In today’s Gospel Jesus compares the Reign of God to an immense treasure…a pearl of great price. Who among us has not dreamt of finding such a treasure? Imagine the impact it would have upon your life. How would you use it…what would you do differently within your life? That is exactly what Jesus is challenging us to do…to think of how different our lives would be if we “lived” in the Reign of God…all the time!
Usually when we think of finding a treasure we immediately think of financial gain and how that would change our lives and the lives of our family. But in this case we are challenged to think about how our lives would change from the point of view of how we love one another, how we care for each other…how we live the Gospel in our day to day lives. Challenging systemic racism and calling it out where we see it in public policies and practices, in our institutions and in individual interactions is living the Gospel! Finding and falling in love with the Reign of God is the whole point of the parables we hear today.
Pedro Arrupe, SJ, the former Superior General of the Jesuits, once wrote: “Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evenings, how you will spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love and it will decide everything."
What is at the center of my life…what motivates what I read, what gets me out of bed in the morning? How might my life be different if I were totally and completely in love with the Reign of God; if building up the Reign of God, loving all my sisters and brothers as Jesus loves me, came first before everything else?
Blessings,
Fr Tim
Usually when we think of finding a treasure we immediately think of financial gain and how that would change our lives and the lives of our family. But in this case we are challenged to think about how our lives would change from the point of view of how we love one another, how we care for each other…how we live the Gospel in our day to day lives. Challenging systemic racism and calling it out where we see it in public policies and practices, in our institutions and in individual interactions is living the Gospel! Finding and falling in love with the Reign of God is the whole point of the parables we hear today.
Pedro Arrupe, SJ, the former Superior General of the Jesuits, once wrote: “Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evenings, how you will spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love and it will decide everything."
What is at the center of my life…what motivates what I read, what gets me out of bed in the morning? How might my life be different if I were totally and completely in love with the Reign of God; if building up the Reign of God, loving all my sisters and brothers as Jesus loves me, came first before everything else?
Blessings,
Fr Tim
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