Start here with the readings for this weekend (Gospel shorter version)
The Church presents to us today the parables of the treasure hidden in the field and the pearl of great price. All of Jesus’ parables have many different levels of meaning. I would like to reflect on two possible meanings of today’s parables, and they are actually deeply connected.
The first level of meaning is that the kingdom of God—and really, God Himself—is meant to be our treasure and pearl that you and I would discover and that we would sell all we have to obtain.
God has hidden Himself in the field of this world, not so that we would not find Him, but precisely so that we can find Him. Think about a parent playing hide-and-seek with his or her child. The parent does not do this so that the child won’t find him or her; but rather, the parent hides in order for the child to have the delight of finding them. The “pearl of great price” is the Person of Jesus Christ: all of divinity packed into a tiny human form. And now, after Our Lord has ascended back into heaven, that pearl of great price is the Eucharist: Jesus’ body, blood, soul, and divinity packed into a small white host. The sacraments are God’s hidden presence which, when we find them, open up for us the blessed life of the Trinity.
Jesus Himself is the treasure, the pearl of great price, but we have to go looking for Him where He is to be found. When we do this, when we begin really searching for God with the kind of energy and determination which fueled the man searching for treasure in the field and the man searching for the pearl in the marketplace, we discover something amazing, something that changes the game completely. We discover that God has already been searching for us. This is the second level of meaning of this parable: From God’s perspective, you and I are the treasure. We are His pearl of great price for which He sold everything—pouring out every last drop of His blood on the Cross—in order to buy us back.
When we discover that reality, when we come to experience it, to taste the depths of His love for us, we gain the motivation to do whatever it takes to give ourselves completely to Him, to possess His love and to be possessed by His love now and for all eternity.
We need to stop living a checkbox Christianity of simply trying to fulfill our obligations and avoid hell. With every fiber of our being and every power of our soul, we need to spend our lives on this search for the blessed life and love of God that we were made for, and look for Him in the places where He has hidden Himself in His Church and in the world. To God, you are the pearl of great price. You are the treasure hidden in the field of the world. Do not be afraid to sell all that you have—to give up every worldly way of thinking and every vain distraction that would keep you away from having God and belonging to Him completely.
God Himself is our treasure, our pearl of great price. And we are His. Here He is in this very Mass, hiding Himself again under the appearance of bread and wine in the Eucharist. Here we are, searching for Him once again. Let us do whatever it takes—to give up whatever we must—to be able to receive Him worthily here and to give ourselves back—He in us and we in Him.
Total Surrender 
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