Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

My father enjoyed attending estate sales. Often, at the end of the bidding, the auctioneer would box together smaller, leftover items and sell them off for lump sums. My dad sometimes came home with one of these boxes of “stuff” which he purchased for less than a dollar—much to my mother’s dismay. He delighted in his purchase whenever he found a valuable tool he had been searching for hidden away in the bottom of the box, something he was able to obtain at a fraction of the cost of a new one. Jesus draws upon a similar image in today’s gospel to speak about the Kingdom of God in his parables about the treasure buried in a field and the pearl of great price. The stakes in these business deals, however, are of much greater and enduring value than a bargain box from an estate auction.

The two parables are similar. In each case, a buyer with a keen eye spies an object of great value in the midst of something quite ordinary that no one else has noticed. In the first parable, a purchaser discovers a treasure hidden away in a field that might otherwise have been rather poor soil for farming. In the second parable, a merchant finds a pearl that he recognizes as having great value in a pile of common pearls of little worth. Another point that connects the two parables is that the buyers, recognizing the extraordinary value of their discoveries, risk everything to make their purchase: “he goes and sells all that he has and buys it” (Mt 13:46). A two-step progression is found in these stories: first, there is recognition of the value of the desired object and second, there is the willingness to risk everything to obtain it.

Do we recognize the value of the Kingdom in our midst? Do we treasure the workings of God in our in lives each day? Jesus said to his disciples “…where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt 6:21). What do we really value? Are our hearts fixed on worldly concerns—having a great job, being successful, being appreciated, being recognized, having plenty of money, and finding pleasure? Recognition of the Kingdom in our midst requires that we empty ourselves, that we free ourselves of distraction, that we be ready, open, and available to God’s grace and movements in our hearts. And once we come to see the precious gift we have already received, God asks that we risk nothing less than total commitment and surrender to his will. St. Paul reminds us that God has “predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son… And those he predestined he also called; and those he called he also justified; and those he justified he also glorified.” (Rom 8:29-30). Will we settle for the passing pearls of this life or go for the gold of heaven that endures forever? King Solomon chose the better part. Can we do the same?

Reflection by Br. Michael Marcotte, OSB