Our Sermons

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A-2026) St Patrick – Milford

A 17-year-old boy was playing basketball in his driveway with his friends. In the course of the game, he lost one of his contact lenses. He searched up and down the driveway to find it without success. So, he gave up and he went in the house to tell his mother. Immediately, she undertook the cause and went out to look. In just a few minutes she came in holding the contact lens in her hand. “I don’t get it,” said the boy. “I looked everywhere. How did you do that?” “Well,” she explained, “we were looking for different things. You were looking for a small piece of plastic. I was looking for $300 !!!

Today’s Gospel concludes Jesus’ series of kingdom parables. He explains that the kingdom of heaven is of surpassing, ultimate value. The parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl demonstrate that discovering God’s kingdom is worth sacrificing everything else, and this sacrifice brings joy, not sorrow. 

So, what about the PEARL OF GREAT PRICE? We must begin by looking back to the time of Creation. God desired a creation that would serve Him, worship Him and love Him of its own free will. God created angels to serve him and worship him but they did not have his image. God created the universe, the sun, moon and stars and said that it was good but they had no real life or ability to worship in the way that God desired. Neither could they really appreciate His love and grace. God created the earth, the mountains, animals and plants and said they were good, but they could not worship and love him as He desired. 
Then God created Adam and Eve. In this creation, God took great care. He did not just speak them into existence as he had done all of the other creation. God personally formed their bodies, He breathed His own breath into them, He made them in His own image. Your body, your soul and your spirit are exact replicas of the body, soul and spirit of Almighty God. HE CREATED US WITH A FREE WILL TO CHOOSE WHETHER WE WILL WORSHIP HIM, LOVE HIM AND SERVE HIM BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US AND DESIRED US.

In the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden, both man and God lost the greatest of all treasures. In fact, all of creation was affected because the perfect bond between creation and its holy creator was crushed. Now, the God of love was suddenly looked upon as the God of Judgment. What Did God Lose? God lost everything … HIS PEARL OF GREAT PRICE … at that moment.
From that moment, God knew what price would have to paid to have the praise, love and worship of His creation. So, God laid out the plan of salvation. In the parable of the PEARL OF GREAT PRICE we see just exactly what God lost.

God had all of the riches of heaven with its streets of gold that are so pure that they are as transparent as glass. God had all of the glory and praise of the angels around the throne who sing His praises day and night without ceasing. God had all of the power of his majesty as Almighty God the all-seeing, all-knowing, all- hearing, all-powerful God of eternity where there is no past or future, only the present. THESE WERE BUT A FEW OF THE MANY PEARLS THAT GOD HAD ALREADY – BUT HE HAD LOST THE GREATEST PEARL OF ALL – THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE … his own children! 

God knew that only his own death could be the price for our redemption. God came down, took on the form of a man called Jesus, went to the cross, gave up all the other pearls of heaven as a sacrifice to find his pearl of great price – his children. God died for me. God died for you. God died to give us the freedom to choose. 

No devil of hell can keep us from choosing God. No devil of hell can force us away from God. No temptation has the power to force us to sin. BECAUSE GOD DIED ON THAT CROSS AND SHED HIS OWN BLOOD – WE HAVE A CHOICE! 

But what will we choose? God loves us so much that he gave up the pearls of heaven, became man, experienced the worst rejection that a man could experience and took upon himself our sins and guilt. God felt the pain and agony of separation from all this is good and holy. God felt the condemnation and experienced the flames of hell for a death on the cross. And he did it all for you and me! He did it all so you could have a choice! He did it all because he considered you and me to be his pearl of great price. Jesus paid the price to buy back his greatest prize. HAVE WE accepted Jesus’ offer? Will we give him our love, our life, our all in return for his love? Each of us has the ability to choose because he purchased that ability on the cross. HIS CHURCH … WE ARE THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE!