17th Sunday Year A - Homily 4

Homily 4 - 2020 

A friend of mine, a keen fisherman, older than I am, comes from time to time to tell me that he has heard that the fish are biting in a local lake or creek. He assures me that, as soon as the weather picks up, he will be down there and catch a fish for me. His eyes are alight with joy just with the thought of it, and his joy is contagious. His enthusiasm puts me in mind of the two people mentioned in today’s parables — the man who found the treasure and the one who came across the precious pearl. They, too, came alive with joy. Jesus commented that the experience of God’s Kingdom can generate a response like that. Do you know what he was talking about? Do you sometimes feel like that?

A couple of weeks before my sister died, her doctors told her that her situation was terminal. I asked her if she was frightened of dying. She looked at me, somewhat puzzled, and gently corrected me: “Frightened of falling into the arms of God!” she whispered. Since she died, I delight that she felt so comfortable surrendering all she had and was and, even a little impatiently, looking forward to dropping into the arms of the God she loved. I am disappointed that I did not ask her to tell me what her experience of God had been.

I wonder if Jesus at times is saddened that so many of us Catholics have not yet discovered the beauty of a personal relationship with him, that not enough of us have felt, at least from time to time, the indescribable joy of real closeness to him and to God, his Father. Our Church can appear so dull, so stern, so stiff, so serious. No wonder so few seem attracted, and so many are just hanging on by the skin of their teeth .

“So happy … he buys the field … he buys the pearl”.