The Parables Of The Treasure And The Pearl

"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field.  The one who finds it buries it again; and so happy is he, that he goes and sells everything he has, in order to buy that field.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a trader who is looking for fine pearls.  Once he has found a pearl of exceptional quality, he goes away, sells everything he has and buys it." - Matthew 13:44-46  

(The parables of the treasure and the pearl invite us not to let opportunities pass by, when the kingdom of GOD comes to us.

Some have been waiting for years for that word, or person or sign of hope that would give new meaning to their lives.  One day they found it.  Sometimes it was found through simple things: a forgiving word, a friendly smile, a first commitment offered to them and accepted.  Then they understood that this was the way to gain all they were waiting for, and they entered the Kingdom happily.

The parable says: he hides it again.  Ordinarily it is GOD who hides the treasure again after having shown it to us, for it will be really ours when we have worked for it and persevered.

Everything must be sold.  We have to divest ourselves of all those habits, pleasures... that occupy our hearts without filling them.  When trials come upon us like a frosty, icy night, we should not forget the treasure we have once seen, until we recover it.  Plato, the great pagan philosopher, said, "It is during the night that it is beautiful to believe in the light."

"The pearl" is, in a certain sense, CHRIST HIMSELF.  HE alone gives meaning to all the sacrifices of a Christian life.  These are not really "sacrifices," but the search for a love that has already been proven.) 

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National Lament Over The Destruction Of Jerusalem

 "O GOD, the pagans have invaded YOUR inheritance; they have defiled YOUR holy temple and reduced Jerusalem to rubble.

They have given YOUR servants' corpses to the birds, and the flesh of YOUR saints, to the beasts of the earth.

They have poured out the blood of YOUR faithful, like water around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them.

Mocked and reviled by those around us, we are scorned by our neighbors.

How long will this last, O YAHWEH?  Will YOU be angry forever?  Will YOUR wrath always burn to avenge YOUR rights?

Pour out YOUR anger on the nations that do not acknowledge YOU; on the kingdoms that do not call on YOUR name.

For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his homeland.

Do not remember against us the sins of our fathers.

Let YOUR compassion hurry to us, for we have been brought very low.

Help us, GOD, our savior, for the glory of YOUR name; forgive us, for the sake of YOUR name.

Listen to the groans of the prisoners; by the strength of YOUR arm, deliver those4 doomed to die.

Then we, YOUR people, the flock of YOUR pasture, will thank YOU forever.  We will recount YOUR praise from generation to generation."

- Psalm 79:1-9. 11. 13

(This psalm almost certainly refers to the fall of Jerusalem in the year 586 B.C.  There is a confession of guilt--the guilt of an earlier generation.  It is interesting that this ingredient should enter the solution of the problem of suffering: Has this man sinned--or his parents?  And, indeed, we may blame our ancestors, for some of our condition, so long as we realize that we may, and do, contribute to the unhappiness of our children.  We are the context into which they will be born, for better or for worse.  But the psalmist evidently does not will to call GOD's attention to the sins of his own generation except in passing.)

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GOD-Love Is The Source Of Love

"My dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from GOD.  Everyone who loves, is born of GOD and knows GOD.

Those who do not love have not known GOD, for GOD is love.

How did the love of GOD appear among us?  GOD sent HIS only Son into this world, that we might have life, through HIM.

This is love: not that we loved GOD, but that, HE first loved us and sent HIS Son, as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Dear friends, if such has been the love of GOD, we, too, must love one another.

No one has ever seen GOD, but if we love one another, GOD lives in us, and HIS love comes to its perfection in us.

How may we know that we live in GOD and HE in us?  Because GOD has given us HIS Spirit.

We ourselves have seen, and declare, that the FATHER sent HIS Son to save the world.  Those who confess that JESUS is the Son of GOD, GOD remains in them, and they in GOD.

We have known the love of GOD and have believed in it.  GOD is love.  The one who lives in love, lives in GOD, and GOD in him." - 1 John 4:7-16  

(GOD is love.  The supreme revelation, characteristic of the Christian faith.  Other religions know of a GOD who is good and compassionate: no other religion has known that the dynamism of love moves the entire creation and that its source lies in GOD-Love.

In this beautiful text John insists on the inseparability of love of GOD and love of our neighbor.  We all know this, but sometimes we might wonder why it is so.  John gives us the paramount reason: love comes from GOD.  If we can love GOD, it is because GOD loved us first; if we love each other, it is because GOD's love extends among us.

