy the field with the hidden treasure.  Francis was the son of a very wealthy merchant, Pietro Bernadone.  Francis would dress in the finest clothes and associate with the young noblemen of his day.  His father gave him a hefty allowance which he spent carelessly, attending wild parties.  Chasing after worldly fame and wealth, he joined the local militia, dreaming of being a wealthy knight.  But he was arrested and spent a year in prison until his father bailed him out.

It was not until Francis fell terribly ill that he began to examine his priorities.  He began to pray, and heard the Lord speak to him, “Francis, serve the Master rather than man.”  He began to seek the Lord’s will, he began to sell his possessions to rebuild the Church of San Damiano.  He had found the kingdom, serving the Lord. 

He was like the man who searched for the pearl of great price.  In the town square of Assisi, he stripped himself of all of his possessions and his inheritance, in order to devote himself entirely to work of the Lord.  

He embraced poverty and chastity, prayer and penance in order to conform himself to the Lord Jesus.  He became so united to the Lord in suffering for the sake of others that he was given the gift of the holy stigmata, bearing the marks of Jesus’ crucifixion in his own flesh.

Francis also took that third parable very seriously: belief in the judgment. 

There is a story after Francis’ conversion where he was being tempted so strongly that he knew he had to do something drastic in order to avoid sin.  So he stripped himself down and threw himself into a ditch full of snow in order to shock himself out of this deadly sin which could lead to his damnation.

Francis himself said, “Nothing should upset the servant of God…except sin.”  Even St. Francis was tempted, but he shows us that all Christians must actively fight against our selfish, sinful habits in order to enter fully into friendship with Jesus, the only treasure that will fill us with everlasting joy.

We are challenged by the Word of God and example of the Saints to examine our priorities, to renew our efforts in avoiding sin and seeking holiness.

Jesus invites us not a mediocre passive faith, but to a rich, active, dynamic faith, seeking his will daily, fighting against temptation with his help.  As he shares His Body and Blood with us in the Eucharist today, let us renew our commitment to seek first the kingdom of heaven, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.