Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. Jesus spoke to the crowds ONLY in parables. Sometimes, these parables might be jarring to our modern ears, but imagine being in the crowds, listening to this man who performs miracles, teaches, preaches, and talks about the coming of God’s Kingdom. I think that is even more jarring! Jesus speaking to the crowds in parables is His way of meeting people where they are. Jesus, fully human and fully divine communicates his divine knowledge of the Kingdom through his human experiences. He grew up in first century Palestine. He knows what it is like to sow good seeds, watch mustard trees grow, and make bread. Jesus meets us where we are, because where we are, God is already present.

And the same can be said about God’s Kingdom itself. Our tradition teaches that the Kingdom of God exists within and around us, continuously unfolding in history through Jesus Christ and the Church, but it is not yet fully realized. This already and not yet Kingdom began with Jesus’ proclamation on Earth, and it continues through our lives. Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom to the crowds, and we hear about it in our communities, but how do we know, deep in our bones, the Kingdom is still upon us?

Our tumultuous world often feels like God’s reign of love, justice, and peace is out of reach. In our world where violence is constantly enacted to the most vulnerable, without any consequences, God can feel lost and far away. If God meets us where we are--like Jesus did when he spoke parables to the crowds--how do we recognize God’s Kingdom as it unfolds? I think that’s where the Holy Spirit, our advocate, helps us out.  

The second reading from Romans names the Spirit as helping us search our hearts for God. With the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we are sent upon a journey, a journey toward the Kingdom Jesus proclaims, AND the one right before our eyes. The Spirit keeps our hearts set on the already and not yet-ness of the Kingdom. Paraphrasing from my former professor at Boston College Richard Lennan, our present life is a graced-filled pilgrimage to the fullness of life in Christ.

Speaking of pilgrimages, I recently walked the Camino de Santiago and it feels like a potent metaphor for our collective journey toward God’s Kingdom. My friend and I arrived at the way of St. James unsure of exactly what pilgrimage is or is supposed to be. Neither of us had done one before! We showed up with minimal planning or training, fresh after graduating with our theology degrees, and I, personally, was unsure what I was going to make of this experience. I tried to predict every step and feeling I was going to have while walking, instead of just letting it happen. I quickly learned through flight issues, blisters, trial and error, and conversations with my friend, that our God of surprises always has other plans, and the Spirit of our journey, invited us to take the scenic route.

In slowing down, mentally, spiritually, and sometimes physically, I learned how a gentle steadfastness, grounded in resilience and hope was essential to not only completing the journey, but accepting it as it unfolded with every achy muscle and beautiful sunset, with every hot day and pleasant interaction with a stranger. All of it, was a part of the same journey.

I think these lessons from my pilgrimage to Santiago apply to our collective pilgrimage towards God’s Kingdom. When we open our hearts to the Spirit of resilience and hope, we are able to look around, and see that the journey, no matter how straining, is not, and will never be in vain. Especially as we strive to remember that “on Earth, as it is in Heaven,” is not just a line the Lord’s Prayer, but it is how we actively, brick by brick, build the Kingdom of God with the help of the Spirit. Our everyday actions of embodying the light of Christ in the world is how we inch closer and closer to God’s reign of love, justice, and everlasting peace.