Fr Kevin Kilgore

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Gospel: Matthew 13: 44-46

Jesus said to his disciples:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,
which a person finds and hides again,
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
searching for fine pearls. 
When he finds a pearl of great price,
he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Arthur Brooks is a Catholic professor who teaches an elective, “Leadership & Happiness,” at Harvard Business School. This is currently the most popular class on campus with a waiting list of over 400 students!

Brooks claims that all of his students are right-brained, intelligent, high-achievers who have a world of possibilities before them, yet many struggle with feeling unhappy or depressed… and they want to better understand why.

While there can be many factors underlying these feelings, Brooks says that one trap any human being can fall into – not just students at Harvard – is what he calls the “arrival fallacy.”

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The “arrival fallacy” is the belief that achieving a long-term, specific goal will make us happy. Yet when we do, the feeling is ultimately short-lived.

Consider my favorite golfer, who’s currently #1 in the world, Scottie Scheffler.

After winning a major golf tournament last year, he admitted that the happiness he felt from all of his worldly success was short lived. In fact, sometimes the euphoria of winning was gone in a matter of minutes!

“You get there,” he said to reporters after raising his trophy and receiving a seven-figure payout, “you get to No. 1 in the world, and you’re like, ‘What’s the point?’ … Does it fill the deepest wants and desires of my heart?”

“Absolutely not.”

Standing on top of the world, Scheffler reminded us that we all need more than worldly success in order to be happy. 

It’s not just him. 

Studies have shown that a majority of Olympic gold medalists suffer from clinical depression in the three months after winning their gold medal. Silver medalists suffer even more. 

I wonder if this will also be true for players who just competed in the World Cup, even the champions.

You get to #1 in the world…and what’s the point?

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Why is winning on the world stage or receiving a seven-figure payout not enough to make us happy?

Too often people succumb to the arrival fallacy, the belief that more money, more power, more pleasure, or more success will satisfy us. But it doesn’t.

According to Arthur Brooks, the path to happiness is a bit more complex. 

He identifies six different behaviors that happy people practice, each being like a tool leading us to closer to the one thing that is so precious, so immensely valuable that we’d give everything else away to find it.

Happy people ask deep questions. They fall in love. They look upward. They’re spiritual or philosophical. They find a calling in their work. They seek beauty in nature, art, and music. And they’re not afraid of suffering.

Each of these practices is like a tool leading us closer to discovering that treasure buried in the field or the pearl of great price, God. 

As Saint Augustine, reaching the point of surrender after his own long, storied search for happiness, once said, “You have made us for yourself, O LORD, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

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This is what Jesus is saying about the person in today’s Gospel who discovers the treasure buried in the field; he is changed forever. “Out of joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

This is not an act of martyrdom; nor is it a decision driven by reluctance, grief, or despair. It’s a free decision, motivated entirely by joy! 

Such is the case when a soul encounters Christ.

When we are fed by his heart wisdom, when we experience his mercy and peace, when we feel the weight of life’s burdens lifted from our shoulders, when we discover our God-given purpose, we realize that nothing else can satisfy our hungry hearts.

As a result, Christians often begin re-prioritizing their worldly goals and possessions, dropping them to number two, three, or even lower on their list of importance, because we see just how empty worldly pursuits – or the arrival fallacy – can be. 

Think of Scottie Scheffler. “You get to No. 1 in the world, and you’re like, ‘What’s the point?’ … Does it fill the deepest wants and desires of my heart?”

“Absolutely not.”

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What am I searching for in life? What is the treasure buried in the field or the pearl of great price? 

Is it growth in my career? Image? Success? Worldly things?

Or is it Jesus?

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Happiness may seem elusive.

But we know where to find it.

It’s the real treasure buried in the field, the pearl of great price.

As the prophet Jeremiah joyfully proclaimed, “When I found your words I devoured them. They became my joy and the happiness of my heart, because I bore your name, O LORD, God of hosts.”

