In Palestine, pearls were a byword for what was supremely valuable. Elsewhere in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus says, “Do not give dogs what is holy. Do not throw your pearls before swine.” (7:6). Pearls were the ultimate valuables.

The merchant in the gospel story has no intention of decorating the pigsty with pearls. He is collecting the finest he can lay his hands on. He is an expert. He knows precisely what he is looking for. When he comes across the finest pearl he has ever set eyes on, he has no doubt about what to do; immediately he sells everything he owns, so that he can possess the pearl that is without peer. The cost has been everything, but when he owns that pearl, his search has ended.

The Parable of The Tares in the Wheat: What A Strange Parable

“At that time Jesus said in reply, “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike… And he taught them at length in parables.” I love the parables. I share this scriptural love with our own Deacon Bob Evans. If you have not already, check out his book Walking The Parables.

Why did Jesus Christ teach us so much in Parables? A third of all His teachings are parables. I believe it is because God wants us to think, to wonder and to reason out all there is about the Kingdom of Heaven. After all, that is what children do. Firstly, remember that when Jesus talks about wheat or grapes or wine, then we need to be extra attentive to what he has to say. And what a strange story we have today. It begins in a very straightforward manner: “The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field.“

I send you special greetings and blessings from the Catholic Diocese of Kafanchan!

On behalf of the clergy, religious and entire people of God, I write once again to acknowledge with gratitude the receipt of $18,140.00 from you as a donation to our Diocese to help us with our Educational project of building a school in memory of my predecessor, late Bishop Joseph Bagobiri.

Today’s first reading is God’s invitation to a people who had been disconnected from God’s ways. In exile in a foreign land, they had no temple for worship and could not offer traditional sacrifices, but they did have a prophet, God’s mouthpiece, who spoke truth they often rejected. Now, God, through His mouthpiece, speaks a gentle word of invitation with a clear image all can understand. “Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down without returning … so shall my word be … achieving the end for which I send it” (Isaiah 55: 10-11).

“I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us.” (Rom 8:18) “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Cor 2:9) Good Friday always comes before Easter Sunday and the glory of the Resurrection. Sometimes, when you’re in a dark place, you think you’ve been buried, but you’ve actually been planted. The mystery of suffering can make or break our faith and can be redemptive. Just gaze upon a crucifix to see suffering and divine love. There’s no escape from suffering in our broken world. Suffering lacks spiritual meaning for those without faith who see constant, painfree pleasure as the ultimate value of life. Pope St. John Paul the Great, with his letter “Salvifici Doloris: On Human Suffering,” and Peter Kreeft are always insightful. No one wants to suffer, but it’s reality, and we need to suffer well.

This is a truly very special, exciting and anointed time. As you may know, it is about 25 years since I moved to north Scottsdale and attended my first Mass at Blessed Sacrament; and also just under 23 years since I left Blessed Sacrament Parish to go to Seminary at Mount Angel in Oregon with the blessing of Fr. Pat Robinson, the pastor back in 2000, and all of the Parish.

When I was a 12-year-old boy, my older brother and I shared the job of opening and closing the gymnasium for evening rentals at our Catholic school and parish. This “first job” often required a late-night four-block walk home after the last basketball or volleyball group finished for the night. On one night, working on my own, there was a late (11 p.m.) closing. As I walked home, I became frightened by a slow-moving vehicle that I perceived to follow me for about a block. Even after the car had turned and disappeared from sight, my fear persisted. Then, while I still a couple of blocks from the house, I received an overwhelming sense of calm and safety. I knew, in that moment, that God was with me, protecting me, surrounding me with His loving presence. I arrived home safely, and while I have had similar feelings, I have never experienced something as strongly as I did on that night.

How time flies! It’s six months already since Bishop John Dolan asked me to act as Interim Parochial Administrator of our beautiful Parish family. When Msgr. Bui called to break the news tome, it hit like a thunderbolt. Much as I was worried about my lack of experience of the workings of the Church in America, I was sure I had the most loving and caring Parishioners who would help me to navigate and hold the fort. And truly, these six months have been the most intensive of my life. It has been my privilege to serve as your Interim Parochial Administrator.

