(Homily 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time Yr-A)
The
three readings of this Sunday seem to lay emphasis on one fundamental point,
and that is the need to recognize the primacy of God and his
saving plans in our lives. In order to do this, there is need for
prayer which enables one to make a right choice, and that is what Solomon
teaches us in the first reading, that it is in and through prayer that we can
make a right choice and open to receive God’s gift. On the other hand, St. Paul
tells us in the second reading about God’s call and choice of us and
consequently the choice-response of man. Alongside the theme of the
recognition of the primacy of God and his salvific plans are the themes of
discernment and choice-making, suggested by the first reading
and equally manifest in the decision of the farmer and the merchant in the
first two parables. Interestingly, in the third parable it is no longer
man that chooses, but God chooses based on the choices of man on earth.
However, the human choice-making comports renunciation. Solomon
renounced the personal intentions and desires he could have asked God but made
a selfless prayer request for wisdom. The farmer and the merchant in the
parables renounced all they had in order to gain the hidden treasure and the
precious pearl respectively. Permit me to say that, from our existential
experiences, there is a pearl for everyone, but the underlining factor
is that there is a price for everyone to pay. Thus, in today’s readings
Solomon, the farmer and the merchant are telling us that detachment is the
price. Therefore, the hit-track of our message is on the need to invite
God into our decision-making process.
The
first reading (1Kgs. 3:5.7-12) offers us a wonderful message
as orchestrated in the prayer of Solomon, a stupendous prayer. This
young man at the prime of his life, called to succeed his father King
David, recognized his human inadequacies before the task that was given
to him, and he humbly asked God the wisdom to govern, that docile
heart to good inspirations, that “he may know how to act with justice and to
discern what is good from what is bad”. It is a humble and
disinterested prayer, oriented solely to the welfare of his people. And
indeed, his prayer was pleasing to God: “Because you have asked for
this…” Solomon’s prayer should be a model of our own prayer too.
Our prayers should not be inspired by concern for material things and
riches. God was pleased because Solomon did not ask for a long life, for
riches, nor for the downfall of his foes, instead he asked for something
spiritual: wisdom which would enable him to discern good from evil, and thus,
make the right choices in life. An authentic prayer is the act of
coming to God with a generous heart and open hands, just as Solomon
did. We need to endeavor to avoid clinging to things of this world and
thus coming to God even in prayer with clenched fists (position,
self-image, wealth), we need to come before him in prayer with our fists open,
so that God may fill our open hands.
In
the second reading (Rm. 8:28-30) St. Paul reveals to us the
designs of the Father, who has predestined us from eternity to be conformed to
the image of his Son; that is, we are called to participate in his divine life,
already here on earth, we are children of His by adoption and brothers
of Christ: a wonderful design. Through this providential design of the
Father one enters into the world view, “mentality” of God, in order to see
things as He sees them. One enters into the divine circuit of love that
unites the three divine persons, as such all men become brothers (universal
fraternity). Again, the apostle said that all things work together
for the good of those that love God, those that are called according to his
designs, even failures, suffering, delusions, humiliations and bitter
experiences of sin, as St. Augustine would add. Here we see the
revelation of the design of God, about the redemption of all men, and as such,
their adoption as sons and daughters, their predestination to eternal life.
The realization of this design was made possible by Christ, who through his
sacrifice offered every man the possibility of being truly son and daughter of
God. In the divine design of the Father there is an ontologically
transformation. Yes! We become adopted sons and daughters of God.
Once
again in today’s Gospel (Mt. 13:44-52) Jesus speaks about
the Kingdom in parables. While last Sunday the parables that Jesus presented
talked about the Kingdom in itself, in its composition (wheat and weed), in its
function (yeast) and in its growth (mustard seed), the parables of today, that
of the farmer who finds the hidden treasure in the field, the merchant in
search of the pearls and that of the dragnet cast in the sea,
instead talk about the attitude of man towards the Kingdom and that of
God about the Kingdom. The expression “Kingdom of Heaven” is recurrent
in today’s Gospel, as it reflected in the parables of the previous
Sundays. The expression “kingdom of heaven” is very familiar to St. Mathew,
and it is the equivalent of the “kingdom of God” in the Gospel of St. Mark. The
kingdom of Heaven is a complex reality, mysterious and cannot be easily defined
in simplistic terms. Intuitively, when we talk or hear about paradise, we think
immediately of where God will be “all in all”, where God will reign in the
heart of the blessed, basically in futuristic terms. But that is the Kingdom of
heaven in its definitive phase. But the kingdom of heaven can equally
be identified with the Person of Christ (Autobasileia) and the Church:
“the little flock”, to whom it has been granted to know the mysteries of the
kingdom (Lk.12:32). And to grasp in depth the message of Jesus
in today’s Gospel we are going to look at the three parables narrated by Jesus
one after the other.
