WISDOM TO DISCERN

We are in the Seventeenth Sunday of ordinary time. In today’s gospel we have three parables to know what the kingdom of God (heaven) is like and how the life in the kingdom of God (heaven) is. In the first two parables about the treasure, the men sell everything that they have in order to buy the treasure. Treasure is something that is of high value. Therefore, in both the parables the men forgo everything just to acquire the treasure. They are very wise and shrewd, because they know that if they lose something today to have the treasure with them they can get back all of those in the future. The difference between both of them is their encounter with the treasure. In the first parable, the man finds the treasure without any effort. He comes across the treasure by chance or by luck. In the second parable, the merchant was in constant search of the pearl of great value. In the course of his search and in doing business he finds one of such kind and possesses it. Whatever the difference be, in both the parables after finding the treasure the men act wisely. They make a good and sound discernment. They exhibit their capacity to choose what to do at particular time.

Jesus says, “the kingdom of God is like a treasure.”(Mt 13:44). Some may find this kingdom – treasure – by luck and some may find this kingdom by their constant search. It is a mystery. “For God makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust (Mt 5. 45). In the same way God reveals His kingdom to both; the sought and the unsought, the desired and the undesired, because all of us are his children. He wants all of us to enter into His kingdom. Thus, He offers the kingdom to one who seeks and reveals it to one who does not even aware of it. All that one needs to do is to be wise enough to get hold of that kingdom as s/he comes across or after discovering it. In the parable of the treasure both the men sell everything just to grab hold of the treasure which can provide them back all that they lose now. In the same way Jesus promises that anyone one who leaves everything for His sake and follows Him will receive them all in hundred times more (Mt 19:29). The kingdom of God is Jesus. Jesus is the kingdom in person. Jesus is the treasure. To decide to follow Jesus is to possess the treasure.

The kingdom of God involves responsibility. The treasure is useful to the man if only he takes care of it without someone robbing it from him. He has the responsibility to take care. The responsibility in the kingdom of God is to live the teachings of Christ. They are very simple; to love God and to love one’s neighbour. The expansion of this is; the beatitudes (Mt 5:1-12) and acts of mercy (Mt 25:35-36). These are the demands of kingdom of God. To fail to meet these demands is to lose the treasure after acquiring it. One needs to remember the sacrifice that s/he made to get hold of this treasure. After all those sacrifices if one loses the treasure, it will be a great tragedy. Thus, to possess treasure is to take responsibility to guard it. The third parable of the dragnet shows that the kingdom of God is cast on everyone. Many will fall into this net but only the good one’s will be selected and saved. The rotten one’s will be thrown away into the fire. If we fail to meet the demands of the kingdom we will be thrown into the fiery furnace on the last day, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth (Mt 13:50). To get hold of this treasure permanently and to live in the kingdom of God faithfully we need wisdom to choose what to do at each moment. We need wisdom to make discernment. In the first reading of today (1Kg 3:5, 7-12) King Solomon asks for wisdom from God to govern the people and to choose what is right. Life amidst covid-19 pandemic is very challenging. Therefore, one may be in the danger of losing or leaving the treasure that s/he has acquired it. Like king Solomon let us ask God to give us a wisdom to make a good discernment and to choose what is right in the covid-19 pandemic affected world. May the good Lord be our treasure forever.