SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2023)
Readings:
1 Kings 3:5, 7-12
Psalms 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-130
Romans 8:28–30
Matthew 13:44-52
Had enough parables? For the past three weeks we have been treated to a series of parables spoken by Jesus in the evangelist Matthew’s gospel. If nothing more, it gives us a sense of how often Jesus’ teaching must have been in the form of parables. Webster defines parables as: “a short allegorical story designed to illustrate or teach some truth, religious principle, or moral lesson; a statement or comment that conveys a meaning indirectly by the use of comparison, analogy, or the like.” For us, the point of reference is always the “kingdom of heaven” or the “kingdom of God.” Parables are meant to prompt a response in Jesus’ listeners, and the responses are not required to be identical. Indeed, in any given thinking crowd, the interpretations may vary, for the discovery of truths about God, and God’s kingdom, could very well be endless. That is why scholars are in virtual agreement that those rare moments when the gospels have Jesus detailing what a given parable means, are generally the work of the evangelist, and not Jesus, for it blunts the effect of a parable which, by its very nature, is meant to be open-ended. Jesus couldn’t get enough of teaching with parables, and neither should we.
The first parable from today’s gospel allows us to be sidetracked by our moral sensibility (or, overly intellectual approach to the parable), for we would have liked some effort by the person to find the true owner of the treasure (it didn’t bury itself). I envision a middle-easterner of Jesus’ day with a primitive metal detector scanning field after field. Or did he have some insight into the presence of the treasure? Over analyzing once again; that’s not the point! The person puts the treasure back in the ground (is there criminality involved in this? Not the point), “sells all that he has and buys that field.” That’s it? How big was the treasure? What did he do with the money? Buy a yacht? Buy a political office? Become a philanthropist?
It is easy to be misled, for the treasure is the kingdom of heaven, and what is important is that he was willing to do anything and everything he could to be part of that kingdom. Are we willing to do anything and everything to be part of God’s kingdom? Can we renounce earthly pleasures? Can we turn our backs on the lure of unearned money? Can we embrace the suffering of the cross? Jesus wants His listeners to be challenged by the example of the person who did all that a person could do to obtain the ultimate treasure – the kingdom of God.
Slightly more legal, is the second parable of the “pearl of great price.” The person “goes and sells all that he has and buys it.” Pretty straight forward, and not unlike the parable of the treasure.
The third parable is more like the parable of the “weeds and the wheat” that we heard proclaimed last Sunday, yet it is about a drag net which gathers “fish of every kind.” The catch is not dealt with in the boat, for they “haul it all ashore,” even though some undesirable fish might have had their lives saved had they been thrown into the sea… over analyzing once again. The point is, the process of separating good from bad will happen at the end of the age. Indeed, it will take the angels of God to do the separating, for they will know those who are truly wicked or righteous.
Although it is not a parable, our first reading from the Book of Kings has much to offer. It could have been framed in a more parabolic fashion had Solomon found a genie’s bottle, rubbed it, and the genie came out to grant his every wish. It is parable-like to the extent we ask ourselves if God were to appear to us and promise to grant our every wish, what would we wish? Would we be seriously tempted to ask for a “long life,” “riches,” the death of “one’s enemies?” If Solomon was tempted, he resisted the temptation, and asked for an “understanding heart,” he asked for wisdom. His request was not selfish, it was directed at governing God’s people. An “understanding heart” would be of great benefit to Solomon, but hardly something from which he would benefit personally. He is not unlike the people in today’s parables who are willing to sacrifice everything for a chance to enter God’s kingdom. We should be like Solomon, and desire the humility, charity, and generosity that it takes to enter God’s kingdom. Go ahead. Pick up the bottle an rub it. What would you wish for?
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