The Hidden Treasure

Matthew 13: 44-46
Ex 34:29-35/Ps 99:5,6,7,9

The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.
(Matthew 13:46)

There is but one pearl of great price,
Paid for at such great sacrifice.
Life’s greatest tragedy would be
If its value we cannot see.

“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. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.”

Reflection

Jesus is simply telling all who care to believe that there is no fortune more valuable than the kingdom of God, which all Christians should aspire to achieve. And while we are still alive here on earth, the most priceless thing that God has given us is the key to that fortune: our faith. Priceless, yet it never cost us anything. Because it is a gift from God, but given only to the deserving. Something of great value is not easy to find. Like a buried treasure or a rare pearl, the kingdom of heaven is hidden — from people who seek another kind of treasure, one that is usually flaunted, but easily lost to “moth, woodworm, or rust, and thieves can break in and steal.” (Mt.6:19)

Faith, the Word of God and the hope of His kingdom are all insignificant and invisible to the man of means because his material concerns and the pleasures of this world are what is important to him — “what pertains to the Spirit of God is foolishness, and he cannot understand it, because it can only be seen spiritually” (1 Cor.2:14). The man of the world looks at life superficially, never bothering to seek beneath the surface. But the man of faith knows that what is precious and eternal is not easily seen or retrieved, like the pearl that lies deep in the ocean or the treasure that is buried deep beneath the earth. That is why Jesus said it is “only through a narrow gate and rough road that leads to heaven, and only a few find it” (Mt.7:14).

St. Ignatius Loyola (in yesterday’s reflection) gave up everything — his power, wealth, and position when he found Christ, his “Pearl of great price.” All his fine clothes he gave away and put on the rough clothes of a beggar. He left his castle, and for ten months lived in a cave before he became a priest. Unlike this great saint, history is replete with powerful and wealthy men whose lives amounted to nothing but infamy and shame because they chose to accumulate the world’s false treasures. “Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasures for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.” (Lk.12:16-21)

Dear God, grant us the grace of wisdom to seek Your kingdom alone. Free our hearts and minds from all other desires or attachments so that we may put all our efforts in attaining the Greatest Prize of all, through Your gift of faith, and through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.