Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time “A”.  I Kings 3:5, 7-12.  Romans 8:28-30.  Matthew 13:44-52.

Lance Armstrong is a very unusual human being. There are those who say that his physical capacity is unusual and his natural abilities far beyond the norm, yet the story of Lance Armstrong and his seventh win of the Tour De France cross country bicycle race goes far beyond his natural abilities.  Lance has made a firm decision to train his mind, his sprit and his body to win the race.  That decision didn’t come easily.  His future coach said that although Armstrong was talented, he wasn't very disciplined. He acted as if he had nothing to learn. He said, "I called him up and we talked on the phone. He was kind of rude. Not kind of rude. He was completely rude.” He couldn’t take advice because he always knew better.  His coach went on, “I would tell him to wait till the end of a race before making a break. He just couldn't do that. He would get out in front and set the pace. He would burn up the field, and when other riders came alive he would be done, spent.” Several days after his twenty-fifth birthday Lance discovered that he had testicular cancer.  Even worse, the disease had spread to his lungs, abdomen, and brain.  He had only a small chance of living another year. Armstrong underwent four rounds of chemotherapy so powerful that the chemicals destroyed muscle tissue and caused permanent kidney damage; in the final treatments, the chemicals left burns on his skin from the inside out.  

Armstrong now says that cancer was the best thing that ever happened to him. Before becoming ill, he didn't care about strategy or tactics or teamwork—and nobody becomes a great cyclist without mastering those aspects of the sport.  This spring Lance spent 35 hours a week on his bicycle preparing for the race.  In his autobiography he says, "Cycling is so hard, the suffering is so intense, that it's absolutely cleansing,"    Lance Armstrong is in the process of winning the Tour De France for the seventh time – He has had to concentrate all his strength and all his efforts on winning.  All of this is for a passing and perishable crown.

Jesus said, “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.”

A few weeks ago a young man who was about to be married shared with me a bit of wisdom he had learned from his father.  His dad had told he would know that he was ready for marriage when he was willing to give up and sacrifice all his dreams to be with the woman he loves.  We live in a culture that teaches us not to put all of our eggs in one basket and not to invest all of our savings in one place.  There may be some wisdom in this, but the danger is that we may play so many options and invest ourselves in so many things that we really have not invested ourselves in a significant way in any one thing; in fact, we have totally committed our lives and our gifts to nothing.

Finding the right person to marry in the Catholic tradition means finding the treasure or the pearl for which we would sell everything else that we have.  It means choosing one man or one woman and letting go of the option of choosing someone else.  It means investing ourselves totally in that person, as the marriage vows say, “in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.”  This kind of a commitment is both awesome and scary.  It is also the way to a deeply loving, compassionate and caring life.  I recognize that there are valid reasons that some marriages do not last.  At the same time, I stand in awe of people who invest themselves totally in their marriage for fifty or more years.  That may be as difficult as winning the Tour De France.

A week ago I celebrated the thirty-eighth anniversary of my ordination as a priest.  In choosing to be a priest I had to let got of doing a lot of other things in my life.  Above all, I had to let go of the possibility of being a husband and a father.  That was not an easy choice thirty eight years ago and it is not an easy choice today.  On the other hand, I have had a very good life as a priest largely because I know what it has cost me, and a long time ago I made up my mind, with God’s help, to pay the price.

Jesus said, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea which collects fish of every kind.  When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away.”

Part of the wisdom that Jesus teaches us is to sit down and look at all the things that have accumulated in our lives.  Wisdom demands that we decide what the good things are that we should keep, and what the bad things are that we should throw away.  Perhaps our nets are filled to the breaking point because we have never decided what the real treasure or the fine pearl is in our lives. Someone mentioned to me that Lance Armstrong has had trouble with his marriage.  Even though we are investing ourselves totally, we may not be investing in the right thing.  Either by choice or by default we have kept too many things in our nets, or invested in the wrong ones.  We will never be happy until we focus our lives on the hidden treasure of the kingdom of heaven and throw the rest away.

For the deep and lasting joy that comes from finding the hidden treasure of the kingdom of heaven in our lives and selling everything that we have to possess it, we give God thanks and praise.