In our Gospel, there are two people, one who somehow stumbles upon the greatest treasure in the world and another who, after years of searching, finally discovers the pearl that he had been searching for all his life.

Yet, what is interesting is what both do when discovering their respective treasure, they don’t take it or even use it, but rather sell all they have in order to buy it. In other words, this treasure is far more important than any other treasure they have, and, not just that, it seems to put in perspective for them the true worth of those things that they do have in their lives, showing, in essence, that their worth only has value in light of this great treasure.

Perhaps, that may sound a bit abstract, but think of it this way, all of us, when we were children, had something we really wanted and stopped and nothing to get, trying to make as much money as possible in order to finally buy this great thing, and when and if we finally got it, it was great, exactly what we wanted, until something better came along.

Now, just imagine this multiplied 100X, stumbling upon or searching almost all of our lives for this something which is so great, so amazing that nothing in this world could possibly compare to it, something more valuable than all of those things we desired in our lives combined, that is the treasure and pearl in our Gospel today.

But, the difference is, this treasure, this pearl cannot be bought with money, it does not have monetary value, in fact, it shows that those things of true worth are not bought but given, so long as we work for them and desire them in our lives.

In essence, it is Jesus posing a challenge to us, a question that we might all ask ourselves.

What is our faith truly worth, and of what value does it have in our lives?

I have a friend who was raised Catholic, but eventually decided to become Buddhist, in order to have the full experience, as it were, he found himself in India, meeting the Dalai Lama, yet, he found himself still unfulfilled. In fact, I will never forget an email I received from him. He said: “I find that in the heart of Buddhism, I long for the pearl of Catholicism.” He had the pearl in his hand all along, but it did not have worth until he truly searched for it.

All of us too, have that same pearl in our hands as well, Jesus freely gave it to us when he opened the shell of the cross, as it were, and we don’t have to search for it or stumble upon it, instead we need only be ready to let go of those things that can distract us from it or lead us away, for, by doing so, like those two men in our Gospel today, in great joy, we will inherit the greatest treasure of all, the Heavenly kingdom, the true pearl of great price.