Wednesday of Week 17 in Ordinary Time (Year II)
Jeremiah 15:10,16-21 | Psalm 58:2-5,10-11,17-18 | Matthew 13:44-46
As I write this, the latest craze sweeping the world is Pokémon Go, a mobile game that has mobs of unhinged players running en masse towards claimed sightings of rare critters, and therefore ripe for pranking:
If today’s Gospel were framed in a similar fashion, we’d see Jesus yelling “ETERNAL LIFE! ETERNAL LIFE!” and getting no reaction whatsoever – or worse, “don’t bluff lah!” ?
Sadly, that’s exactly the response we’ve come to expect from many Catholics:
Behold the Lamb of God. – Ah, OK, let me just receive communion first, then I need to run to send my daughter off for ballet class. Sorry, no time for final blessing, gotta run! Oi, who’s the ******* idiot who blocked my car?!?!
Penitential service next Monday, morning and night, come at your convenience. – Sorry, no time. Anyway, God already knows all my sins, and I’m very cheong hei (long-winded), so don’t want to keep others waiting in line.
Jesus Christ is risen! – Meh.
The heavenly treasures, the pearls of eternal life, have been revealed to us as an intrinsic part of our faith in Jesus Christ. Shouldn’t we be putting all our efforts into securing those riches that will never fade? Shouldn’t we be willing to sacrifice our mundane pleasures and pursuit of worldly possessions in favour of service to God in the guise of the least of our brethren?
Shouldn’t we be at least as excited as when sighting a Charizard?
Lord Jesus Christ, in the trials and tribulations of earthly life, we often forget just how precious Your sacrificial gift, how priceless the rewards of eternal life, how wonderful the future with our heavenly Father. Send the Holy Spirit to inflame our hearts, to make us burst with excitement and direct our will toward claiming that inheritance, so that we can be one with You and with the Father, forever and ever. Amen.