Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - A

Mt 13:44-52 or 13:44-46

Jesus said to his disciples:

“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.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea,

which collects fish of every kind.

When it is full they haul it ashore

and sit down to put what is good into buckets.

What is bad they throw away.

Thus it will be at the end of the age.

The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous

and throw them into the fiery furnace,

where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.

“Do you understand all these things?”

They answered, “Yes.”

And he replied,

“Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven

is like the head of a household

who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.”

HOMILY

In our Gospel today we are presented with three more parables about the nature of the Kingdom. The first two about the treasure in the field and the pearl of great price tell us about the inestimable value of the Kingdom. The third one about the dragnet tells us about the great diversity of its make up.

But the one common denominator for all this parables is the fact that I have to recognize that the Kingdom of God is a VALUE. I have to recognize that this value is so great that I have to sacrifice a lot EVEN EVERYTHING to find the Kingdom of God. Unless I recognize this fundamental truth I will not be able to find the true Kingdom of God, I will be running after phantoms and idols, I will be creating my own personal and private obsessions and fictions.

Certainly God loves us just the way we are, but He refuses to leave us that way. He wants us to become just like Him. He wants us to become SAINTS. He wants us to enter the Kingdom of God.

(Max Lucado)

And this is the Kingdom of God, the most precious reality of our Christian life.

If you are looking for the true Love ...

Go to the Source,
Do not settle down with emotional affections.
If you're looking for the ultimate Truth ...

Go to Sources,
Do not settle with half-truths.
If you are looking for true Peace, Happiness, Goodness ...

Go to the Source. This is the Kingdom of God!