Project Description
17A 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12 / Romans 8:28-30 / Matthew 13:44-52
I want to start out with a classic story
in spiritual direction circles.
It’s a story used in many religious traditions—
including our Christian tradition.
It goes like this:
Each day—
every day—
the disciple would
ask his Spiritual Master the same question:
“How shall I find God?”
“How shall I find God?”
And each day—
every day—
the Spiritual Master
would give the same mysterious answer:
“Though desire,
you find God through desire.”
And then the disciple would respond:
“But Master,
you know I desire God with all my heart,
then why haven’t I found God?”
The Master would say nothing.
One day the Spiritual Master happened
to be bathing in the river with the disciple.
And all of a sudden,
the Spiritual Master pushed the
disciple’s head underwater and held it there
as the poor fellow struggled desperately
to break loose and breathe.
The next day,
it was the Master who began the conversation.
“Why did you struggle so
when I held your head underwater?
“Because I was gasping for air,”
the disciple replied.
“Ah,”
said the Master,
“When you’re given the grace to
gasp for God
the way you were gasping for air
then you will find God.”
Great story isn’t it.
How shall we find God?
“Though desire,
we find God through desire.”
And when we’re given the grace
to gasp for God
the way we gasp for air
then we will find God.
Jesus’ parable of the pearl of great price
that we just heard starts out like this:
The Kingdom of Heaven is
like a merchant searching—
Searching. . . .
for fine pearls. . . .
How shall we find God?
Through desire . . .
Through constant searching.
Here’s another story,
this one is a true one.
In 1979,
school teachers in Poland
were told by the communist authorities
to inform their students
that the man who was about to visit
their country was their enemy. . . .
That his great communication skills made him
“dangerous, because he charms everyone.”
Who was this dangerous enemy of the people
coming to Poland?
It was Pope John Paul II.
Pope John Paul II was returning to
his home country for the first time
since becoming Pope.
At that time,
under the Soviet-controlled
communist government of Poland—
Poland was officially an atheist country.
But the people of Poland were
still Catholic to the core.
As soon as the Pope landed in Poland,
he kissed the ground of the land
where he grew up. . . .
and the bells of churches throughout
the country began to ring in celebration.
The communist authorities
tried everything they knew to
discourage the Polish people
from coming out to see him.
But it was to no avail.
Their tactics actually backfired on them.
The Polish people came out in droves—
by the millions—
to see their native son who
was now the Bishop of Rome.
What would the Pope say to the Polish people?
At the public mass
thousands upon thousands upon thousands
of Poles squeezed into
Victory Square in Warsaw.
And millions more watched on television.
A late afternoon sun
gave the setting a soft glow.
There was a minor clash between
the secular and the religious
when a Polish Army band began to
play a military anthem . . .
while the choir—
the choir leading the singing at the Mass
sang Ave Maria.
And when he Polish Pope gave his homily
he said this:
“Christ cannot be kept out
of the history of [humanity]
in any part of the globe,
at any longitude or latitude of geography.”
“The exclusion of Christ from the
history of [humanity] is an act against [humanity]. . . .
the history of each person unfolds in Jesus Christ.”
“The history of each person unfolds in Jesus Christ.”
There was great applause
and the Polish people spontaneously started chanting
“We want God. . .We want God . . . We want God.”
What a great moment in modern history:
“We want God” chanted from the mouths
of modern men and women
living in an officially atheistic country.
Now, in my list of mantras that I like to pray—
I’ve added this one:
“I want God. . . I want God. . . I want God.”
Jesus’ parable of the pearl of great price begins:
The Kingdom of Heaven is
like a merchant searching—
Searching. . . .
for fine pearls.
“We want God. . . we want God. . . we want God.”
Last story—
another classic in spiritual direction circles.
Even though it was the
Spiritual Master’s day of silence—
a traveler begged for a word of wisdom
that would guide her through her life’s journey
and her search for God.
The Spiritual Master
took a sheet of paper and
wrote a single word on it:
“awareness”. . .
and kindly handed it to the visitor.
She was perplexed.
She said,
“That’s way to brief. . .
I’ve come such a long way to see you,
can you please elaborate.”
The Spiritual Master kindly took the paper
back and wrote:
“Awareness. . . .Awareness. . . Awareness”
“What do these words mean?”
the visitor helplessly commented.
The Spiritual Master
reached out and took the piece of paper
back again and wrote:
“Awareness. . . .Awareness . . .Awareness. . .
means
Awareness.”
If we are aware, God is everywhere.
From our great Catholic spiritual tradition—
we know to look for God in all things.
And we also know from our faith
That we find God especially in the Eucharist. . .
and in the Word of God. . .
and in the prayer. . . .
and in the poor and in the least
as Jesus teaches.
And we find God in each other as we
become transformed into other Jesus’s.
Be aware of God in all things.
And Jesus’ parable of the pearl of great price ends like this:
When that searcher for fine pearls finds
that pearl of great price
that he has spent his life searching for . . .
he goes and sells all that he has. . .
all that he has. . . and buys it!!!
This Kingdom of God that Jesus inaugurates
and then invites us into
is a strange Kingdom, isn’t it?!?!?!
God’s kingdom operates on a unique set of principles.
In God’s Kingdom,
In God’s world—
many conventional moralities are irrelevant
Notice in the search for fine pearls—
the searcher for God—
when he found that pearl—
when he found God—
everything else became secondary.
The finder of the pearl of great price
wasn’t even concerned with how
he was going to support himself
after he sells all he had for the pearl.
He knew God would work that out.
You see in God’s Kingdom
“getting somewhere”—
or “being somebody”—
or “having something”—
other than an intimate relationship with God—
seems quite absurd. (paraphrased from David Buttrick’s Speaking Parables)
God is where our true hope and true joy are found.
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.
Holy Spirit 07/26-27/2020
