+ If anyone knew what heaven was like, it was Jesus, who came from there. He knew all about "the mysteries of the kingdom" and he decided to share them – first of all with the very lowly and the childlike. He figured that the high and mighty and overly adult would never understand anything he had to say, so he kept his audience at a different level than that one: a simpler one!
Today, in the gospel passage we see Jesus trying to describe in very simple but very accurate terms what the kingdom of heaven – the kingdom that he came from – the kingdom where his Father lives – is like: it is like a huge tree with many branches where many birds coming from all over the world can gather – heaven is a place for all of God's people coming from all over the world to come together and live in peace; and it is like a presence that can "get into everything" and affect it in a positive and growthful sort of way – if we let it permeate everything about our daily lives. If we, as little ones, let God speak to us as he wishes, and if we open our ears and listen to what he has to say, then it will be a wonderful day!
The first reading tells us that the whole reason the kingdom of heaven is needed here on earth at all is that creation – all of it – is subject to the slavery of corruption – corruptions of many kinds – especially the kind that erodes and eats away at a true sense of freedom. Those who are not free are detached from God and his kingdom. They have little cause for hope, for nothing really makes any sense to them. But we who are baptized have hope based on the promises of God to redeem us by the working of the Spirit and so make us truly free to sing God's praises and live and act as his true children.
May we be free today; may we have hope today; may we allow ourselves to experience the joy of belonging to God's Kingdom here on earth today!
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