July 27, 2014
17th Sunday Ordinary Time
They were shocking images. Russian separatists with masks and guns limiting access but allowing locals to walk through on a souvenir hunt without respect for bodies strewn about the debris of Malaysian flight 17. Contrast that image with the reception given the recovered and returned bodies in Amsterdam: bodies placed in wooden coffins; a ceremony of word, music, song and silence with the king, queen and public officials attending; and then a procession of vans with the Dutch people looking on in silence and, for some, with respectful applause. The bodies are being taken to a resting place to be identified. Family, friends and acquaintances are waiting in disbelief and treasuring memories of loved ones lost in the explosion and crash. Like the dragnet cast into the sea, we are like fishermen sorting out and separating what is precious and true from what is secondary and false. In the two similar parables of Jesus, the buried treasure is not coins and the pearl is not a precious gem. The discovery of hidden buried treasure and the search for a fine pearl are metaphors of searching for and finding what is essential. God comes to Solomon offering to grant the desire of his heart. Solomon asks not for a long life, not for wealth or fame, not for destruction of his enemies but for a discerning heart to govern his people and to choose right from wrong. Like Solomon we must ask for a “listening heart.†St. Paul writes to the Romans with a startling statement of faith: “We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.†Even a jet crash! Only God can turn a mess into a message, a test into a testimony, a trial into a triumph, a victim into victory. I say this not quite believing but with a hope that Heaven is for Real. The movie and book tell the story of Colton, a 4 year old boy from Nebraska, who during surgery slips from consciousness and enters heaven. He survives and begins talking about being able to look down and see doctors operating and his dad praying in the waiting room. Colton says he met his miscarried sister and his great grandfather who died 30 years before he was born. He recalls meeting Jesus and Mary, of seeing God on a big chair. Is this recollection coming from the imagination of a little boy or did he discover the hidden treasure or find the great pearl? We live with the hope of Colton and with the promise of Jesus that he will always be with us. At Eucharist we can taste the heavenly banquet; we enjoy a communion together that does not end when a jet falls to the ground.
Previous:
16th Sunday Ordinary Time
