(Mt 13:44–52)

Treasure and Pearl – forms of inner life

(or the anonymous burden, toil, and deprivation, of collective rituals)

(Mt 13:44–46)

Jesus does not wish to make us merely poor, but rather Allies – not because he intends to enrich us with ‘higher goods’ in a generic sense.

The Encounter and his Action not only free us from attachment to things (as was once said, as a cornerstone of negative discernment).

His Presence completes and fulfils us in His Name, in every respect.

He wants us to emancipate ourselves swiftly and radically: through the capacity for acquisition and fulfilment, not through emptying and depersonalisation.

The choice or ‘renunciation’ He asks of us does not concern trivial matters.

He does not allow what is worthless to come to the fore. For this reason, He does not diminish us.

Ancient religion emphasised manners and collective rituals; thus, paradoxically, it focused attention precisely on what is transitory for everyone – that which certainly did not deserve to be overrated.

The Lord knows that there is a ‘more and better’ than the petty acts of mortification and the common, anonymous choices.

Indeed, he does not speak of sacrifices for the Kingdom, but of Joy, of the fullness of being.

As the Message for the 27th World Youth Day states, the whole experience of Faith is for Joy – the measure and Source of the heart: Happiness even in Conversion and in trials (nos. 5–6).

In short, the divine state comes of its own accord, offering itself freely: it is not a reward for previous, superficial merits.

Yet it brings everything into play, so that we may embark on a complete quest – not one of burdens, toil and deprivation. Nor, for that matter, of approval.

The total Word is the real prize.

A hidden treasure that must first be hidden once more (v. 44)!

We realise that we have seen only part of it; there is still much more to discover.

It is not something that can be verified immediately and completely.

Take note: it must be hidden away once more! The codes of healing do not take the form of external rituals.

This is the crux of the matter, because such Splendour does not belong to the rituals of folklore, or to the accompanying duties, which would make us prisoners.

Precisely: the impetus to break free from clichés, from protocol, from conformist herd behaviour, becomes an opportunity to discover something new.

The authentic Kingdom will not be intrusive: it does not demand adherence – on pain of exclusion. It delivers other messages, transformative from within.

We grasp it at our very core, because it corresponds to the plan for a full life that dwells within us and which we mysteriously sense to be our own.

We realise: it shifts our perspective, it makes us feel at ease. It leads us to discover other worlds, and our very core; beyond the problems that plague us.

Outside the machinery of thoughts and the ‘everyone does it’ mentality – the realm of the mind can produce different, eccentric perceptions; not so much ideas, but rather images, perhaps seemingly absurd.

But it draws on significant experiences of other energies, both cosmic and deeply personal; thus of oneself, of others, of unconventional views, and of God.

Multifaceted and converging perspectives, mysteriously allied: which do not force us to live as strangers to ourselves, yet chart a different future.

Here the inexplicable takes place.

The insecure become resolute; the loser is transformed, by grace, into a sage – even by fully embracing hardships (these are not obstacles to be eliminated).

We realise that embracing the wellspring of the Logos and living out one’s personal Vocation will not be terrifying, but regenerating.

Those who shift their thoughts, stake everything on it, and bring forth their very essence.

They will be an approachable Person, not one to be manipulated.

The multifaceted Friendship with one’s own eminent and profound Self will transcend all artificial values.

In the Spirit and in real life – even that which was previously deemed inferior – each person will discover the Magnificent that others cannot even remotely imagine could excel so intimately.

We shall also learn about Communion – the conviviality of differences – from within.

In ancient times, pearls were the most precious and splendid of things: in short, humankind is on a quest for Beauty as the meaning of life and of one’s own personality.

But who is the Beautiful person, truly fascinating and living a life that is whole, not merely superficial?

Before allowing himself to become an apostle, Matthew assumed that his priceless Diamond lay in hoarding. And he must change his mind.

Saul imagined that the boundless gem – the authenticity of man – lay in the faultlessness of the devout and practising believer. The inflexibility of one who observed all the traditions (including oral ones) of the people, and belonged to the most consistent and strict faction of the Pharisees.

Suddenly, both perceive the difference between the Love of those who truly encounter Christ and the rubbish and ugliness of childish beliefs – which always made them feel as though they were in the wrong.

These ‘creeds’, learned by rote and external to the woman and the man, in fact produced people who were subsequently unapproachable, two-faced, unreliable and disloyal; freeloaders, dangerous, cunning, violent, and always ready to cheat.

