Reflections in Ordinary Time

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - July 24, 2005

The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.

Matthew 13: 45-46

The Pearl of Great Price

Sometimes I am so preoccupied with my everyday concerns that I forget why God put me on this earth in the first place. I know by faith that God created me to love me, and my only purpose in life is to grow in love so I can be with God in heaven forever. I know that nothing is more important than God’s love. I know I can’t be happy without it. But sometimes I’m just too busy for it.

The world is a very complicated place. Just getting by in it takes most of my time and energy. I practically wear myself out trying to make a living. And to make things worse, the longer I am in the world, the more I get attached to it. Even though I know my stay in this world is temporary, I’ve made myself at home in it, and I’ve actually gotten comfortable with my surroundings. It’s easy to lose sight of the real reason I’m here.

God put me on this earth to prepare me for heaven. I don’t fully understand why he chose to do it this way. I sometimes feel like I have been sent into exile. But I trust God even when I don’t understand him. I think he sent me here so I would know what it is like to be separated from him. He knew that he couldn’t force his love on me. If I didn’t accept it freely, it wouldn’t be love. He had to find a way for me to want his love more than anything else. So he sent me to a place where I could feel what it is like to be without it.

God wants me to see that nothing can compare with his love. He has given me the freedom to learn this for myself. He has allowed me to make many mistakes, to seek satisfaction in worthless things, to set my heart on much less than his love. But at last I have learned that nothing less than God will do. His love really is “the pearl of great price,” and it is worth giving up everything else for. Finally I know where my treasure is.

God our Father, without you nothing has value. Guide us to everlasting life by helping us to use wisely the blessings you have given to the world. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God forever and ever. Amen.

- from the mass for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Read a reflection on being poor in spirit and rich in God's love.