Back in the summer of 1999, I happen to be visiting some friends in Massachusetts. At one point, we were out on a fishing boat in the sea . . . and all these helicopters were flying all around us. It was very strange. We found out later that we in the area that the plane carrying John F. Kennedy Jr and his companions went missing. The helicopters were searching for the missing plane!
Well, like most of you, I feel sad about all the recent deaths . . . the plane that was shot down another crashed or the killings that happened in the Gaza Strip. I’m sorry for all the people that died. I remember back with John Junior’s death, I think one of the reasons that his death affected us all is that he represented to us . . . potential. For you younger folks, John Junior was President Kennedy’s only son. He was dashing and athletic and always in the public eye. And for many of us, we have been wondering what he would become. He had all that potential, all those possibilities . . . many wondered if he would go politics? Would he do well?
All deaths are sad, especially deaths of young people. Just like the tragic deaths of celebrities (like James Dean or Marilyn Monroe or Princess Diana) who all died young and never reached their potential . . . are now immortalized with the question “What If….?”
Well oddly enough, the readings today also speak about “What if” potential. In the first reading, Solomon can ask for anything from God . . . what if he asked for wealth, power, or eternal life . . . what will happen? But he doesn’t ask for these; he asks for wisdom. Wisdom so that he can do to best lead the people.
Then in the gospel, Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God. And remember, Jesus is not talking about a thing or a place…it is much more than that. Jesus says that it’s like a pearl or a treasure that is full of potential Another way of hearing the gospel is……What if the Kingdom of God is like a pearl or a hidden treasure…what are you going to do? Do you just ignore it? The point is . . . no, it should be pursued at any cost. Go for it! Or what if the Kingdom of God is like a net that gathers everyone, but in the end….the good fish and the bad fish get sorted. Where do you want to end up?
Many of us tend to take the rather negative approach . . . “Well, someone else is going to buy the treasure anyway. And how do I know it’s not a fake pearl? Or I’m probably just going to be one of those thrown out fish anyway.”
It is like the story of a man whose wedding I did a few years ago. This actually happened. . . as a kid, he was a hug MN Vikings fan. So his Dad took him to a benefit basketball game that many Vikings were playing in his hometown. He went early and stayed after to get players’ autographs. He actually he spent a long time getting all of their autographs.
The next morning, his mom asked to see the autographs—because she knew how excited he had been—and he proudly handed her a piece of paper with nine signatures neatly written in pencil. She said, “These don’t look quite right.” “You’re telling me,” he said. “I got all their signatures, but I couldn’t read them. They were so sloppy and messy! So I wrote them all out myself.” “Well what did you do with the autographs?” the Mom asked. “Oh I threw that sheet away. “
Sometimes, we don’t know that treasures that we have. We are people of potential. We are people of “What If”….and I don’t mean what if concerning the unusual stuff . . . like “Will the Vikings finally have a quarterback? or “What if we put in an elevator here at South?” But “What ifs” of the Kingdom that Jesus talked about is really true and “What if” there is great pearl that can be found in the scriptures (with God’s comforting words) or in the Eucharist (with the food that gives us hope) or it’s actually that gem of a person sitting right next to you right now? And “What if” there is a hidden treasure and it’s actually inside you . . . and “What if” you cleaned up your priorities and opened up that treasure?