July 27, 2011
Wednesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
By Colleen O'Sullivan
As Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the commandments in his hands, he did not know that the skin of his face had become radiant while he conversed with the Lord. (Exodus 34:29)
Jesus said to his disciples: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, 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.” (Matthew 13:44-46)
Piety
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” (St. Augustine, The Confessions of St. Augustine)
Study
Sometimes, when we’re not even looking for it, we discover hidden treasure. In the field of life, we inadvertently stumble upon the Kingdom, we enter into a relationship with God, and it turns out to be so wonderful, we are willing to sell or give up everything else to lay claim to it.
As I was thinking about that, I remembered a podcast I listened to a while back. It was a sermon preached by Will Willimon, who serves as bishop of the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church. Many Sundays, he said, he visits different churches in his jurisdiction. One week he got a call from the pastor of the church where he was planning to worship the next weekend. There was a 12-year old boy planning to be baptized that Sunday. Would Bishop Willimon like to baptize him? Of course, he said, he would be delighted to. So, Sunday rolled around and as the bishop pulled up to the church, he saw the boy and his pastor waiting on the front steps. Introductions were made and the young man wanted to know if they could run through the baptismal rite once. As they were “rehearsing,” he asked the bishop if, at some point, he could say a few words to the congregation. Yes, that would be fine. Give your witness. The appointed moment came and this young boy faced the people gathered for worship. He said, you know I’ve been coming to this church ever since I was really little. When I was 7, when my parents split up, I thought my world had come to an end. But there you all were with Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, a basketball team, Sunday School classes. For a long time I just thought you were a bunch of kind folks, but I’ve come to see that it’s really God who put you in my life to care about me… Now there’s someone who, in his realization, came upon hidden treasure! He’ll never be the same again. He’s encountered the Lord.
Other times, Jesus tells us in the parable of the pearl of great price, we actively search for something, propelled by a deep inner yearning or an emptiness in our lives, or because we think there must be something more to life than what we have. When we find what we’re looking for, the God who loves us with an everlasting love, we want to give up everything else for that relationship. You’ll never be the same again! Your life will be forever transformed.
In our reading from the Book of Exodus, Moses has been with God on the summit of Mt. Sinai to receive the commandments for the people. He doesn’t realize that he’s been transfigured by the experience, but the people of Israel see it at once. He comes down from the mountain holding the stone tablets, but what everyone notices is his face; it’s radiant! Moses will never be the same again.
Whether we are summoned by God, stumble upon God inadvertently, or set out on a deliberate search for the Lord, once we truly encounter God, we are forever changed. Our lives are transformed. We’ll never be the same again.
Action
You wouldn’t know it by the weather, but autumn is right around the corner, bringing with it the 133rd Women’s Cursillo Weekend, September 22-25, 2011, and the 123rd Men’s Cursillo Weekend, October 6-9, 2011. (For more details, go to http://arlingtoncursillo.org/CursillosSubweb/Default.aspx and click on the weekend you’re interested in.) However we came to God, if we’ve been transformed by that relationship, we want to share it with others. It’s not too soon to begin thinking of friends you could sponsor for one or both of these weekends.
