At some point in our life we have all had something that we have had our heart set upon with great desire. In order to obtain whatever this may be we had to save our money and work hard in order to obtain what we desired. We of course would never have obtained anything if we were never willing to put any effort into motion. Maybe this was saving up for a video game system such as the Playstation 4, saving for a new bicycle, saving as a family for a trip to Disney World, saving for your first car, or that last stretch of saving leading to retirement. No matter what this item was we first realized how greatly we desired it and then worked hard to obtain our goal. Our Gospel does not present us with the final goal of receiving a possession which in time passes away, but instead it presents us with the great reality of obtaining for ourself the joys of eternal life. Our Gospel tells us that the Kingdom of heaven is a like a merchant who is searching for a fine pearl which upon finding is willing to sell everything in order to obtain it.
We are each being invited daily to both discover and obtain this fine pearl of great price. Once we truly come to discover it we will in return see the great value that it presents to us. In our discovery of this great treasure we will realize that nothing whatsoever could fulfill our desires like Christ is able to do. Of course we can claim that we have already made such a discovery because after all we are at Church today, we pray, we study the Bible, and we do good things for other people, but may we realize that such a discovery requires us to always dig deeper. It is one thing to know that these things are important and it is a totally different thing to actually come to obtain it by the very actions of our life. As we have saved and worked hard to obtain many of our life's desires; may we be willing to do the same to discover and obtain this fine pearl of great price.
Religion and in return God may not seem to be the most valuable thing for us to obtain. After all the many things which fill our life are tangible and thus we are able to touch them and look upon them. Religion, as we know, is different because we cannot touch it and we cannot see it. With religion we are to have faith in order that we may better be able to believe. Because of this it is easy for us to forget and to not realize the importance of the great treasure that we do have. I promise that what we will discover will truly be life changing; not because we will be bound to a list of rules, but instead because it will only be here that we will be truly liberated from all that enslaves us. This pearl of great price will truly set us free and will come to give us comfort at all of life's darkest moments. This pearl of great price will order us towards the perfection that is found in God who created us out of love and desires that we in return reciprocate this great love to Him.
Therefore we must ask how it will be that we can come to discover and obtain this pearl of great price. We must realize that primarily we must build up a relationship with God; not hidden behind the excuses of I go to Church, I pray, or I read the bible; because we like to use these excuses to not dig deeper in our faith. We must also evaluate our life through an examination of conscience and ask in what ways we have committed sin; because we grow comfortable in our sin and even begin to justify it's place in our life. If through this examination of conscience we realize the place of mortal sin we must immediately return to the Sacrament of Confession and through our realization of all of our sin we must ask in what ways we can practice the virtues in order to turn away from the sin that is present in our life. We must also place the Eucharist as a top priority in our life because we so often receive and leave as if we have received mere bread. What we have received is not mere bread which passes away, but instead it is truly the Body and the Blood of Christ.
My brothers and sisters in Christ may we truly desire to obtain that pearl of great price. May we not allow ourself to miss such a treasure because of our lack of time or our lack of interest. We have placed so must interest and time in perusing objects which always in time pass away. We have worked hard with goals upon our mind where nothing whatsoever would get in the way of obtaining our goals. May we instead desire to obtain that pearl of great price with the same intensity; because what we will come to discover here will be so much greater. As Solomon requested to grow in distinguishing right from wrong may we do the same in our own desire to be guided in the truth of the Gospel which always leads us towards discovering and obtaining that pearl of great price. With our life devoted to this pearl of great price we will truly be found worthy to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
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