XVII Sunday of Ordinary Time -- Year A

First: 1 Kings 3: 5, 7-12; Second: Rom 8,28-30; Gospel: Mt 13: 44-52

THEME of the READINGS

One of the characteristics of human beings is freedom of choice. Choice is the theme that unites the liturgical texts through which the Church invites us to reflect on how to live in a more evangelical way. In the Gospel, a man chooses to sell everything he owns to buy the field where he has discovered a buried treasure. Likewise, a merchant sells all he has, to obtain the most precious pearl of all. In the parable of the net it is no longer man who chooses but God, according to the choices that man has made in his life. The second reading speaks of God’s call and man’s subsequent response. The figure of Solomon praying in the first reading shows that it is in prayer where one becomes capable of making the most authentic choices.

DOCTRinal MESSAGE

The Church is the Kingdom of Christ "already present in mystery" (LG 3). The Church is also the Mystical Body of Christ, in other words, the mystery of the Incarnation prolonged over time. The Gospel parables have a Christological meaning. All people, but especially Christ’s disciples, are called to "sell" everything to obtain the treasure that is Christ, the finest pearl, which is the mystery of Christ. Those who approach the Father after their death with this treasure in their hands will share his life and glory. The parables also have an ecclesiological meaning, for the Church is the field in which God’s treasure is hidden. The one who seeks to acquire the precious pearl, but without the Church, will not be able to do so. To choose Christ, the treasure, is inseparable from choosing the Church, the field where the treasure may be found. It is absurd and against the most genuine doctrine of the Gospel and the tradition of the Church to oppose Christ and the Church, or to seek Christ without the Church or a Church without Christ.

Choosing the treasure or the very fine pearl, fills a person’s heart with joy (Mt 13: 44). Buying the field means doing away with many things, sometimes things greatly loved and rooted in our life. However, before the reality of the treasure, one does not pay attention to what is being left behind, or allow it to keep a nostalgic presence in one’s heart. Rather, one’s whole attention is focused on the treasure, on the pearl, and thus the soul rejoices. It is the joy of those who value God’s call to Christian faith, to the Catholic Church. It is the joy of those who, through this call and their free response, know that they are the owners of a wonderful treasure that God has given them, and through which God – already now and definitively in heaven – lets them share in his salvation and glory (Rom 8: 30).

In his prayer, Solomon was able to discern God’s will, and made an enlightened choice in accordance with his vocation as king of the People of Israel (1 Kings 3:9). It is in prayer where man is able to more fully discover and to choose the pearl of great worth, what is unique and of highest value, Christ and the Church in God’s salvific plan.

PASTOral SUGGESTIONS

A Christian choice. Today’s world offers Christians the possibility to choose among many attractive and seductive realities, at least to the sight and the pocket. An enormous disgrace weighing heavily on man is the deceit and illusion of believing that there is a treasure in a field where there actually is none, or dreaming of a treasure that does not exist, valuing as a fine pearl what is only tinsel. With time comes disappointment and frustration. Who will guide people in the quest for the real treasure?

Many Christians, perhaps many faithful of our parish, need to appreciate on their own or with someone else’s help, the invaluable treasure of Christ and the Church in which this treasure is hidden. They own it as if it were an inheritance, like an ancient painting decorating one of the walls in their house. The painting is there, but it’s value goes unnoticed. It must be chosen. But how will they choose Christ if he is not a treasure for them, if he is not the supreme value of their existence? How are they going to love the Church and to work in the Church, without knowing that it is in the Church where one finds Christ? It is urgently necessary for Christianity to be an inheritance that is appreciated and chosen, so as to fill one’s life with joy.

The meaning of vocation. An effort must be made to broaden the concept of vocation in people’s minds. There is a vocation to life, a vocation to marriage, a vocation to priesthood or to consecrated life, a vocation to lay apostolate, a vocation to heaven, etc. In essence, it is important for an individual "to feel called, " to feel that he has been chosen. Human life, and in a deeper way Christian life, is a dialogue of freedom between God and man: God calls and man responds. God calls us to human and Christian fulfillment. Each person must respond to this call, and this response determines one’s history and destiny. Living ordinary life from the perspective of vocation provides a new perspective on one’s existence. Making the small concrete everyday decisions as responses to a God who calls us, helps us to make our decisions with greater responsibility and also gives great value to the exercise of our freedom in minor everyday matters.

Source: http://www.clerus.org/clerus/dati/2004-05/21-13/CICLOA.html by P. ANTONIO IZQUIERDO L.C. (1948-2013)

[참고: 이 파일은 저서명 "가톨릭 교회의 말씀 전례에 따른 성경공부 해설서"(엮은이: 소순태, 출판사: 가톨릭출판사)의 각주의 연장으로 마련되었습니다].