So I know as I preach this homily,
And if my sister hears it, I’ll be getting a phone call.
But it’s a true story, and it’s one of my
Favorite stories about my oldest sister, Kathy.
Now I’m blessed.
I have two older sisters and a younger brother,
Four of us in our family.
And we really are a very tight family,
And I love my siblings.
And from that, all the nieces and nephews
And grand nieces and nephews.
Now it’s wonderful.
When we were younger, I remember this moment very clearly.
My dad had passed away, and my mother had decided
That it was time to sell the house.
We had all moved out and gone to college
And were working in our livelihoods.
And so when it was time to sell everything
Or get rid of the stuff in the house,
We helped my mom move,
My sister Kathy and I were up in the attic.
And we were sitting in the attic
And we were just going through things,
What to keep, what to get rid of, what to give away.
And my sister comes across my grandfather’s suitcase.
So I watch her open the suitcase, and she opens it,
And I noticed she kind of shifted her body,
And so I couldn’t see what was in the suitcase.
So I knew it had to be something good.
So I watched her, and sure enough,
She reaches into the suitcase and she pulled out a ring box.
I went, “Oh, this is good.”
And she opens the ring box, and the next thing I know,
She screams and she throws it across the attic.
I thought, “What in the world?”
So I got up and I looked in the ring box,
And what was in there was my grandfather’s
Glass eye, his eyeball.
I said, “Oh, you were hoping for a little diamond
Or something, weren’t you, sis?”
You know, but she got the glass eyeball,
The treasure, the pearl of great price, not.
I tease her about that all the time.
That pearl of great price, that treasure that
We’re willing to sell everything for so that we might own it.
The pearl or the treasure.
This Gospel passage is a wonderful Gospel passage
For all of us to reflect on
And truly to spend some time with.
What is the pearl of great price in your life?
What is the treasure that you’re willing to sell
Everything for and to buy the fields
So that you might possess the treasure?
You know, initially the Gospel is talking about things.
It’s talking about a piece of jewelry,
Or it’s talking about treasure, gold in a chest.
When we really spend time with ourselves
And do some reflection,
We know what the true treasure in our life is.
We know what the pearl of great price is for all of us.
We know that which funds and deepens our faith in the Lord.
I call it the four pillars of what holds all of us up.
Our faith.
Our faith is one of those great treasures in our life.
It truly is the pearl of great price.
And where would we be without our faith?
Our families.
Our families are a great treasure to us.
And the truth of the matter is
Every family has its ups and downs.
My family, your family, all families.
But how important it is that we have family members
That we know that love us and that we can love in return.
And generation after generation, and my family now,
It’s four generations that I’ve come to know and to love.
But our faith, our family.
And what would we do without our friends?
Those people who choose to be friends with us,
And we choose to be friends with.
People that we have similar interests or not.
People that we can laugh with and share our stories with.
People who are with us in the ups and the downs of life.
How blessed we are.
They are truly a treasure and pearl in our life.
Faith, family, friends, and the last of the four
Is work that contributes.
That we find in all of our lives
The gifts that God has given to us.
Simply as gift not to keep, but to share with others.
Faith, family, friends, and meaningful work
To build up the Kingdom of God here and now.