My dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

In today’s scripture passages, our shared focus is on the kingdom of heaven. When you hear the phrase “kingdom of heaven”, what images come to mind? Streets of gold, our Divine Creator sitting on a majestic throne, choruses of the most beautiful angels singing praise to the Almighty.

But how are we, the modern disciples of Christ, to know what to actually expect from heaven? In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us a colorful commentary on the nature of the kingdom of heaven using 4 distinct but interconnected parables: a treasure hunt, a search for fine pearls, the widely cast net, and looking in a storeroom. How do these things connect? And what might they have to do with cultivating the fruits of good relationships with God and our neighbors?

The first two parables challenge us to ask: what are the treasures of the kingdom of heaven?

In the first parable, the treasure hunter is completely overjoyed when he finds the buried treasure, so overjoyed in fact that he re-hides it, sells all his belongings, and buys the field—just to be able to find the treasure over and over again.

In the second parable, a merchant finds an expensive pearl, sells all his belongings, and buys the pearl—just to be able to cherish it over and over again. Would we be willing to give up everything so we can cherish the treasures of heaven? These treasures are peace, justice, total love, and equality. What we will experience in heaven and aim for on earth is collective liberation and an end to oppressive bondage. Our ancestors inside and outside of the Faith have tirelessly fought to bring about freedom from social, political, economic, and spiritual oppression, right here on earth. And we can continue the physical and spiritual journey for justice and peace.

We can look to seminal messages from liberation theology for guidance. As Gustavo Gutierrez, father of liberation theology, describes, the poor person today is the oppressed one, the one marginated from society, the member of the proletariat struggling for the most basic rights, the exploited and plundered social class, the country struggling for its liberation. Many of our neighbors are in these categories. And many of us listening right now are too. But to acquire the treasures of heaven, we must be willing to make real sacrifices in our lives, like the treasure hunter and the merchant who sold everything they had. Real joy is found in liberation and solidarity with our neighbors. James H. Cone, author of A Black Theology of Liberation, states: the meaning of liberation is for the oppressed community to know that their struggle for political, social, and economic justice is consistent with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

God stands with the oppressed. To be on the side of God, we must stand against the oppressor, lending our voices, actions, and prayers to liberate ourselves and our neighbors. It is then that we will access the freedom, justice, and peace of heaven.

Now, the third parable asks the question: who is in kingdom of heaven? And we might wonder, will we make it there? Of course, none of us on earth have the deciding vote on who gets to go to heaven. Judgement day will come and as the parable states, the wicked will be separated from the righteous. God will decide how to carry out justice.

But as we look closer, we realize that the visceral descriptions of judgment day are a call to reflect on our own actions in relation to uplifting the poor and marginalized. Are we upholding systems that promote social and economic injustice? Or do we actually channel Christ’s righteous anger and his fierce love for the poor at systems that aim to destroy the dignity of the human person? It’s easy to think that we will be counted among the righteous, but at the end of day, we have to ask ourselves whether our actions only benefit us or whether we promote the common good for the whole body of Christ.

Moreover, the third parable importantly points out that the kingdom of heaven is a wide net; it collects fish of every kind. God’s grace and love is offered to all, inclusive of everyone. That includes our immigrant siblings, our LGBTQ+ siblings, our impoverished siblings. God desires the salvation of all human beings! Our Creator wants all of us to be in Heaven, in tune with the Divine. In this life and the life to come, God is always with us and we, in turn, can be with our neighbor.

Now, the fourth and final parable asks one more question: what else is there to know about the kingdom of heaven? And Just as the head of household is instructed to go to the storeroom, we can ask ourselves what old and new treasures can we find that give greater insight into the kingdom of heaven? Sometimes we get so used to hearing the same scriptures rotate from Year A to B to C. But while biblical text may not change, phases of our lives do. I often pray with a book called Black Liturgies, by Cole Arthur Riley. It includes classic scripture passages but also breath work, prayers, and meditations for different emotions, liturgical seasons, time of day. It helps me to unlock new ideas and ways of communing with God, using a mixture of tried-and-true scripture with the writings of contemporary authors. We can also interrogate the intricacies of heavenly relationship through sitting down, sharing a meal, and truly listening to someone who is completely different from us. When we intentionally reach out to our neighbors, we can identify shared and unique experiences, acquire spiritual insight, and see the image of God in another person.

Today Jesus’ parables challenged us to think about Heaven in terms of relationships: deepening our personal relationship with God and living out relationships with each other in harmony as God intended. But importantly, we are tasked to take social action to bring about the complete justice, peace, and love of the kingdom of heaven in this realm, on earth, today.

Amen.