Sunday Gospel
Be Ready, Be Good
The Gospel of Matthew 13:44–52
The kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he hides it again, goes off in his joy, sells everything he owns and buys the field. Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.
Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like a dragnet that is cast in the sea and brings in a haul of all kinds of fish. When it is full, the fishermen bring it ashore; then, sitting down, they collect the good ones in baskets and throw away those that are no use.
This is how it will be at the end of time: the angels will appear and separate the wicked from the upright, to throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. Have you understood all these?’ They said, ‘Yes.’
And he said to them, ‘Well then, every scribe who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of Heaven is like a householder who brings out from his storeroom new things as well as old.’
Whenever heaven is depicted in movies, it is always shown as a perfect place. Quiet, serene, and peaceful. When we feel good about something, when we experience triumph or victory, we call it heaven.
In our Gospel, our Lord Jesus speaks about the Kingdom of Heaven. Even in his descriptions, heaven speaks of abundance in being a hidden treasure and the dragnet cast into the sea which brought a haul of all kinds of fishes. Yet in the catch, a few bad catches were included and eventually thrown away. Jesus also compared the Kingdom of Heaven to a treasure hidden in the field that when found, it will out-value every treasure known.
We believe that our earthly journey is but a temporary one. It is a journey that prepares us for our true home with the Father. It is our treasure. It is our dragnet full of fishes. But how do we gain it?
Along the way, we will value things and even disregard the “pearl” as depicted in the Gospel. We fall into the temptation of indulging ourselves to material things.
But the question begs, will those things bring us to our true treasure? It is goodness that will bring us there. Our true home requires no extra baggage. On our way to our true home we must slowly shed off our extra-baggage of hate, materialism, envy, anger, jealousy among others.
Instead of those, let us practice every day extending an act of kindness, especially to those who are not asking it from us, that on the last day, we may really be worthy of looking face-to-face with our God. Be good. That’s the only way to gain our true treasure, the Kingdom of our Father in Heaven.
Ave Maria!
