May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy Mother pray for
us.
Give your servant, O Lord, an understanding heart.
The prayer that Solomon offers to the Lord in our first
reading is a prayer that we can make our own today. Give your servant, O Lord, an understanding
heart. Solomon does not ask for long life. He does not ask for riches. He does not even ask for victory over his enemies. Essentially, the prayer that Solomon offers
is not really a request for him. Solomon
asks that a gift, a particular grace, be entrusted to him for the building up
of the community. Solomon asks for an
understanding heart that he might lead his people in justice and truth.
We pray on this particular day for the gift of an
understanding heart. We ask the Lord to
give this gift to us, so that we can use it for the good of others. An understanding heart allows us to see
others with compassion and allows us to recognize the gifts that the Lord is
offering to us.
In our reading from the Gospel today, we hear that the
kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that was buried in a field. When the person found the treasure, he sold
all that he had to buy the field. The
Lord Jesus also says to us today that the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
who searches for fine pearls. When he
finds a pearl of great price, he sells everything to buy that one pearl. The kingdom of heaven is of great value. The kingdom of heaven is found after
searching for it. And the kingdom of
heaven is worth more than everything that we have.
The gift of an understanding heart allows us to recognize the
value of the kingdom of heaven. We beg
the Lord to give us that understanding heart so that we can recognize the
treasure that has been found. The
treasure is not earthly riches. The
treasure is not victory over our enemies.
The treasure is not even long life in this world. The treasure, the true treasure, is not long
life, but eternal life. The Lord Jesus
is the true treasure that has been found.
The Lord Jesus is the pearl of great price. Our relationship with him is of great
value. Our relationship with the Lord
Jesus is begun and continued and developed after a long search for it.
But the search has not been ours.
We are not the ones who have sought for the precious
treasure. It is the Lord Jesus, sent
from the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit, who has been searching for
us. The holy people of God, the Church,
the bride of Christ, is the treasure that the Lord Jesus sought. We, the people of the Lord, members of his
flock, are the pearl of great price for which Jesus Christ, Son of the Father
and Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary, offered everything. We are the treasure that has been purchased,
not with silver and gold, but with the blood of the spotless lamb who takes
away the sins of the world. We are the
treasure of the Lord Jesus, and the Lord Jesus is our true treasure.
As we celebrate this Eucharist today, let us ask the Lord to
grant us the gift of an understanding heart.
Let us ask for the grace to recognize the treasure, both the treasure
that we are and the treasure that we have found. And let us respond to the call of the Lord
Jesus and offer all that we are to him, as He offers all that He is to us. Amen.
Preached at Our Lady of Victory Basilica,
Lackawanna, NY
