Today’s Gospel reading reminded me of a story I heard many years ago at a previous parish assignment.  In the 1920’s and 1930’s, there was a parishioner who made quite a lot of money in the railroad business.  He was very generous to the parish, but his fortune was adversely affected by the stock market crash of 1929. After the Great Depression, he was unwilling to trust his money to a bank.  The story told about him says that he kept his wealth hidden in the large home where he lived.  Subsequent owners of the home couldn’t avoid being curious, and often went rummaging around the attics in search of long-forgotten wealth. 

The parable Jesus told about a man who found a treasure buried in the field might well have been based on often repeated stories like the one I heard at that parish so many years ago.  There were no banks, safes, or safe deposit boxes in the ancient world.  Consequently, the common practice was to bury or hide one’s wealth as a safeguard against theft.  I’m sure it happened occasionally that someone with hidden wealth died, leaving no instructions to heirs about where to look for the money. Eventually, someone like the man in the parable would have stumbled upon the cache of money completely by coincidence. 

Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven (that is, living each day in God’s presence), to finding a hidden treasure. The kingdom of heaven, then, is of such great value that all else pales in comparison. This parable was one of the several times Jesus repeated an observation about religious practice.  

Jesus often criticized some of the Pharisees from Jerusalem who used religious practice as means to appear superior to other people. He disagreed with the actions of the Sadducees, as well. The Sadducees were religious conservatives who promoted cooperation with the Roman Empire as a means to preserve their claim to authority over the Jerusalem Temple. We know from several remarks that Jesus also opposed the views of the Zealots who sought to foment violent revolution against Roman Imperial governance in Judea.  

When Jesus described the kingdom of heaven as like a buried and forgotten treasure, he was describing his teaching as a revival of faithful religion. He considered his approach to religion as being quite distinct from that of the established religious groups which gave lip-service to authentic faith. Unlike the individuals and groups who corrupted religion for their personal gain, Jesus taught a renewed practice of the Mosaic Covenant that served God rather than self. 

The hidden treasure in the parable is faithful religion, and Jesus’ disciples are the ones fortunate enough to find that ancient treasure. The parable encourages us to join the fortunate man, and to rediscover a treasure lost and forgotten. The treasure of faithful religion is something that must be rediscovered, not only in each new era, but multiple times during one’s life. 

Last year, the U.S. bishops began a three-year process of Eucharistic revival. Many of those whom I’ve spoken to about this initiative seem unconvinced of the need for such a revival program. After all, Catholics learn about the Eucharist before receiving First Holy Communion at age seven. How much more is there to learn about Eucharist after as many decades pass as years of age were required to receive Holy Communion for the first time? The answer, of course, is, “a very great deal.” 

I’ve never met a person who would be willing to base their marriage, family life, career, or retirement savings on the knowledge, wisdom, and skill of a seven-year-old. Some of the same people, however, seem to think that a seven-year-old’s knowledge of Catholicism is sufficient for an adult’s faith. If we’re honest with ourselves, the treasure of faithful religion must be sought after and rediscovered repeatedly throughout one’s life. Occasional programs like the U.S. bishops’ revival process can be helpful to one’s on-going rediscovery of Jesus’ teaching, but there is no substitute for daily growth in faith through prayer with the Scriptures and spiritual reading. 

In the first reading, King Solomon asked God for the wisdom to distinguish between right and wrong. In the Gospel reading, Jesus described this wisdom as the ability to bring forth from one’s life both the new and the old. Today, God invites us again to grow in the practical wisdom required in order to live a faithful and just life – a practical wisdom that comes from rediscovering the truth Jesus preached. When St. Paul wrote that “all things work for good for those who love God,” he was well aware of the difficulty of being in the group of those who love God in actuality rather than merely in intention. (Rom. 8:28) We are the ones who love God faithfully, and encounter God’s goodness in our lives, when we search diligently each day for the opportunities to grow in our understanding of Jesus’ teachings and our commitment to practice those teachings.