In today’s Gospel, we hear the beginning of chapter 13 of Matthew’s Gospel, which scholars call the “parabolic” discourse of Jesus (don’t worry, it has nothing to do with mathematics!). It’s the third of five discourses in the Gospel of Matthew, so we are right in the heart of his Gospel. There are seven parables in this chapter. We hear the first, and the longest, today, and we will hear the rest of them over the next two Sundays. Given that we are entering into Matthew’s pa

Rhetoric, the art of giving finely crafted and persuasive speeches, is often condemned. The paradox about condemnations of rhetoric, however, is that the best of them are themselves finely crafted speeches, great examples of precisely what they apparently condemn. There is something of that in Jesus’ praising the Father for hiding these things from the learned and the clever, and revealing them to little ones: Isn’t he also clever and obviously learned in the way he uses and

Jesus sometimes speaks words that can sound severe, even shocking, and this Gospel is no exception. “Anyone who prefers father or mother to me is not worthy of me. Anyone who prefers son or daughter to me is not worthy of me.” At first hearing, we might almost want to step back from them. Surely the Lord does not ask us to love our families less? Surely the Gospel does not make us cold, harsh, or indifferent to those closest to us? Of course not. Christ does not destr