Pearl of Great Price
As I continue my Oblate formation I am continually surprised how certain pearls of wisdom that I have heard and believed for years suddenly stand out with a new depth and relevance. God is the expert at using anything He can to put a spotlight on exactly what we need to realize at our particular place in our journey. Recently, one of those “pearls” of wisdom is in fact the parable of the Pearl of Great Price. Like all the parables, this short wise saying subtly shakes the ground beneath our preconceived worldviews. Nothing but the Gospel can so flip our systems of value on their heads. This parable is one of the shortest in the Gospels, with only one sentence: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it” (Mt. 13:45-46).
One reason the parable resonates so deeply with me is because its narrative and my interpretation of it have mirrored my spiritual journey during the last several years, as the parables are meant to do.
The nuance and subtlety in such a short passage allow for multivalent interpretation. At the outset, one is tempted to equate the object in the parable with the Kingdom in a one-to-one pattern, which can be said of other parables: Kingdom = mustard seed, Kingdom = treasure, Kingdom = leaven, etc. This parable, however, disrupts that pattern. The author does not write that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a pearl; rather, he says that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls.
Here arises the first lesson derived from the parable that has influenced my spiritual life: The Kingdom of God is not just the end result that one achieves after sufficient striving and searching. The very process of searching and seeking that constitutes so much of our spiritual lives is part of being in the Kingdom. The only requirement is simply to realize that the Kingdom is present. Once you become aware of it, the Kingdom is yours to embrace. Over time, stepping into the Kingdom becomes a habit of spontaneously dropping down to the spiritual level of our being and gazing at the world with a consciousness that is keenly aware of the presence of God, without that awareness hindering our attention to the world around us.
What, then, to say about the pearl itself? I offer my thoughts only as a personal interpretation, which might just as well differ from many other readings. The pearl may represent that transforming union with Christ that is the end goal of the spiritual life. The loftiness of such a goal in no way eclipses or detracts from the beauty of the spiritual adventure by which it is attained.
Another feature of the short story has struck me as worthy of ongoing consideration:There is no price tag attached to the pearl; that is, there is no objective value placed on it. Instead, the price that the merchant is willing to pay becomes the worth of the pearl for him. What will this consistent companionship with the Lord be worth to us if it is ever attained? It will be precious to us in proportion to what and how much we are willing to give for it.
The wisdom gained from the increasing awareness that “the Kingdom of God is at hand,” as demonstrated by this reflection, has been the most pivotal aspect of my desire to pursue religious life as an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales. And so the same question continues to echo down the centuries to every Christian: What price would you pay to obtain this pearl?
Mr. Matthew Trovato, OSFS
Oblate Seminarian