The Gospel readings for this week use a variety of metaphors and examples for “the Kingdom of Heaven.”  Today, Jesus says to His disciples: “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that the owner had been buried in a field.   Now if someone finds this treasure, he or she likely will hide it and then will go and sell all he or she has and buy the field.”  Jesus then uses a second example of a man who finds a rare and beautiful pearl.  This man immediately sells all of his belongings so he can buy this rare pearl, this treasure.

Jesus then proposes a third metaphor for the Kingdom of Heaven.  He tells His listeners that  the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea which collects a wide variety of species of fish.  When the net is overloaded, they haul it to the shore and sit down and sort out the fish. They put the “good fish” into buckets; however, the fish that are not good and tasty are thrown away.

Jesus uses these metaphors to instruct His disciples.  He tells them:  “Thus will it be at the end of the age.  The angels will go and separate the “wicked” from the “righteous” and the “wicked” will be thrown into a fiery furnace where they will wail and grind their teeth.”

Today Jesus is speaking directly to us; He is inviting us to look for “the treasure” in our lives.   Whom do I treasure?  How do we demonstrate our love and care for those people? Do we frequently tell them how important they are  or do we often take them for granted?

Do we  long for the Kingdom of Heaven ?  Do we look for the Kingdom of Heaven as we  go through each  day?  Do we notice how God, Jesus, or the Spirit is present to us , strengthening us, blessing us , and loving us ?  The Kingdom of Heaven is among us!  How many times a day that we are oblivious to this great gift?

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