1 Kings 3:5, 7-12
Psalm 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-28, 129-30
Romans 8:28-30
Matthew 13:44-52 or Matthew 13:44-46
[I regret not posting these commentaries more regularly in recent months. However, they are all now published in book form and available from Emmaus Road Publishing at most online booksellers and stpaulcenter.com. I also have been spending a considerable amount of time shooting live commentary on the Sunday Readings with Dr. Scott Hahn as part of the “Word of the LORD” podcast, also available at stpaulcenter.com. Please check out those resources if you need something more dependable! ]
When I was a kid, the phrase “Get wise!” was a provocative taunt
—essentially, a way to start a fight. It meant: “I invite you to act
like a smart aleck, so I will have an excuse to assault you
physically.” I’ll never forget it, because I was only involved in
about four fist-fights in my entire boyhood, and one memorable
one was initiated this way.
But what does it really mean to “Get wise” or “Gain wisdom”?
The Readings for this Sunday’s Mass teach us about this issue.
During this part of Ordinary Time in Year A, the Church is
pursuing a lectio continua (continuous reading, i.e. reading in
order) of both Romans and Matthew. The First Readings are taken
from key passages of the Old Testament, chosen (more or less) to
complement the Gospel reading.
- This weekend’s First Reading is Solomon’s famous encounter
with God in a dream early in his reign (1 Kgs 3:5, 7-12):
The LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night.
God said, “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.”
Solomon answered:
“O LORD, my God, you have made me, your servant, king
to succeed my father David;
but I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act.
I serve you in the midst of the people whom you have chosen,
a people so vast that it cannot be numbered or counted.
Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart
to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong.
For who is able to govern this vast people of yours?”The LORD
was pleased that Solomon made this request.
So God said to him:
“Because you have asked for this—
not for a long life for yourself,
nor for riches,
nor for the life of your enemies,
but for understanding so that you may know what is right—
I do as you requested.
I give you a heart so wise and understanding
that there has never been anyone like you up to now,
and after you there will come no one to equal you.”
Faced with the invitation to make any request of God, Solomon
asks for the wisdom to rule well. God is pleased with this request
and grants it to him. In a verse not used in Mass, God adds: “I give
you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that
no other king shall compare with you, all your days” (1 Kings
3:13, RSV2CE). We are reminded here of Jesus’ words from the
Sermon on the Mount: “Seek first his Kingdom and his
righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well” (Matt
6:33, RSV2CE). Solomon’s first thought is for the welfare of
God’s Kingdom: to rule it beneficially, he needs divine wisdom.
Since Solomon puts the interests of the Kingdom first, God honors
him. - The Psalm is taken from the greatest celebration of God’s Law
in the Psalter, Psalm 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-128, 129-130:
R. (97a) Lord, I love your commands.
I have said, O LORD, that my part
is to keep your words.
The law of your mouth is to me more precious
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
R. Lord, I love your commands.
Let your kindness comfort me
according to your promise to your servants.
Let your compassion come to me that I may live,
for your law is my delight.
R. Lord, I love your commands.
For I love your command
more than gold, however fine.
For in all your precepts I go forward;
every false way I hate.
R. Lord, I love your commands.
Wonderful are your decrees;
therefore I observe them.
The revelation of your words sheds light,
giving understanding to the simple.
R. Lord, I love your commands.
In this Psalm, the “Law” often refers not simply to the laws of the
Pentateuch but to God’s revelation generally. The Psalm celebrates
the LORD as the source for all true wisdom:
The revelation of your words sheds light,
giving understanding to the simple.
LORD, I love your commands.
In today’s Readings, Solomon is remembered for his “good side,”
that is, the zeal and devotion of his youth. The sacred author
describes his early years this way: “Solomon loved the LORD,
walking in the statutes of David his father” (1 Kings 3:3,
RSV2CE). The Psalm encourages us to remember this side of
Solomon, the Solomon who loved God and God’s revelation. - The Second Reading promises that God’s providence attends
those who love him, as Solomon did:
Brothers and sisters:
We know that all things work for good for those who love God,
who are called according to his purpose.
For those he foreknew he also predestined
to be conformed to the image of his Son,
so that he might be the firstborn
among many brothers and sisters.
And those he predestined he also called;
and those he called he also justified;
and those he justified he also glorified.
When I was a kid, I thought this verse said “all things work out
good for those who love God.” I figured that if I obeyed God’s
laws, I would always be successful. Of course, that’s not what the
verse means, which I discovered the hard way in my mid-twenties
through a series of personal crises.
