HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE SEVENTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE II
THEME: The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he hides it again, goes off happy, sells everything he owns and buys the field.
BY: Fr. Diotacious Chikontwe SMA
HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY JULY 27 2022
*READINGS OF THE DAY*
Jeremiah 15:10,16-21
Psalm 58:2-5,10-11,17-18
Matthew 13:44-46
*LITURGICAL COLOUR*
Green
*ABOUT THE FIRST READING*
In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah in which we heard how the people of God in Judah had treated the prophet badly, persecuted him and oppressed him, while also refusing to listen to him and his words. God had called Jeremiah to follow Him and to do His will, in delivering His message to His people, telling them that if they continued to sin and disobey Him, they would soon face great sufferings, humiliations and catastrophe. Jeremiah was tasked with the hard work of delivering God’s warning to His people as well as the almost impossible task of calling on the people to turn back towards God.
*ABOUT THE GOSPEL READING*
Today’s gospel parable compares the kingdom of heaven to a hidden treasure or to a pearl of great price. Pearls, in the ancient world, represent the supremely valuable and the greatest treasure a man could possess. In biblical times, people are constantly threatened by brigands, domestic wars and foreign invasions. And so what they do in order to safeguard their most cherished belongings especially money and jewelry, they bury them in the ground. It is because they had no safe, no vaults to keep their priceless possessions. And if the owners die or is exiled and could not go back anymore, the treasures are still buried in the ground for years to be found later by some treasure hunters.
*CONCLUSION*
Through this parable the Lord is saying to us that if we keep seeking him we will find him. As Jesus says elsewhere in the gospels, ‘Seek and you will find’. We need to keep seeking the Lord, but the first parable reminds us that the Lord is always seeking us and, sometimes, he will find us, touch our lives, at a time when he is far from our mind and heart. There is always a greater search going on than our search of the Lord and that is the Lord’s search of us.
May God bless us all through Christ our Lord. Amen
Fr. Diotacious Chikontwe SMA