John also links love of GOD and faith in GOD: a true Christian believer is somebody who begins by "believing in GOD's love, and that GOD is love".

HE first loved us: through HIS eternal predestination [Ephesians 1:4], the sending of HIS Son and through HIS sacrifice [Romans 5:8].  If we are authentically loving, we never feel superior nor that we have merits, as do those who boast of their good works.  We simply realize that the love of GOD works through us.

The lives of those who dedicate themselves lovingly to serving the abandoned, the sick, the elderly, and those no longer useful to society are justified and so are the lives of those who withdraw from ordinary life to dedicate themselves more totally to a more intimate love of GOD.) 

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We Shall Become The Perfect Creation

"Therefore, I, the prisoner of CHRIST, invite you, to live the vocation you have received.  Be humble, kind, patient, and bear with one another in love.

Make every effort to keep, among you, the unity of spirit, through bonds of peace.  Let there be one body, and one Spirit, just as one hope is the goal of your calling by GOD.  One LORD, one faith, one baptism; one GOD, the FATHER of all, who is above all, and works through all, and is in all." - Ephesians 4:1-6  

(Here, Paul returns to an important problem in communities where the style was still very free, we might say very charismatic, since the community counted on the unpredictable action of the Spirit through the charisms of different members.  It is necessary that all in their own vocation work for the building up of the one body.  Paul enthusiastically names all that we have in common through CHRIST and the action of the Spirit.  It is not merely a temple that is constructed [see Chapter 2:19-22]; it is the Body of CHRIST, of the Perfect Man, the mature one, in which CHRIST expresses HIS fullness.)

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The Parable Of The Weeds

"JESUS told the people another parable, 'The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a man, who sowed good seed in his field.  While everyone was asleep, his enemy came, and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.'

When the plants sprouted and produced grain, the weeds also appeared.  Then, the servants of the owner came, and said to him, 'Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field?  Where did the weeds come from?'

He answered them, 'This is the work of an enemy.'  They asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?'  He told them, 'No, when you pull up the weeds, you might uproot the wheat with them.  Let them grow together, until harvest; and, at harvest time, I will say to the workers: Pull up the weeds first, tie them in bundles and burn them; then gather the wheat into my barn.'" - Matthew 13:24-30  

(With the parable of the weeds, JESUS answers those who are scandalized at seeing evil everywhere.  Good and bad will be mixed till the end of the world.  Good and evil will always be found together in persons and institutions.

GOD respects people.  HE knows that temptation is often stronger than their good intentions and they need time to find and to choose steadily what is good.

GOD is patient.  The reconciliation of so many contradictory groups, forces and cultural currents active in the world will be attained only at the end of time.  In the meantime, we are not to label any of them as "the" good ones and "the" bad ones.) 

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The New Jerusalem

"Come back, faithless people--it is YAHWEH who speaks--for I AM your master.  I will select one from a city and two from a family and bring you to Zion.  Then I will give you shepherds after MY own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and prudence.  And when you have increased and multiplied in the land in those days--it is YAHWEH who speaks--people will no longer speak of the Ark of the Covenant of YAHWEH; it will not be remembered or missed, nor shall it be made again!

Then they will call Jerusalem 'The Throne of YAHWEH' and all the nations will gather there to honor the name of YAHWEH; and no longer will they follow the stubbornness of their wicked hearts." - Jeremiah 3:14-17  

(These words were probably proclaimed by Jeremiah after the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 587 B.C. and they contain promises of restoration.  They were inserted here in the book to tone down the pessimistic impression caused by so many condemnations.  In fact, these threats of punishment had to be completely carried out before GOD would offer new hope.)

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Leaders--To Serve

"Then the mother of James and John came to JESUS with her sons, and she knelt down, to ask a favor.  JESUS said to her, 'What do you want?'  And she answered, 'Here, YOU have my two sons.  Grant, that they may sit, one at YOUR right hand and one at YOUR left, in YOUR kingdom.'

JESUS said to the brothers, 'You do not know what you are asking.  Can you drink the cup that I AM about to drink?'  They answered, 'We can.'  JESUS replied, 'You will indeed drink MY cup; but to sit at MY right or at MY left is not for ME to grant.  That will be for those, for whom MY FATHER has prepared it.'

