Gospel Reflection on Matthew 13:44-52
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July 26, 2026
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net which was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind; when it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into vessels but threw away the bad. So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.
“Have you understood all this?” They said to him, “Yes.” And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
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I heard a delightful story about a couple putting their newborn to bed. Their four-year-old said to them, "I want to talk to the baby, now and by myself." This is what they heard their boy say to his baby brother, "Quick, tell me where you came from. Quick, tell me who made you. I am beginning to forget." Could that be true? Have most of us forgotten?
Most spiritualities say we've all indeed begun to forget who we are. Universal amnesia seems to be the problem. Is it possible that at some level we do know our true self? Does some part of us still know who we really are? Could human life's central task be a matter of consciously discovering and becoming who we already are and what we somehow unconsciously know?
Life is not a matter of creating a special name for ourselves, but of uncovering the name we have always had. Most native cultures look for symbols at a child's birth, and that became the child's sacred name. Early Christian writers tell us that this search for our original name is also at the same time a search for God. But our ongoing curiosity about our true self seems to lessen when we settle into a successful role. At that point, we've allowed other people to define us from the outside, although we may not realize it.
Thomas Merton once said, If I had a message for my times, it is surely this: Be anything you like. Be madmen, drunks, and bastards of every shape and form. But at all costs avoid one thing: success.' If you're too obsessed with success, you will forget to live. If you've learned only how to be a success, your life has probably been wasted. If we are obsessed about success, we end up like the older brother in the story of the prodigal son.
Sadly, the feeling we're left with when we give our lives in service is not joy and gratitude. for having been given this opportunity to serve, but rather resentment that the load fell on our shoulders and that so many in the world are having a fling while we're on the straight and narrow. Too often among good and honest people we find a spirit of bitter moralizing that colors their generosity and their sacrifice.
It's not easy to let go of our dreams, ambitions, and comfort for the sake of God, duty, family, community. How might we do it? How might we imitate the faithfulness of the older brother without falling into his envy and bitterness?
Jesus offers us a model. It seems to be the case that he lived a life of generosity and surrender and yet never fell into the same kind of self-pity that comes from having missed out. He was never disappointed or bitter that he'd given his life over. He always remains free, warm, forgiving, radiating a joy that shocked his contemporaries. What was the secret?
The answer the gospel tells us lies in the parable of the one who is plowing a field and finds a buried treasure, or the merchant who after years of searching finds the pearl. In each case they give away everything so they can buy the treasure or the pearl. Neither regrets for a second what they gave up, but each acts out of the unspeakable joy of what they have discovered. Only this kind of self-sacrifice makes sense. If the pain of what is sacrificed overshadows the joy of what is discovered, we end up doing the right thing but with the wrong energy, carrying other people's crosses and sending them the bill. And we will be unable to stop ourselves from being judgmental, bitter, and secretly envious of others.
Our focus must always be on the treasure, the pearl, the rich meaning, the joy that comes from discovering who we are really meant to be, our true name. The joyful energy that comes from that discovery takes us beyond self-pity and envy, and then we will truly find our pearl.
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