The people of Israel, under the leadership of Moses, left Egypt, the land of bondage, and traveled towards the land of God’s promise. Three months into the journey, they reached Mount Sinai and encamped there at its base. By this time, they have experienced God’s favor in events such as the parting of the Red Sea, the drawing of Egyptian forces into the Red Sea, the provision of manna and quail for food, the provision of water from a rock, and victory over the tribe of Amalek. These events certainly taught them about God and about themselves as people chosen by God. But in this reading, for the first time they come to know what their vocation is. As a prelude to the covenant to be ratified later, God tells them through Moses that they are to obey Him and become a priestly and holy nation, offering worship that pleases Him. His plan of having a priestly nation came to be fulfilled only in the church redeemed and sanctified in the Holy Spirit by the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus and nurtured through the mission of the apostles.

Many of the prayers made by the people of the Old Testament are centered on reminding God, in case His divine memory is slipping, of the promises He made to save them. When the chosen people face new trials, their insurance against disaster is the promise of God to see them through their time of pain. They hold fast to that word of promise. Every new experience of want or suffering serves to keep alive the memory of God’s promises. Thus, their prayers of intercession are made to jolt God’s memory, to play back His promise, to hold Him to His word.

Today, Catholic Christians celebrate the feast of the Most Holy Trinity. On this day, we remember the basic dogma of our faith—the Trinity. This dogma holds that, though we believe in only One God, this God has Three Divine Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We read in St. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians about the necessity to love one another. He says, “Mend your ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss” (2 Corinthians 13: 11-12). Through the centuries, members of the Church have never agreed completely on everything.

“I am not afraid, because God is with me. I was born for this!” St. Joan of Arc proclaimed this going into battle, and the Holy Spirit empowers this in us at Pentecost. She is the only person of either gender to ever hold supreme command of a nation’s military forces at only 17 years old. St. Joan of Arc, whose feast day is May 30, inspired the French against the English in the 15th century. She was wounded during battle, her fame spread, and she became perhaps the most famous person in Europe. The English put her on trial, but it turned political. Joan was charged with heresy, witchcraft and cross-dressing like a man by wearing armor into battle. Yes, the court alleged that this violated divine law. She was found guilty and burned to death before thousands. Her martyrdom helped spur the French to drive the English out. A king’s trial review years later reversed Joan’s guilty verdict. Mark Twain’s favorite book he wrote was “Joan of Arc.” “I am not afraid because God is with me. I was born for this!”

Saint Benedict, in the prologue for his Rule, admonishes his monks to “Listen… with the ear of your heart.” Christians in the world today are called, as we were at the time of St. Benedict, to not only listen with the ear of the heart, but also to see with the eyes of our hearts.

A few weeks ago, I was walking into the church classroom. From the corner of my eye, I noticed what looked like a cross in the wooden door. Upon further inspection, not only a cross was visible, but, indeed, what appeared as a crucifix. Many who also saw the image stated that they could see, in the dark shape behind the cracks in the wood, what appears as the form of a child in an ultrasound. One person noticed the five dashes and remarked about the five wounds of Christ. This “accidental image,” is a series of cracks in a wooden door. Seen with the eye of the heart, however, it appears as a crucifix. The experience reminded me of a deeper call and need in our Catholic culture and society.

The scene is the courtyard of a prison. The time is dawn. A prisoner is led out to be shot; he is a priest who has been sentenced to death because he has opposed the Portuguese policy of slave trade in the country's colony. He stands against an outer wall facing seven members of the firing squad, all of them, his countrymen. Before the officer ties the blindfold, he asks the prisoner for the traditional last request. The reply comes as a surprise: the man about to die wants to play his flute for the last time.

The early church in Jerusalem had two groups of Jewish Christians: the first group lived in and around Jerusalem and spoke only Hebrew and Aramaic. The second group had lived elsewhere among the Greeks but now returned to Jerusalem and knew Greek rather than Hebrew and Aramaic. The complaint that quickened a kind of tension between these two groups is that the widows of the immigrants were neglected in the daily distribution of food. Such neglect was an honest mistake, as no one apostle was accused of this. Perhaps the existing system broke as Jews embraced the faith so overwhelmingly that it was impossible for the Twelve to keep an account of distribution, especially considering the language differences. The apostles solved the problems by ordaining seven reputable men who were selected to distribute food. Though these seven men started their ministry by serving food, they too will end up preaching the gospel. The whole incident shows that the church alone has the power to conquer prejudices through reconciliation, and it has power to adapt its ministries so that the risen Lord does his ministry in and through the church.