16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) July 16-17, 2011 What do you think about when you hear

the words The Kingdom of Heaven? That was the question for Jesus' disciples and it remains our question today. What is the Kingdom of Heaven? For most of us, we think about the place where we will hopefully find ourselves after we die and are raised to new life in Christ. That's true of course but I don't think that's all there is. What does the Kingdom of Heaven have to do with the way that we live our faith today? That's what Jesus was teaching when he taught in parables. Wheat and weeds. We can spend a lot of time trying to figure out who are the wheat and who are the weeds; who's in and who's out; who are the saints and who are the sinners. But that's really not the point that Jesus is making. Jesus is teaching us about who God is; how God works; what God has in mind for us. He doesn't say, The Kingdom is like a barn where wheat is stored, he says: there was a man who sowed good seed and, despite the fact that an enemy planted weeds, he knew that the seed would grow into wheat in due time and so he let it grow with the weeds until it was time for the harvest. Heaven takes shape like that.

Or think about this never mind a whole crop of wheat! Another man took a single, tiny mustard seed and cast it into his field he knew that, even though it would compete with all the other plants in the field, it would grow into a tree and it did. Thats the way Heaven works.

Deacon Jim Panchaud

Preaching Notes

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) Or, think about a woman making a lot of bread with a little bit of yeast. Now, it might seem impossible but she knows that that little bit of yeast is going to do what it does best. It's going to make the bread rise. You just have to give it time. Heaven comes to be like that, a little bit at a time. Heaven is all around you waiting to be embraced and God is patient beyond all measure. God knows that the world will be transformed into the Kingdom. He designed it that way from the very beginning when he created us in his own imageable to decide between right and wrong, good and evil, to build up or tear down. Even though we are imperfect, we have hope because God will help us to become more like him each day so that we can be ultimately united with him. Heaven is not merely a reward for being good. We choose what is good and reject what is evil because we are preparing for the reality of heaven. Like Catherine of Sienna says: Its heaven all the way to heaven. God has all the patience in the world. We are called to embody that same patience in our dealings with one another. We do not need to be perfect now but we do need to believe that we have within us the potential for holiness and that God's grace will make up the difference! Heaven is not only where we go after we die. It is the place where we live and will live; the completion of who we are created to be creatures united with their creator. Celtic Christian spirituality talks about thin places... those places and moments of encounter when the divide between heaven and earth seems to fade away and we're

Deacon Jim Panchaud

Preaching Notes

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) able to glimpse, if only for a moment, something of 'the holy'. This is the awareness that we seek in times of deep prayer. The Kingdom of Heaven is not just something that will happen. It is happening. And we're part of it. The 'Kingdom of Heaven' is continually being established by God all around us, through our faithfulness and despite our sinfulness. Wheat and Weeds. When we pause long enough to see it and to see how we are each gifted to move the world one step closer to the fulfillment of that Kingdom, everything we do has new meaning. If our daily prayer does nothing else, it should draw us into a conscious awareness of how God has been present throughout our day and how we have responded (or not) to those opportunities to build up the Kingdom. That's why Ignatius of Loyola made the daily consciousness examen a non-negotiable for his brother Jesuits as they went out on missionary journeys. Each day, we ask ourselves: How much closer are we to heaven? If we are destined to be united with God and God is patient, our patience must move us each day one step closer towards the same sort of care, leniency, clemency, justice, kindness, and hope that God showsin our first reading from Wisdom for example. This is difficult in our world where everything is about immediate gratification. Were not used to being patient, to waiting. If there is a skill to teach our children it is the ability to put off gratification, to wait for something good. Otherwise we fall into traps that sidetrack us from our goal. We might think that peace, for instance, can result

Deacon Jim Panchaud

Preaching Notes

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) from dominance and control instead of taking the time to address the systems that perpetuate inequality and injustice. So... in our prayer today, and in your private prayer, take some time to consider how the kingdom of heaven is taking shape around us and because of our discipleship. We might begin by taking the time to give thanks for the many blessings in our livesa safe home, shelter, food on the table, the ability to go to school, the ability to help someone who needs us. Then we might consider the ways we can be free of the tendencies that hold us backthat delay the fulfillment of the Kingdom: impatience, fear, materialism, individualism, judging, condemning, harshness, despair. And, with this in mind we can pray, with the Holy Spirit to guide us and perfect our request, for the grace and knowledge to take one step more... today... in our families, in our communities, at work... one step closer to the fulfillment of what God has in mind for us: The Kingdom of Heaven... as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be world without end. AMEN.

Deacon Jim Panchaud

Preaching Notes