Fr. Bob Kus 
On this 17thSunday in Ordinary Time, Jesus continues his discourse about what the “kingdom of heaven” is like. Today, he tells three short parables: the buried treasure; the pearl of great price; and the net thrown into the sea. This reflection concerns the first two parables.
In the first parable, a person finds a treasure buried in a field. Excitedly, the person buries the treasure again and sells everything he has to buy the field. In the second parable, we hear of someone who found a pearl of great price. Like the man who found buried treasure, he goes and sells all he has to buy the pearl. [In the days of Jesus, pearls were quite rare, worth much more than they are today.]
The moral of the story is that when we find something precious to us, we do everything we can to possess it. The “something” that people often seek are things like a home, marriage, children, career, degree, position, power, or whatever. People who have a passion for these things make heroic sacrifices to obtain them. That is why we see people often going to 20-25 or more years of school to enter their desired profession.
But this story reminds us that all the earthly things we desire, while they may be good and noble, are fleeting. They will pass. Only God and his kingdom will last, and all people of goodwill and wisdom – let’s hope that’s us! – will seek to keep our sights on the ultimate treasure, eternal life with God in heaven.
How do we show, by our lives, that heaven is our ultimate goal?
Thank you for this Sunday message. Spiritual food is what will sustain us throughout our lives.