XVII Sunday Ordinary Time, Cycle A

1 Kgs 3:5, 7-12
Ps 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-128, 129-130
Rom 8:28-30
Mt 13:44-52

"Digging Holes"

I was eating my Co-Co Puffs cereal one morning and doing some serious reading and studying on the cereal box. The box had some “interesting facts” on it, one of which was talking about how diamonds were made. Diamonds are made from carbon, like charcoal and it took an intense amount of heat and thousands of pounds of pressure and millions of years of time. It also said that the cereal box was made of carbon too and that if I were to bury it about hundred miles or so down in the ground, a few million years later, give or take a thousand, I would have my very own diamond.

Now I was about 8 years old at the time and I got really excited; and headed to the tool shed to look for a shovel and started my dig down to the center of the earth and maybe to the other side if I had the energy. My friends thought I was going to see my relatives in China. I told them, no not this time… they live in Plano. It was grueling work for an eight year old on a hot day. But I had a pretty good start. I got past the dirt and hit some hard rocks and clay. It was a bit different than the black dirt and so I thought it might be some buried treasure. There was nothing. Well that piqued my interest too. Perhaps there was some buried treasure in my backyard that my parents never told me about. So I started to dig other holes because the top soil was easier to dig than the clay and rocks. So about three in the afternoon, I worked up a good sweat; but I found absolutely nothing. But it did look like a gofer had been doing laps in my backyard. My parents came outside to see what I was up to. I have to say that when I started digging, I didn’t ever remember my parents telling me not to dig holes in the backyard. However, they reminded me of my last project in the backyard when I was looking for fossils…. Needless to say, I had to fill the holes and was grounded. No diamonds or treasure was ever found.

The difference between wisdom and knowledge is simple: knowledge is information, facts, things that you know. Wisdom is the ability to use the knowledge and analyze the situation. When I tried to make my own diamond, I had the knowledge about how diamonds were made, but not the wisdom and prudence to know that the cereal box was giving examples and not the secret recipe to make your own diamonds. God gives us these gifts of wisdom and knowledge… some of us more than others.

In our first reading, when God asks Solomon what Solomon would like, Solomon asks for wisdom. This is an incredible response. It would be like a genie were to appear to you and grant you three wishes, what do you wish for? More wishes. In a sense, it is really ironic that Solomon even asks for wisdom. It takes one with wisdom to know that he is lacking in wisdom and needs more. God applauds this - because with wisdom, Solomon has the power and ability to rule the kingdom well. You have all heard the story of Solomon and the two mothers claiming that an infant was theirs right? Solomon simply said to cut the baby in half so that both women would have the infant. The true mother upon hearing this, would rather let the infant be alive in someone else’s arms than dead in her own. It was Solomon’s wisdom that was able to bring out the truth of the matter with a simple command. Wisdom and knowledge is powerful by itself, but it can be used for good or evil. And therefore, prudence is another virtue that the Lord bestows upon us.

Prudence is what you do with wisdom and knowledge. Solomon was lacking there. He knew the commandments of God, he knew he was not supposed to be worshipping other gods. He let his many wives dictate and influence him to follow foreign gods and led the nation into its downfall. He had the wisdom and the knowledge but lacked to prudence to follow the Lord. Which goes to show us that although we may be super smart, intelligent, geniuses, it does not prevent us from doing foolish things.

The responsorial psalm says, “Lord, I love your commands.” “The law is… more precious than thousands of gold and silver pieces.” “I love your command more than gold…” “…your words sheds light, giving understanding to the simple.” The psalms call us back to God; to realize that He is the one we should seek.

As Christians, we are all predestined to be “conformed to the image of his Son” “called, justified and glorified”. For all the non-Christians or the lukewarm believers out there in the world, God is calling them too. God has blessed us with wisdom and knowledge. We have the sciences, we have the things around us that we know so well. We also have the wisdom and knowledge that comes from God, the prudence from God that allows us to move forward in life, “shedding light and understanding to us”.

Jesus gives us these parables to help us understand what the kingdom of God is like. Solomon only had a taste of it, but only squandered it. But we who have been baptized with Christ, have it in a much fuller way: The "Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field” or “the merchant searching for fine pearls” or the fisherman who was sorting the fish between the good and the bad shows that it takes it wisdom to be able to discern the value in each of these things.

I think the common theme that lies in all of these parables is this: you must know what you are looking for. Can you imagine me as a little boy in my backyard looking for some buried treasure or diamonds? I wouldn’t know where to start looking, for all I know it could be buried in my neighbor’s backyard. The man had to know where and how to find the treasure, the merchant had to know which pearls were good and which were not. The fisherman has to know his fish. Wisdom and knowledge in each of these cases helps you find the valuable things faster. But do you know exactly what are you looking for? You have to have the knowledge of what exactly you are looking for. The wisdom to find it, and the prudence to go and sell all you have to obtain it.

I think there is a tendency in us to be a little distracted and lose focus. Like the story I said in the beginning, I started digging to make a diamond, but then I started looking for buried treasure, only to forget that I had dug up the backyard for fossils a few months before. If you are searching for the treasure in the field and you stop at the first shiny thing that you see, you’ve missed the point. If you are searching for the pearl, and instead buy some gumballs or marbles instead, you’ve been had.

Jesus’ parables are calling us not to be distracted by the things of this world. And He leads the way with His own example. What do you think the treasure and the pearl is for God? The Father sent His only Son into the world to be crucified and die on the cross for us. He paid with His very body and blood, all that He was, His very complete self for us to be His sons and daughters. Brothers and sisters: WE ARE THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE. WE ARE THE TREASURE IN THE FIELD! He has bought and paid for us so that we can be with Him. It only makes sense that we do the same for Him. The Eucharist, the Mass, it is an act of thanksgiving, it is our act of Thanksgiving to the Father with the Son. Where Solomon’s wisdom failed, where our own distractions and feeble mindedness fails, God has redeemed all of us with His very self.

Jesus’ passion and death on the cross, our treasure, was buried in the tomb, but only to rise again. He is the shining pearl of great price in our lives, lighting the way to heaven. He has given all He has for all of us to be with Him. Doesn’t it make sense for us to do the same? He paid for us with His life – his body and blood. We pay with our love, our worship, our time, our talent, our treasure. In the celebration of Mass, we offer that sacrifice up to the Father. We offer up our treasure, Jesus Christ, to the Father so that His Kingdom comes and His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. The Eucharist is our act of worship in sacrifice and thanksgiving for all the good He has done and will do in our lives. As a little boy, I looked for that treasure; as I’m sure many of you have also looked in the fields of life for your treasure. Today, we see that we don’t have to go digging in our backyards, in our workplace, in our schools and stores for treasure or pearls. The treasure that we seek is not in our backyard, but right here, right now with Jesus Christ. In imitation of Him for us, let us honor Him and worship Him with all that we have and all that we are.