God’s free Gift urges us to seek the Precious Pearl: that which is delightful, brotherly, generous, lovable and not to be missed.

It is the life of believers transformed into people of Faith who learn the necessity of transformation, for life’s sake.

Adults endowed with a childlike spirit: who no longer feel the weight of others’ judgements bearing down upon them, based on absurd expectations, nor in the common distinction between ‘in’ and ‘out’.

This may stem simply from the discrepancy between the mythology of the extraordinary, devout ‘role models’ promoted in certain elite circles, and one’s own lived experience (which has been instilled as inadequate).

Critical witnesses therefore choose no longer to be unsettled by the temporary and circumstantial commitments normally touted – nor by any form of empty spirituality.

In this way, we will no longer be scolded by the obligations of our role, by dates, by fixed timetables or those imposed by others… who fail to recognise the hopes of the Person.

And the soul will no longer be reduced to a subservient dependent who must constantly make comparisons and impose upon itself futile, forced and insidious relationships (for fear of remaining isolated).

The preciousness of the Gospel, the precious uniqueness of Faith in Christ, and his authentic Kingdom are the true Capital that brings happiness.

The most beautiful surprise of the genuine Church: that it has nothing in common with the fiction of identifications – which pays no heed to humanisation – nor with the inculcated ostentation of so many external things.

The people of the children born to new life will find wealth simply in the very being of things, in the furrows of history; in the soul, and in trials.

From concealment, from patient silence, from sudden reality, understanding, empathy and spontaneous connections arise.

Voices that may come to visit us, to change our lives and make them unpredictable.

Exceptional encounters tell the soul: we are not merely the hardships that afflict us.

But one must know how to wait for those events.

The Net, the Beautiful, and the Rotten

(Mt 13:47–53)

    The ‘treasure’ is the Gospel, the Word of God: a real bargain (v. 44). The ‘pearl’ of humanity is Jesus (vv. 45–46).

The ‘Kingdom’ is the gift of the living assembly – a people without merit, with an unexpected outcome; the culmination of the commitment to the pursuit of the best.

The parable of the Net emphasises the Outcome of the Kingdom of God, that is, the formative and active fruit of the community, the sphere in which God ‘reigns’.

The Church envisaged by Christ is like a net that draws us up into the light, to breath, to a life lived to the full.

A conviviality of differences that brings about the rebirth of each and every one, without, however, retaining what is rotten and decayed [‘spoilt’: v.48 Greek text], that is, that which has no life, nor offers it any longer.

This is not a trivial moralistic or legalistic judgement between good and bad!

It is the distinction between that which remains full and ‘beautiful’ (in the Eastern sense) and that which – being putrid – corrupts and degrades, leaving irreparable decay.

In short: it is in fraternal realities that God has a foothold on earth.

In Communion, the Lord becomes a Nest and a Real Presence. An ally who, even in difficult moments, enables us to tap into regenerative energies.

Friendship and the eminent Self, a Haven and a vocational Instinct which, though hidden, fills the journey, transforming it into a Relationship; even in fleeting and brief moments.

There He is, Living within us, as He causes the Joy of living to well up, for He fills each person’s mind and enables the dialogue and exchange of gifts that make us leap for joy.

In this way, we ourselves are the divine intervention in people’s ordinary lives, when we respond to and collaborate with His creative and life-giving action, which brings about an abundant and complete existence.

No exclusion or condemnation: only joy, in the sense of the fullness of the vital current.

The Father returns with care to every child. His work does not reject the ‘flawed piece’ out of hand, but only that which is not necessary for a full life.

Now the world is a mixed bag, and we must not detach ourselves from our times; yet this does not mean we should not pay attention to what is eternally human.

Let us embrace the things of our world, but let us strive to go beyond the contingent – through intensity, through love: all that is beautiful.

Believers are responsible for passing on the Faith (v.52). In this way, they help others to understand the wisdom of the Kingdom, the difference between customs and the personal Call.

Those close to the Lord invite everyone to be patient, so that each person may have time to grow, and so that their choices may be ‘useful’. And beautiful (v.48).

Everything we have already absorbed through our family upbringing thus takes on a lovable, profound, intimate, engaging and creative dimension.

And at the same time, a broader purpose, yet one illuminated from within.

And here lies the Joy of discovering hidden Treasures.

To internalise and live out the message:

Has the experience of community touched you deeply and enriched your understanding of God?