Dear Parishioners,

In our Gospel today Jesus calls the Kingdom of Heaven a treasure buried in a field. To someone living in Jesus’ time, the Kingdom refers to the Kingdom of Israel in the time of King David and later. Many people interpreted Jesus’ mission as a restoration of this kingdom: that He would be some sort of Davidic king. In a certain sense this is true because the Kingdom of Heaven is meant to fulfill the mission of the original Israel: to lead all people to know the one true God. Jesus’ Kingdom is meant for all people across the whole world.

Many people interpret this Kingdom of Heaven be the Church, which is Christ’s mystical body. The Church is the means by which Christ gives the grace necessary to live the Christian life. Going deeper into the mystery of the Church, our Holy Father Pope Francis has said: “And so the Church was a Mother, the Mother of more children, of many children. It became more and more of a Mother. A Mother who gives us the faith, a Mother who gives us an identity. But the Christian identity is not an identity card: Christian identity is belonging to the Church, because all of these belonged to the Church, the Mother Church. Because it is not possible to find Jesus outside the Church. The great Paul VI said: ‘Wanting to live with Jesus without the Church, following Jesus outside of the Church, loving Jesus without the Church is an absurd dichotomy.’ And the Mother Church that gives us Jesus gives us our identity that is not only a seal, it is a belonging. Identity means belonging. This belonging to the Church is beautiful.” (http://www.news.va/en/news/popemass-on-feast-of-st-george-full-text)

I think we should take Pope Francis’s words most seriously for what he says is very true. However, we can often reduce the reality of the Church to being just the clergy or just the people we see in Mass. We see the members of the Church with clarity. Yet, because it is not fulfilled, we can forget that there is an invisible reality as well. The Church extends to all times and places and even into the depths of Purgatory and the heights of Heaven. The Church is the means Christ chose to lead people to Himself. It is through the Church that we even have Sacred Scripture and She continues to bring up great saints even in our age. I think this is what Our Lord meant when He compared the Kingdom of Heaven to a pearl of great price. The Church is something to be treasured and loved because God Himself was willing to die for Her.

Peace,

Fr. Carter