Daily Gospel Reflection
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July 30, 2023
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.”
There is no idea in the gospels that I find more challenging than the kingdom of heaven (or, in other gospels, the kingdom of God). There is no reading about that idea I find more disturbing and puzzling than this one.
I am disturbed by the thought that some of us will be among the fish discarded at the end of the age or the tares whose gathering and incineration are described a few verses before. Would a God of love and mercy really exclude even the worst of us from his kingdom? I am puzzled by the comparisons Jesus draws. He likens the kingdom to buried treasure that someone wishes to gain at the cost of all he has, to a merchant willing to pay all he has for a pearl of great price, and to a net that snags fish of all kinds. How can the kingdom be like things that are so different?
Rather than wrestle with what I find disturbing and puzzling, I prefer to focus on what is challenging. One thing I find challenging is that the kingdom of heaven is, well, a kingdom. For I am too often tempted to think that the treasure for which I am asked to sell all that I have is my soul’s solitary and worshipful communion with God, and that what makes that treasure worth the cost is the joy that I’ll know when the treasure is mine.
But if the treasure is a kingdom, the picture of beatitude that tempts me is the wrong one altogether. A kingdom is a community of subjects, not a one-on-one relation with the king. So the treasure is not solitary but irreducibly social. And what is supposed to give meaning to my efforts is the prospect of a kingdom in which I will know joy in cooperating with my fellow subjects so that God’s will is worked in our lives for all eternity.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, although the peace and wholeness characteristic of your kingdom is hidden, it can be found. Help us to look beyond the ordinary and everyday things and see how everything comes together to bring us closer to you, each other, and ourselves. Help us take advantage of opportunities to dive more deeply into the beauty of life. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Peter Chrysologus was a pivotal bishop who preserved the faith in his region of Italy in the fifth century. He was an adult convert to Christianity, then was ordained a deacon and priest before being raised to bishop of Ravenna in 433.
Many people were still practicing paganism in Ravenna when he began his work there, and this caused other Christians to fall away from the faith. He reformed and solidified the church there by encouraging frequent reception of Communion and with his preaching. Many of his homilies are still intact—most are brief because he did not want to exhaust the attention of his listeners. “Anyone who wishes to frolic with the devil cannot rejoice with Christ,” he told his people.
The witness of his life also converted many back to the faith—he was known to have offered many works of mercy, and he attended to the people under his care with diligence.
His title, “Chrysologus,” means “golden-tongued,” so we know that he had a great impact on those who heard him. During his homilies, he would become so excited and animated that he would find himself at a loss for words. His simple and straightforward explanations of what we believe led the Church to declare him a Doctor of the Faith. He joins 36 other saints who are also known as doctors for the way their words or example taught the faith to others. His relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
This is an excerpt from one of his homilies:
Listen to the Lord’s appeal: … You may run away from me as the Lord, but why not run to me as your father? Perhaps you are filled with shame ... Do not be afraid. This cross inflicts a mortal injury, not on me, but on death. These nails no longer pain me, but only deepen your love for me. I do not cry out because of these wounds, but through them I draw you into my heart. My body was stretched on the cross as a symbol, not of how much I suffered, but of my all-embracing love. I count it no less to shed my blood: it is the price I have paid for your ransom. Come, then, return to me and learn to know me as your father, who repays good for evil, love for injury, and boundless charity for piercing wounds.
St. Peter Chrysologus, the doctor of the Church who preached with golden words, pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Peter Chrysologus is in the public domain. Last accessed March 20, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
