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17
th
Sunday in ordinary time Year A
July 27, 2014

Good fish or bad fish?

California Couple finds $10 million dollars in buried gold coins.
That was the big headline news back in February of 2013, and Im sure like winning the 649, it fits into the great
Canadian dream of landing a treasure. When I read todays Gospel it brought that story to mind and it fits perfectly with
the first parable that Jesus gives us today, a parable of discovering a treasure.

People at the time of Christ would easily understand this parable because they had no banks or safety deposit boxes like
we do today. In the turmoil of the times they would take their valuable possessions and hide them, usually burying
them somewhere on their property to avoid robbery. Wars and persecutions forced people to move and many times
they were killed or died before they could return to retrieve their treasures. The first parable describes a man who
found such a treasure. He was probably a farm worker tilling the land when he came upon it. Unlike nowadays, the
finder would probably just take what they found, you know the saying, Finders keepers, losers weepers but this fellow
re-buried the treasure, and sold everything he had, so that he could buy the field, because legally the treasure belonged
to the land owner so this was the only way he could claim it as his own.

The second parable, in search of a treasure, is similar but a little different than the first. A business man is looking
through Pearls in search of the finest pearl. When he finds it he sells everything so that he can buy it. Today pearls
arent so expensive because most are cultured and they are easy to get, but at the time of Christ divers risked their lives
to search for pearls in deep water. Because of this they were very rare and were the most valuable of all gems. Pearls
were often bought as investments, much like Diamonds today.

There are slight differences between the two stories, the first man wasnt actually looking for treasure when he found it,
and the second knew exactly what he was looking for.

But what do these stories mean? What is Jesus trying to tell us?

Like the man tilling the field, we always must be ready to find Jesus for he will come to us when we are least expecting
him, through an experience that can happen at any moment. Many people relate stories of their conversion to Christ
happening in a much unexpected way. The scriptures often tell us that we need to be ready whenever and however
Jesus comes into our lives and we need to be open and accepting of these experiences.

In the second parable, the business man is on the lookout for the Pearl of great price. He knows it exists and uses all
of his energy to find it. Jesus is Our pearl of great price all we have to do is look for him and be attentive and
responsive to his presence. We must be constantly aware of the meaning of the Gospel, and always searching for ways
to understand more, to love more and to serve more.

Similarly both men sell everything they own to be able to get their treasure. They, like so many other examples in
scripture, give all they have for Jesus. They dedicate their lives to Christ.

In the first reading King Solomon is told by God to ask for whatever he wants. This is also a question that Jesus
sometimes asks in the Gospel and is asking of us in todays Mass. How are we going to answer? What do I most want to
have or to be right now? A good guess, as I said earlier, would be the great Canadian dream of landing a windfall lottery
or finding buried treasure!

But what did Solomon ask for? He asked for a heart to understand the difference between God and evil. In other
words he asked for wisdom and discernment.

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Solomon was asking God for the ability to see. This is the treasure hidden in the field; this is the fine pearl that the
business man so diligently searches for. The ability to see is what opens the door to the Kingdom of God. Matthew 7:7
tells us: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

But why are our prayers so often not answered? Is it because of what we ask for or how we ask for it? Jesus teaches us
in the Lords Prayer how to ask. Give us this day our daily bread, were asking for the physical and spiritual food that we
need to sustain us. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive others. Are we truly sorry for our sinfulness and do we
sincerely forgive those who hurt us? Lead us not into temptation, give us strength to do what is right and not always
follow the popular way. Deliver us from evil, help us to understand, like Solomon the difference between good and evil.

Much of the time we chase treasures like the 649, but these treasures of money, status and pleasure are false treasures.
Chasing these we often miss the treasure of the moment, we miss the call of Jesus that is present and all around us. I
guess you could say that we walk past our buried treasure; or that our valuable pearl sometimes slips right by.

The third parable, separating the bad fish from the good fish can easily be applied to all of us if we search for the wrong
treasure. When we find Jesus our pearl and follow him we number ourselves with the good fish.

When we strive to attain material goods and wealth selfishly to prove our status, we become the bad fish in the basket.
Remember the warning from Mathew; (6: 24), You cannot serve both God and wealth. We can easily lose sight of
what we need to be looking for when we pursue wealth for the wrong reasons. Jesus doesnt condemn wealth, but its
what we do with our riches that matter.

Jesus used very practical parables concerning very simple and ordinary examples. He used farmers and fisherman and
everyday business people in his illustrations, not Kings and Queens with their many gods. These examples taught the
people that the Kingdom of God was close at hand and was something that they knew, not something so far off that
they couldnt comprehend, and these stories are still valid today. They involved very ordinary people like us, and they
are hardly an exalted vision of heaven.

Jesus is teaching us that the kingdom is close at hand, and that we dont need to win the lottery to find it but we do
need to choose our way. By choosing good we actually choose God and our pathway to heaven becomes clearer
and easier to follow.

So what has the California couple done with their hidden treasure and new found fortune? This we dont know.

What about us, are we choosing God over evil? Are we constantly looking for Christ, the treasure we cannot buy?
When we do find our pearl, are we grabbing onto him, are we inviting him into the depths of our hearts, or are we
letting him slip by?

Do we number ourselves amongst the good fish?