July 26, 2026
Revised Common Lectionary
Genesis 29:15-28 or 1 Kings 3:5-12
Psalm 105:1-11, 45b or Psalm 128 or Psalm 119:129-136
Romans 8:26-39
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
Lectionary for Mass (RC)
1 Kings 3:5, 7-12
Psalm 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-128, 129-130 (97a)
Romans 8:28-30
Matthew 13:44-46 (47-52)
Today’s Gospel reading resembles a visit to Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood—specifically to The Neighborhood of Make-Believe, ruled by King Friday XIII and populated by a wildly diverse and quirky cast of characters. The Neighborhood of Make-Believe is a dream world that Fred Rogers created to offer us a glimpse into life as it could be. The characters experience life in all its breadth, with all its joys and challenges, and they discover that love and openness are key to dealing with the events of their lives.
The short and seemingly simple parables about the reign of God that we hear today also take us to an alternative universe that seems far from the real world in which we live. What merchant would sell everything to purchase a single pearl? How could a person get away with digging around someone else’s property to discover a hidden treasure, then give up everything else to swindle the owner?
Mister Rogers had a knack for telling stories that opened up a conversation with children about life issues that others sometimes preferred to avoid, such as death or divorce. The parables of Jesus challenge listeners to imagine the reign of God—the neighborhood where God is in charge—in ways that contrast in often startling ways with our comfortable assumptions.
Some of Jesus’s parables are based in ordinary experiences like planting seeds and baking bread, yet they challenge us to view the world differently and call us to make a decision for God’s reign. The reign of God, says Jesus, is like a tiny mustard seed that grows into a large shrub, or like a little bit of yeast that leavens a batch of dough. The growth of God’s reign may happen in simple ways that we can fail to notice—yet it is powerful and transformative, sheltering the weak and feeding the hungry.
But the neighborhood gets stranger still as Jesus introduces us to two surprising characters. One is a shifty trespasser who finds a treasure buried on someone else’s property, then uses all his assets to purchase the field. The other is a reckless merchant who comes upon a “pearl of great value” (Mt 13:46) and depletes all his holdings to buy it. Did these two individuals make wise decisions? The trespasser seems dishonest and foolhardy, while the merchant lacks good business sense. Both characters hold nothing back, but risk everything, single-mindedly pursuing an objective that they believe to possess great value.
The reign of God, Jesus suggests, is as near to us as rising dough or a seed in the ground, yet it can be as elusive as a buried treasure or as that one tiny pearl. If only we recognized its worth, we would do anything, risk anything, to attain it. But how can we know where to find it? Seeking and embracing God’s reign first requires understanding, an ability to discern its presence and value. After hearing the parables of Jesus, the disciples claim to have “understood all this” (Mt 13:52)—but as we continue to read the Gospel, it’s quite clear that they didn’t quite get it, at least not yet.
If we are to grasp fully the presence of God’s reign in our ordinary experience, to appreciate its value, and to seek it above anything else, we need the kind of understanding and wisdom that Solomon prayed for in today’s reading from the First Book of Kings. The young king asked God for “an understanding mind” (1 Kgs 3:9) to rule well, and the Holy One responded by granting him “a wise and discerning mind” (1 Kgs 3:12).
These are the same qualities that disciples of Jesus need, not to wield political power, but to follow the way of God’s rule in the world. To become truly wise requires a listening heart that is attentive to God’s word and to the signs of God’s presence in the world around us. Where in our families, communities, churches, and workplaces do we see growth that leads to life? What are we willing to give to have a part in that growth and to advance God’s reign here and now?
There’s way more in these parables than we can ever grasp. Two things are certain though: If we want to follow Jesus in seeking the reign of God, we can’t exclude anyone, and we need to give it our all. The world that Jesus sets before us may seem like make-believe, but it doesn’t get any more real than this.
A Hymn for Today: “What is the world like”
The parables of Jesus are full of surprises and reversals. Text writer Adam M. L. Tice, FHS, and composer Sally Ann Morris, FHS, give expression to this aspect of parables in this hymn that they created for the concluding hymn festival at the 2009 Annual Conference of The Hymn Society. Tice’s text gives us a vision of what God’s neighborhood is like as he draws on four parables that framed that hymn festival. Listen here.
What is the world like when God’s will is done?
Mustard seeds grow more than we can conceive:
Roots thread the soil; branches reach for the sun.
This is how God moves us each to believe.
What is the world like when God’s will is done?
Witness the wandering child coming home;
Watch as the parent breaks into a run.
This is how God longs for us when we roam.
What is the world like when God’s will is done?
No more is neighbor just ally or friend;
Peace thrives in places where once there was none.
This is how God works when rivalries end.
What is the world like when God’s will is done?
Ready for feasting, we watch through the night
Tending our lamps till the new day’s begun.
This is how God readies us for the light.
These are the stories that Jesus imparts,
Filled with the Spirit, who joins us as one.
Born through our voices, our hands, and our hearts,
This is a new world where God’s will is done.
Text: Adam M. L. Tice, 2009, © 2009, GIA Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission under OneLicense #A-729857.
Tune: NEW WORLD (Morris)
Image Credit: Fred Rogers and King Friday XIII
“Word and Song: A Lectionary Reflection” is written by the Executive Director of The Hymn Society, Rev. Dr. Mike McMahon. For his full bio, click here and scroll down to the “staff” section.
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