Here is the text of the reflection I shared with those who came to pray with us this weekend, some thoughts on faith: a priceless treasure.
I've been ordained a priest for 21 years now, but before I was ordained, I spent five years in formation as a seminarian, and before that, I spent four years completing a degree in Business Administration and Economics. In the field of Business Administration, the concept of Marketing revolves around defining the product that we want to sell, establishing a price at which we are willing to sell it, determining the best placement or avenue to get that product to the consumer, and promoting the value of that product for the potential purchaser.
I have a feeling that Jesus was doing some of this Marketing in the passage of Matthew’s gospel that we heard today. The product in question was and is the kingdom of heaven. The price for us to enter heaven is … free – Jesus paid the price for us by dying on the cross, once for all time. As Saint Paul explained to the Romans, God … has called us to this eventual goal. Jesus chose to sell his idea in the midst of the crowds. In other words, he didn’t wait for people to come to him; he went to them, and this is what we too must do. The first reading we heard today tells us that God rewarded Solomon for his wisdom. Across the centuries, God has called on David, Solomon, and many others including us to share the good news of the kingdom of heaven with those we meet. He still calls us to continue this same task: promoting the kingdom of heaven by sharing the joy of the gospel with those we encounter.
The world around us needs desperately to hear the good news we have to share. Have you experienced the joy of encountering Jesus? Do you remember what that was like? When we look around us, the media is filled with images of struggle, pain and trial, because tragedy sells. Jesus tells us that if we realized the value of the gift he is offering us, we would know that it is much more valuable than any other treasure. We would be willing to sell everything we have in order to acquire it.
During the past week, we have heard the news of two more aviation accidents, and the deaths of hundreds of innocent passengers. We have heard news about the repatriation of the bodies of Dutch children which have now been returned home, and we have heard countless other stories of misery and suffering: this is what sells. But have you heard about the young woman who met with Pope Francis this week? Her name is Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag. Her father is a Muslim, but her mother is Ethiopian Orthodox. From early childhood, she was raised according to the faith tradition of her mother. She married a Christian man and was subsequently reported to the Muslim authorities for allegedly committing adultery by marrying a Christian. In May of this year, she was sentenced to death for allegedly renouncing her Islam faith: the prosecution claimed that even though she has always said she is Christian, she should have followed the faith tradition of her father. Therefore they demanded that she renounce her Christian faith, and the judge supported this claim, but she refused to comply. Her husband appealed the court’s decision and on June 24, she was released by order of the Sudanese appeal court, but she was arrested again when she tried to leave the country and fly to the United States because the Sudanese Foreign Ministry said that the granting of an exit visa was a criminal violation. With the help of the American Ambassador in Khartoum, she took refuge at the American Embassy there while negotiations continued. On Thursday of this week, she finally arrived in Rome where she met with the Holy Father before continuing her journey to the United States.
During their 30-minute meeting, Pope Francis thanked Meriam and her family for their courageous witness to the faith, and she in turn thanked the Holy Father for his continued prayers on her behalf.
The product we have is Jesus Christ, he offers us the possibility of knowing him free of charge. Sometimes, depending on the places and situations we are placed in, the risk of promoting faith can indeed be very high but if a 28-year-old woman, her husband, their two-year-old son and their two-month-old daughter (who was born in prison) can do it, perhaps we can too.
The pearl of great price
I've been ordained a priest for 21 years now, but before I was ordained, I spent five years in formation as a seminarian, and before that, I spent four years completing a degree in Business Administration and Economics. In the field of Business Administration, the concept of Marketing revolves around defining the product that we want to sell, establishing a price at which we are willing to sell it, determining the best placement or avenue to get that product to the consumer, and promoting the value of that product for the potential purchaser.
I have a feeling that Jesus was doing some of this Marketing in the passage of Matthew’s gospel that we heard today. The product in question was and is the kingdom of heaven. The price for us to enter heaven is … free – Jesus paid the price for us by dying on the cross, once for all time. As Saint Paul explained to the Romans, God … has called us to this eventual goal. Jesus chose to sell his idea in the midst of the crowds. In other words, he didn’t wait for people to come to him; he went to them, and this is what we too must do. The first reading we heard today tells us that God rewarded Solomon for his wisdom. Across the centuries, God has called on David, Solomon, and many others including us to share the good news of the kingdom of heaven with those we meet. He still calls us to continue this same task: promoting the kingdom of heaven by sharing the joy of the gospel with those we encounter.
The world around us needs desperately to hear the good news we have to share. Have you experienced the joy of encountering Jesus? Do you remember what that was like? When we look around us, the media is filled with images of struggle, pain and trial, because tragedy sells. Jesus tells us that if we realized the value of the gift he is offering us, we would know that it is much more valuable than any other treasure. We would be willing to sell everything we have in order to acquire it.
During the past week, we have heard the news of two more aviation accidents, and the deaths of hundreds of innocent passengers. We have heard news about the repatriation of the bodies of Dutch children which have now been returned home, and we have heard countless other stories of misery and suffering: this is what sells. But have you heard about the young woman who met with Pope Francis this week? Her name is Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag. Her father is a Muslim, but her mother is Ethiopian Orthodox. From early childhood, she was raised according to the faith tradition of her mother. She married a Christian man and was subsequently reported to the Muslim authorities for allegedly committing adultery by marrying a Christian. In May of this year, she was sentenced to death for allegedly renouncing her Islam faith: the prosecution claimed that even though she has always said she is Christian, she should have followed the faith tradition of her father. Therefore they demanded that she renounce her Christian faith, and the judge supported this claim, but she refused to comply. Her husband appealed the court’s decision and on June 24, she was released by order of the Sudanese appeal court, but she was arrested again when she tried to leave the country and fly to the United States because the Sudanese Foreign Ministry said that the granting of an exit visa was a criminal violation. With the help of the American Ambassador in Khartoum, she took refuge at the American Embassy there while negotiations continued. On Thursday of this week, she finally arrived in Rome where she met with the Holy Father before continuing her journey to the United States.
During their 30-minute meeting, Pope Francis thanked Meriam and her family for their courageous witness to the faith, and she in turn thanked the Holy Father for his continued prayers on her behalf.
The product we have is Jesus Christ, he offers us the possibility of knowing him free of charge. Sometimes, depending on the places and situations we are placed in, the risk of promoting faith can indeed be very high but if a 28-year-old woman, her husband, their two-year-old son and their two-month-old daughter (who was born in prison) can do it, perhaps we can too.
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