In this unusual time in our lives, it is difficult to hold on to, the familiar line from the Letter to the Romans that states “We know that all things work for good for those who love God.” We Christians believe this, way down deep. Who among us though would honestly ask God for the “understanding heart” as did Solomon as our one request, during this pandemic? But as we get back to the normality of our lives and daily living we need to have understanding heart’s and minds as so many things will change and are changing in our lives and the lives of our families friends and those around us. We have to understand that in the words from the liturgy life as we know it has changed but it has not ended.
In this Sundays Gospel we hear the story of the treasure hidden in the field. The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field or a pearl of great price. When its great value is recognized, one gladly does all that is necessary to obtain it. Jesus teaches us that the most important and the most urgent thing in life is to find out just what God wants of us, and to do it. This is what he means when he urges us to be as single-minded, as focused, and as dedicated, as someone who digs up a treasure in a field, re-buries it, and hurries off to buy that field, so that he can have that treasure all to himself. Jesus makes the same point about priorities when he urges us to be as single-minded, as focused, and as dedicated, as a collector of jewelry, who comes across the finest pearl in the world, and sells all personal possessions in order to acquire it.
To possess the Kingdom means that we should share our knowledge of the kingdom with others. To truly believe in Christ means leading other people to the same belief; for secret faith is no faith at all. We need to be like the householder, mentioned at the end of our Gospel reading for this Sunday, who brings out of his house things both new and old. We should be happy to bring out of the house that is our faith all kinds of treasures to share with our family friends and neighbors. But these treasures are not physical things like clocks and pearls but attitudes spiritual and otherwise that are virtues like love and justice and truth and hope and so on. What we bring out from our treasure store are the values of the Kingdom, the attitudes of Jesus and the knowledge of the one true God. God loves us just the way we are, but He refuses to leave us that way. He wants us to become just like Him. He wants us to pass on our treasure to other people so that they can discover the faith which is the pearl of great price the treasure hidden in the fields of our hearts.
Fullerton T 