Sermons by Fr Guy Nicholls (Cong Orat), our Chaplain, and Fr John Greatbach, plus one or two others

Today we give thanks to God for the great honour bestowed on Mary in not allowing decay to touch her body. At the end of her earthly life she was assumed body and soul into heaven. It was indeed fitting that no decay would touch her body because she had given birth to Jesus and also because she was sinless. She was immaculately conceived and remained sinless throughout her life. Death is the result of sin as Scripture tells us (Rom 6:23) so therefore she was assumed body and soul to heaven  at the end of her earthly life.

One of the titles we give to our Lady is Ark of the Covenant and our first reading opens with John’s vision of heaven in which he sees something which would startle his contemporaries – he sees the Ark of the Covenant (Rev 11:19). The Ark of the Covenant had been missing for centuries after Jeremiah had hidden it before the Deportation to Babylon and we can imagine the shock that John’s account would have caused in the first century as he related that he saw the ark in heaven. The Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament was precious not because of its gold decoration but because it contained three precious items (Heb 9:4):

the two tablets of stone containing the ten commandments which had been written by the hand of God,

manna,

Aaron’s rod.

We can say that the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament prefigured Mary in the New Testament, it was pointing forward to Mary in the New Testament. But how and why? Well let’s look at what Mary carried in her womb

Jesus the living Word of God, the Word made flesh (not just written on stone as in the Old Testament)

Jesus was the Bread of Life (John 6) (fulfillment of the manna of the Old Testament)

Jesus was the Priest of the New Testament (Letter to the Hebrews) (Aaron was a priest and those descended from him were priests but Jesus is the Priest of the New Testament)

So the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament was pointing forward to a far greater Ark of the Covenant in the New Testament to Mary, who carried the living word of God, Jesus.

If we compare Mary visiting Elizabeth in our Gospel today with King David bringing the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem for the first time we get further hints that the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament was looking forward to Mary as the greater Ark of the Covenant in the New Testament:

David dances for joy in 2 Sam 6:5 and John leaps for joy in Elizabeth’s womb in Luke 1:44.

David calls out, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” in 2 Sam 6:9 and Elizabeth calls out, “why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” in Luke 1:43.

The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite a few miles outside Jerusalem for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and his whole house in 2 Sam 6:11, and Mary remained about three months with Elizabeth in Luke 1:56 a few miles outside Jerusalem.

After John sees the Ark of the Covenant in heaven in our first reading he sees another vision, as if to confirm that Mary is indeed the Ark of the Covenant of the New Testament; he sees

“a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars…” (Rev 12:1)

The woman in John’s vision was pregnant and giving birth to a male child and at the same time a dragon was waiting to do harm to the child but both the mother and child were spared by divine intervention. We can understand this vision of John as Israel in the Old Testament giving birth to the Church in the New Testament and the dragon is the devil trying to destroy the Church.

An even better way to understand John’s vision is that the woman is Mary, the Ark of the Covenant in the New Testament, and she is helping each of us to come to birth spiritually because she is the Mother of the Church and the devil is making war on us. Some people find it difficult to see the woman as Mary but when you read this passage in the context of the rest of Scripture we can indeed see this passage as referring to Mary:

With good reason therefore down through the centuries Popes see the woman as Mary and specifically as Mary the Mother of the Church. Pope Pius X said of the woman of Rev 12,

“Everyone knows that this woman signified the Virgin Mary…”

(Ad diem illum laetissimum §24)

Mary’s Assumption into heaven, having completed her life while remaining sinless, reminds us, as Pope St John Paul II said, that the goal of the Church is heaven. We pray that one day the whole Church may be in heaven pure and holy like Mary in heaven,

“in the Most Holy Virgin the Church has already reached that perfection whereby she exists without spot or wrinkle.” (Redemptoris Mater §47)

Lumen Gentium a Document of the Second Vatican Council states:

“Today we give thanks to God for the grace and favor bestowed on Mary in her Assumption body and soul into heaven at the end of her life. It was a fitting reward for her who was the Ark of the Covenant who brought Jesus into the world, a far greater Ark of the Covenant than the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament. In heaven Mary continues to intercede for us, helping us to reach the goal of heaven which she enjoys. “…after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb Jesus.”

Holy Mary,
Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners,
Now, and at the hour of our death.
Amen.

Elijah in our first reading was recovering from a low ebb (1 Kings 19). He overcame false prophets on Mount Carmel to show that only the God of Israel is God (1 Kings 18). Then the king’s wife, who was promoting pagan worship, issued a death threat against Elijah. Elijah left and went south, and in low spirits lay under a broom tree. A divine messenger brought him food and drink and with that sustenance he continued south to Horeb, where our first reading today begins (1 Kings 19:9).

Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai. Elijah must have felt very vulnerable and isolated. He was the one true prophet in the midst of 450 false prophets. The Israelites had not been faithful to God’s covenant and now the king’s wife wanted him dead. We can imagine he went south to Mount Sinai for his personal safety but also we can imagine he was looking for an answer from God and chose Mount Sinai probably because that was where God communicated with Moses.

