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Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 27, 2014
(1 Kings 3:5, 7-12; Romans 8:28-30; Matthew 13:44-52)

The first reading takes place shortly after Solomon had succeeded
David as Israels king. Upon becoming king, Solomon arranged for his
half-brother, Adonijah (and other enemies) to be killed, and only then
does he utter the lofty prayer of todays reading. Obviously this court
historian was favorable to Solomon. Given his parents (David and
Bathsheba) it is no surprise that Solomon was aware of the palace
intrigue, even before David died, once Solomon had been named by
David to succeed him as king.
Solomon is praised forever after for the content of this dreamlike
sequence, in which the humble and innocent new king prays for an
understanding heart and to be able to distinguish right from wrong.
The Lord is reported pleased by his request and responds Because
you have asked for thisnot for a long life for yourself, nor for riches,
nor for the life of your enemies, but for understanding--I do as you
requested. The Lord adds that Solomon will never have an equal for
his wisdom and understanding. Obviously Solomons actions in
chapter two were overlooked by the author of this prayer sequence in
chapter three. As we have seen so often though, we cannot hold
ancient authors to our own standards of historical accuracy.
The link between the first reading and the Gospel must be the
wisdom revealed in the teaching of Jesus, specifically the wisdom of
the parables which conclude Matthew 13. In the first parable the
kingdom of heaven is like the case of a person who finds a treasure
buried in a field, who will sell all she owns in order to buy the field
(and the treasure hidden there). Some have tried to fault the buyer for
dishonesty but they miss the point of the parable when they do.
Those who would sell all they own to possess the treasure are like
those who give up all to follow Christ. That is the treasure of the
kingdom, which only the treasure hunters find. The stress lies in
discovering what is truly important and ridding oneself of everything
else in order to possess it.
Very similar to this is the case of the pearl merchant. In this case
there is not a question of coming by his find in some devious way. He
goes off and sells all he has to buy the pearl. In and of itself, that
seems futile, and it is, if we are talking about pearls or gems of any
other thing on earth. But Jesus is talking about how someone discovers
the value of the kingdom of heaven and will part with everything in
the way of possessing it.
The parable about the dragnet which collects all kinds of things
besides fish is not about discovering the kingdom and wanting to
possess it. It is rather about the end time judgment when the righteous
(fish?) will be separated from the wicked. Like the weeds sown among
the wheat, it is not until the harvest that the separation comes (last
weeks Gospel). Commentators note the oddity of applying
righteous and wicked to a haul of fish.
The wicked are thrown into the fiery furnace, where there will be
wailing and grinding of teeth. That was the same result for the weeds
of last weeks parable. Surprisingly, nothing is said about what
happens to the righteous, which makes this more of a warning not to
be bad than it is an encouragement to be righteous.


Fr. Lawrence Hummer