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Gospel: Matthew 13: 44-52
Jesus said to his disciples:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,
which a person finds and hides again,
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
searching for fine pearls.
When he finds a pearl of great price,
he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea,
which collects fish of every kind.
When it is full they haul it ashore
and sit down to put what is good into buckets.
What is bad they throw away.
Thus it will be at the end of the age.
The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous
and throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
“Do you understand all these things?”
They answered, “Yes.”
And he replied,
“Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven
is like the head of a household
who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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I’m a convert to the Catholic faith.
Some of my family members, friends, even people I barely know have wondered why.
They see the flaws in the Church and often are quick to share their doubts about God, their anger with the Church over the scandals, or their opposition to some of the Church’s teachings.
While some of their criticism may be fair – certainly the inexcusability of Church scandals – I often say to them, “This is still the place where Jesus has called me to be. It’s the Church he founded. It’s the kingdom of God made present here on earth.”
Both today’s Gospel passage, as well as last week’s passage on the weeds and wheat, make this point – while here on earth, the kingdom of God is filled with weeds and wheat, sinners and saints, a few rotten fish, and an abundance of grace.
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“The kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea,” Jesus says, “which collects fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away.”
Just as a farmer waits until the harvest to separate the weeds from the wheat, so the fisherman waits until he returns ashore before sifting through his nets, separating the good fish from the rotten ones.
Consider the Church’s first catch – the Twelve Apostles. Eleven of them were turned into disciples. Judas, the twelfth, turned into a scoundrel, betraying Jesus, handing him over for thirty lousy pieces of silver before hanging himself.
That’s the foundation the Church is built upon while here on earth – a combination of weeds and wheat, sinners and saints, one rotten fish and eleven swimming in grace.
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It’s not an easy pill to swallow.
But our Lord gives us these parables to caution and to comfort us. Like every other person, place, and institution here on earth, the Church is imperfect for one reason: it’s populated by human beings.
This is why you have to dig and sell all that you have in order to discover its treasure, the pearl of great price.
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“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,” Jesus says, “which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
They buy that field because they’ve found Jesus. In the words of Saint Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of everlasting life.”
It takes wisdom – divine wisdom like that given to Solomon in our first reading – to accept that the Church – this Church – is in fact, God’s kingdom made present here on earth.
The Church has the power to bless; to heal; to forgive; and to transform lives. It’s transformed my life – it’s why I’m both a convert and a Catholic priest.
Here we receive the Holy Spirit in baptism. Here our sins are forgiven in the Sacrament of Penance. Here we receive Jesus himself in the Eucharist. Here we are healed.
We are all part of a bigger plan – God’s plan – that started with those eleven fish, the Apostles, who once swam in the same fountain of grace.
Yes, the weeds mingle with the wheat; rotten fish swim next to healthy ones. But God, our fisherman, is making his way ashore; the time is coming when, “the angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous,” Jesus says.
Until then, there’s no place I’d rather be than right here, caught in the net of the Lord’s mercy.
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What has been my experience of the Church? Have there been moments when I’ve felt closer to God because of the Sacraments?
And, sadly, have there been moments when I wanted to swim away?
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Sometimes the imperfections in our Church can cause us to focus on who is next to us in the net – perhaps a rotten fish – as opposed to our own need for continual conversion and spiritual growth.
The Lord will send his angels to separate those who belong from those who don’t in time.
But our focus should be this: digging deeper and deeper until we discover the pearl of great price – Jesus Christ – fully present in this Eucharist, and therefore fully present in you, in me, and thus, his Church.
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Image credits: (1) Bob Yandian Ministries, The Pearl of Great Price (2) Fishing, The Guardian (3) Universal Life Church