SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME A

[cappie]

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.” Our God is a very frugal God and does not waste one iota of our life experience. Each moment we live and breathe on this earth, God values and savours who we are and what we are doing.

One of the hidden truths of the kingdom is that each of us, and all of us together as God’s people, are the pearl of great value. That is how much our God loves each and every one of us – so much so that God would send his only son to walk among us and as one of us to show us the way of the Lord. So much so that he did not let us get away with killing his only son, but returned him to us, so that wherever two or three are gathered in his name, Jesus himself is in the midst of us, calling us to return to the God from whence we came. We come from love. We return to love. And love is all around. God is love and loves us even more than the merchant who gave everything for the pearl of great value.

This is all meant to be an example of God’s perseverance in loving us.  Recognizing that we are precious in the eyes of our God, we need to take time each day in our prayers to be silent and allow God to thank us for what we have done for God today. Every day we are to leave some silence in our prayers and to allow ourselves to feel God thanking us for all that we do for God in this, his world. It sounds so easy. But are we really capable of believing and knowing that God loves us that much? Do we feel like pearls of great value? Shaw assured us that we can – and, more importantly, that we must. It is central to the life of faith to accept and receive God’s love – to know how much God values us and what we do.

This is why all of these kingdom parables are so very important to understand. They each point to the hiddenness of God’s reign in our midst. They each suggest that the life of faith begins with something as small as a little bit of yeast or a single grain of mustard seed. We do not need to do what the world perceives as big and heroic things.  

Soon, the people around us and the people we meet begin to feel like pearls of great value as well. All we really need is faith as small as a mustard seed to make the whole creation new! To give new life to our own tired bodies. To put a smile on the face of a stranger. To plant seeds of God’s love throughout the neighbourhood in which God has called us to make our home.

Take time today to be silent and to let God thank you for what you have done for God today. Do not worry about tomorrow. Just feel God’s thanks and love for today.  Imagine God offering you a piece of his bread and a sip of his wine. Imagine God making you an integral part of his body, that sacred mystery, the Church. Beginning today, make time every day for God to thank for what you are doing for God. Persevere in accepting that you are God’s pearl of great value.

As we experience God’s thanks, mercy, compassion, and love, we will become a new people. We will come to accept that we are God’s pearls of great value. As that new understanding grows within us, others will come and make their home among us, take rest among our branches, and discover their value as God’s own pearls as well. Such a life of love and thanksgiving is all ours if only we will have faith as small as a mustard seed.