July 27^th 2014. Seventeenth  Sunday of Ordinary Time

Gospel: Matthew 13:44-52

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

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GOSPEL:                                   Matthew 13:44-52
‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he hides it again, goes off happy, sells everything he owns and buys the field.

‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.

‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea that brings in a haul of all kinds. When it is full, the fishermen haul it ashore; then, sitting down, they collect the good ones in a basket and throw away those that are no use. This is how it will be at the end of time: the angels will appear and separate the wicked from the just to throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.

‘Have you understood all this?’ They said, ‘Yes’. And he said to them, ‘Well then, every scribe who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out from his storeroom things both new and old’.

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . The readings this Sunday are all about discernment. The Lord promises Solomon whatever gift he chooses. Solomon does not ask simply for the ability to choose between right and wrong but for a docile heart that knows how to choose. The original Hebrew text speaks of a “listening heart”. Listening and obedience come from the same verb in Hebrew. To be obedient to the Lord is not to mechanically follow instructions but to listen to him profoundly. This is the essential issue when it comes to discernment. Discernment is not an innate ability like the capacity to pick up foreign languages easily. Rather it derives from a relationship with the Lord in which the person humbly listens to what the Lord is saying. Thus it involves an intimate relationship of trust and cohesion with the Lord.

            The Gospel reading contains a series of parables about the Kingdom of Heaven in which people renounce worldly things and opt for the Kingdom. In the first parable, a man sells everything he owns to buy the field in which the treasure of the Kingdom is hidden. What is important to note in this parable is the joy with which the man sells everything he owns in order to buy that field. Christianity involves the renunciation of worldly things in order to possess the Kingdom of God. There is no getting away from this – Christianity involves a choice! The problem is that we often tend to focus on the pain of losing these worldly things. We make renunciations, but we do so with a long face and bitter complaints. We become fixated with the sacrifices involved in the Christian life and lose sight of the infinite joy that those sacrifices bring. Woe to us if our Christianity is preoccupied with prescriptions for the sacrifices we have to make! Woe to us if we do not contemplate on a daily basis the beauty and joy of belonging to Christ! Let us opt for him like the man who sells everything to buy the field in which the treasure is hidden. And like that man, let us be filled with joy as we go to possess that field!

On Sunday we are challenged to reflect on the issue of discernment

This Sunday presents us with beautiful passages in the first reading and in the Gospel. The reading from Matthew has a series of short parables – the treasure hidden in the field, the pearl of great price, the fisherman who selects the best fish, and the householder who brings out of his storeroom things old and new. The unified theme of these parables is clearly the question of discernment. We find the same theme in the first reading. Solomon is about to become king and the Lord appears to him, asking him to choose whatever gift he would like. Solomon asks for the gift of discernment. Discernment is something we exercise in every moment of our lives. The decision to speak, to remain silent, to act, to refrain from acting, to dress in certain way, to go to the places we go – life involves a constant succession of acts of discernment. When a particular decision is made, this often excludes or eliminates all other possibilities. Those possibilities can never be realized in that same moment again. The capacity for good discernment is of incredible importance.

Solomon does not ask simply for the gift of discernment. He asks for the gift of a listening, obedient heart that is capable of discernment. Discernment thus involves a relationship of trust and cohesion with the Lord.

Solomon asks the Lord for a docile heart so that he can discern between good and evil and so render justice to God’s people. It is a remarkable fact that Solomon did not directly ask for a heart that could make the distinction between good and evil. He asked for a heart that was docile enough so that he could make this distinction. This highlights the fact that discernment is not a capacity that one can have independently of everything else in the same way as one can be talented at sport or at music. It involves docility and this indicates a relationship. The original Hebrew text of this passage says “Give me a heart that knows how to listen”. In Hebrew the term for hearing and being obedient are one and the same. Solomon asks for a heart that is attentive and obedient to the Lord, what a marvelous thing! Obedience in the Hebrew Bible is not a logical, mechanical attitude but a deep and profound listening to the creator. It involves entering into an authentic relationship with the Lord. A heart that is docile is one that listens and knows how to behave accordingly. God praises Solomon because he has asked for a gift greater than all others.

To gain the treasure that is the Kingdom of Heaven, a man sells everything that he owns. The Christian life involves renunciations of lesser goods in order to possess what is infinitely greater. These renunciations should be joyful! Woe to us if we focus only on the personal renunciations of Christianity and do not contemplate the joyful treasure that we gain.

In the Gospel, a man sells all he owns because he has found a treasure. This man knows how to choose between his possessions and the treasure and he is filled with joy as a result. This is a fundamental image of the Christian life. The Christian life involves a series of renunciations. Consecrated life involves a vow of poverty, but in reality the life of every Christian requires an attitude of sobriety and poverty towards the goods of this world. But this should not make us sad. The man in the parable is full of joy as he sells all his possessions in order to gain the treasure. The things that we give away only create the conditions by which we can receive the good things that the Lord wants to bestow on us. Woe to us if we transform all of this into renunciation and sacrifice, focusing only on the cost to us and failing to contemplate the joy and the wonder of the treasure gained.

This Sunday we are challenged to sharpen our interior discernment, to make decisions that lead to  the joy of the kingdom instead of allowing trivial “joys” to dictate our choices

The liturgy of the word this Sunday challenges us to sharpen the focus of our interior discernment. What is good? What is true? What gives us real joy? Often we pursue joys that are deceptive. Often we make criminal choices in which we opt for something empty and lose something of genuine worth. Many people gamble with things of value in order to have five minutes of pleasure, or to advance their career by a few steps. How many of us have trivial things at heart! Let us ask the question: what do we have at the centre of our hearts? This determines the choices we make. If we wish to become disciples of the Kingdom of Heaven then we must become like the householder who knows how to discern what to retain between the old and the new. Our ability to discern can only come from a relationship of obedient listening to the Lord, from a relationship of trust that permits us to see what truly counts and what is of secondary importance.