God did not let his faithful servant Elijah down; God gave him an answer in the cave where he was sheltering. God told him to go to the entrance of the cave and God would pass by him. There was something like a storm but God was not in the wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire but God was in the gentle silence. I think there is a message for us in that also: if you want to meet God, you must have silence in your life; you must make space in your life for God to speak to you. When you continue reading past our reading today, we see that God gave Elijah a mission with tasks to accomplish in Syria and Israel. Now having been strengthened by God at Mount Sinai, Elijah went north again to carry out God’s wishes.

In today’s Gospel (Matt 14:22-33), the apostles’ boat was being tossed by wind and waves as they made their way across the Sea of Galilee. As if that wasn’t enough, they then saw Jesus walking towards them on the water but didn’t know it was Jesus and they were terrified. Jesus quietened their fears: “Take courage; it is I. Do not be afraid.” (Matt 14:27) Peter began to walk towards Jesus and was rescued by Jesus when he began to sink. How did it happen that Peter walked a little bit on the water but then began to sink? There is one very telling comment in Matthew: “when [Peter] saw how strong the wind was, he became frightened.” (Matt 14:30) Instead of remaining focused on Jesus as he should, he allowed himself to be distracted by the wind and took fright. I think there is a message in that for us also: remain focused on Jesus during storms. Do not take your focus off Jesus during storms.

God spoke to Elijah when he was vulnerable and isolated, and sent him back on mission. When Peter allowed himself to be distracted by the wind and began to sink, he called out and Jesus caught him. I think these are examples for us. When we are in difficulty like Elijah or frightened like Peter and sinking, can we create silence in our lives, go to some spiritual Mount Sinai, to seek consolation or an answer from God? The Lord is waiting for us to approach him in our need. It is not just that the Lord is waiting for us to approach him but wants us to approach him in our need. Many times we read words from Jesus encouraging us to bring our needs to him:

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matt 7:7-8)

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest (Matt 11:28)

In the Old Testament also we read words from God encouraging us to bring our needs before him. In Jeremiah we read,

When you call me, and come and pray to me, I will listen to you. When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me. (Jer 29:12-14)

If ever we are vulnerable and isolated like Elijah or have taken our focus off Jesus and are frightened as a result, Jesus is waiting for us to call out to him. Make silence in your life for God, a spiritual Mount Sinai, where you can hear the Lord speak to you in the silence like Elijah. If ever we sink, call out to Jesus to catch us and help us back in the boat. In prayer we will find an answer. God is waiting to answer.

What can truly satisfy our deepest hunger and longing? Wherever Jesus went multitudes of people gathered to meet him - people from every part of society - rich and poor, professionals and labourers, even social outcasts and pagans. What drew them to Jesus? Were they simply curious or looking for a healing? Many were drawn to Jesus because they were hungry for God. Jesus' message of God's kingdom and the signs and wonders he performed stirred fresh hope and expectation that God was acting in a new and powerful way to set people free from sin and oppression and to bring them the blessings of his kingdom.

Jesus never disappointed those who earnestly sought him out. We see a marvellous example of this when Jesus and his twelve disciples got into the boat to seek out a lonely place for some rest along the lake of Galilee, only to discover a crowd of a few thousand people had already gathered in anticipation of their arrival! Did Jesus' disciples resent this intrusion on their plan to rest awhile? Jesus certainly didn't - he welcomed them with open-arms. His compassion showed the depths of God's love and care for his people. Jesus spoke the word of God to strengthen them in faith and he healed many who were sick.

As evening approached the disciples wanted Jesus to send the people away. Jesus, instead, commanded his disciples to feed the whole crowd. Why did Jesus expect his disciples to do what seemed impossible - to feed such a large and hungry crowd when there was no adequate provision in sight? Jesus very likely wanted to test their faith and to give them a sign of God's divine intervention and favour for his people. Jesus took the little they had - five loaves and two fish - and giving thanks to his heavenly Father, distributed to all until they were satisfied of their hunger. Twelve baskets full of fish and loaves that were leftover show the overflowing generosity of God's gifts to us - gifts that bring blessing, healing, strength, and refreshment.

Jesus' feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle recorded in all four Gospel accounts (Luke 9:10-17, Mark 6:34-44, John 6:51-58, Matthew 14:13-21). What is the significance of this miracle? The miraculous feeding of such a great multitude recalled the miraculous provision of manna in the wilderness under Moses' leadership and intercession for his people (Exodus 16). The daily provision of food for the people of Israel during their forty years of journeying in the barren wilderness foreshadowed the true heavenly bread which Jesus would pass on to his disciples at his last supper meal on the eve of his sacrifice on the cross.

Jesus makes a claim which only God can make: He is the true bread of heaven that can satisfy the deepest hunger we experience (John 6:32-35). The miracle of the multiplication of the loaves, when Jesus said the blessing, broke and distributed the loaves through his disciples to feed the multitude, is a sign that prefigures the superabundance of the unique bread of the Eucharist, or Lord's Supper which sustains us on our journey to the kingdom of heaven.

The feeding of the five thousand shows the remarkable generosity of God and his great kindness towards us. When God gives, he gives abundantly. He gives more than we need for ourselves that we may have something to share with others, especially those who lack what they need. God takes the little we have and multiplies it for the good of others. Do you trust in God's provision for you and do you share freely with others, especially those who lack?

