SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY OF YEAR "A"

SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY OF YEAR  I 

“The Kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field” (Matthew 13,44)

One serious problem with treasures is that they stare you right in the face for ever so long before you pick them up. The kingdom of God is such a priceless treasure that a wise person would gladly give all for the chance to seize it. There is a story about an old Irish woman who was so poor that the parish SVP had to pick up her bills. This was despite the fact that her son had immigrated to the U.S. and had become very wealthy by opening a string of saloons. “Why doesn’t James help her ma ?” her friends often enquired.  One day the parish priest dropped by and asked, “Mrs. Gilhooley, do you ever hear from James ?”   “Oh yes, James writes to me every week,  and always encloses a picture !”    “Have you preserved those pictures ? And can I have a look at them ?”  “Certainly”, she answered, “I put them in my Bible. You can have a look at them.” The priest examined the Bible and found at least 50 pictures of Benjamin Franklin on $ 100 notes.  The priest told the simple woman how rich she was, and was to get richer. 

Jesus’ parables about the treasure and the pearl express the great value of the kingdom, the joy that it brings and the total commitment it deserves.  Once the treasure is found, nothing is of greater value. Everything else is subordinate to it, and all else is given up to obtain it.  And so Jesus calls us to discover the Kingdom.

In his teaching, Jesus refers to the kingdom about 150 times, and he talks about it in such a way that all you need  do is to walk down the road to get into it. You get the feeling that the Master wants us to put on our thinking caps and slosh our brains around !

The Scripture scholar, Joseph Donders,  says that the kingdom of God is good life for all men and women in the here and now. And Jesus is the life of the kingdom. He was almost obsessed with life. When he ran across a deaf fellow, he shouted, “Stop being deaf. I want you to listen to Mozart and Ricky Martin !”  When he met a blind person, he said, “Cease being blind. How otherwise will you see beautiful faces and sunsets ?” When he found a paralysed man, he said, “Get out of this, I want you to run the mile and do the tango.”  And to the dumb man he said, “Why don’t you talk ?  There are too many good stories and jokes to tell.”  And to the sinner he said, “I want you to feel free again.”  He just about gave his clients a money back Good Housekeeping guarantee whenever he gifted them with life.  Even Jesus could not take death for more than three days. Death was so boring that he broke out of the tomb like a nuclear missile, never allowing himself to die again. He put the incident behind him like a bad trip.

Jesus Christ came not to rob life but to surround it with gems and pearls; and we would do well to leave a trail  of joy as we go through life. Life for each one of us and for others should be quality time. In today’s Gospel, the fellow who found treasure seized the moment for a fresh life when it came. He was willing to gamble with the new cards dealt to him. So must you and I. The author, James Russell Lowell, said,  “Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide.”  Another author, Robert Fulgham, wrote a book entitled, “All I really needed to know I learned in Kindergarten.” He gives some helpful hints on how to establish the kingdom.  As regards sharing the kingdom with others, he suggests,  “Share everything. Play fair. Don’t hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don’t take things that aren’t yours. Say you are sorry when you hurt somebody. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, stick together.”  As regards sharing the kingdom of God with your own self:  “Wash you hands before you eat. Flush. Warm milk and cookies are good for you. Live a balanced life. Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and work everyday some. Take a nap every afternoon. Be aware of wonder.”

PRAYER        Lord Jesus, without you, I’m not able to appeciate the pearl and treasure you offer me. Give me the sense to rejoice at riches of your Kingdom, and speed my journey to you in Paradise, for ever and ever.