Treasure of the Church.

Let us remember how much effort it costs when we want to obtain, acquire or experience something valuable. Bring to mind the freshest memories of a holiday abroad. What all preceded it! The long hours of waiting, the walking, and why? … It was the vision of enriching your life. Or you wanted to buy a car. Even then, it was long years of saving, of giving up other things. Why? With a personal car, we want to enrich our lives, to know more.

The Gospel tells us about a man who wants to acquire something meant to enrich him. To get this wealth, he sells everything he has and buys that field in which he knows there is a hidden treasure. Another, in his turn, also sells everything and buys the precious pearl he desires. God is great. The kingdom of God is so unique that man is obliged to give up everything to obtain the good. By this is meant the value and price of the kingdom of God, which the Lord Jesus emphasized in two parables.

A peasant working in a foreign field discovers a treasure. He does not reveal the secret, but sells everything to become the owner of that field. In these words, the Gospel points to the efforts, to the toil and hardship of man, to the sacrifice made with joy when all this is to help him to obtain the treasure. That treasure for us is the kingdom of God. It is a treasure for which hardships must be endured.
In the second parable, the man searches for the pearls of great price, he does it conscientiously, planned, and professionally. This, in turn, is a picture of beautiful intentions, for he searches in toil and sweat. Here we can also see before us models: St. Justin, St. Augustine, and others who are models of the precious and irrevocable search for the truth they find in God. The merchant of pearls will sell all that he gets money to buy, and it is a rare pattern that will make up for all that he considers good.

We may also recall the Church’s history and the martyrs’ life. In times of persecution, they lost all their possessions, freedom, and even the most precious thing a man has, life. However, God is so great that in their final decision, the Kingdom of God is more precious to them than anything else and precious on earth. A Christian, especially one who has found the pearl of great price after long searches, must be in a state of complete preparation that once he has made up his mind, he must still go on. Every day forces a man to decide again and again, which means that he must be prepared for accountability before God. Man must permanently be renouncing something. That renunciation is necessary in order to see God and his kingdom. Today’s man has destroyed the feeling and the degree of value and often cannot appreciate actual value. We would be like the peasant who walks behind the plow, and although he knows there is buried treasure, he passes by unnoticed and does not care at all. He can’t think logically, even when grave matters are involved. He responds negatively to the notice of God, he wanders in difficult situations because he is either unwilling or unable to appreciate and value what is most needed in life.

The parables of the treasure hidden in the field and the pearl of great price are a great call to live our lives and our Christianity truly, in the light of valid values. In the parable of the pearl, it is said to have been found after a long search. God says that he goes before those who long for him, just as wisdom says: ‘Splendid is wisdom, and unfading is wisdom; it is easily seen by those who love it, it is found by those who seek it. It overtakes and makes itself known to those who hunger for it” (Wis 6:12-13).

Sometimes, the Lord God with His will is not even sought by man, but He goes before those who do not seek Him. Let us remember St. Paul. On the road, when he goes in search of Christians, he meets Jesus. The Lord God has different ways of meeting man; He draws each one differently. If a person is truly seeking the kingdom of goodness and truth, it is impossible not to find it. Let us decide quickly and without long deliberation; let us step out on the road, for it wastes time! Whoever seeks it must realize that it will not be without difficulty and toil.

Let us not especially celebrate the feast of Saints Joachim and Anna, but let us make today a day of gratitude for our parents, grandparents, and those who were at the beginning of our journey, showing us, teaching us to discover the treasure hidden on the roll of our life, or teaching and advising us to distinguish the pearl of great price from other, less precious pearls. Let us not forget Our Lady today. She, too, had to make a great decision of consent at the angel’s annunciation. Let us also say to her, “Fiat!” And then, quietly, unobtrusively, but faithfully and conscientiously, let us remain faithful to the Lord God.

The treasure or pearl at the beginning is hidden from us, but it is possible to obtain it. The kingdom of God as a reward for a life lived is a thing for which we need not fear to sell all that the world considers its treasure, for the glory of the world will be destroyed by rust, it may be eaten by moths, stolen by thieves, but the reward that Jesus promises is a state of joy that no one can imagine, as St. John writes of it: “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Cor. 2:9).