Scripture Study
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A
Opening prayer
1 Kings 3:5,7-12
(Ps 119:57,72,76-77,127-130)
Romans 8:28-30
Matthew 13:44-52
Overview of the Gospel:
• This Sunday’s Gospel reading is the conclusion of Matthew, chapter 13, which features many of Jesus’ most well known parables. We will be looking at three parables and a final instruction by Jesus.
• Verses 44-46 are really two parables that emphasize one important truth: the surpassing riches and beauty of the kingdom of heaven are worth more than anything that would be given up to obtain it, whether one just stumbles upon it (verse 44) or is searching for it (verse 45-46). Some, like the rich young man in Matthew 19:21, will find the cost too high.
• Verses 47-50 concerns a dragnet, a very large net that was tied between two fishing boats. Along with fish, it also tended to pick up trash, seaweed and algae that had to be separated from the catch. Like the parable of the weeds in the field we heard last week, Jesus likens this to the Church at the Last Judgment.
• Finally, Jesus reveals to his Apostles how they will be like the religious teachers who taught the old Law. The difference, however, is that they will find their treasure not only in the Old Testament, but also in the new Law of the Gospel.
Questions:
• In the 1st Reading, when God offers to give Solomon whatever he asks, what does the young king ask for? What is God’s response? Can you see yourself asking for the same thing of God? Why or why not?
• What does the 2nd Reading tell us about placing our trust in God? How does God reward that trust?
• In the Gospel Reading, what do the parables in verses 44-50 teach about the value of the kingdom? With what emotion and energy should it be pursued?
• What does the parable of the net teach about the kingdom of heaven? How does it compare with the parable of the weeds (verses 24-30)?
• Who are the teachers of the old Law who have been instructed in the new Gospel (verse 52)? • Compared to the man and the merchant, how valuable is the kingdom to you and why: (a) It’s worth more than anything else. (b) I think I’d miss too much of the other things. (c) I’m not ready to put all my eggs in one basket.
• Examine how you spend your time, talent and treasure and ask yourself: “What would I sacrifice for the kingdom of heaven?”
Catechism of the Catholic Church: §§ 1724, 546, 29
Closing prayer
If the object of love is what is good, then the soul should take its delight in the higher good, the things of heaven. –St. Gregory the Great
The Pearl of Great Price
Pastor’s Column
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 27, 2014
“I conceive that the great part of the miseries of mankind are brought upon them by false estimate they have made of the value of things.” --Benjamin Franklin
If only we knew the true value of things we would always make right choices! How often we can fail to see a valuable opportunity until the time has completely passed us by. This is particularly true at funerals, when many often realize that what matters most in life are not possessions at all, but relationships with those we love, our family, our friends, and God himself. Jesus offers two parables this Sunday (Matthew 13:44-52) which speak to the true value of things.
In the parable of the Pearl of Great Price, a merchant is actually searching for a truly valuable pearl. This person is driven to find the best and recognizes it when he sees it. The catch, of course, is that he must sell everything to be able to buy this pearl, but it is worth it!
In Jesus’ second example, a man is digging in a field when he just happens to encounter a buried treasure! Unlike the merchant in the first example, this is an accidental encounter with something truly valuable. What does this laborer do? He re-buries the treasure and then sells all he has so as to be able to afford to buy the whole field and the treasure it contains.
Sometimes a treasure is searched-for and, at times, we stumble upon it. Would I recognize something truly valuable if I encountered it? Almost all of us can tells stories of an investment opportunity we may have missed, a relationship that we failed to take advantage of, a job that we did not act on or a possession we gave away without realizing its true value until much later.
Of course, the real under-valued commodity in the world today is the Gospel and Jesus’ offer of eternal life! People in the world often chase after all kinds of things that are passed off as valuable, but whose true worth is actually not very much.
At the present time, Jesus offers us a friendship with himself, our redeemer and creator, and eternal life as well; but he appears to many as a beggar, as a person of little worth, that can be passed up or taken up later.
Other, more immediate items of seemingly greater value seem to beckon us. It may seem more attractive to watch television than to pray; or to stay in bed rather than to attend church on Sunday; instead of an act of kindness, we might be tempted to selfishness because it offers immediate gratification.
Yet all of this is a test! When we reach the end of our lives, nothing on earth will be as valuable as having a real relationship with the Lord of heaven and earth, who is literally holding the key to the future. Then every investment we have made with him, though seemingly small at the time, will bear interest forever! Father Gary