Scripture Reflection, July 26, 2026, 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

1 Kings 3:5, 7-12 Romans 8:28-30 Matthew 13:44-52

They say that Carl Jung, the famous psychoanalyst, had this wisdom posted in his office: “Voctus Atque Nonvocatus Deus Adheret.” For those of you without benefit of four years of high school Latin… that means, "Called or not called, God comes.”

The first two short parables in today's gospel give that wisdom flesh and blood. The man plowing his field, just minding his own business, serendipitously discovers a hidden treasure. On the other hand, the merchant in the next parable has been searching high and low for the perfect pearl, the pearl that will put all others to shame. Finally his search is rewarded; he discovers this pearl of great price.

God comes. Sometimes we experience a touch of the Divine when we sit alone in prayer in a darkened church or in the chapel before the Blessed Sacrament. We may be touched in the Eucharistic liturgy as we pray with others or when we carve out time to go on a retreat. At those times we are intentionally seeking God, listening for a word from God or pouring out our heart.

But other times, God catches us unawares. A rainbow or sunset we had not expected. Holding our first child or grandchild in our arms. A poem or a piece of music so beautiful it brings us to tears. And we understand why C.S. Lewis talks of God as “the place where all the Beauty comes from.”

Whether we have called God, set aside special time for prayer or whether we are knee-deep in the demands of our daily life, God comes. Called or not called, God comes.

Because to God… you are a pearl of great price.

by: Pat Schnee, OPA