Our Scriptures today ask us what we may have many times asked ourselves: What do I really value in life? How diligently am I searching for it? Will I recognize it when I see it? What price am I willing to pay to obtain it?
Today’s Gospel shows two people who are seeking something valuable in their lives. One finds a treasure buried in a field and the other a pearl of great price. Each goes out and sells all he has and buys that field and that pearl. This may seem extreme, but don’t we do something similar to obtain what we value most be that a job, fame, fortune, spirituality, or even family. Sometimes we are in pursuit of things of lasting value and sometimes of things of fleeting value. Sometimes we are in active pursuit of what we say we value and sometimes we are lazy in our pursuit. Sometimes we are willing to sacrifice a great deal to obtain what we value and sometimes we are not. Too often we do not have God’s wisdom to know what is truly valuable like our faith in the Lord. And so we don’t have the motivation to discover it, the discernment to recognize it, or the willingness to risk everything to have it.
Let us all choose God’s wisdom and His strength to live out His wisdom in our lives. May we value what God values, pursue what He values, recognize when we have found it, and risk all to obtain and keep it. May we have the faith that God will do all in His power to help us achieve His will in and for our lives. May we become fully good citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven.