| 2008 Jul 27 SUN: SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 1 Kgs 3:5.7-12/Ps 118(119)/Rom 8:28-30/Mt 13:44-52 Selling Everything Some are rich, some are poor, but have any of us ever seriously entertained the idea of selling all we have in order to secure a treasure, some exquisite pearl of great price? Starting with my house, my car, perhaps some stocks or various paper securities, then go and sell the computer and the TV and the stereo with the whole music collection; the major appliances, yes, including the air conditioner. Go and sell every piece of furniture in my house, then the bikes, the electronic gadgets and all the other toys. And finally my watch, and even the shirt off my back. When you think about it, the idea of selling everything you have, everything I have – it's an idiotic idea! Yet, on the other hand, what Olympian athlete doesn't make almost superhuman sacrifices to win the gold medal? What chess player would hesitate to sacrifice even his queen, if that meant winning the game? Similarly, if you or I truly had a sure thing, an ingenious way we could win big - like quadruple our net worth overnight - if we could just scrounge up enough capital - yes, you and I would go to any lengths, including selling all our possessions - yes, the shirt off our back, if by doing so we could truly guarantee for ourselves the treasure of our dreams. In that case, it would be idiotic not to go to any extent for such a grand payoff! Read closely, my friends: Every page of the Gospel is a fair, honest advertisement of the price of following Christ, but every page also points out the honest-to-God truth of miraculous infinite return for our investment! Still, my guess is that you and I aren't quite prepared yet for this degree of sacrifice, of selling all we have. Most of us, I'm sure, are stuck with the preliminary step of asking ourselves (which we can and ought to do so today): Given that pearl of infinite value, that reward better known as "Heaven", have you or I even started saving, have we yet made any sacrifice capable of securing this most exquisite pearl for us? Are you and I ready today to die to self in some way, to literally or even figuratively sell even one, even one of our prized possessions, so that we can providentially land that infinite treasure of eternal life? |
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