Stumbling Upon the Treasure

The Gospel for this Sunday says "A man found a treasure hidden in the field... A man found a fine pearl..." The Gospel does not say that they were looking or searching for the treasure or the pearl. {The merchant was in search of fine pearls, but was nonetheless not expecting he would find one such fine pearl}. Hence, it could be that while they were going about their daily routine of ploughing the field, or sowing the seeds, or throwing their nets or rowing their boats, they unexpectedly stumbled upon the treasure or the pearl. Hence, their great joy their valuable find. Had they not gone through their daily tasks patiently, boring or tiring though it might have been, they would not have found the treasure or the pearl.

Great and valuable treasures, therefore, are not to be found in some special times or places other than in the daily, ordinary routine of our lives. Happy weekend!

http://picturepost.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/fishermen.jpg

Wheat among the Weeds

The more popular title of this parable from Matthew 13:24-43 is "Weeds among the Wheat." I wonder whether it is possible to call it instead, "Parable of the Wheat among the Weeds." The former title seem to presuppose that there are more wheat than weeds. Well, because as the parable says, it was what the owner of the vineyard planted.

If we are to grant the explanation that the wheat are the "good" people, and the weeds are the "bad" people whom God has allowed to exist alongside the good people, aren't there times when it seems that there are more bad people than good people. And amidst the growing numbers of bad people, it seems more and more difficult to be good. It's difficult to be a wheat among the weeds, especially if the weeds grow faster than the wheat.

With this feeling, we find the St Paul's very consoling:
"The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness;
for we do not know how to pray as we ought,
but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.
And the one who searches hearts
knows what is the intention of the Spirit,
because he intercedes for the holy ones
according to God’s will."

Take courage, then, wheat of God.

Seeds of Prayer and Silence

Sunday, July 13, I am giving a day of recollection to some nuns of the Religious Sisters of Mercy in Camp Philips, Bukidnon. I surfed the internet to get an idea who they are. I found out who their foundress was, Catherine McAuley. And she has some beautiful words worth pondering on. I decided to offer these quotations as recollection points for the sisters. Like the Sunday Gospel, Catherine makes use of the image of planting.

Prayer is a plant the seed of which is sown in the heart of every Christian, but its growth entirely depends on the care we take to nourish it.

Retreat Instructions, p. 90

Thus we go on…flourishing in the very midst of the Cross, more than a common share of which has latterly fallen to my lot, thanks be to God. I humbly trust it is the cross of Christ. I endeavor to make it in some way like his by silence.

Letter to Frances Warde May 15, 1838

Happy Sunday!

Isn't It Heavy?

Don't we sometimes want to ask the Lord, "You said your yoke is easy, and your burden light. But actually, what you are asking me to do, the tasks you are giving me, the challenges you are asking me to face, the cross you are asking me to bear are not at easy or light! Under the weight of all these, I fall to the ground, I hurt my knees, I see sweat and blood on my skin. What made you say it is easy and light?"

But to ask this question is to miss to hear what the Lord says before these words. He says: "Come to me all who labor and are heavily burdened. Learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart. Your souls will find rest." Only if we come close to the Lord and learn from Him will our yokes and burden be easier and lighter. And there close to Him, we shall find His hand extended to us in assistance, His shoulder offered to us to lay our heads, His heart open in welcome and acceptance.

May this experience of the Lord's assuring presence inspire to say in response: I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.

Doubters' day

Many Catholics ask whether doubting the existence or the presence of God is a sin. Today's feast of St. Thomas, popularly known as the "Doubting Thomas" should answer that question. In the encounter between the Risen Christ and Thomas, our Lord granted Thomas' request: that he probe the nailprints and put his hands on our Lord's side. Jesus welcomed the doubts of Thomas and helped him through it and invited him to faith. Thomas' doubts, then, became a stepping stone to faith. And we are told that his profession of faith in Jesus as Lord and God the sums up all the other all previous professions of faith of the other characters in John's Gospel.

We are, then, in good company! Happy feastday, doubters!