This is especially true for the spiritual life. Jesus said, “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) Pursuing the Kingdom of heaven gives us the perspective with which to assess the value of everything else. As we grow in faith, the things we treasure seem to change in value. What we once cherished, the things of this world, lessen their grip on us, or rather, we lesson our grip on those things. As we set our sights on eternal life, we gain a proper perspective on material things. We usually go after what we treasure, whatever is most important to us.
So how intentional are you about pursuing the Kingdom of God, about getting after the field with buried treasure? How driven are you to pursue the eternal life Christ won for us by his passion, death and resurrection? One way to discover “where our treasure is” might be to make a list of all that is a current priority for us – not that which may be our “ideals,” but what we are actually pursuing, actually making time for and giving energy to. It’s amazing how many baptized Christians want to go to heaven but are doing virtually nothing to pursue the goal of eternal life as a priority.
For several generations now, young people have been told that the goal in life is to get a good education in order to get a good job that pays a lot of money, so that they can have all that they want in this life. Maybe you are or once were the recipient of that lesson. Today, we are surrounded by people who have no idea what life is about yet have found the pursuit of money and material goods an empty promise. What I call “the lifestyles of the rich and famous” is an endless pursuit of pleasure for its own sake that leaves a person feeling empty and unfulfilled, asking, “Isn’t there more to life than this?”
To get after the pursuit of the kingdom of heaven requires faith. Looking at the parables Jesus said in Sunday’s gospel, “The kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into bucket. What is bad they throw away.” In other words, there will be an accounting for our lives when Jesus comes again in glory. In the parable he said, “Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.” People who believe this and take it to heart live accordingly. People who say things like “God would not do something like that” are basically lacking in faith. They’re pretending to be like a god, but they don’t believe in the true God at his word.
Recently, I read a book entitled Preparation for Death by St. Alphonsus Ligouri (1696-1787). The book is out of print but a friend of mine was reading it and she obtained a used copy of it for me. While it is rather intense, it presents a serious look at how the vast majority of people go about their lives without preparing to meet the Lord and without taking serious account of their sinfulness. I thought to myself, if a priest during his homily were to simply read what St. Alphonsus teaches in these pages, I think there would be two responses: one of rejection because what he teaches would make all of us, including bishops and priests, squirm with uneasiness. The other response would be that of conversion. Many people would become more circumspect in the practice of their faith and seek to amend their lives.
What the world really needs are counter-witnesses to the prevailing secular priorities of our age. What is confounding for this age are people of faith who make the practice of their faith, both the worship of the Triune God and the loving care of their neighbors, the priority of their lives. This is on us! It is not something we can pay others to do for us. Rather, living our faith consistently as a priority in our lives is how we touch others with the credibility of the Gospel. In a world that says Christians are phony, pious, judgmental and intolerant, we must be witnesses of the Christian faith that is beyond reproach. When we love God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves, our lives have a greater authenticity, and people are drawn to the faith.
All of us have the duty to pursue an ongoing conversion of mind and heart, purifying the practice of our faith and asking for the grace to live humbly, charitably and courageously according to the Gospel. We must never say one thing and yet do another. We can’t pick and choose what teachings of the Church we will follow and those that we will set aside because they are inconvenient and maybe calling us to a deeper conversion. In baptism we received the light of Christ, the light of faith. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “You are the light of the world…Let your light shine before others.” (Matthew 5: 15-16) This is the light of faith that we have been given to offer to the world. God working through us is as humbling as it is powerful.
But just imagine if all of us who are Catholic would “get after” heaven with a new passion, honesty, integrity and resolve to bear the light of Christ to the world. Imagine if we made it our intention to cooperate with God’s grace because the kingdom of heaven IS the pearl of great price! Imagine if we lived like we’re pursuing what money cannot buy, what lasts forever, what is indescribably beautiful and utterly amazing….eternal life with the communion of saints! My friends, let us put aside some of the things that preoccupy our lives that keep us from pursuing the pearl of great price – life on high with God in the communion of saints in heaven. Let’s get after it!
