How valuable to us are matters pertaining to God, our relationship with him, and our spiritual condition? This Sunday’s readings remind us that these matters should take the primary and supreme value in or lives as Christians.
In the First Reading (1 Kgs 3:5, 7-12), the new king, Solomon, was asked by the Lord what he would like God to give him. While many, when asked by the same question, could have requested for material riches, power, fame, and worldly pleasures, Solomon asked for something that he would need to govern his people effectively – an understanding heart to judge properly and to distinguish right from wrong. God was so pleased with Solomon’s petition that he granted him wisdom which was above that of any other human being who ever lived before and after him.
In the gospel (Mt 13:44-52), Jesus tackled the issue of valuing God’s kingdom in three parables – the parable of the treasure buried in a field, the parable of the pearl of great price, and the parable of the net drawn into the sea.
In the first parable, a person who was digging into the ground found treasure buried therein. Joyfully, he hides the treasure by covering it again with soil, and sells everything he has so he can buy that field. In the second parable, a merchant who was searching for fine pearls found a peal of great price. Consequently, he sells all his property and buys that pearl. Obviously, in the parables, both the great treasure discovered by the digger and the fine pearl found by the merchant symbolized the kingdom of God. The value of God’s kingdom is beyond measure, that it was worth giving up everything just to possess it.
Are we like Solomon in the first reading and the two men in the gospel parables? Do we really love God above all? Will we choose right from wrong? Are we willing to carry our cross of faithfulness and obedience as the way to our salvation, or avoid it through faithlessness and disobedience, and thus head to a life of eternal damnation? Will we take the narrow road that leads to heaven or the wide road that goes to hell?
The choice is ours to make. In the third parable, the kingdom of heaven is likened to a fishing net that collects all kinds of fish – the good and the bad alike. When hauled ashore, the bad fishes are thrown away while the good ones are put into buckets. The same is true with the human experience. Here on earth, God allows the good and the bad to live together. The invitation is for the bad to repent and accept God’s offer of eternal life. At the end of time, however, the period of invitation ends. Those who accepted it and lived a Godly life will enter the eternal joy of heaven, while those who rejected it and lived a sinful life will plunge into the eternal fires of hell.
The faithful children of God need not fear. The second reading (Rom 8:28-30) assures us that all things work for good for those who love God and who are called according to his purpose. By the death and resurrection of Jesus, we, who were once sinners, are justified by our living faith in our Savior, and if we are justified, then someday, we will be glorified with him in heaven. All that he requires of us is our genuine love and unwavering faithfulness.