🎧 [Listen to Homily: Audio]
📺 [Watch Mass: YouTube Video]
[17th Sunday, ver 6] ll 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12 ll Psalm 119 ll Romans 8:28-30 ll Matthew 13:44-52 ll
1.
Solomon's First Request: An Understanding Heart
Imagine
this. You receive this question from God:
"Ask
for anything you want, and I will give it to you."
You would be
in a situation similar to King Solomon, who receives exactly that question from
God: "Ask for anything you want, and I will give it to you."
What would
you answer?
You might
answer, and I might answer, "Good health," or freedom, or healing
from some injury or illness, or peace and forgiveness in our families. You
might even ask for the winning Powerball numbers at the next drawing—for
financial security.
All of those
are good things.
But they are
not what the young King Solomon asks for.
Solomon asks
for an understanding heart to distinguish right from wrong. He asks for wisdom.
Biblically, Solomon is closely associated with wisdom. One of the books of the
Old Testament is even called the Wisdom
of Solomon.
But is
wisdom simply a one-time lightning bolt—a download from the hard drive of
heaven into our heads? Is that what wisdom is?
Actually,
no.
At this
point in his life Solomon demonstrates great wisdom. But later, as he grows
older, he makes many poor choices and ends his life in a rather scandalous way.
That reminds us that wisdom is not something we receive once and possess
forever.
Wisdom is a
continual journey of turning back to God, praying for wisdom, asking Him to
help us recognize what is right, and discerning right from wrong even in the
midst of life's difficulties.
Saint Paul
summarizes this beautifully with his famous words:
"All
things work together for those who love God and are called according to His purpose."
That, too,
is wisdom.
2. The
Treasure Must First Be Recognized
Jesus
continues this same lesson in today's Gospel with His parables about the
treasure hidden in a field and the pearl of great price.
A man discovers
a treasure buried in a field. He goes and sells everything he has in order to
buy that field.
Notice what
happens.
He doesn't
sacrifice first.
He first
recognizes what is valuable.
That is the
journey for you and me as well.
Before we
can give our lives to what is truly important, we first have to recognize what
is truly important.
We need
God's wisdom and God's grace to recognize what is truly valuable, because
sometimes what is most valuable can seem hidden beneath what appears ordinary
or superficial.
Right now
there is actually a field being sold off.
Have you
heard about this?
It is the
World Cup soccer field from MetLife Stadium. You can buy a small piece of that
field—about this big—for roughly three thousand dollars.
What are
people really buying?
Not grass.
They are
buying what that piece of grass represents.
It is a
souvenir.
It reminds
them of something they value.
But the
Gospel reminds us that there is something far more valuable than any souvenir.
The greatest
treasure is the human person.
3. The
Family Table Reveals the Real Treasure
One place
where this comes into focus is around the family table at Christmas or
Thanksgiving.
Usually
there are three generations gathered together: the older generation, the middle
generation, and the younger generation.
Who does
most of the work?
Usually it
is the middle generation.
They do the
shopping.
They do the
cooking.
They do the
cleaning.
They prepare
everything so everyone else can be there.
Those who
are older and can no longer shop or cook are still invited.
Those who
are younger and cannot help with those things are still invited.
We treasure
having children around the table because they help us see Christmas through new
eyes.
When I was
growing up, my grandparents often didn't say very much during those family
dinners.
But my
parents taught us to wait for them to speak.
We listened
for their words of remembrance.
Their words
of thanksgiving.
Their words
of wisdom.
Their
presence itself was part of the treasure.
They were,
in a sense, the pearl of great price.
That pearl
of great price invites us to see the whole person.
4. Seeing
the Human Person Through God's Eyes
Pope Saint
John Paul II taught something called the Theology
of the Body. He reminded us that every human person is a unity of
body and soul. We are not simply bodies that happen to have souls, nor souls
that happen to have bodies. We are whole persons, created in the image and
likeness of God.
This also
helps us understand the Catholic Church's teaching on marriage and family. The Church teaches that husband and
wife are called to give themselves to one another completely. Contraception
intentionally withholds one part of that complete gift—our openness to the
possibility of new life. That is why the Church encourages Natural Family
Planning instead, because it respects both the unity of husband and wife and
God's gift of procreation and the bearing of children.
Don't you
want to be loved as a whole person?
Don't you want
to be seen not merely for what you can do, but for who you are?
That is
exactly how Christ sees us.
Saint Paul
writes elsewhere:
"Now we
see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face."
He is
describing what it will mean to be seen fully in heaven.
But we also
long to be seen fully here—in our marriages, in our families, and here in our
parish.
5. Christ
Has Already Found His Treasure
Jesus
invites us to begin living that way today.
He reminds
us that we are His treasure.
Saint Paul
writes elsewhere that "you
were bought at a price."
The price
was His own Body and Blood.
We are His
treasure.
And we are
invited to share in the joy of His Kingdom by praying for wisdom every day.
Wisdom is
not a one-time download.
It is a lifelong journey of turning back to God each day, asking Him to help us recognize what is truly priceless, so that one day we may inherit the joy of His Kingdom.
No comments:
Post a Comment