Dear Sisters, dear brethren in Christ, last Sunday we heard several of our Lord’s parables on the kingdom of heaven, drawn from examples in nature. The parable of the wheat and the weeds used a problem familiar to those who heard our Lord tell it: what can a farmer do about weeds, which he has not sown, that spring up in a field of wheat which he hopes to harvest? A farmer will know that it is unwise to try and remove the weeds too soon because the delicate shoots of wheat are as likely to be uprooted as the weeds. Although it seems contrary to what you might think, it is actually wiser to allow the weeds to stay there, for the sake of the wheat which will eventually be strong enough to gather without being damaged by the weeds. In this way He wants to explain why it is that good and bad people live alongside each other with no apparent interference from God as we might expect, or at least hope to see. Another image our Lord draws from nature is the mustard seed which begins life as something extremely tiny, but gradually and almost imperceptibly grows into a large bush, capable of giving a home to birds making their nests there. Then He gave another short but familiar image of the woman mixing yeast into flour, gradually transforming the whole mixture into dough ready to be baked into bread. By these images He wanted to show how the kingdom of God on earth works from small beginnings and gradually grows in strength and presence until something great comes to pass.

Today’s parables, which follow on from last Sunday’s, are, I think, slightly differently conceived. Our Lord here chooses examples, not now from the natural world, but from human nature and human activity in order to illustrate for our understanding some point about the kingdom of heaven. The first two are particularly striking. The hidden treasure and the magnificent rare pearl are two things which many men would give their eye teeth to own. Our Lord deliberately focuses on the human desire to own something of great value and even to sacrifice a great deal in order to obtain it to explain the way we should try to grow in our desire for heaven. Think of anything in which you are really interested, then think how much time and effort you are prepared to expend in order to satisfy that desire, and then consider how it would be if you were to apply the same time and effort into getting into heaven! If you would be prepared to plough all your property into acquiring a field with hidden treasure, or a truly magnificent, rare pearl or jewel, or a priceless work of art, then apply that desire, that energy, to doing what it takes to getting into heaven, and that should give us an idea of where our priorities in this life should really lie.

Our Lord shows just how thoroughly He understands the inner workings of human nature. In both these imaginary cases, the man who buys the field and the merchant who buys the pearl have learned something that they do not want anyone else to recognise, lest that somebody else get there first! That is why the treasure must remain covered up and hidden under the field until such time as the man who found it is sure that he legally owns the field and can then safely dig it up openly and bring out the treasure – all now his! And that is why the merchant who is smitten with the pearl of great value cannot wait to sell all his other property just so that he can invest it all in this one pearl. He will presumably be quite happy to sell many, probably valuable things he owns, just in order to own one relatively small thing, yet of enormous value not only in itself, but to him personally. Part of the appeal of the pearl lies in the fact that the merchant has invested a great deal of time and effort into searching for just such a precious object, one that is as rare as it is beautiful. Heaven, says our Lord, is like that. We must devote a great deal of our time and effort into finding out more about the things of heaven, just as the merchant finds out about the science of pearls – where to look for them, and how much to pay for them. So too we must look for the things of heaven and not for the things of earth.

The third parable today is different from these two. But then we should perhaps recall that our Lord did not necessarily tell them all at the same time or in the same order as the Evangelist does. What matters is what they mean. This third parable is about a large fisherman’s net and what it catches. This is the kind of net that Peter and Andrew, and James and John who were fishermen, used on the Sea of Galilee. A large net thrown wide into the sea, was designed to bring in both an indiscriminate range of different fish, and a large number of them for commercial reasons. The net would stay out until such time as the fishermen were satisfied, by reason of the weight of the net, that they had caught enough. Then they would pull the nets behind them and head for shore where they would sort out and count all the fish to sell them to the fishmongers of Bethsaida or Capharnaum or wherever they chose to sell their catch. But they would have no idea exactly what they had in their great net until they had brought it ashore. We can imagine what this was like from several of the Gospel accounts where our Lord interacts with the Galilean fishermen, usually involving miraculous and large catches of fish. They would have to sort the fish out because a fishmonger would hardly be prepared to accept just a load of raw fish without knowing what kind they were. And some of them would be inedible, so that they would be throw away as useless. This is what our Lord uses as the image of the end of times. As with the parable of the wheat and the weeds last week, this parable of the fish in the great net is really about God’s patience. We often wonder, why doesn’t God stop wicked people, now? Immediately! Because we would, if we could, wouldn’t we? But God does not throw away the bad any more than the fisherman throws away the bad until the fisherman, or God, has got to the right place and time to do it. The fisherman cannot do this on the lake, and God will not do it while there is still time for a sinner to repent. And if God seems exasperating for letting wicked people get away with so much for so long, then think that we should also be grateful to God that He doesn’t act quickly against us either! May we use well every day of our life to repent and renew our lives in Him!

Dear Sisters, dear brethren in Christ, in that Gospel passage which we have just heard, St Matthew tells us how twelve disciples (of whom he was one) became twelve apostles. What is the difference? It is not immediately obvious why these two words were used right back from the beginning, but today’s passage goes a long way to helping us understand the meaning of this change of name.

