“We continue to make our lectionary march through the parables as recounted in the Gospel of Matthew, these strange stories that Jesus uses to explain the political economy of this Kingdom of Heaven of which He speaks.

The Kingdom of Heaven – the term He uses for the radical changes in human society and human behavior he exhorts his followers to join. A Kingdom, he promises, that is very near to all of them. A kingdom, He often tells those of His followers who have done something which He finds particularly exemplary, to which they are very close.

The rules and norms of this Kingdom as demonstrated by these parables must have sounded profoundly revolutionary to a poor people subjected to the heavy hand of Roman occupation and its collaborators.”

Lectionary Readings:
Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25
Psalm 78:1-7
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Matthew 25:1-13