For this Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, we continue our journey with Jesus and his disciples through the Gospel of Matthew and follow Jesus’ call to discipleship. In today’s reading from Matthew, we hear a series of kingdom parables, where Jesus offers everyday images that reveal to us the reign of God: such as a tree that becomes a sheltering home, yeast that penetrates and expands, a treasured pearl, a net that gains a great catch. Even as we seek the riches of God’s reign, the great surprise is that God’s grace finds us first! In what ways do we experience the reign of God? What is our response to the reign of God, knowing that the kingdom is near?