In the first place, disciple is a Latin word translating a Greek word ‘mathetes’ meaning a ‘pupil’, one who learns from a teacher. No one is described simply as a disciple in the abstract. You might be a student in the abstract, such as a student of history or of theology, which you can do on your own as an academic, but that is not the same as being a disciple or pupil, because being a disciple definitely requires someone to whom the pupil looks for teaching and guidance. In this case, the disciples mentioned in all the Gospels are followers of our Lord’s teaching. They claim allegiance to Him personally. He is the teacher, or ‘magister’, a Latin word that gives us the English words ‘master’ and ‘magistrate’.

For His disciples, our Lord was certainly their teacher, their master, their magistrate or lawgiver. For Jesus clearly taught them that He is their only teacher and master; ‘call no one on earth your teacher – for you have only one teacher, the Christ’. So the disciples are all those who accept our Lord’s unique role as teacher. To them He was indeed not just any teacher, but, as so many others also recognised, ‘one who taught with authority, not like the scribes’, who were the trained interpreters of the religious law of the Jewish people. Jesus, on the other hand, was not ‘trained’ in any school for rabbis, but nonetheless was able to teach with authority because He showed His authority over demons, over sickness and over death. One who could heal the sick, raise the dead and cast out demons undoubtedly had authority to teach, ‘for no one could do these deeds that [He] did unless God were with Him’, as Nicodemus says in St John’s Gospel.

St Matthew, at the beginning of today’s passage, mentions the ‘twelve disciples’ whom Jesus called to His side. These were not the only disciples. Since the word means a pupil, one who trusts Jesus as a teacher, we know there were many of them. St Luke talks about seventy disciples on another occasion. St John mentions that Nicodemus was ‘a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews’. So anyone who accepted Jesus’s authority as ‘a teacher come from God’ is a disciple. And as our Lord said later in the same chapter of the Gospel that we have just heard: ‘it is enough for a disciple to be like his teacher, and a servant like his master.’

So in this sentence we learn what our Lord Himself looks for in anyone who claims to be a disciple of His. First of all, we must carefully and thoroughly learn what He teaches. Secondly, we must put it into effect. It is not enough simply to know what He says we must do and then not do it. That would be utterly wrong and reprehensible. So therefore, we owe obedience to Him in all that He teaches us about God, about ourselves and about our neighbours.

Then we come to the word ‘apostle’. This is the actual Greek word itself, adopted into Latin and thence into English, meaning one ‘ who is sent out with a mission’. Our Lord sent many people out on various missions, like the seventy disciples I mentioned a moment ago. But these do not get named Apostles. The ones who are named Apostles in the Gospels are twelve in number, no more and no less. This number was specifically chosen by our Lord in order that they could represent the twelve tribes of the people of Israel, meaning the entire assembly of the nation. The Twelve apostles are ‘sent out’ and we hear today just how our Lord does that, with explicit directions to whom and with what intention. We note especially that, unlike the seventy disciples sent out on a mission, Jesus sends out the twelve with something far greater: He sends them out with power; as well as instructing them to go only to those whom He calls ‘the lost sheep of the house of Israel’, He instructs them to proclaim ‘the Kingdom of heaven is close at hand’, and to ‘heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers and cast out demons.’

So we learn here that although the twelve are certainly among the entire group of those who follow our Lord and accept Him as teacher, the disciples, they are far more than just a small group within the disciples as a whole; they are specially empowered. Moreover, they will be given even greater authority and power at the Last Supper when our Lord will add to today’s list of powers that of changing bread and wine into His Body and Blood and offering these in sacrifice to the Father on behalf of all the body of disciples whom we call the Church.

This is why we call the Church; ‘one, holy, Catholic and apostolic’, because she lives in the world by the exercise of Christ’s own authority which He did not give to all His disciples, but only to the Twelve. They in turn shared the same power and authority with those whom they chose, as St Paul (chosen personally by Christ at Damascus) himself chose St Timothy and St Titus, appointing them as sharers in his apostolic authority by the laying on of hands, as we heard in the readings at Mass just over a week ago. Only the Apostles and their successors, the Bishops, have the authority to do those things we read about in the Gospel. And the bishops in turn hand on their full share in the authority of Christ to other bishops by ordination, and also with priests, who have a partial share in the same authority to celebrate Mass, to forgive sins, to heal the sick and to teach the faithful what they themselves have learned from the one Master, the one Rabbi, Christ Himself. That is how Christ made provision for the Church to continue throughout all ages and throughout the world.

What do you treasure the most and how do you keep it from being lost or stolen? In a peasant community the best safe was often the earth. The man in the parable (Matthew 13:44) "went in his joy" to sell everything. Why? Because he found a treasure worth possessing above all else he had. He did not, however, have enough to buy the treasure. Fortunately, he only needed enough to buy the field. In a similar fashion, God offers his kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy (Romans 14:17) as incomparable treasure at a price we can afford! We can't pay the full price for the life which God gives us; but when we exchange our life for the life which God offers, we receive a treasure beyond compare.

The pearl of great price also tells us a similar lesson. Pearls in the ancient world came to represent the supremely valuable. Jesus remarked that one should not cast pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6). Why would a merchant sell everything for a peerless pearl? No doubt because he was attracted to what he thought was the greatest treasure he could possess. Discovering God's kingdom is like stumbling across hidden treasure or finding the one pearl of great price.

