In today’s gospel, Mark quotes Jesus as having difficulty in explaining what the Kingdom of God is. “To what we shall compare the Kingdom of God?”

In the beginning of Mark’s gospel, we are told in the 1^st Chapter that Jesus went around preaching the “good news” that the Kingdom of God is near. But we are never told exactly what is it that he said. Only what he did.

When he does speak about the Kingdom of God, it is in parables. For some reason, Mark and through him Jesus, keeps the Kingdom of God mysterious. Thus, we are never told the actual content of Jesus’ preaching.

The kingdom cannot be communicated in Words. There are layers of this kingdom, each layer involving actions that are increasingly difficult. From indifference to the message to outright persecution and even martyrdom.

I think there is a misunderstanding about the purpose of the Christian life. That misunderstanding is that we are to live good lives so that after we die we can get to heaven (often erroneously thought of as a “place”, rather than an “encounter”).

The Christian life involves living this present life as if the Kingdom of God were already here. Thus, even suffering has a meaning. We never cease being alone, even if we are surrounded by people who love us. They, too, are alone.

Accepting this moves us deeper into the mystery of God’s Kingdom-a kingdom that words cannot describe.

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