SPEAKER_00: This morning I had an experience I will never forget.
SPEAKER_00: I was in Castel Gandofo, the little town that served, has served the summer residence of the popes for centuries.
SPEAKER_00: Hundreds of pilgrims gathered in the piazza to pray the Angelus with the Holy Father.
SPEAKER_00: And I was given the great privilege to greet the Holy Father personally.
SPEAKER_00: An unforgettable moment.
SPEAKER_00: But what has stayed with me even more than the meeting of the Pope was something he said.
SPEAKER_00: Reflecting on today's gospel, he made a simple but very profound observation.
SPEAKER_00: He said that when someone discovers the kingdom of God, life does not become smaller.
SPEAKER_00: It becomes larger.
SPEAKER_00: I think that's one of the greatest misunderstandings about Christianity.
SPEAKER_00: Many people imagine that if they really give themselves to Christ, life will become restrictive, that God will take away their freedom, that God will take away their fun, their dreams, their plans.
SPEAKER_00: Religion becomes a list of things you can no longer do.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus tells them a completely different story.
SPEAKER_00: A man discovers a treasure buried in a field.
SPEAKER_00: A merchant finds the finest pearl he has ever seen.
SPEAKER_00: What do they do?
SPEAKER_00: Well, they sell everything.
SPEAKER_00: But notice something important.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus never says they walk away sad.
SPEAKER_00: He says they do it with joy.
SPEAKER_00: Because they're not losing everything.
SPEAKER_00: They are exchanging something valuable for something infinitely more valuable.
SPEAKER_00: That changes everything.
SPEAKER_00: The Christian life is not about giving things up, it's about discovering someone who is worth more than everything else.
SPEAKER_00: Think about every important decision you've ever made.
SPEAKER_00: When a young man falls in love and proposes marriages, people might say, You're giving up your freedom.
SPEAKER_00: But no groom standing at the altar thinks that way.
SPEAKER_00: He has found someone worth giving himself to.
SPEAKER_00: When parents welcome their first child, they lose sleep, they lose money, convenience, vacations, countless quiet evenings.
SPEAKER_00: Yet ask them if it was worth it.
SPEAKER_00: They will almost always say, of course.
SPEAKER_00: Because love always makes sacrifice seem small.
SPEAKER_00: The greater the love, the easier the sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: And that's exactly what Jesus is teaching us today.
SPEAKER_00: The treasure changes everything.
SPEAKER_00: The pearl changes everything.
SPEAKER_00: Not because life becomes easier, but because life becomes more meaningful.
SPEAKER_00: The Holy Father also says something I found beautiful.
SPEAKER_00: He pointed out that Jesus chooses ordinary people in these parables: a farmer, a merchant, fisherman, a householder.
SPEAKER_00: Elsewhere, Jesus speaks about shepherds, women baking bread, working workers, kings, servants.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Well, because the kingdom is not reserved for extraordinary people.
SPEAKER_00: It is hidden within ordinary life.
SPEAKER_00: Most of us expect God to appear in dramatic moments.
SPEAKER_00: But more often than not, he comes quietly, at daily mass, in a moment of prayer, in the confessional, in the scriptures, in conversation, in an unexpected act of charity.
SPEAKER_00: The treasure is often hidden in what the world overlooks.
SPEAKER_00: But then the Holy Father made one final observation that has stuck with me.
SPEAKER_00: He said that today's culture constantly creates new desires.
SPEAKER_00: It convinces us that happiness is always one purchase away, one promotions away, one vacation away, one possession away.
SPEAKER_00: The problem is that once we get those things, something inside of us is still saying, I want more.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because our hearts were made for the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And the world is very good at creating appetites.
SPEAKER_00: And those appetites can only be satisfied by Christ.
SPEAKER_00: That's why Jesus calls himself the treasure.
SPEAKER_00: Not because he wants something from us, but because he wants something for us.
SPEAKER_00: He knows that nothing less than God can satisfy the human heart.
SPEAKER_00: That's why the saints never considered following Christ a loss.
SPEAKER_00: Saint Francis left wealth.
SPEAKER_00: Mother Teresa left comfort.
SPEAKER_00: The apostles left their nets.
SPEAKER_00: None of them spent the rest of their lives regretting it.
SPEAKER_00: They had found the treasure.
SPEAKER_00: This morning, standing there in Castel Gandolfo, surrounded by pilgrims from every nation, I was reminded of something beautiful.
SPEAKER_00: People had come from all parts of the world, different languages, different cultures, different stories.
SPEAKER_00: Yet everyone had gathered for one reason to seek Christ, to love the church.
SPEAKER_00: That's why the church has always been.
SPEAKER_00: People who would otherwise know, not know another are united because they have discovered the same treasure.
SPEAKER_00: So perhaps the most important question we can ask ourselves today is not what am I giving up for Christ?
SPEAKER_00: The better question is: have I discovered the treasure?
SPEAKER_00: Do I understand this treasure?
SPEAKER_00: Because once you truly discover him, everything else finds its proper place.
SPEAKER_00: Then sacrifice is no longer a loss.
SPEAKER_00: Obedience no longer feels like restriction.
SPEAKER_00: Faith no longer feels like duty.
SPEAKER_00: Everything becomes joy.
SPEAKER_00: For when we discover Jesus Christ, we discover that we have not made our lives smaller.
SPEAKER_00: We have finally found the one who makes them infinitely larger.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.