Mt 13:44-52
(or 13:44-46)
[Jesus said to his disciples:] 44“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. 46When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.
47“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. 48When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. 49Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous 50and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
51“Do you understand all these things?” They answered, “Yes.” 52And he replied, “Then 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.”
Reflection:
A treasure, a pearl of great price, a net. Jesus gives three parables on the kingdom of heaven—the hidden treasure, the pearl, and the net. To understand these, we need to bring from the storeroom both the new and the old.
When our new archbishop was installed, he invited help from both the young and the old clergy. “I need your enthusiasm,” he told the young clergy. “I need your experience,” he said to the old clergy.
The Church is both human and divine. We draw strength from above that makes the Church last through the ages. But it remains human—this is what makes it both interesting and real. We ourselves are body and soul, a similar combination of the old and the new found in one storeroom.
The kingdom of God will have all sorts of people and stories and experiences. It will have the most valuable treasure in her midst and will carry the poorest in its fight. It will have hidden graces and obvious faults and cracks. This combination will help boost and sustain the Church through many different ages and through many different cultures.
What does this mean for us? (1) Learn to search for the hidden treasure. What we see and have are not always the best. We have to dig deeper. (2) Learn to pay the price. Everything has a price. It is just a question of how much we are worth or how much we are willing to sacrifice. (3) Learn to choose and to decide. Our lives will depend on what we keep and what we let go.
And hopefully we will discover that what we seek, what we pay for, and what we choose is nothing but our God, the only real treasure.
Visit another church with your family after attending the Sunday Mass in your parish.
And spend a few moments there to thank and praise God!