Readings for Sunday, July 27/ 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time:1 Kings 3:5,7-12
Psalm 119
Romans 8:28-30
Matthew 13:44-52
Last weekend the Lord gave us
three parables about the identifying features of the Kingdom of Heaven: the
evil mixed with the good, the exponential growth from seed to bush, and the
transformative power of even the smallest bit. Today we continue with that
section of the Gospel and hear the Lord Jesus tell us that it is not enough
simply to know where the Kingdom of Heaven is. We must choose it for ourselves and
be willing to give up everything in order to attain it.
The parables of the treasure in
the field and the pearl of great price illustrate well the challenge of Jesus. The
individuals found something that was of greater worth than all of their other
possessions and went to sell all that they had in order to attain the great
treasure and pearl. There was nothing that could stop them from doing so
because they were filled with such joy and the same should be said of the
Kingdom of Heaven that is to come and the Kingdom of Heaven among us and within
us even now. There is no greater treasure in the world. Do we live it?
The men who found the treasure
and the pearl, if they had found them and then gone off rejoicing that they had
found the special treasure but failed to actually go back and get it for
themselves would be absolute fools. And us – we, too, would be absolute fools
to discover the Kingdom of Heaven and fail to take the steps to attain it
because it is greater even than the pearl of great price and the precious
treasure. It is so great that there is nothing in this world that can compare
to it. That’s why it’s worth setting everything else aside to attain it. But
sometimes that ‘everything’ can be difficult to part with.
It’s been said that the cost of
discipleship is nothing less than everything, all that we have and are. When I
was discerning the priesthood there were many places where I encountered that
‘nothing less than everything’ in concrete ways and the one that was most
difficult for me was, of course, the concrete cost of not having a wife and
children. The desire for a spouse and children is written in every human heart,
but some are invited to live that desire out in a spiritual manner rather than
physical and I struggled with that discernment and the ultimate step of
willingness to pay that cost. My consolation in those times was to turn to the
words of Jesus in Matthew 19, where He says ‘whoever leaves behind father,
mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and lands for my sake and the sake
of the gospel will have it paid back a hundred-fold in this lifetime and more
in the next.’ Well, I’m here today to tell you that I kinda think Jesus was
lying to the disciples when He said a hundred-fold because as a pastor, I am
quickly realizing I have way more than a hundred wives because every lady in
the parish has a honey-do list for me, I have more kids than I could have
dreamed of having and each has specific needs, and I have more brothers,
sisters, fathers, mothers, and so-on than I know what to do with! I say Jesus
was lying to them because the abundance of repayment that comes when we give up
something for His sake is far beyond a hundred-fold. If He had been more
accurate I think it would have scared the disciples at the immensity of the
gift they would shortly receive. And that’s not even the best part!
A couple of weeks ago we heard
St. Paul’s letter to the Romans tell us that ‘the sufferings of this present
time are as nothing compared to the glory that is to be revealed in us.’ The
worst things in this life will seem as absolutely nothing compared to the glory
we will experience. But that applies also to the joys – the joys of this life,
as good as they are, aren’t even a small bit of what is to come. It’s like
comparing apples and Ferraris! That’s the kingdom that awaits us!
Often when we realize this
blessed gift that is freely offered to us, there is a sense that in order to
accept it and to live it we have to become this entirely new person; I have to
stop being me and start being a holy person. This is not at all what Christ
calls us to. He actually just calls us to be ourselves, but enlivened with His
Holy Spirit. I’ve always had a great love for music. I love to listen to it,
sing it, I used to play and write it. When I was in my teens I wanted to be a
rock star, so when confirmation time came around I figured who better to help
that dream come true than the patron saint of musicians – Pope St. Gregory the
Great. So, I picked Gregory and knew I’d be set for the big stage. Fast-forward
a few years and I’m in the seminary learning a new style of singing, writing
different music, and preparing to perform on an entirely different ‘stage’ for
the Lord. My love for music wasn’t erased but it was given a new focus by the
Lord and my passion for it has changed to glorify Him in the liturgy instead of
at bars and arenas. We could look to St. Paul who zealously lived the Jewish
faith and persecuted the Church, but after his conversion he fought for the
Church and endured the persecution he once inflicted on the Christians. St.
Ignatius of Loyola took a cannonball to the knee in battle and while in the
hospital read the life of Christ and learned of the saints and was converted,
becoming soon a powerful soldier in the army of Christ. This is what Jesus
means in that strange conclusion at the end of the reading today.
Jesus asks if the disciples if
they understand and they say ‘Yes!’ (because a good disciple always does, right?)
and He continues, saying, “every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom
of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both
the new and the old.” The 'old' is me, my gifts, my desires, my weakness, and all that God has made in 'me'. The 'new' is the Holy Spirit-led mission that Christ wants to live out through those 'old' aspects. The point is that Jesus wants us to be ourselves, not
anyone else. Whether we’re working at the farm, teaching in the classroom,
caring for kids or grandkids, volunteering in the community, or anything else
under the sun – do those things as a Catholic. We must not simple be Catholic.
We must live Catholic. That’s the little piece about the fish in the net. The Church
is the Kingdom and she is full of all sorts of different ‘fish’. But simply
being in the net, simply being Catholic, is not enough to get into Heaven. We
must be good fish worth keeping. Like a crawfish boil – you don’t eat the dead
ones! The same with the Lord; He only takes to Himself the good fish to
celebrate the heavenly banquet and the rest are cast into fire because they have no life.
As we come to receive the Lord
Jesus today, let us ask these graces: to set aside anything that separates us
from Him and to be open to the grace to live the life He has called us to live.
Don’t worry about being someone extraordinary. Just be yourself in Christ –
that is enough for you and it is enough for Him who made you.
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