When we discover the kingdom of God we receive the greatest possible treasure - the Lord himself. Selling all that we have to obtain this incomparable treasure could mean many things - our friends, job, our "style of life", what we do with our free time. Treasure has a special connection to the heart, the place of desire and longing, the place of will and focus. The thing we most set our heart on is our highest treasure. In this parable what does the treasure of the kingdom refer to? It certainly refers to the kingdom of God in all its aspects. But in a special way, the Lord himself is the treasure we seek for. If the Almighty is your gold and your precious silver, then you will delight yourself in the Almighty (Job 22:22- 23). Is the Lord the treasure and delight of your heart?

What can a story of a dragnet and a great catch of fish tell us about God's kingdom? The two most common ways of fishing in Jesus' time was with a casting-net (or hand-net) which was thrown from the shore and the drag-net or trawl which was let down or cast into the waters from a boat. As the boat moved through the waters the drag-net was drawn into the shape of a great cone which indiscriminately took in all kinds of fish and flotsam and jetsam swept in its path. It usually took several men to haul such a net to shore.

What is Jesus' point here? Just as a drag-net catches every kind of fish in the sea, so the church acts as God's instrument for gathering in all who will come. Just as the drag-net does not or cannot discriminate, so the church does not discriminate between the good and the bad, the useless and the useful. God's kingdom is open to all who will accept and believe. But there will come a time of separation, at the close of the age, when the angels will send the good and the bad to their respective destinations. Our task is to gather in all who will come. God, in the end, will give the good (those who accept and follow Christ) and the bad (those who refuse Christ) the reward they deserve. God offers the treasure of his kingdom to all who believe in Christ. Do you hunger for God and for his kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy?

When Jesus had finished speaking about his parables, he turned to his disciples and asked them, "Have you understood all this?" (Matthew 13:52). Jesus asks us the same question. If we want to understand the meaning and significance of the parables for our daily lives, then we must reflect and think through what the Lord is saying to us through his instruction. The Holy Spirit is our guide and teacher who helps us to grow in understanding of God's word in the Scriptures.

What is the point of Jesus' parable about a "scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 13:52)? Scribes were specially devoted to the study and practice of God's word entrusted to Moses (the first five books of the Bible) and in instructing others in how to live according to it. In the Old Testament Ezra was called "the ready scribe of the law of the God of heaven" (Book of Ezra 7:6,21). He received this title because he "had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments" (Ezra 7:10). Ezra's heart was set on the kingdom of heaven because he revered God's word and he taught others through example and instruction to love and obey God's word.

Why does Jesus compare a "trained scribe" with a "householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old" (Matthew 13:52)? Some people love to store up old prized possessions along with their newly acquired prizes. Others are eager to get rid of the old to make room for the new. So why does Jesus seem to emphasize keeping the old along with the new? Why not replace the old, especially if the new seems to be better or more useful? Wouldn't a person want to throw away an old pair of shoes and replace them with a new pair - especially if the old pair became well-worn or torn beyond repair? But, who in his right mind would throw away an old precious jewel or some old gold coins simply because they were ancient and maybe tarnished a bit? Precious gems and gold do not lose their value with age!

Like choice vintage wine they increase in value. Jesus' parable of the "old" and the "new" certainly points to the "older covenants" which God made with his covenanted people of the Old Testament, beginning with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and with Moses on Mount Sinai, and with King David the precursor of the Messiah (Psalm 89:3 and Psalm 110:1). Jesus' parable also points to the "new covenant" which he came to establish through the shedding of his blood on the cross and the anointing of his Holy Spirit who seals the new covenant on the day of Pentecost. Jesus did not come to abolish the Old Covenant but to fulfil it. The Lord calls us to treasure all of his word - all of his commandments, promises, precepts, and teaching (Psalm 119:14,72,127,162). Do you promise to keep all of God's commands? The Lord gives strength, blessing, and joy to those who treasure all of his word.

We would be impoverished today if we only possessed the treasures of the word of God in the "Old Testament" Scriptures or if we only knew the treasures of the "New Testament" Scriptures. Both the Old and New Testament Scriptures are given by the same eternal Father, inspired by the same eternal Holy Spirit, and fulfilled by the same eternal Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was with the Father from the beginning and who was sent from heaven to take on human flesh for our salvation (John 1:1-3,14).

There is a profound unity between the Old and New Testaments. Both are divinely inspired by one and the same Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16). The Old Testament prepares for the New and the New Testament fulfils the Old - the two shed light on each other. The Old Testament prepared the way for the coming of Jesus Christ as the redeemer of all who would be saved through his sacrifice on the cross. The New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New. That is why Jesus interpreted the Old Testament Scriptures for his disciples and explained how he came to fulfil what was promised and foreshadowed in the Old (Luke 24:27). That is why we read the Old Testament in the light of Christ's saving death and resurrection. Do you revere the word of God in the Scriptures - both old and new - and see their fulfilment in the Lord Jesus Christ?