This is one verse that we want to translate correctly. Here is the
Greek, in English characters:
Oidamen de hoti tois agapōsin ton theon panta synergei eis
agathon, tois kata prothesin klētois ousin.
Translating woodenly, it reads:
We know that, for those who love God, all things work
together unto good, for those being called according to his
purpose.
Not all things are good or work out well, but for those who love
God, he causes all things to contribute to our ultimate good—even
sickness, failure, persecutions, and death itself (cf. Rom 8:35).
By virtue of the covenant with David his father, Solomon enjoyed
the privilege of being a Son of God (see 2 Samuel 7:14). Indeed,
he was reckoned as God’s Firstborn among the kings of the earth
(Psalm 89:27). Compare St. Paul’s language:
For those he foreknew he also predestined
to be conformed to the image of his Son,
so that he might be the firstborn
among many brothers and sisters.
The royal privileges that Jesus the Christ enjoys as Son of David
and Son of God are extended to all who join themselves to him. In
a mysterious way, a way known only to God, those of us who
“choose God” freely actually find that, all along, we were chosen
by him. This is the mystery of predestination. It is not something
we will comprehend fully in this life, but in this part of Romans,
St. Paul means to reassure us: God is working in us and through us.
His plans will be accomplished. - The Gospel Reading finishes the last of the Parables of the
Kingdom from Matthew 13:
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.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea,
which collects fish of every kind.
When it is full they haul it ashore
and sit down to put what is good into buckets.
What is bad they throw away.
Thus it will be at the end of the age.
The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous
and throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
“Do you understand all these things?”
They answered, “Yes.”
And he replied,
“Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of
heaven
is like the head of a household
who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.”
These three parables are obviously speaking of the Kingdom
manifested on earth as the Church, not the Kingdom consummated
in the world to come. These parables are favorites of converts,
because the experiences described in them seem so parallel to
some of our own experiences of finding our way (or rather, God
finding us and bringing us) into the Catholic Church.
The first of these parables tells us that the Kingdom is not always
obvious. It’s like “treasure buried.” There’s no billboard saying,
“TRUE CHURCH, EXIT LEFT 1 MILE.” In fact, those speeding
by on the highway of life will never find it. You have to be
digging. Digging in the vineyard, perhaps. Suddenly you hit
something with your spade. Can it be? Is it? Yes! You are willing
to leave everything you have to buy the field with this treasure.
(Incidentally, the moral sense of “sells all that he has and buys that
field” can apply to those who embrace the evangelical counsel of
poverty in the religious life.)
The second of these parables is similar to the first. Again, the
Kingdom is not obvious. There are many competitors, perhaps
even fakes, “faux pearls” or pearls of low quality. It takes some
discernment—indeed wisdom, like Solomon asked for—to tell the
true and valuable pearl from all the look-alikes and costume
jewelry. It’s found by those who are looking carefully and
(perhaps) have gotten some experience in this business.
The third parable is one of the most important for Catholics to
understand and embrace. It tells us that the Kingdom, for all its
value, is also going to be a mixed bag during this age. Like the net
thrown into the sea that catches fish of many kinds, so the Church
is like a net thrown by Peter, his co-workers the Apostles, and their
successors, which brings many—both saints and sinners—into
God’s Kingdom. Not all brought in during this age will persevere
through the final judgment, however.
“The Kingdom” in the Gospel of Matthew is, in one sense, nothing
but Jesus himself: the King. However, since the Church is the
Body of Christ and united to him, what is said about the Kingdom
applies also to the Church, both Triumphant (in heaven) and
Militant (on earth). The seven parables of the Kingdom in Matt 13
are clearly not speaking of the Church Triumphant, glorified in
God’s presence; nor are they speaking (for the most part) of the
Kingdom manifested in the person of Christ the Kingdom. No,
these parables of a Kingdom hidden, starting small, growing
slowly, hard to find, mixed with weeds and bad fish, is a
description of the Church Militant—perhaps even our local parish!
Many self-appointed “reformers” in Church history have split the
historic Church in order to establish a “pure” or “sifted” church.
Even today, many leave the Catholic Church for various sects,
denominations, even cults, because of the scandal of sinners within
the visible Body of Christ. “How can this be the Kingdom of God
when it has people like that in it!?” Yet it is, and Jesus told us it
was going to be like this.
It takes wisdom to recognize that the Church Militant is, for all its
rents and wounds, the Kingdom of Heaven come to earth. This
wisdom can only come from God, granted by him to those who
love him. If we are docile to the teachings of Jesus, the one who is
greater than Solomon, he will teach us the wisdom of the
Kingdom.
Thank you…you were missed. I’ll share it widely!
Blessings…