My Dear People,

We thank Bishop Emilio for visiting us here at St James and Mission Santiago. He enjoyed the visit. A good number of people came to the 8 AM Mass and the session afterwards in the hall. He was impressed with the presentation, especially on such short notice. Overall, his visit was positive and everyone was glad and happy for his visit. Thank you, Bishop Emilio Biosca. We are looking forward to seeing you in the future.

In the three parables in which Jesus speaks about the kingdom of Heaven, He is speaking of the kingdom manifested on earth as the Church, not the kingdom consummated in the world to come. Jesus speaks in parables because He wants the people to respond by faith and not by intellect. Those who responded by faith were able to get the gist of the parable, but for those who responded by intellect, the parable did not make sense to them; therefore it would not have an impact on their lives. Jesus spoke in parables because when people responded with faith they would have a conversion of life. These parables are favorites of converts because the experience described in them seems to parallel some of our own experiences of finding our way (or rather, of God finding us and bringing us into the Catholic Church).

The first of these parables tells us that the kingdom is not always obvious. It’s like a buried treasure. There’s no billboard saying, “True Church, Exit Left 1 Mile.” In fact, those speeding by on the highway of life will never find it. You have to be digging, in the vineyard, perhaps. Suddenly you hit something with your spade. Can it be? Is it? Yes! You are willing to leave everything you have to buy the field with this treasure. (Incidentally, the moral sense of “sells all that he has and buys that field” can apply to those who embrace the evangelical counsel of poverty in the religious life.)

The second of these parables is similar to the first. Again, the kingdom is not obvious. There are many competitors, perhaps even fakes, “faux pearls” or pearls of low quality. It takes some

discernment –indeed wisdom, like Solomon asked for—to tell the true and valuable pearl from all the look-alikes and costume jewelry. It’s found by those who are looking carefully and who (perhaps) have gotten some experience in this business.

The third parable is one of the most important for Catholics to understand and embrace. It tells us that the kingdom, for all its value, is also going to be a mixed bag during this age. Like the net thrown into the sea that catches fish of many kinds, so the Church is like a net thrown by Peter, his co-workers the Apostles, and their successors, which brings many—both saints and sinners—into God’s kingdom. Not all brought in during this age will persevere through the final judgment, however.

“The kingdom” in the Gospel of Matthew is, in one sense, nothing but Jesus himself. However, since the church is the Body of Christ and united to him, what is said about the kingdom applies also to the Church, both Triumphant (in heaven) and Militant (on earth). The seven parables of the kingdom in Matthew 13 are clearly not speaking of the Church Triumphant, glorified in God’s presence; nor are they speaking (for the most part) of the kingdom manifested in the person of Christ the King. No, those parables of a kingdom hidden, starting small, growing slowly, hard to find, mixed with weeds and bad fish, is a description of the Church Militant—perhaps even our local parish!

Many self-appointed “reformers” in Church history have split the historic Church in order to establish a “pure” or “sifted” church. Even today, many leave the Catholic Church for various sects, denominations, even cults, because of the scandal of sinners within the visible Body of Christ. “How can this be the kingdom of God when it has people like that in it?” yet it is, and Jesus told us it was going to be like this.

It takes wisdom to recognize that the Church Militant is, for all its rents and wounds, the kingdom of heaven come to earth. This wisdom can only come from God, granted by him to those who love him. If we are docile to the teachings of Jesus, the one who is greater than Solomon, he will teach us the wisdom of the kingdom.

[Most of the source is from Reflection on the Sunday Mass Readings by Dr. John Bergdsma]

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Vincent Clemente