What can malicious weed-sowing tell us about the kingdom of God (Matthew 13:25)? The image Jesus uses in this parable is a common everyday example of planting, harvesting, and sorting the good fruit from the bad. Weeds can spoil and even kill a good harvest if they are not separated and destroyed at the proper time. Uprooting them too early, though, can destroy the good plants in the process.

Just as nature teaches us patience, so God's patience also teaches us to guard the seed of his word which he has planted in our hearts and to beware of the destructive force of sin and evil that can destroy it. God's word brings life, but Satan seeks to destroy the good seed which has been planted in the hearts of those who have heard God's word. God's judgment is not hasty, but it does come. And in the end, God will reward each according to what they have sown and reaped in this life. In that day God will separate the evil from the good. Do you allow God's word to take deep root in your heart?

What can mustard seeds and leaven teach us about the kingdom of God? The tiny mustard seed literally grew to be a tree which attracted numerous birds because they loved the little black mustard seed it produced. God's kingdom works in a similar fashion. It starts from the smallest beginnings in the hearts of men and women who are receptive to God's word. And it works unseen and causes a transformation from within.

Leaven is another powerful agent of change. A lump of dough left to itself remains just what it is, a lump of dough. But when the leaven is added to it a transformation takes place which produces rich and wholesome bread when heated - the staple of life for humans. The kingdom of God produces a transformation in those who receive the new life which Jesus Christ offers. When we yield to Jesus Christ, our lives are transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. Paul the Apostle says, "we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us" (2 Corinthians 4:7). Do you believe in the transforming power of the Holy Spirit?

Good and evil are sown in our hearts like tiny seeds which germinate, and in due time yield a harvest of good or bad fruit. Charles Read said: "Sow an act and you reap a habit. Sow a habit and you reap a character. Sow a character and you reap a destiny." In the day of judgment each will reap what he or she has sown in this life. Those who sow good will shine in the kingdom of their Father. They will radiate with the beauty, joy, and fullness of God's love. Do you allow the love of Christ to rule in your heart and in your actions?

What is the best and easiest way to help people understand God's kingdom? Like the rabbis of his time, Jesus very frequently used parables - short stories and images taken from everyday life - to convey hidden truths about the kingdom of God. Like a skillful artist, Jesus sketched memorable pictures with short and simple words. A good image can speak more loudly and clearly than many words. Jesus used the ordinary everyday illustrations of life and nature to point to another order of reality - hidden, yet visible to those who had "eyes to see" and "ears to hear". Jesus communicated with vivid illustrations which captured the imaginations of his audience more powerfully than any abstract presentation could. His parables are like buried treasure waiting to be discovered (Matthew 13:44).

What can the parable about seeds and roots teach us about the kingdom of God? Any farmer will attest to the importance of good soil for supplying nutrients for growth. And how does a plant get the necessary food and water it needs except by its roots? The Scriptures frequently use the image of fruit-bearing plants or trees to convey the principle of spiritual life and death. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit (Jeremiah 17:7-8; see also Psalm 1:3)

Jesus' parable of the sower is aimed at the hearers of his word. There are different ways of accepting God's word and they produce different kinds of fruit accordingly. There is the prejudiced hearer who has a shut mind. Such a person is unteachable and blind to what he or she doesn't want to hear. Then there is the shallow hearer. He or she fails to think things out or think them through; they lack depth. They may initially respond with an emotional reaction; but when it wears off their mind wanders to something else.

Another type of hearer is the person who has many interests or cares, but who lacks the ability to hear or comprehend what is truly important. Such a person is too busy to pray or too preoccupied to study and meditate on God's word. Then there is the one whose mind is open. Such a person is at all times willing to listen and to learn. He or she is never too proud or too busy to learn. They listen in order to understand. God gives grace to those who hunger for his word that they may understand his will and have the strength to live according to it. Do you hunger for God's word?

Jesus told his disciples that not everyone would understand his parables. Did Jesus mean to say that he was deliberately confusing or hiding the meaning of his stories from his listeners? Very likely not. Jesus was speaking from experience. He was aware that some who heard his parables refused to understand them. It was not that they could not intellectually understand them, but rather, their hearts were closed to what Jesus was saying. They had already made up their minds to not believe. God can only reveal the secrets of his kingdom - that which is hidden to the spiritually blind - to those who hunger for God and humbly submit to his truth.

What can makes us ineffective or unresponsive to God's word? Preoccupation with other things can distract us from what is truly important and worthwhile. And letting our hearts and minds be consumed with material things can easily weigh us down and draw us away from the heavenly treasure that lasts for eternity. God's word can only take root in a receptive heart which is docile and ready to hear what God has to say.

The parables of Jesus will enlighten us if we approach them with an open mind and heart, ready to let them challenge us. If we approach them with the conviction that we already know the answer, then we, too, may look but not see, listen but not understand. God's word can only take root in a receptive heart that is ready to believe and willing to submit. Do you submit to God's word with trust and obedience?

One lesson from this parable is clear: the harvest is sure to come. While some seed will fall by the wayside and some fall on shallow ground and never come to maturity, and some be choked to death by the thorns; nonetheless a harvest will come. The seed that falls on good soil, on the heart that is receptive, will reap abundant fruit. God is always ready to speak to each of us and to give us understanding of his word. Are you hungry for his word? And do you allow anything to keep you from submitting to God's word with joy and trusting obedience?

