17th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A. By Tobe Eze

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A.

FIRST READING
1 Kings 3:5, 7—12

SECOND READING
Romans 8:28—30

GOSPEL

Matthew 13:44—52

THEME: IT TAKES SERIOUS SACRIFICE TO THAT OUR VISION.

I wish to start with this story; UNWISE START LEADS TO A SAD END: Once, there was a mouse that had his hole near a pool in a thick forest. A frog often came out for basking in the sun. Within no time, they became buddies. But the friendship of a frog and mouse is highly undesirable because the frog's home is in water and the mouse on land. One day the frog said to the mouse, "Let’s bind ourselves together with a string so that we may never get separated." The mouse agreed. So, both tied themselves together leg-to-leg. Though on land, it went quite well, but in the pool, it was tragic for the mouse. The frog swam about delightfully in the pool dragging the mouse with him. Soon, the mouse drowned and his body floated on the surface of the pool. A kite hovering in the sky saw the dead mouse it swooped down to carry it off. Up went the frog as well and became the kite's meal. Continue Reading..........................

In everything we do on this on earth, decision or choice making is involved. The question before us is, what type of decision or choice do we make? Are we making choices or decisions that favour only our personal interest or do we care about others each time we make decision or choice? In the first reading, we are faced with the decision or choice Solomon made when he was given the opportunity to do so. We have opportunities everyday of making decisions, how do we do that? Solomon was considering others, (the people entrusted to him) when he was making that decision to ask for wisdom.

The second reading is telling us that things work well for those who love God. St. John has made it clear in his (1 John 4:20) that we cannot say we love God and hate our neighbour. If we do not love the person we are seeing, how can we say we love God whom we have not seen? Therefore, those whom things will work well for are those who put others into consideration before making choice or decision. If we have others in our hearts always, we are going to receive many blessings from the Lord.

In the Gospel, Jesus is telling us parables of how people sacrifice lesser valued things to get most valued ones. They were selling all they had to make sure that they get what they wanted. One may ask from these parables if those who used all they had to do MMM when it came were right? This type is far more from MMM issue, this is about eternity and doing what you are sure of not on taking a senseless risk or building castle in the air like MMM them.

Much sacrifices are expected of us in this life to make a perfect decision or choice. Solomon after looking at all the riches and prosperities of this world went ahead to ask for wisdom. He was guided by the words of the Holy Scripture that says, seek first the kingdom of heaven and its fullness and every other thing will be added to you (Matthew 6:33). Making sacrifice as in the readings is not to be stupid like a man who on the graduation of his son from the university went about borrowing money everywhere that his son will pay back immediately he gets a job. The boy after seven years of graduation did not get any job and his father sold everything he had to pay back what he borrowed. We are not to give out all we have if we have no hope of getting another to replace it. The people in the parables were sure of what they were looking for. Heaven is a sure place, so we should use our whole being to look for it. We should sell all our pride, envy, sins and many other unhealthy things we do to buy that eternal life. THANKS AND HAPPY SUNDAY.