Homily - 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time - 30th July 2023

Homily

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

30th July 2023

In the Book of Revelations, chapter 3 verse 20, Jesus says “Look, I am standing at the door, knocking. If one of you hears me calling and opens the door, I will come in to share a meal with the person and that person with me.”

How many of us are dumb because of our earphones blocking us from hearing Jesus at the door? How many of us have bolted the door, set the alarm in the hope that no-one will dare to come and knock on our door? Do we have a locked gate at the end of the drive that prevents Jesus from coming up to the door to knock?

One of the conversations I had this week was with a priest who mentioned everyone is spending their time striving to achieve things. Striving to make ends meet to be able to pay the bills, striving to do well in their job to get a promotion, striving to be something important to advance their careers. But the sacrifices being made are neglect of spouses, neglect of children, and neglect of building a home. Our relationships become broken. We become blind to what is important.

Solomon was overwhelmed by being given so much responsibility after being made king. He had what we would call today ‘imposter syndrome’, a psychological problem where high achievers doubt their capabilities. Solomon recognised God was the one who put him in this position. He was young and inexperienced. In today’s world how many of us would be praying to win the Lottery assuming that being given so much wealth would solve our problems?

If that was all we would be given, we would probably find that we lacked the wisdom the handle the situation we found ourselves in. Who could we trust to advise us? For someone to be given such immense wealth can be very destructive. Winners are taken out of their familiar surroundings, their safe place, to think things over. An advisor is assigned to them who potentially stays with them for many years. They are no longer their own masters. The winners swap one problem for another. Suddenly, they become susceptible to scammers wanting to take their money. Even the banks are not safe places to store their winnings, so they are advised to place their new instant wealth into multiple bank accounts.

‘Sudden Wealth Syndrome’ is a term coined by psychologists for people who after a win experience extreme anxiety and sleepless nights brought on by the worry their new wealth brings.

God knew even back in Solomon’s day that many would have asked for lifelong riches if they were given the same opportunity as Solomon. God had simply asked what Solomon would like God to give to him. What Solomon treasured most was to have the wisdom in his heart to understand the difference between right and wrong. This pleased God, who gave him what he needed to have a heart that was wise and shrewd.

It wasn’t long before Solomon had to make a judgment on who a child’s mother was. Two women claimed a baby boy was theirs’. Sadly, another child had died, and the mother stole the other woman’s child. When Solomon threatened to cut the living child in two the true mother, wanting her son’s life spared, offered to give the boy to the other woman. She was prepared to sacrifice her future with her son. The other woman was happy both children die, so neither of them would have a child. In this simple action on Solomon’s part, the true mother was revealed and could be reunited with her son.

Our true treasure is the Word of God. If we truthfully follow him, he will guide us through the storms, and we will come out the other side. He will comfort us with his kindness. We will understand the purpose of his laws, knowing they will lead us to his kingdom.

To the true mother, the precious gift was her son. She would make any sacrifice for his life. The treasure in the field and the fine pearl in the sea are worth selling everything for. They represent the Kingdom of God.

We are also reminded that like the fisherman’s catch, what he discovers in the nets needs to be separated for what is good and what is bad, throwing away the latter. Like the harvest where the wheat and darnel must be separated at the end times.

The treasure and the pearl are sudden finds, giving joy to the ones who found them. Just as we can be surprised on hearing a knock at the door and discover it is Jesus calling. In that moment, that joy of seeing this guest, are we prepared to give up all we thought was important, to welcome Jesus in and share a meal with him? Around the table, we will have the opportunity to share our stories, old and new, like the scribes who are disciples of the kingdom of heaven.

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