Do you want to know the mind and heart of God? Jesus thanks the Father in heaven for revealing to his followers the wisdom and knowledge of God. What does Jesus' prayer tell us about God and about our relationship with him? First, it tells us that God is both Father and Lord of the earth as well as heaven. He is both the Creator and Author of all that he has made, the first origin of everything. His authority, wisdom, and gracious care extends to every living thing, and his boundless love and goodness is directed to the welfare of each person made in his image and likeness. He is the source of all human life. That is why all fatherhood and motherhood are ultimately derived from him (Ephesians 3:14-15).

Jesus' prayer contrasts the "wisdom of the world" with the wisdom which comes from above - from the Father of heaven who is all wise and good. Jesus' prayer contains an implicit warning that pride can keep us from the love and knowledge of God. What makes us ignorant and blind to the wisdom of God? Certainly intellectual pride, coldness of heart, and stubbornness of will shut out God and his wise rule and fatherly care for our personal lives. Pride is the root of all vice and evil and the strongest influence propelling us to sin against God and to do wrong to our neighbour. Sinful pride first vanquishes the heart, making it cold and indifferent towards God. It also closes the mind to God's truth and wisdom for our lives. What is pride's flaw? It is the inordinate love of oneself at the expense of others and the exaggerated estimation of one's own knowledge, power, importance and position over others.

Jesus contrasts pride with child-like simplicity and humility. The simple of heart are like "little children" in the sense that they see purely and simply without any pretence or falsehood. They instinctively recognize their utter dependence and reliance on others - especially those who can teach and form them to live strong, healthy, mature lives. No one can grow in wisdom and maturity unless they are willing to be taught and formed in how to live wisely and to distinguish between good and evil, truth and falsehood.

Simplicity of heart is closely linked with humility - the queen of virtues that forgets oneself in order to love and serve others for their sake. The humble of heart are the freest of all - emptied of vanity and self-concern they can single-mindedly focus on the welfare of others. The Lord Jesus is our model. He proclaimed to his disciples, "I am gentle and lowly of heart" (Matthew 11:29). Jesus came "not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for the many" (Matthew 20:28). Jesus' "gentleness" is not weakness or powerlessness. It is "strength under control" which is at the service of good rather than evil.

Jesus humbled himself to lift us out of our misery and slavery to sin in order to raise us up to glory with him and the Father. Jesus came not to bruise the weak but to heal, to pardon and not to condemn, to restore us to abundant life by defeating sin, Satan, and death. It was love for his eternal Father and for each one of us that motivated Jesus to humble himself to death on the cross in order to rescue us from slavery to sin and death. The Lord Jesus shows us the true path of love and victory, freedom and joy, through the cross that defeated pride and hatred, greed and selfishness, guilt and condemnation.

True humility - which is the opposite of false modesty or feeling bad about oneself - frees us to pursue what is good, right, holy, and true. Scripture tells us that God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble (Proverbs 3:34, James 4:6). Only the humble in heart can receive the wisdom which comes from God and the understanding of God's perfect goodness and plan for our lives. The greatest reward for those who seek the "summum bonum" or "greatest good" is to be united with God - the one and only true source of peace, joy, and happiness that will last forever.

Jesus makes a claim which no one would have dared to make - he is the perfect revelation of God because he has been with the Father before all creation and time existed. He and the Father are united in an inseparable bond of love and unity. That is why Jesus alone can truly reveal the fullness of God's mind and heart and purpose for our lives.

One of the greatest truths of God's revelation and our Christian faith is that we can know the one true and living God. Our knowledge of God is not simply limited to knowing some things about God and his true nature - we can know God our Father and Creator personally because God our Father desires to be closely united with each one of us in a bond of love through his Son, Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus makes it possible for each one of us to have a personal direct relationship and experiential knowledge of God as our loving and gracious Father.

To see the Lord Jesus is to recognize and know the true nature of God and his personal love for us. In Jesus we see the perfect love of God - a God who cares intensely and who yearns over every man and woman whom he has created in his image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-27). God the Father loved us even while we were lost in ignorance and blinded by sin and pride. He sent us his Only Begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who freely gave up his life for us on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for our sins (John 3:16, 1 John 2:2, 1 John 1:7). Paul the Apostle tells us that Jesus is the image of God (Colossians 1:15). He is the perfect revelation of God - a God who loves us totally, unconditionally, and without reservation. What can separate us from the love of God? Only our own stubborn pride, wilfulness, and rebellious attitude towards God and his will for our lives.

Jesus makes an incredible promise to those who acknowledge him as their Lord and Saviour. If we pray in his name - the name Jesus means God saves - then the Father in heaven will hear us as if his only begotten Son was speaking to him directly. That is the unity, blessing, and promise he wishes for each one of us. And that is why we have the confidence and boldness to pray as Jesus taught his disciples, Our Father who art in heaven... give us this day our daily bread, and deliver us from temptation. Do you pray to your Father in heaven with joy and confidence in his perfect love and care for you?

