Dear Family:

Today’s Gospel tells us that the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, is like a pearl of great price; it is a treasure for us to find and enjoy. However, for as much as we called ourselves believers and cling to our faith, there is always a sense of doubt when we face conflict and the reality of our life and our human frailty.

We all lack trust, trust in the love of our God, his mercy and compassion. Our patroness saint, Thérèse of Lisieux, said that our difficulty with trusting in God’s love is centered on our poor understanding of our weakness, brokenness, and sin. And why is this difficult? It is difficult because the wound in each one of us, caused by original sin, makes us tend to doubt God’s goodness and love. We tend to think in a worldly way, a way that says we must earn God’s love by being perfect, strong, and without sin; this way of thinking, though very altruistic, puts the pearl of great price at a distance almost unreachable for us.

We must understand that God’s love is not for us to earn but to receive; God freely gives us His love unconditionally. St. Paul told the Romans,  “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:38-39). We must remember these words from St. Paul; we should try to memorize them as we have memorized the “Our Father.”

It is to trust that Jesus Christ is the one who makes us Holy and not my actions and deeds. It is to trust that He will make us   into great saints, even if we do not see it happening, even if we struggle with the same sins day after day, even if we have to wait for the grace of holiness until the very end of our lives. As St. Thérèse of Lisieux said in one of her letters, “It is confidence and nothing but confidence that must lead us to Love.”

The pearl of great price can be ours! We just need to realize, that the treasure buried in the field can be ours, if we cling on God’s mercy with trust.

Peace and blessings,

Fr. Omar