“A man is looking for fine pearls, and when he finds one that is unusually fine,..." (Mt 13:45)

 “A man is looking for fine pearls, and when he finds one that is unusually fine, he goes and sells everything he has, and buys that pearl.”(Mt 13:45, 46)

Fine and excellent! What a sacrifice he does, or how zealous he is, everything very well! However, when I meditate on this word of the Lord, what comes to my mind is something different. This seems to me as the first part of the story. The story will be complete only when we know the second part. What Jesus says is very true that when compared to the value of the kingdom of God, whatever I have now is nothing. Now what happens to the man after possessing the pearl? Many people are very enthusiastic in finding out a new job, marrying a girl whom he loves, achieving a profession he longed for, constructing a house he dreamed of etc. And for that he goes certainly to any extent it demands.

In the second part, after achieving their goal, we find many are disinterested, desperate or even are against their own life, whether it is in the secular world or in the religious world. Jesus warns the Pharisees, “You hypocrites! You sail the seas and cross whole countries to win one convert; and when you succeed, you make him twice as deserving of going to hell as you yourself are!.. Do we have these scenes in our homes, in our institutions, or in our communities? Modern man in his pride thinks that he can buy anything and anyone he desires. He wants to get something valuable to exhibit before others, even his wife, his religion, and job etc. Not for him, but to keep up “the social status.” “My wife is a doctor” he is proud of. What is she doing? “She is a housewife.” What a pride! It is not in possessing something but living for it, with it, makes you really a man.               

Take courage God is with you! Have a nice and blissful day….