Renewal (transformation) of the mind

Why does Jesus use parables? This is an important question, and in scripture Jesus gives us an answer Himself in scripture. But before looking there, it is good to look at the explanation on parables given by Pope Benedict XVI in his 1st volume on Christ titled "Jesus of Nazareth" - this is an absolute masterpiece that I highly recommend everyone read - where for ten or so pages he explains why the Lord uses parables. He says at all times, Jesus ultimately preaches to reveal Himself: the Son of God come in human flesh who also thus brings in his own person the Kingdom of God (heaven) down to earth. Thus the parables are "hidden and multilayered invitations to faith in Jesus as the "Kingdom of God in person'."

But another good and shorter answer is this: PARABLES are TO CHANGE THE WAY YOU SEE. He wants to shift how we look at the world, at our own lives, at the direction of where our lives are headed, etc. So that we aren't hyper-focused in our own perspective, but are conformed to God's perspective.

This change of how we see is also found in Jesus’ own words from last week’s Gospel, when He said: "Because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted. To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away. ...they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand."

A sort of revealing and not-revealing way at the same time.

          Do you want more from God? Then be like the good soil from last week's parable, take in a receive whatever He gives you. We need to be humble, like that rich fertile soil, and let yourself be changed. Give God's word lots of room in your heart, in your life, and shape your life around it, and not it around your life. If we are doing these things more and more, then the parables will open themselves up to us.

Jesus says it is to the child-like that His Father has revealed the mysteries of the kingdom, not the wise and the learned. You must live from your identity as a child of God to receive the mysteries of these parables. If we presume that we have outgrown them, "even what we have will be taken away" from us.

          While with my family last week, I continued reading a book of conversion stories, one person quotes the late Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia "When you're reading Shakespeare, Shakespeare's not on trial -- you are." It is of course always the same with all of scripture, including even the simplest parable of Christ like the mustard seed and the yeast.

The parables are powerful because they simply test us. They put ourselves and our perspectives on trial and force us to see the world the way the parable sees the world, the way that God wants to see the world. Because these simple stories are given to us by the Word of God in the flesh, we do not get to say: "oh there is a mistake here. I see where it is wrong." No, when you gaze into the mirror of the parables of Jesus, if there is something wrong, the error we see is in ourselves reflected in that mirror. We need to make the necessary adjustments to conform to what these parables are saying. It may be a rude awakening, but it is a freedom. We may feel unsure and unsteady, but we are beginning to learn to walk instead of just crawl. So it's worth it.

St. Paul in Romans 12:2 (we will read it on Aug. 30th this year as we progress through the highlights of this letter) has a beautiful passage about changing the way we see, the way we think about thinks.  - "Do not be conformed to the wisdom of this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may know what is the will if God, what is good, and pleasing, and perfect."

This is the work of the parables: to transform and renew our minds. All parables force us to look through the lends of physical realities, so that we may see beyond them to the invisible realities that are more real, more true, than what is so constantly in front of us.

          The parables are glimpses of heaven. They are small visions of God's heart, God's mind, and God's plans for our lives and our futures. Jesus himself says, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it?" (Mk. 4) "The Kingdom of heaven is like..." (a man who sows good seed in a field... a mustard seed that is sowed in the ground

          He is trying to show us heaven. With the business of our lives, with the noise

It is forcing us to think about only what our eyes can see, to drag our attention only to the visible reality that is part of our lives and at the same time to ignore (and ultimately forget) the invisible realities that are also part of our lives, and realities that will actually endure - things that are really more important. So we end up getting sucked into the wrong story. We end up interpreting the world and every single part of our own lives and everything else, every way that we judge our lives and other people's lives, - all of that gets forced into this wrong perspective.

Jesus wants these parables help us to change our vision to focus on heaven, but it is too much for us to take in at once, and that is why we get parables. Heaven to the fallen human mind is like the sun to the eyes - or even just the full light of day when we walk out of a dark place -  our minds are simply overwhelmed and conquered by it.

          So let us allow these parables to work on our hearts.

weeds and wheat: (revealed in private because these disciples already live from their identity as children of God) Jesus explains that this is all about heaven. All of our lives need to be put in perspective of the end of things when we will be separated and those who are bearing good fruit will be taken into his barn. Everything in our lives - how much money am I making? Am I successful? how many friends do I have? have I been a good son or daughter? brother or sister? - all of this must be considered from the final perspective of where our life is headed, and thus we can live our lives every day more in accord with what we were truly made for. The message is: remember where we are headed.

mustard seed: He wants us to see the invisible power of his grace to work in our lives and transform it, and thus transform the world. Think of Therese - that "little flower" like the smallest of seeds, whose hidden life of 24 years (8 in a convent) simply has transformed the world more than Caesar Augustus or George Washington. So many have "nested" in this life and have found.

yeast: God's grace, and the Christian life itself, does not destroy the good of this world and our lives, but rather lifts them up to be more full.

Let us allow the Lord to continue to work on our hearts through these parables. We need to be transformed in our mind - and one way to do that is to pray through these parables of Jesus - here and many others.

This is how we may be renewed and healed from the false perspective of this world, from all of the lies that have been pushed on us. All those weeds that the devil has sown in our minds in our hearts - the Lord wants to purify us of that. We need to let Him work on us through praying with these parables, we need to spend time looking at heaven, and see the true reality that God wants us to live within every single day, the true story that He wants us to be part of.