Catechesis Notes for the Week — The Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven — What are parables? Are they stories or illustrations that make the complex easier to understand? Not necessarily. Even Jesus’ disciples had difficulty understanding the parables. “Why do You speak to them in parables?” they asked Jesus. To this Jesus replied, “because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.” The parables of Jesus so often describe the grace of God in the Gospel of Christ which is otherwise hidden from those who do not believe. Even Christians can have a difficult time understanding the parables. Parables are intended to help us ponder the mysteries of God’s grace in Christ which is very different from the world’s way of thinking. This helps to explain why parables often take strange twists and turns that are unexpected, like a sower who sows seed all over the place and not just on the good soil. The Parable of the Tares and the Wheat teaches us that believers and unbelievers will coexist in the world until the Judgment, and that the identity of the sons of the kingdom and the sons of the wicked one is often hidden and will not be revealed until the end of the age. In the Parables of the Kingdom, the mustard seed is Christ planted in this world by the Gospel—it is a Word that looks to be the most insignificant word in all the earth, yet He produces a mighty congregation of believers. The Gospel of Christ is like leaven that spreads faith in Christ often imperceptibly. Redemption in Christ is taught by the man who buys the entire field in order to obtain the treasure, or the merchant that pays the ultimate price to obtain the pearl. Our value is in the price that Christ paid for our redemption. The Parable of the Dragnet teaches us that on the Last Day the angels of God will gather together all people, separating unbelievers from believers, and casting unbelievers into hell. This week concludes with events in Jesus’ ministry that both follow and illustrate the kingdom parables. In John the Baptist Is Beheaded we see the depths of human depravity among those who reject the call to repentance and violently oppose the Gospel. In the Feeding of the 5,000 Jesus shows Himself to be the bread of life and the One who will provide His ministers with all that they need to feed the sheep with manna from heaven. CP230709