17th Sunday Ordinary Time
Return to Cycle Index
Cycle A
- A173: Today's gospel about the pearl and treasure (Matt 13:44-46) sounds like our Lottery. You take your chances, and maybe - just maybe - you will strike it rich. How can there be a religious message in that?
- The Little Girl Who Prayed
- Q329: Isn’t today’s Second Reading (Rom 8:28-30) proof of Calvin’s protestant doctrine of “predestinationism”? St. Paul says, “those he foreknew he predestined.”
- Q486: Buried treasure, expensive pearls, dragnets full of fish - - are these parables (Matt 13:44-52) about getting rich?
====
A173: Today's gospel about the pearl and treasure (Matt 13:44-46) sounds like our Lottery. You take your chances, and maybe - just maybe - you will strike it rich. How can there be a religious message in that?
I suspect that just about every adult reading this has purchased at least one lottery ticket in their lifetime. But this gospel story is not about "taking a chance." This gospel story is about striking it rich! You didn't even bother to buy the lottery ticket; you just found it lying on the ground, like a free gift. You have just won the key to the greatest prize of all time. What steps can you take to make sure that you don't lose it all, now that you have the ticket in hand?
Something like that is going on in today's gospel. The finder of the fabulous pearl and the finder of the buried treasure have both come into possession of something that they did nothing to earn. Yet they recognize its immense value, and are willing to give absolutely all they have to keep it.
This is what Jesus is offering us, the free gift of salvation, the free gift of the kingdom of God. We didn't earn it; it is an incredible gift that is freely given, one that has lasting and eternal value. But it calls for a specific response from us. Jesus himself is the pearl and the treasure! It cost him everything to give it to you. So what kind of "discipleship" is necessary to possess the gift?
Reflection: Remember the story of the man who wanted to wait until his father no longer needed him, before he could follow Jesus; and Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead." His point: there is absolutely no excuse whatsoever for failing to follow Jesus wholeheartedly, after you have "discovered" him. What is it that I have to "convert from" or change, in order to keep Jesus as the center of my life? What am I willing to risk, in order to follow Jesus at any and all costs?
====
Archbishop Keough of Baltimore used to tell of a remarkable little girl he knew who had come down with a usually fatal malady. An operation offered some promise, although it was a slim hope. The surgeon came in to tell her that he was going to operate, but would first have to put her to sleep. "If I am going to sleep," she answered, "then I must first say my prayers." So she knelt up on her hospital bed, joined her hands, and recited her night prayers very fervently.
The operation failed, and the child died a few hours later. But the whole incident made a lasting impression upon the surgeon. Although he had been raised a Catholic, he had not been practicing his faith for thirty years. He was so touched by the sight of the little patient saying her prayers that he himself returned to the ways of grace.
"We know that God makes all things work together for the good of those who have been called according to his decree." (Romans, 8:28, Second Reading)
-Father Robert F. McNamara
====
Q329: Isn’t today’s Second Reading (Rom 8:28-30) proof of Calvin’s protestant doctrine of “predestinationism”? St. Paul says, “those he foreknew he predestined.”
Calvin’s 16th century false doctrine says that God is going to send you to heaven or hell, no matter what you do with your life. For example, if you go to hell, Calvin would say that it is only because God caused that to happen, even though you may have lived your life as a saint.
Long before Calvin departed from many teachings of the Official Magisterium during the Protestant Reformation era, the united Catholic bishops had met in Council in Mainz, Germany in the 9th century. They condemned as pure heresy the idea that God “predetermines” your soul’s destiny irregardless of your response to His grace. Instead, the Council taught (and the Church still teaches as dogma) that each person has a free will, and can choose to reject God’s gift of salvation.
Divine predestination does not mean God chooses one in advance and rejects another. Instead it means “God knows in advance” how we will use our free will. Therefore, God’s “knowing” simply reflects one’s freely chosen destiny (i.e., one’s acceptance or rejection of His freely offered grace). As St. Paul teaches, we must “work out our salvation” day by day (Phil 2:2).
Know Your Catechism! Calvin’s doctrine breaks down quickly, because it claims that Jesus died just for some, the “elect,” and not for all. The Catholic Church constantly teaches that Christ died for all men, without exception (CCC#605). Another bishops’ Council in Quiercy, France in the 9th century taught that “There is not, never has been, and never will be a single human being for whom Christ did not suffer.”(ibid.) God willed that man should be ‘his own free agent’, and of his own accord seek God and freely attain perfection through Him.(cf. Gaudium et Spes 17; CCC#1730).
====
Q486: Buried treasure, expensive pearls, dragnets full of fish - - are these parables (Matt 13:44-52) about getting rich?
Yes, but not in the way your question implies! Jesus tells his disciples about the man who found a buried treasure. It is really all about Discipleship, and when you have the opportunity, you have to do everything that is necessary to possess it. It’s a very subtle point, but notice that the owner of that field isn’t aware that he has a Great Treasure within his grasp! Matthew’s community needed to hear this parable because they were being ostracized by the Jewish community, and had to give up family and friends to be a disciple of Jesus. But if you want the treasure, you have to be willing to pay the price!
The pearl of great price story sounds like it is the same thing as the buried treasure, but again Matthew has introduced another subtle difference. The man who found the buried treasure was surprised when he accidentally found it, and gave up all he had to buy the field where the treasure was located. But in the case of the pearl of great price, the merchant had been seeking that pearl for a long time; his was a deliberate search. Nevertheless, his response was the same: he gave up all he had to possess it. The message to the hearer’s of Jesus, and to Matthew’s community fifty years later, was the same. Discipleship will cost you! Following Jesus will cost you! But the rewards are incredible!
And finally, there is the parable of the dragnet. The message to the disciples is encouraging, one they needed to hear. “Don’t worry about the opposition to your discipleship. Jesus will do the sorting out come judgment day.” And you will notice, when you read that parable, that the bad fish are not returned to the sea; they are “thrown away,” which means they will die.
If you have ears to hear, then hear!
KNOW YOUR CATECHISM! Jesus’ parables ask us to make a radical choice: give up everything to gain the kingdom (CCC #546). The Holy Spirit has guided the Catholic Church to recognize the “treasure” we have in the seven sacraments (CCC #1117). Use them!
====
