Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
One of the dialogue lessons in my Spanish learning app is about a girl, who while looking around in the attic, accidentally discovers a lamp. As she cleaned it, suddenly, a genie appeared. The genie asked the girl to make three wishes. The girl’s first wish was that all the stray animals may find shelter. The genie was surprised that she did not ask for things that girls her age would wish. The genie obliged. “Do you not want to be famous?” the genie said to her. She replied, “No, but can you make sure that the river in the city is clean again?” He granted her second wish too and asked if she would like some brand-new outfits. Again, she refused to ask anything for herself, but rather wished that her uncle who is ill might be healed! Impressed at how selfless the girl was, the genie decided to give her a fourth bonus wish. She was thrilled, but to the great dismay of the genie, she asked that her fourth wish be that the genie grant her a thousand wishes. Her first wish of the thousand wishes was that he addresses her as “Your Highness!” Her second and third wishes were for a new car and that she might indeed be famous!”
It sounds like an improbable story. However, the story of God and Solomon in today’s first reading is very similar. God said to Solomon, “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.” The rest is history. We must recall, though, that Solomon’s story also has an ironic end.
Today, I am inviting you to use your power of imagination. If God gave you the same opportunity that God gave to Solomon, what wish would you make? When I started writing this homily, I said to myself that I would ask God to end the pandemic and heal everybody who is ill. And then I paused.
Before I continue my story, let us recall that the gospel readings the last two Sundays have been focusing on Jesus’ parables. We have heard five parables and today we hear two more parables. Both these parables begin with the same words: “The kingdom of God is like…” Earlier, Jesus had said to his disciples, “Knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you…” (Mt 13:11). Today’s parables along with Solomon’s story have much to teach us. Here are my three points for today.
1. Lessons from a Tragedy! Solomon was young when he assumed the throne. Given the opportunity by God, Solomon asked God for this one favor: “Give your servant an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong” (1 Kings 3:9). Solomon’s humility impressed God. God gave Solomon not only what he wished for, but also “riches and glory that among kings there will be no one like you all your days” (1 Kings 3:13). With the use of God’s gifts, Solomon secured the nation, built the Temple of Jerusalem, and wrote exemplary literature. He became legendary. But just like the girl in the story, Solomon lost sight of God and the purpose of the kingdom in God’s eyes. Drunk with power, wealth, and fame, Solomon wasted God’s gifts. Despite being the wisest and most blessed man on the earth, personal vanity led him to trade God’s gifts for earthly gains. Ultimately, his lifestyle, his choices, and his priorities led to the division of the kingdom of Israel. As the first practical implication I invite you to reflect on this one point: God may not have appeared to us like God did to Solomon. Yet, everything we have is a gift from God. What are we doing with them?
2. “Do You Understand These Things?” Over the past two weeks we have been reflecting on Jesus parables. When the disciples asked Jesus why he spoke in parables, his response was, “Because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted” (Mt 13:11). In today’s gospel reading Jesus says, “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.” Solomon did exactly the opposite. God had given Solomon an insight into the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. He squandered it all. Here is my second practical implication. To understand life, we must understand Jesus’ parable of the buried treasure. In my estimation, this brief parable is the most significant of all of Jesus’ parables. How easy it is to become like Solomon or that girl in the story! How easy it is to trade the kingdom of God for the nation! How easy it is to trade the values of the kingdom of heaven for power, wealth, fame, and control! How easy it is to make it about us rather than about the kingdom of God! How easy it is to lose sight of God’s vision for the world and instead create a world that serves our myopic vision! Rather, this is the mystery of the kingdom of heaven – that the kingdom belongs to the poor, the poor inspirit, the meek, those who mourn, the merciful, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the peacemakers, and the clean of heart. When Jesus finished with the parables, he asked his disciples this question: “Do you understand all these things?” (Mt 13:51). Today Jesus asks us the same question, “Do you understand these things?” Do we?
3. They Kingdom Come. I said earlier, that if I was given a Solomon-like opportunity, my instinctive wish would be that God would rid the world of the pandemic and heal everyone who was ill. After all, I am waiting for the pandemic to end so that I might be able to travel home to India and be with my mother. As tempting as it was, I paused. I said to myself, “If God would end the pandemic and heal everyone, would that solve the problem? If we do not change our lifestyle, our choices, our geopolitics, our economics, the way in which we care for the environment and for each other, how can we be sure that there will not be another virus, or yet another more destructive pandemic? Are we sure that the post coronavirus world will be a better world? Will our post-pandemic world be free of racism, inequality, hunger, and misery? Will our post-pandemic world ensure that every human person is treated with his or her God-given dignity from the womb to the tomb? Will a post-pandemic be a world where there is no room for nationalistic fascism, gun violence, arms race, or the threat of war? Will the end of the pandemic ensure that no child is ever abused in the Church or anywhere else? Will the end of the pandemic bring about a world where people see the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the homeless, the stranger and see Christ in them? Will the post-pandemic world be a world where we care for God’s creation and stop its destruction? Hence, instead of wishing and end to the pandemic, I decided I would wish that the entire human race God may have the wisdom to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven. In the only prayer that Jesus taught us, he taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven!” (Mt 6:10). If God gave me a Solomon-like opportunity, on behalf of all humanity I would wish: “Thy kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven!” I believe that the answer to the pandemic and everything else that ails our life and our world is that every human person surrenders his or her own kingdom and welcomes God’s kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven.” That indeed is the treasure buried in the field.
The kingdom of Heaven is on this altar - Jesus Christ. "Do you understand these things?"
- Fr. Satish Joseph