Jesus said to the crowd: 44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.

At that time, Jesus said to the crowd: 44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. A man finds it and hides it. Overjoyed, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 The kingdom of heaven is like a buyer looking for precious pearls. 46 When he finds one pearl of great value, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that pearl." — Word of Salvation. Reflection 1. Jesus' teaching is aimed directly at hearts. He never seeks to speak in an abstract way, distant from people's reality. He always uses people or elements of nature to explain salvific realities with simplicity, that is, the mysteries of God for our salvation. Our language is based on our context and the reality of our person. Hence, our learning cannot take place outside the scope of our symbolic universe. On the other hand, Jesus was not interested in showing himself to be full of knowledge, but in leading us to the knowledge of “things above.” Most importantly, His concern for us to understand the meaning of His Kingdom and the most perfect way to transmit it. In this sense, parables become the most eloquent means of transmitting knowledge, due to the very fact that they use people or realities close to us, from our daily lives. 2. Where is the Kingdom? It is there, very close, somewhere that can be found. God revealed it, He made it present in history in a personal way. It does not concern only virtues, but a person himself, Jesus Christ Our Lord. This is what the parable of the treasure hidden in the field tells us. A man finds the treasure, rejoices in it, hides it and buys the field where the treasure is found. It is worth noting that the joy of discovery turns into the ability to renounce all possessions. He will sell everything he has just to get the treasure. Of course, it is not enough to find it, but mainly to enter it. Here there is a reference to the events of the context in which, because of the constant wars, many hid treasures and often no longer had access to them. Another, in the future, found it and was certainly very happy with such an important find. Well, the joy of discovering the Kingdom is greater than the discovery of the most important treasure on the face of the earth. 3. Following the same idea, Jesus tells the parable of the pearl. A merchant of precious pearls, a man who was already rich, also comes across the Kingdom of God, here symbolized by a pearl. He is also offered the Kingdom, the possibility of a new life, which comes from an encounter with Jesus, the PEARL par excellence. The merchant also sold everything he had, stripped himself completely of what he considered valuable, in order to keep only the pearl of incomparable value. He discovered the Kingdom and also entered it. He had an encounter with Jesus Christ and remained with Him forever. In both this and the parable of the treasure, Jesus shows Himself to be the most important thing, the Kingdom desired by God and belonging to Him. 4. And what about you? Have you ever had a happy opportunity with Jesus Christ? Have you ever noticed that the world calls everything that is disposable valuable and discards everything that has value in itself? Have you been able to renounce everything to be exclusively with Jesus Christ? Who is your most important treasure? Do you usually put something or someone in the place of God? If you are already a Christian, do you usually give the Word of God first place in your day? Do you usually do good? Do you try to put God's will first? Early in the morning, do you usually ask Jesus to tell you what you should live that day? Do you think you are far or close to the TREASURE offered by God?