I wish there were no more pandemic…

Homily for the 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time

I wish things were different today.  I wish I didn’t have to wear a mask. I wish I could meet with my business associates and network. I wish I could go out to lunch with my friends. I wish I could go out in public and not have people looking at me as if I had the plague.

I wish there were no pandemic.  I wish there were no more quarantines and social distancing.  I wish there was no more chaos around the present and uncertainty about the future.  I wish there was no more racism and no more political division.  I wish for a world where there is no more sadness, fear, sickness and distress.

In short, I wish for the kingdom of heaven.  I wish for an immediate answer to my prayer, “thy kingdom come.”  I wish for the kingdom of heaven to be present right here and right now.

Those were my wishes before I looked closely at this gospel reading.  I realized I had it all wrong.  The kingdom of heaven is in our midst.  We just need the eyes to see, the ears to hear, and the heart to understand. 

In the gospel (Mt 13) Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like…”  And then he gives three parables. 

In the first parable, he says the kingdom of heaven like a field of wheat.  “The crop grew and bore fruit,”  grain for for a hungry people.  In this fruitful field, however, there are weeds – a lot of them. The Son of Man planted the wheat.  The evil one planted the weeds.  The parable says clearly that the kingdom of heaven is like a field of wheat and weeds.  The kingdom of heaven is like a world where there is both good and evil side by side. 

Our world today is riddled with weeds.  I’ve named a few – pain, confusion, frustration, dysfunction.  Until the end of the age, there are always going to be weeds in your life and mine.  I can wish that God would pull the weeds up out of the ground and throw them into the fire, but that’s not going to happen – at least not for a while. 

Our life is always going to be a life amongst the weeds.  According to the parable, you and I have one purpose:  to bear fruit.  In other words, instead of focusing on the weeds you and I need to focus on ways I can produce fruit, to feed the world with love and hope instead of fear and despair. 

In the Prayer of Saint Francis:  where there is sadness, bring joy.  Where there is despair, offer hope.  Where there is darkness, be the light.  When you’re around people who are grumbling about this and that, take a deep breath and ask the Lord how you can be an instrument of peace. 

In the other two parables, Jesus offers a two more example of this Kingdom for which we pray.

He says the Kingdom of heaven is like a tiny little mustard seed.  A person sows this little seed in a huge field.  Instead of being swallowed up in the immensity of the field, the seed grows to become a tree that provides a living space for the birds of the sky. 

This illustrates another role we have in the kingdom.  In the kingdom of heaven, we are to sow tiny little seeds in this field of ours – little acts of kindness and generosity.  Rather than despair about the seeds getting overwhelmed by the wickedness of the world, we wait and we hope.  One of those seeds might just grow and provide shelter, protection, and life for others. 

The third parable talks about a woman mixing a little yeast into a huge batch of dough.  Unseen and unheard, the yeast mysteriously leavens the dough, causing it to rise.  When the dough is baked, the yeast adds volume, texture and flavor to the bread, and delight to those who eat it.

As kingdom people, we are meant to be that yeast.  We are meant to work behind the scenes, gently causing things to grow, bringing texture and flavor and delight to those around us. 

Our role in the kingdom according to these parables is to bear fruit, sow seeds, and leaven the dough in all of the situations we find ourselves. 

The parables also give us a hint at what God is doing in the kingdom.  As some theologians say, the kingdom is both now and not yet.  When we look beneath all of the devastating effects of this pandemic, we find the hand of God ushering in the kingdom of heaven. 

People are spending more time at home with their family.  People are shopping less and praying more.  People are not spending endless hours and gallons of gas commuting to work.  There is more time to enjoy life and ponder the deeper questions of life.  Even in the midst of this crisis, God is working behind the scenes.

We can complain about schools, the masks, and how to reopening safely.  If we stay focused on these issues, we miss the coming of the kingdom.  We see the weeds, but not the grain.  We see an empty field, not the potential of a tiny seed to provide a habitat for new life.  We see a lump of dough, not the invisible transformation taking place with the yeast. 

Kingdom people are meant to bear fruit, sow seeds, and leaven the dough – in all situations, even the most desperate and confusing.  Kingdom people are also meant to see with kingdom eyes the mighty and mysterious hand of God at work in even the most desperate times. 

May the Lord continue to hear your prayer, “Thy kingdom come.”