07.26.2020 Homily

(Recording of the homily begins a minute or two late)

 

…The man sells all his resources and then he buys the pearl.  The pearl is the Kingdom of God.  The treasure if the Kingdom of God.  But the Kingdom of God is not some idea, some thoughts, some philosophy, some construct.  It’s not a physical thing; it’s not an institutional thing. The Kingdom of God is Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ is the treasure that is buried in the field.  Jesus Christ is the pearl of great price.  And the invitation is to so live as to find in Jesus Christ the very center of meaning in our lives.  That we’re willing to put other things aside, we’re willing to put other things in second place because we wish to embrace Jesus Christ the Son of the Father, the human face of the Living God.  And in following on his teaching to walk more deeply in relationship with Him. 

Now as I mentioned earlier, people come to that in a couple of different ways.  There are some people just who happen to stumble on faith.  They are not looking for it.  All of a sudden they come face-to-face with the reality and it’s like a revelation.  You’ve heard people say: “My eyes were opened.  I saw for the first time; I understood.”  Sometimes people do come upon the faith in that way.

But sometimes people come upon faith because they have searched and searched and searched, year after year after year, they have looked for peace within their souls, they have looked for integrity in their lives; they looked for holiness, and they find it and they put everything else aside so that they can embrace it.

You see the story of the saints is really the story of those people who go after the treasure, go after the pearl.  And one of the ways in which you and I learn about what it is to live out the Christian life, is in the biography, in the story, in the life story of the saints.  They are here as examples to demonstrate what it is to find the pearl of great price, what it is to discover the treasure buried in the field.

You and I come together to this table of the Lord…we’ve come from various ways and various manner.  But we’re here, here at the table of the Lord.  And we only are invited into, to enter into the life of Jesus.  We’re invited to be drawn into the mystery of His love for us in the Sacrament of his death and resurrection.

Now this journey that you and I have undertaken is journey that began for many of us at the moment of our Baptism.  That in the moment of our Baptism the door was opened for us.  And we were encouraged year and year by all kinds of people in our lives to continue to search more deeply for the presence and power of God.

So it’s wonderful that you and I have the opportunity to welcome Tavanti to the household of the faith through the Sacrament of Baptism.  And that as she is baptized, and as we renew the promises of our baptism, let us pray in thanksgiving that we have been given the opportunity to discover that pearl and that treasure that is Jesus Christ.