Message of Abbot Paul - Wednesday 27th July

Message from Fr Paul for Wednesday, 27th July 2022

 Although I like warm weather, I’m glad the extremely hot weather has decided to take a rest for the time being, Britain just isn’t set up for that sort of thing and our buildings can so easily turn into personal ovens. As for our dogs with their thick, heavy coats, a definite no. Even our pond fish have a hard time when it gets hot. They thrive better under ice than they do in sunlight. I know that other parts of the country have had heavy rain, but not Herefordshire, unfortunately. Everything is so dry, yet there are no rain clouds on the horizon.

 Our Gospel passage comes from Matthew, (Mt 13: 44-46), once more short sayings of Jesus, in this case two pithy mini-parables, If I can call them that.

“Jesus said to the crowds: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he hides it again, goes off happy, sells everything he owns and buys the field.

  ‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.’”

These are very short parables of the kingdom in answer to the question that Jesus must have been asked frequently, ‘What is the kingdom of heaven like? How can we begin to understand it?’ So, the kingdom, the reign of God, is like hidden treasure. Someone discovers it covered over in a field and, filled of joy, sells what he has in order to buy the whole field so as to make the treasure his. God’s reign is so precious that nothing is of more value. It’s worth giving up everything to be with God, to know him and love him, and live in his presence. Such is our desire for God that we should do the same, for nothing is more important, desirable or precious. The second parable speaks of a merchant dealing in pearls, in precious goods. On his travels he comes across a particularly valuable one, so sells all the others in order to acquire this one. Now the first man came across treasure he might not have been looking for, whereas this merchant knew what he was looking for and had a trained eye. Nevertheless, essentially, it’s a very similar story. The pearl of great value is worth all the rest put together. God and the reign of God are worth more than everything else that exists and nothing, absolutely nothing is of greater value.

 The explanation is clear. The kingdom of God is the reign of God. It is the saving reign of God. It is the saving reign of God that is partly present and partly future. And it is the present and future saving reign of God and of Christ. That is why it is so valuable and worth every sacrifice to become part of it. It begins when we discover our faith in Christ and surrender our lives to him and to the Gospel. It grows beyond sickness and death into the splendour of eternal life and the beatific vision. The essence of the kingdom is joy, the joy of knowing and loving God and, in him, all who live and love in him.