Holyrood Church 715 West 179 Street, Upper West side Manhattan, USA, 212-923-3770

To find, there must be some effort to "look"

 

 

Good morning, happy Wednesday, and many blessings.

 

The Gospel today (Matthew 13:44-46) presents two brief parables from the discourse on the parables. They are similar to each other, but with significant differences that clarify aspects of the mystery of the Kingdom which the parables are revealing.


In the parable of the treasure hidden in the field (Matthew 13:44), Jesus tells a very simple and brief story which could happen in the life of any person. He says, “The kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field; someone finds it and hides it again, then he goes off with great joy, he sells everything he owns and buys the field.” Jesus does not explain, He only says, “The kingdom of Heaven is similar to a treasure hidden in a field.” In this way He urges the listeners to share with others what this story has aroused in them.

 

I share some points that are discovered: (a) The treasure, the Kingdom, is already found in the field, in life. It is hidden. We go through the field and step over the plants without being aware. (b) The man finds the treasure, just out of chance. He did not expect to find it, because he was not looking for it. (c) Seeing that it is a question of a very important treasure, what does he do? He does what we all would do in order to take possession of the treasure. He goes and he sells everything that he has, and he buys the field. And, thus, together with the field, he obtains the treasure, the Kingdom. The condition is to sell everything! (d) If the treasure, the Kingdom, is already in my life, then this important aspect of life begins to have new value. (e) In this story, what dominates is gratuity. The treasure is found by chance, independently from our plans. The Kingdom comes! We must reap the consequences and not allow this moment of grace to go by without bearing fruit.


The parable of the merchant of fine pearls (Matthews 13:45-46) is like the first one, but with an important difference. Let us try to discover it. The story is the following: “The kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he finds one of great value, he goes off and sells everything he owns and buys it.”. I share some points that I have discovered: (a) it is the story of a merchant of pearls. His profession is to look for pearls. This is the only thing that he does in his life: to look for and to find pearls. Looking, he finds a pearl of great value. Here the discovery of the Kingdom is not just by chance, but it is the fruit of a long search. (b) The merchant of pearls knows the value of the pearls because many people would like to sell him the pearls that they find. But the merchant does not allow himself to be deceived. He knows the value of his merchandise. (c) When he finds a pearl of great value, he goes and sells everything which he owns and buys the pearl. The Kingdom has the greatest value.

 

Both parables are built upon “finding”. To find, there must be some effort to “look”. What am I doing to “look” for the Kingdom so that I can find it? What is my image of the Kingdom? How will I know when I find great treasure? What is the pearl that you are looking for and you have not as yet found?

 

Blessings

 

Fr. Luis+

Date news: 
Miércoles, Julio 29, 2020 - 12:30

Ministerio en el tiempo del Coronavirus (Covid 19): Prevenir, curar y acompañar

Ahora tenemos que darle forma a lo que algun@s han comenzado a llamar; La Iglesia en Casa. Aunque yo me sigo preguntando; ¿qué hacen quienes no tienen un hogar? Por esto a la misma vez, estoy declarando desde hoy en nuestra Iglesia Santa Cruz una jornada de cuaresma de oración, ayuno y leer la Biblia en el Tiempo del Coronavirus.

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