 When I read the readings for today in preparation for the gift of presiding and preaching I was struck by the Lord's words to Solomon in this first reading Ask something of me and I will give it to you Ask something of me and I will give it to you Wow, that's astounding if you think about it God is saying to Solomon in this dream ask me anything And I will give it to you The God of all generosity the God of all abundance the God who is Lord of everything is Inviting his servant Solomon to ask Those words struck me. I thought to myself What if God were to appear to me in a dream and say that What would I ask for I? I wasn't quite sure I'll come back to that a little bit later But Solomon asked for wisdom He asked to be able to have an understanding heart To judge the people for which he was king and to distinguish between right and wrong If he had tried to do this on his own he would be like our first parents Adam and Eve who wanted to on their own power Distinguish right from wrong The knowledge the tree of the knowledge of good and evil But Solomon humbly invoked to share in the divine wisdom So that he could care for this people who had been entrusted to him the king So that he could know how to lead them and God grants Solomon's requests the all good most high supremely good Lord pours out his goodness upon Solomon so that he can have that wisdom in guiding the people God's goodness is evident throughout the readings today. His kingdom plan is evident in the letter to the Romans chapter 8 One of my favorite passages as well with Scott as he spoke about it earlier in the weekend We hear this short excerpt We know that all things work for the good of those who love God who are called according to his purpose And we sometimes focus on the first part that all things work for the good of those who love God and that is true But we have to remember the second part of that sentence who are called according to his purpose He's only going to give us what will be according to his purpose He's going to if we have hearts that truly desire him and his kingdom Sometimes he will give us things we don't want Sometimes he will not give us what we want or give it to us at a later time God has his own timing his own plan and Having talked with the number of you informally this weekend I know that you're wrestling with that and we all wrestle with that What is God's plan right now? What is he working out? What is he doing in my life? How is he revealing himself and God is patient with us as we seek to continue to understand and to follow his will Which requires a trust in his goodness That he is good and that he wants our good and that he has made us for the good Easier said than done right Sometimes difficult to trust in his goodness and then in the gospel today. We have these beautiful parables Actually in these three weeks in the 15th 16th and 17th Sunday in ordinary time We've been hearing parables and today we hear the last of seven parables that Jesus shared with his disciples The first a couple weeks ago we heard and it's been repeated at different times in the readings the seed and the sower We also heard Jesus is parable of the weeds and the wheat We heard Last week the mustard seed and the yeast remember the small seed and the bit of yeast that makes the kingdom grow and This week we hear two parables at the beginning of the gospel Which are very close in meaning the treasure in the field that is found and the man buys The man sells all he has to buy that field where the treasure is and the merchant Seeking for and finding the precious pearl and then finally we hear the parable of the net with the good and the bad fish The net that collects everything and then is sorted out Just as at the judgment the good will be sorted out from the evil The net and the good fish is much like the weeds in the wheat it harkens back to that parable All of these parables are speaking about the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of heaven is the manifestation of God's goodness The treasure in the field and the pearl of great price It's interesting that they're very close, but they have some differences in The first parable the treasure in the field the treasure stands for the abundance of gifts of God's kingdom It's a treasure the kingdom The pearl stands for the beauty of the kingdom. It's worth searching for in The first parable the man stumbles upon the treasure in the field Unexpectedly in the second the merchant seeking the pearl finds it as the result of a lengthy search Pope st. Gregory the great says this Well first a little commentary from the Navarre Bible and then what he said Faith vocation true wisdom desire for heaven are things which sometimes are discovered suddenly and unexpectedly Like the treasure in the field Or they are things that are sometimes discovered after much searching however The man's attitude is the same in both parables and is described in the same terms He goes and sells all that he has and buys it Detachment generosity is this indispensable for obtaining the treasure Sisters and brothers we are called to seek the kingdom of God When we do that as Jesus tells us in the gospel of Matthew seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you Everything else in our life our financial needs our family concerns our work our leisure our play our health If we are seeking the kingdom of God All will be well because we will be living in accord with God's purposes and part of that seeking is asking and Not and asking the Lord for a heart that asks for what he wants So that brings us back to the first reading that brings us back to Solomon's question or God's Statement to Solomon ask something of me, and I will give it to you. I was thinking about this the other night and I did a little spiritual exercise I Closed my eyes. I Allowed myself to take a deep breath and focus on the Lord and his presence It was while we were in here, and we were praising and worshiping God, and I said Lord What do you want me to ask of you? Lord, what do you want me to ask of you? And I just stayed there in silence, and I tried to listen with my heart And a couple things came in my mind and jostled around in my brain and consciousness And then I knew what it was the Lord said to me ask To be able to forget yourself Not in a self-deprecating way, but in a self-empting and so I asked him for that I'm gonna ask you right now to do that same spiritual exercise Close your eyes if you need to Open your hands in front of you if it's helpful or whatever allows you to pray Take a deep breath you've heard many things this weekend you've experienced Encounters with other people that have been powerful You've received Jesus in the Eucharist and in the word Say to the Lord in your heart right now Lord, what do you want me to ask you? Don't worry if nothing comes It may come later Lord, what do you want me to ask you now? Take a moment if you feel led to ask him even if you're unsure and uncertain Father God you who are the father of lights you who give good and perfect gifts to your children for your glory You who through whose Purpose we find our good Continue to allow us like Solomon and Like your disciples and the prophets to ask of you what you truly want Continue to place your desires upon our hearts your desire for our for hope and holiness Lord take us deeper underneath our own concerns and worries and anxieties and insecurities To what matters to your heart Allow us to trust in your goodness For you are all good and you know and desire our good and The good of our families and the good of our culture and our nation and our world more than we could ever desire Lord we want to live in you and in your love We ask this in your holy name. Amen. I believe that the Lord is gonna continue to plant seeds in you That as we pray today your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven We participate in that kingdom We reveal that kingdom until its fullness is revealed until the pearl of great price is found In its fullness until the treasure in the field is experienced in its richness Until we see the effect of the yeast and the mustard seed the faith of the Lord But the Lord is patient He's giving us time because we need it to repent and to be open and to grow in Conversion and to pray for the conversion of our family and our friends and our enemies and The Lord will fulfill his kingdom May God bless you and give you his peace