Summary: The long version of today's homily, is a reflection on the discoveries of the treasure and of the pearl that Jesus has just told us about in today's Gospel.
There is a saying in Latin: qui amat, non laborat. He who loves does not work. When we like something, when we love something, it is not difficult for us to make sacrifices for what we desire. The goal may require a great effort, but we are ready to work for it because it is worth doing. Climbing the mountain is always demanding, but in order to see the best views we know it is necessary to go to the top. Many examples of this could be given, and surely we all have some experience with this in our own lives.
Christ is the treasure in today's Gospel. Are we willing to embrace the sacrifices that are necessary to receive Him? Stay with this word: everything. "Sell everything you have and buy the field." In other words, Jesus tells us, in order to reach him, it is not enough to be very generous and give him many things, but we must be willing to renounce everything. "Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. “(Mt 10:39)
The second teaching is that for Christ it is worth giving everything. That we should empty ourselves with joy because we know that there is no proportion between the little we can sacrifice and how much we are going to receive as a result of that denial.
So today we ask the Lord to give us love, courage, faith, trust, zeal, generosity - have I already said courage? - to gamble our lives on a single card, to jump from the plane without a parachute, knowing that for those who put all their trust in the Lord, Christ never fails them. He will fill your hearts with the most intense and purest joy that you can experience, and after the struggles and sacrifices of this life, he will open the door to eternal joys in paradise.
Christ is the treasure in today's Gospel. Is it worth gambling your
whole life on a single card? Is it wise to risk everything for the
Lord? Saint Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians: "For his sake I
have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much
rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” (Phil 3.8)
I wonder what we
are really willing to sacrifice for the love of Jesus. I wonder if we
really are convinced that Jesus is the true treasure of our lives, the
pearl of great value for which we are willing to sell everything.
We
have heard many times that the word “Gospel” means "good news" in
Greek. Is our relationship with the Lord really good news? A cause for
joy? Notice that, in the parable that Jesus shares with us today, the
person who finds the hidden treasure does not sacrifice everything he
has with sadness, or resignation, or with tears in his eyes. What drives
him to give everything is joy. “and out of joy goes and sells all that
he has and buys that field.” He is happy because he knows that in
exchange, he gains everything. Saint Paul returns to give us light: in
the same letter to the Philippians he summarizes his entire existence
with these words: "For to me life is Christ.” (Phil 1:21)
Now
we see clearly what is sometimes so difficult for us to understand. We
understand why there have been people who have died for this treasure.
We understand the madness of those who abandon personal projects and
place themselves totally in the hands of the God who made himself Man
for us. Only in this way do we capture the beauty of someone who empties
himself in service of his family and the Church. They are not crazy
people. They are not miserable people who have lost their minds. They
are not objects of pity for having embraced the mystery of the Cross.
These are people in love. People passionately in love. People with souls
overflowing with a joy that if we were to experience, we might cause us
to die of joy. They are people who seemed to be out of their minds when
they bought the field because nobody could see the treasure buried in
it, but they have proven with their audacity and determination to be the
wisest, with that wisdom that the first reading spoke to us about,
which consists not in having more but in being more.
Dear
brothers and sisters, today's Gospel parables compel us to think about
ourselves. The only adequate response to the discovery of the treasure
or the pearl is the complete surrender of ourselves. We cannot
negotiate, because only those who give their all receive the reward of
their generosity. In other words: either we give everything, or we are
left with nothing. There is no middle ground. Christ or the world. Glory
or mediocrity. Life or death.
I beg you to
take the Word of God that we have just heard to heart and to ask
yourself if you have already sold everything for Christ. If you are
willing to give everything for the Lord. If for you, Christ is your only
treasure, your only wealth.
If Jesus is your greatest joy. If in your love for him you would sacrifice the most secret longings of your heart.
We
should leave this church today with a certain feeling of vertigo
because I believe that God is inviting us to sell everything for his Son
Jesus. We can go home as if we had not heard this Gospel, as if it were
not for us, as if our lives could continue on in the same after what
Christ has just said to us. Or we can take it seriously, make it the
beginning of an inner revolution. We can look at the crucified Christ,
who also gave everything for us, feel disgust at our pettiness and
decide not to haggle with God over what we know he is asking of us.
May
the Holy Trinity grant us the generosity of great souls. May he grant
us to see in Jesus the cause of the greatest joy in this life and in the
next. May he give us, like Solomon, a wise heart that understands the
ways of holiness and making use of all things - because all things serve
the good of those who love God. May he allow us to achieve the
happiness experienced only by those who are willing to give everything.