What does the yoke of Jesus refer to in the Gospel (Matthew 11:29)? The Jews used the image of a yoke to express submission to God. They spoke of the yoke of the law, the yoke of the commandments, the yoke of the kingdom, the yoke of God. Jesus says his yoke is "easy". The Greek word for "easy" can also mean "well-fitting". Yokes were tailor-made to fit the oxen well. We are commanded to put on the "sweet yoke of Jesus" and to live the "heavenly way of life and happiness".

The yoke of Christ's kingdom, his kingly rule and way of life, liberates us from the burden of guilt and from the oppression of sinful habits and hurtful desires. Only Jesus can lift the burden of sin and the weight of hopelessness from us - and give us a weight of love and glory in exchange. Jesus used the analogy of a yoke to explain how we can exchange the burden of sin and despair for a burden of glory and yoke of freedom from sin. The yoke which Jesus invites us to embrace is his way of grace and freedom from the power of sin. Do you trust in God's love and submit to his will and plan for your life?

We remember today Saints Peter and Paul who guided the early church just after the time of Jesus. Both died as martyrs for the faith in Rome, in the early AD60’s, just thirty years after the death of Jesus. Peter was crucified upside down in the courtyard to the left of St. Peter’s Basilica (in the courtyard behind the arch where the Swiss Guards stand on duty) and Paul was beheaded between Rome and the sea, in a place now called Tre Fontane (Italian for three fountains after the legend that the three springs in the spot mark the three places where Paul’s head bounced after being beheaded). Peter was buried in the nearest cemetery which was on top of Vatican Hill and St. Peter’s Basilica was later built on top of Peter’s tomb, the main altar being directly on top of his tomb. Paul was also buried in the nearest cemetery and the Basilica of St. Paul’s outside the Walls was later built on top of his tomb, the main altar being directly on top of his tomb.

Each of these two saints is important for different reasons. Peter is important because he was the first Pope and kept the church united which was growing very rapidly in the years following Pentecost. In the first years after Pentecost it was the Jews who accepted Jesus as the Saviour and so the early church was a very Jewish church. But as time went on Paul began to preach also to non-Jews, the Gentiles as they were called. All of us are Gentiles. His preaching was very successful and he brought huge numbers of non-Jews into the church, so much so that the number of Jews in the church was greatly outnumbered by non-Jews. It is because of Paul that we are now in the Church.

So both Peter and Paul had very important tasks in the early church, Peter maintaining the unity in the church which during his lifetime had already spread throughout the Middle East and Europe, and Paul who taught the Jews that Jesus is the fulfilment of their Old Testament hopes and taught the non-Jews that Jesus is the Saviour. Whenever you see statues of Peter and Paul, usually Peter is holding a key, symbolizing his duty as head of the church, and Paul is holding the Bible, symbolizing his preaching.

In his second letter to the Corinthians Paul tells us something of the difficulties in his preaching journeys (2 Cor 11:24-25,27):

“Five times I have been given the thirty-nine lashes by the Jews; three times I have been beaten with sticks; once I was stoned; three times I have been shipwrecked, and once I have been in the open sea for a day and a night; I have worked with unsparing energy, for many nights without sleep; I have been hungry and thirsty, and often altogether without food or drink; I have been cold and lacked clothing.”

Three times Paul set out from Syria where he was based and preached all over what we now call Turkey, and in his second and third journeys he preached all over Greece also.

It is interesting to note the personalities of both Peter and Paul. Peter was impetuous, telling Jesus that he would die with him on Holy Thursday night if necessary (John 13:37) but later that night he three times denied he knew him. We also remember Peter’s objection to Jesus’ prediction that he would suffer and die in Jerusalem and Jesus said ‘Get behind me Satan because the way you think is man’s way and not God’s way’ (Matt 16:23). Yet what made Peter a suitable candidate for Jesus’ call was his love, so as Peter had denied knowing Jesus three times on Holy Thursday night, Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved him and asked him to look after the flock.

Paul was a controversial character in his own way. He had a fiery personality. In his early life he channelled that fire towards persecuting the Christians in Jerusalem, even witnessing the death of Stephen, the first martyr for Jesus (Acts 8:1). After his conversion Paul’s preaching was fiery and upset the churches. In Acts we read that Paul then returned to Tarsus, and the next sentence says it all, “the churches throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria were left in peace” (9:31). Paul spent 10 years back in Tarsus before he began his preaching. It was a time for him to cool down and learn what the death and resurrection of Jesus meant for us all. Why did God call Paul? Paul was a highly educated Pharisee and it would be only someone like him who could see that faith in Jesus demanded a totally new relationship with God for Jews, and also he had a very strong personality which he needed to help the Jews to accept that Jesus was the Saviour of all peoples, and that because of Jesus there is no difference between Jew and non-Jew. Paul had the strong personality needed for that daring challenge and the insight to see that faith in Jesus the fulfilment of their Old Testament hopes was now required for salvation.

As we look at the personalities of Peter and Paul, we see that God called them to use their personalities to spread the Gospel, Peter to use his impetuous love to look after the flock, and Paul to use his training as a Pharisee and his strength of character to ensure that the non-Jews would be welcomed into the church. It is a reminder to us that our talents and our weaknesses too can become God’s means of helping others, if we allow. We don’t have to be perfect for God to work through us, God can work through us, faults and all, as he did with Peter and Paul.