First,
is the parable of the hidden treasure. Jesus compares the Kingdom
of God to a treasure hidden in the field, which a farmer finds and joyfully
sells all that he has in order to have it. Even though the
action of this man is not totally morally irrepressible, but Jesus did not base
his comparison on this. The teaching of this parable is condensed in the
decision of the farmer to sell all that he had in order to acquire the
treasure. The kingdom of heaven is truly, a treasure, a unique treasure. But
just as it is suggestive here, it is a hidden treasure, a difficult treasure to
find. Similarly, the kingdom of heaven is a hidden treasure also for
Christians; hidden, because it is something to be always discovered, and hidden
because it is difficult to find. It is not a treasure resplendent
with splendor like gold, and it does not guarantee power and prestige to those
who possess it, instead it requires sacrifice, renunciation and the
need to sell all to have it. No doubt, we will jubilate when we will hear
those decisive words of Jesus: “Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take as
your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the
world” (Mt. 25:34).
Second,
is the parable of a pearl. Jesus likened the Kingdom of heaven to a pearl of
great value, which a merchant in search of precious stones finds, he
sells all that he has in order to buy it. When this merchant
discovered the precious pearl he decided to sell all the collection of pearls
that he had in order to acquire the precious pearl. In both cases, we
find ourselves before a choice: the choice of the best thing, even when it
requires the sacrifice of all other things. What does Jesus intend to teach
us with these two parables? It revolves around the fact that he came on earth
to bring the kingdom of heaven, which is that mysterious reality, the truth and
the life of God offered to mankind. It is a reality that on this earth it
continues to grow in faith, in hope and in charity, in view of the possession
of eternal life and happiness.
The
third parable of today according to which the “kingdom of heaven” is similar to
a net thrown into the sea, that catches all kinds of fishes, good and bad, the
division of which comes not during the moment of fishing, but at the end. This
is similar to the parables of the wheat and the weed of last Sunday, of which
the separation will come at harvest time, not during their growth. The
parable underlines the patience of God, who tolerates both the wicked and
the good people, both those who welcome his message of salvation and those who
reject him and his message. The parable accentuates that at the end, there will
be judgment. God continues to offer us occasions for our salvation,
which we cannot undermine.
The
three parables of today, like the three of last Sunday talk about the “Kingdom
of Heaven”, and the expression Kingdom of heaven coincides with the concept of
the Church, but not only, else it becomes too simplistic. The kingdom of heaven
on the other hand, is a profound concept, it is the totality of all the
values that Christ brought to humanity, with his coming. The kingdom of
heaven is therefore, the unique and incomparable treasure, for the fact
that it is only in it, that man finds his salvation, realizes his
destiny of life and eternal beatitudes. At that dramatic moment when we
will pass from this life, the only thing that will remain will be the
kingdom of heaven open or closed before us, according to the choice we have
made during our life on earth. Thus, anyone who possesses the Kingdom,
possesses everything, even if he does not have any other thing; on the other
hand, the one who does not possess it has nothing, even if he possesses the
whole world. For this Jesus asked: “What, then, will anyone gain by winning
the whole world and forfeiting his life? (Mt. 16:26), Jesus is
invariably asking what does a man gain in this life, if he does not enter into
possession of the kingdom of heaven. To such a treasure, as the kingdom of
heaven, it is not only worth it that man renounces everything, but also, as
Jesus says to renounce his own life, because “Anyone who finds his life will
lose it; anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it” (Mt.
10:39). In fact, Jesus took the discourse on the kingdom to another level
when he says: “If your right eye should be your downfall, tear it out and throw
it away; for it will do you less harm to lose one part of yourself than to have
your whole body thrown into hell” (Mt. 5:29).
Interestingly,
these parables of Jesus we have listened to, we find them relived one day in
the real and historical episode of the Gospel, when one day a young man (young
rich man) presented himself to Jesus and asked: “Master, what good deed must I
do to possess eternal life?” (Mt. 19:16). In response Jesus
told him: “go and sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you
will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me” (Mt. 19:21).
Indeed, the words of Jesus in the above quotation tells us something more, it
is the fact that the kingdom of God is a reality, but it is also a
person: it is Jesus Himself! Following Him, choosing Him for life
and re-choosing Him always, being His disciples is a sign of a worthwhile
choice. He alone assures us of the treasure in heaven. He is the precious
Pearl.
Above
all else, beloved in Christ, let us appropriate the words of the prayer of
Solomon in the first reading, asking God to give us “a docile heart” and the
wisdom to understand “what is good and what is bad”, what is important and what
is not in our life. The figure of Solomon in prayer in the first
reading demonstrates to us that prayer is the avenue in which man acquires the
capacity of making right and authentic choices. Indeed, the logic
of God’s kingdom is losing and gaining, for whoever loses gains. It is only
when we lose everything in preference for Christ and the Kingdom of heaven that
our life and existence will be grace-filled, remember Abraham who was ready to
sacrifice even his only son, in Genesis 22 for the heavenly
treasure. Our life will be grace-filled and meaningful too if we are ready to
renounce all in preference for Christ. Today we are invited to be Searchers
of the real Treasure and Pearl: Jesus Christ, the AutoBasileia (Kingdom
personified) and the Kingdom of heaven! May He enable us to find Him in our
search and continuous quest for meaning! Amen!!!
(Fr. Vitus M.C.
Unegbu, SC)
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