Gospel: Matthew 13:44-52
Jesus said to the crowds: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he hides it again, goes off happy, sells everything he owns and buys the field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea that brings in a haul of all kinds. When it is full, the fishermen haul it ashore; then, sitting down, they collect the good ones in a basket and throw away those that are no use. This is how it will be at the end of time: the angels will appear and separate the wicked from the just to throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. Have you understood all this?” They said “Yes.” And he said to them, “Well then, every scribe who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out from his storeroom things both new and old.”
Homily
Once again this week we have been given parables from the Gospel of Matthew for our meditation. We remember that parables teach us a very important lesson about life, and so we have to enter very deeply into the images so that we come to understand what is being said. Today the parables begin with “the kingdom of God is like this” The expression “the Kingdom of God” means “when God rules.” In other words when God’s law is the basic law that we follow, things will be like this. The Gospel them presents us with four parables, each one very different, and each one giving us a different aspect of the Kingdom. Today I would like to reflect on the second parable Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.
The merchant in the parable knows what he is searching for. He is looking for fine pearls. I imagine that not everyone is looking for pearls. Other people pass the merchants who have pearls to sell and show no interest. In truth and in fact they pass before many fine pearls but pearls do not interest them, their interest lies in other things and because their interest lies in other things they can’t enjoy the beauty of a fine pearl. They do not recognize its value. On the other hand, the merchant knows the value of pearls so that when he finds a really fine pearl he is willing to divest himself of everything so as to have that pearl for himself. We would call such a person stupid. After all he can’t eat the pearl, unless he sells it he won’t have the wherewithal to live, to buy food or clothes; from the tone of the parable however sells everything he owns and buys it. The merchant is a collector and having that pearl even if he has nothing else is enough for him.
For disciples of Jesus, those who aspire to membership in the kingdom, the pearl of great prize can only be God’s will which calls each one of us, each in his/her own way, to be architects of the civilization of love.
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He was asking me if I had found my pearl of great value. The pearl of great value is there for each one of us. We have to look for it. Looking for the pearl of great price, God’s will for us is not an option, it is an obligation, but if we look for it we find it, and when we find it everything else pales in comparison. Nelson Mandela found it, freedom for his people consumed him to such an extent that everything else lost importance for him. Dignity for the poor dying on the streets of Calcutta, and around the world consumed mother Teresa. Msgr. Romero was willing to accept death for the liberation of his people.
The problem for all of us is the temptation to resist God’s will because it often calls us to sacrifice and pain, and so we let pearls of lesser value, things for which it is not worth living or dying, take over our lives. When that happens we sell ourselves, our integrity for far less than we are worth. And so today the Gospel invites us to recognize and celebrate those who have found the pearl of great price, God’s will for them; a cause for which they have lived and to which they given their lives. They are indeed citizens of the Kingdom. I think of parents and the education of their children. I remember selfless medical doctors giving themselves totally to their patients and teachers who have willingly spent their lives in the cause of educating the poor. The world is a better place because of them.
And so the gospel calls us to look at our own lives. Have we found that pearl of great value for which we live and for which we will give our lives. If we have, we thank God for it. If we haven’t then our prayer must be that we have the strength to continue searching so that when we find it we may “sell everything we own and buy it.”
Prayer
All powerful and ever-loving God, the world is full of so many for whom the pearl of great price has nothing to do with your kingdom and leads only to sorrow and pain. Help us your people to recognize that it is in doing your will, that it is in living a life dedicated to others that we find true happiness. Help us, like the saints whom we venerate and the great people we admire to discover what really brings happiness. Help us to pursue it like the merchant searching for fine pearls. We ask this through the intercession of Mary our mother and your Son Jesus. Amen
