Tags
epiphany, Jesus, kingdom of God, kingdom of heaven, Luke, Matthew, St. Ignatius of Loyola, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, treasure, truth, willingness
I had a bit of an epiphany this morning. (Is that possible, or is an epiphany always spectacular?) I was reading the gospel from today’s lectionary – very brief and so familiar – which read:
Jesus said to his disciples: “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it. (MT 13: 44-46)
It’s such a pair of vivid images, so easy to see and understand that we can’t help but get the message of the need for willingness to give everything to experience it. Maybe because of the prayer of Ignatius Loyola that I offered here yesterday (who knows?) or maybe just because it was time for me to make the connection, as soon as I read that gospel, the following verse (LK 17:21) flashed into my mind. It’s not a simile but a statement that speaks of us and I wondered why that truth is so difficult for us to comprehend.
The kingdom of God is within you!
The Sophia Center for Spirituality 