Wednesday 17th week in ordinary time
"Mt 13:44-46"
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it."
Vocation is the treasure that Jesus talks about, the precious pearl. God has made us for a definite purpose. He has a mission for all of us. But the treasure is hidden and we have to find it. And the process of finding it takes time. It is like searching for Jesus in the dark of night amongst a crowd. Slowly the dawn brings a bit of light and we can distinguish better. At some point we have a hunch: He is there. It has to be Him. But we are still not sure. The sun rises little by little and at some stage we start being sure: it's Him! Then, with the light of the sun, everything makes sense. Nothing has changed but everything has changed. The crowd is the same, Jesus was there all the time... but now I see Him.
Vocation is that: when everything makes sense at last. Have you ever seen the colonnade in Saint Peter's Square? It consists of four series of columns which seem like a forest of trees planted there by chance. But there are two points, marked on the ground with a circle, from where everything makes sense. From there, the four series of columns seem to align themselves and become a single column. The alignment of those columns is a symbol of what vocation brings to our lives. At first, everything is in confusion, until we find the 'spot' where everything that surrounds us falls into place. That spot is our vocation. And that is why it is worthwhile to give everything to get it... because everything is 'nothing' without it.
Our Lord explains that the man, "in his joy...goes and sells all that he has" to get it. And if we make that leap of faith, if we give everything in order to follow Him, we can say to Him, 'Here you are, Lord! Everything that I am, everything that I have, everything that I can do... I put everything at Your Feet to become what You want me to be, to go where You want me to go, to do what You want me to do and fulfil my mission, the one You thought up for me before the creation of the world.' Mary, my Mother, make my prayer come true!