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Image credits: (1) Ardmore Institute of Health (2) PGA Tour (3) In Touch Ministries

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Gospel: Matthew 13: 18-23

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Hear the parable of the sower.
The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the Kingdom
without understanding it,
and the Evil One comes and steals away
what was sown in his heart.
The seed sown on rocky ground
is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy.
But he has no root and lasts only for a time.
When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word,
he immediately falls away.
The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word,
but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word
and it bears no fruit.
But the seed sown on rich soil
is the one who hears the word and understands it,
who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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There are different ways of accepting the Word of God. The fruit it bears depends on a person’s heart.

In the Gospel today, the same Word is spoken to different listeners. Some receive it without understanding; the Evil One whispers lies in their heart, stealing what was sown.

Others receive the Word with joy, but their faith lacks any root. Once a trial comes their way, their faith is the first thing to go.

Others receive the Word, but prefer the things of this world to the things that are eternal.

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Finally, there are those whose hearts are like rich, fertile soil. They hear the Word and are permanently changed by it.

But consider the effort it takes to make soil fertile – and by extension, a human heart deeply open to the Word of God.

In order to make soil fertile, you must dig into it; break it; and repeatedly separate it. That period of chaos is what opens the ground, allowing it to receive seeds, and ultimately, to give life.

Any sturdy plant was once a tiny seed placed inside broken, fertile soil.

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What does this mean for us?

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Our hearts are most fertile after being broken. 

Think of any stressful, frustrating, or traumatic experience. In those moments, it feels like we’ve been tossed about – broken inside – much like rich, fertile soil.

They are blessed, Jesus says, the ones who turn to him in that hour. It’s then that the Word of God has the greatest chance to take deep root within us, to change us, and to bear good fruit.

As Saint Paul says, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

These gifts come from within; they’re the fruit of a broken heart receptive to the Word of God.

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“The seed sown on rich soil,” Jesus says, “is the one who hears and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”

May we turn to the Lord in our darkest hours, knowing that when we’re broken, the Word has the greatest potential to take root, transforming us for the better.

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Image credits: (1) Be Still… (2) Christ Fellowship (3) Facebook

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Gospel: Matthew 13: 10-17

The disciples approached Jesus and said,
“Why do you speak to the crowd in parables?”
He said to them in reply,
“Because knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven
has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted.
To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich;
from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
This is why I speak to them in parables, because
they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.
Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:

You shall indeed hear but not understand,
you shall indeed look but never see.
Gross is the heart of this people,
they will hardly hear with their ears,
they have closed their eyes,
lest they see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their hearts and be converted
and I heal them.

“But blessed are your eyes, because they see,
and your ears, because they hear.
Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people
longed to see what you see but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Pope Benedict once likened the Catholic Church to a large stained-glass window.

From the outside, stained-glass windows look dark, dusty, and gloomy. It is only when viewing them from within that they become radiant, often revealing a story from the bible or highlighting a mystery of our faith.

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Similarly, those who gaze upon the Catholic Church from the outside – either without faith or good will – may see an institution that’s backward; outdated; or gloomy. 

The Church’s teachings, like the divinity of Christ, his Promised Presence in the Eucharist, God as a Trinity, the grace of the Sacraments, or certain moral teachings may not make sense to those who long to say, “I did it my way.”

But if you enter into the Church with eyes of faith, then these mysteries are not only illuminating, they are also beautiful. 

Viewed with eyes of faith within the Church, Mass no longer resembles a group of people eating pieces of bread and drinking cups of wine; they are, in fact, receiving their Savior. 

Baptism is not another version of baby bath time; it’s the moment a child receives eternal life. Moral boundaries are not impositions on our freedom; rather, the path to freedom.

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As Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “Knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted.”

This does not mean that we understand everything the Church teaches all at once; growth in understanding is a gradual process. But those who make an honest search for the Truth can find it.

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If each of the Church’s teachings were like a stained-glass window, then what are examples of ones I view from within? Conversely, are there any I still struggle to understand?

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May Christ bless our eyes, ears, minds, and hearts so that we may see and understand all he teaches through Mother Church. 

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Image credits: (1) Christianity.com (2) Strasbourg Cathedral, Wikimedia Commons (3) Our Lady of Strasbourg Cathedral