St. Andrew Catholic Church

JULY 27, 2014

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

"When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it." How many of us think of our faith as "a pearl of great price"? How many of us really recognize the precious treasure we already possess? As baptized Christians, we have been welcomed into God's family. We are royalty in his kingdom! No matter what our status may be on earth, no matter what treasures we may or may not own right now, we are heirs of God's heavenly kingdom.

It is easy to take this for granted, however. On this side of eternity, it's even a temptation to forget that we have been adopted into God's family. Right now, for us, "the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field." That is to say, the treasure isn't always so obvious. But that doesn't mean it isn't there. It just means that we have to dig a little bit to find it. We have to remove whatever layers of dirt or sand may be obscuring the priceless package and bring it back into the daylight.

So where is our treasure buried? What, if anything, is obscuring the full flourishing of our faith? Is it buried by the demands of work or school? Is our faith hidden beneath the weight of sickness or sorrow? Have we covered it over with false "treasures" that only give us fleeting joy? Or have we never even given our faith the chance to come into the sunlight at all?

Whatever it is for each one of us, we should resolve to recover the treasure that lies beneath our feet. By giving ourselves to Christ, encountering him regularly through prayer, Scripture study, and the sacraments, we too can experience the joy of that blessed merchant who, by selling all he had, truly became rich.