“LIKE A TREASURE BURIED IN A FIELD” Why doesnt the finder tell the owner of the field? Would that be stealing? Jesus does not comment on this, His main focus is that of the man, and his zeal to do whatever it took to get the treasure. The kingdom of Heaven is buried, but also in a field. What does this mean? Does it matter that it is buried and in a field? Yes it is in a field that is open, which tells us that the kingdom of Heaven is out in the open and available for all of us. It is also buried, which tells us that although it is available, we must seek to find it. Jesus is available, but wants to be sought. Why does Jesus make Himself available to all, yet hidden? Christ remains hidden so that we can ask, seek and knock. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Jesus wants us to pursue Him like a lover, He wants us to long for Him, to ask, seek and knock. We can remember our part by remembering the word A.S.K. We ask, seek and knock. How is Jesus hidden in our life? He might be hidden in our life, because we have not asked for Him, we have not looked for Him, and we have not sought after Him. He is hidden in His Word, as we see in the parables and in the types in the Old Testament that come to fulfillment in the New. He is hidden in His Sacraments and in the Liturgy. In the Most Blessed Sacrament, He hides Himself under the disguise of simple bread and wine. Yes, He hides, but He desires to be found. Will we find Him or pass Him by? How is our Eucharistic Lord, like the treasure hidden in the field? What are the responses of the people and what do they tell us about our own response to Christ? Notice the children, their humility, and their joy. He wants us to chase, but He desires to be caught. He does not tease us but rather gives us what we are pursuing. He promises to give us what we are pursuing. He teaches us in the beatitudes that we will be rewarded. We can think of the first part of the beatitude as the chase for example “Blessed are the merciful.” Are we willing to chase after Christ, who is all merciful? Are we willing to ask for mercy, seek mercy and knock for mercy and give that mercy to others as Christ gave mercy to others? If we long for mercy, not just for self, but for others, we will get what we long for. The second part of the beatitudes is the promise, the “catch”. Christ promises, “…for they shall receive mercy” to those who desire mercy and live mercy. We have to ask our self, do we just want the promise, with no effort? Do we just want the finish line, but not the race? Do we just want the catch but not the chase? Saint Caesarius of Arles asks the same question in a sermon to his flock, “What do you wish for, what do you pray for, my dear brothers and sisters, when you come to church? Is it mercy? How can it be anything else? Show mercy, then, while you are on earth, and mercy will be shown to you in heaven. A poor person asks you for something; you ask God for something. He begs for a morsel of food; you beg for eternal life. Give to the beggar so that you may merit to receive from Christ. For he it is who says, Give and it will be given to you. It baffles me that you have the imprudence to ask for what you do not want to give. Give when you come to church. Give to the poor. Give them whatever your resources will allow.” There is a poem called Ode on a Grecian Urn. An urn is a pot. On this pot from ancient Greece, there is a lover chasing his beloved. Because the lover and beloved are etched into a pot, the lover will always chase, but never obtain oneness with his beloved. We know that Jesus is the groom and the Church is the bride. The bride (Church) is chasing after her groom (Christ). We the Church are like the lover on the Grecian urn, we desire, we chase, we long. In our hearts we pray, “O God, you are my God, for you I long; for you my song is thirsting. My body pines for you like a dry, weary land without water. So I gaze on you in the sanctuary to see your strength and your glory.” These words from King David express the desire of the human heart and match with the words of the poem. “Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss, Though winning near the goal – yet, do not grieve; She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss, For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!” How is our life like the Grecian Urn? We the Church will not be completely united to the one we love until we are in heaven and granted the beatific vision. Christ is someone hidden to us, but through the virtue of hope we love to kiss Christ, we long for the goal, we know that Christ does not fade and our love stays strong in this hope. How is our life unlike the Grecian Urn? We know that we will be with our lover, with Christ our groom, in heaven for ever. We are not just frozen, forever longing for Christ, but rather we will obtain what we seek. We are people of Hope and through our baptism have been given the theological virtue of Hope. In the Act of Hope we pray, “O Lord God, I hope by your grace for the pardon of all my sins and after life here to gain eternal happiness because you have promised it who are infinitely powerful, faithful, kind, and merciful. In this hope I intend to live and die. Amen.” What is our desire, what do we chase after? We must be willing to do whatever it takes to gain this invaluable treasure. If we truly desire God, then we will do whatever it takes. We will “sell all” to gain this treasure. Think of a time when there was something you really wanted. What was it? What did you do to get it? If you got it, how did you feel? The men who find the coins and pearl are filled with joy. When we find the truth and peace of God, we are filled with Joy. The kingdom of Heaven is completely filled with joy for all eternity. Why does joy motivate us? How can we be filled with joy? Joy is a passion and so motivates us. “The passions are the feelings, the emotions or the movements of the sensible appetite – natural components of human psychology – which incline a person to act or not act in view of what is perceived as good or evil. The principal passions are love and hatred, desire and fear, joy, sadness and anger. The chief passion is love which is drawn by the attraction of the good. One can only love what is good, real or apparent.” At the end of the Ode on an Grecian Love, John Keats writes, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty.” Jesus Christ must be real and apparent to us, He cannot stay hidden. When He becomes real and apparent to us, we see Him as Truth, Beauty, Good, and so we are drawn to Him. We must ask for the Grace to have love not hatred, desire not fear and joy, not sadness or anger. First we must ask, seek and knock, second we must embrace Him with love, desire and joy. Joy is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit and through living out the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation this fruit can be perfected in us. “The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. The tradition of the Church lists twelve of them: ‘charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity.” The prize, the treasure is out there ready to be dug up by each and every one of us. We must be willing to start digging to find it within our lives. We cannot find it by just sitting around doing nothing. We also will not find it right away. This process takes time. It only gets better the deeper we dig into our own life. To give of ourselves for love’s sake is to sacrifice, and as Saint Jose Maria Escriva once said, “Love is sacrifice: and sacrifice for Love’s sake is joy.” We will find joy when we seek out the love of God. The kingdom of Heaven is far too great of importance to just not go out and find it. We cannot win it if we are not in it. GOSPEL - Luke 11:5-13 Jesus said to his disciples: Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him, and he says in reply from within, Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything. I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence. And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 01:35:54 +0000
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