In the selections
from the Gospel of Matthew that we are reading at Eucharist, Jesus proposes
parables about the Kingdom of God for the crowds from the local experiences
that they understand. “To what shall we compare the Kingdom of God? He says,
“The Kingdom of God may be likened to a man who sowed seed."
"The Kingdom
of God is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed…”
“The Kingdom
of God is like yeast that a woman took and mixed…”
Jesus’
examples of how to understand the Kingdom of God stirred my imagination to
look around me to see what local experiences could be compared to the Kingdom
of God present in our midst. I came up
with two:
The Kingdom of God is like the
cucumber vines in
our monastery garden which are daily producing such an abundance of
cucumbers. They are multiplying so fast that we can hardly keep up with gathering them, cooking them, slicing them,
pickling them, canning them, and storing them for consumption throughout the rest of
the year. We love our bread and
butter pickles.The cucumber vines have become
a community building event.
While sitting
at the front desk doing my portress' duty the last few weeks, I have been
watching many young people biking up to our front walk, or driving up and
parking for a short time, getting out and working on their smart phones and iPads till they get a Pokémon-Go signal and capture a character, give a smile of success, and then off they
go to the next site.
The Kingdom of God is like the Pokémon-Go
game that is
energizing our young people to go out to designated sites, capture a character, and
move on to search for more. Our front gate, the Monastery front entrance, and the lake by the infirmary are three of
these designated spots. I believe more folks have located and
identified St. Walburg Monastery building through this game than anything
else. Let us hope that this game will
continue to stimulate good sharing among friends and families locally and all
over the world, and keep them searching for all the wonderful gifts and
surprises God has in store for them.
In the Give
Us This Day July issue, Fr. Ronald Witherup, reflects on the Parables
of Matthew: “As you hear each parable,
you might ask yourself: what does it
tell me about God and God’s priorities?
Not every parable has a moral about our
life.Sometimes they tell us that God’s
Kingdom grows secretly and mysteriously (like the mustard seed or the yeast),
or that it contains every kind of person (the net) whom only God will judge
when the kingdom finally comes.Jesus’
main advice: If you have ears, then
listen.”
To what can you compare
the Kingdom of God around you?
Sr. Mary
Tewes, OSB,