The other ten heard all this and were angry with the two brothers.  Then JESUS called them to HIM and said, 'You know, that the rulers of nations behave like tyrants, and the powerful oppress them.  It shall not be so among you: whoever wants to be great in your community, let him minister to the community.  And if you want to be the first of all, make yourself the servant of all.  Be like the Son of Man, who came not to be served, but to serve, and to give HIS life to redeem many.'" - Matthew 20:20-28 

(JESUS feels full of courage and confidence, as HE HIMSELF walks ahead of them to Jerusalem, where HIS punishment awaits HIM.  Prompted by James' and John's request, HE tries to convince HIS followers that success in his kingdom does not consist in prestige and power, but in following the way of JESUS, their leader.

What makes a leader?  How should a leader be?  How do leaders act, the head of a team, of a family?  The heads of state smile at crowds and embrace a child who renders them homage, but who serves and who is to be served?  JESUS has come to serve and HIS service to humanity will be HIS voluntary death: "HE made HIMSELF obedient, took the condition of a slave and died on the cross" [Philippians 2:8].)

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The Parable Of The Sower

"That same day, JESUS left the house and sat down by the lakeside.  Many people gathered around HIM.  So, HE got into a boat, and sat down, while the crowds stood on the shore; and HE spoke to them in parables about many things.

JESUS said, 'The Sower went out to sow; and, as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path; and the birds came and ate them up.  Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where there was little soil, and the seeds sprouted quickly, because the soil was not deep.  But as soon as the sun rose, the plants were scorched; and they withered, because they had no roots.  Again, other seeds fell among thistles; and the thistles grew and choked the plants.  Still, other seeds fell on good soil and produced a crop: some hundredfold, others sixty, and others thirty.  If you have ears, then hear!'" - Matthew 13:1-9 

(JESUS uses comparisons just as simple country folk and working people usually do.  Proverbs and parables have always been an effective way of teaching wisdom.  But we must observe that a parable is not just any comparison; its characteristic is to awaken in the listeners an awareness of their present situation and oblige them to make a decision.

For those listening to JESUS, the reign of GOD signified first of all a liberation of HIS oppressed people, and this called for clear explanation.  JESUS, for HIS part, could only give an answer to those who accompanied HIM; for the kingdom is one of those things that cannot be seen as long as one has no belief in it.  JESUS will only speak of it in images and we will understand according to the degree of our experience of that kingdom which is developing throughout the world.)

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The Coming Age Of Peace And Justice

 "Would, that I hear GOD's proclamation,

that HE promises peace to HIS people,

HIS saints--lest they come back to their folly.

Yet, HIS salvation is near to those who fear HIM,

and HIS glory will dwell in our land.

Love and faithfulness have met;

righteousness and peace have embraced.

Faithfulness will reach up from the earth

while justice bends down from heaven.

YAHWEH will give what is good,

and our land will yield its fruit.

Justice will go before HIM,

and peace will follow along HIS path."

- Psalm 85:9-14

(This psalm, written when the Israelites had returned from captivity in Babylon, adopts the most universal terms of the human vocabulary: liberty, life, joy, salvation, love, justice, peace, and happiness.  This return of the exiled Jews, however, was only one step toward authentic liberation.  Nothing is definitive and each phase in the realization of GOD's plan, leads us to another stage.  GOD's people are forever being called to go further ahead.  Even the actual reign of the risen CHRIST and the work of salvation accomplished by the Church, are only an image of the eternal kingdom.  GOD loves our earth.  When we feel troubled and discouraged by what is ugly around us, let us come back to the declaration of this psalm: YOU have favored YOUR land, O LORD; justice bends down from heaven; glory will dwell in our land.  Salvation comes from GOD, but is brought by a man, CHRIST, freely welcomed by a woman in the name of humanity.  With the Incarnation, it is not possible to believe in GOD, without believing in humankind.)

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On My Bed At Night I Looked For The One I Love

"On my  bed at night

I looked for the one I love,

I sought HIM without finding HIM;

I called HIM and HE did not answer.

I will rise and go about the city,

through the streets and the squares;

I will seek the love of my heart...

I sought HIM without finding HIM;

the watchmen came upon me,

those who patrol the city.

'Have you seen the love of my heart?'

As soon as I left them,

I found the love of my heart.

I held HIM and would not let HIM go

till I had brought HIM to my mother's house

to the room of her who conceived me."

- Song of Songs 3:1-4

(On my bed at night I looked for the one I love.  Love keeps us awake.  Mary Magdalene goes through the entire city looking for JESUS and, for the first time, passersby laugh at her.  She comes into the house without seeing the porter and he does not dare stop her; she knew that she would reach JESUS.  I held HIM and would not let HIM go, but one day JESUS will say to her: "Do not hold on to ME" [John 20:17].)

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