17TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME AND FINAL THREE PARABLES OF JESUS...........

As this Sunday morning dawns, the designation of this extended liturgical season defines its designation, in the message and meaning of the 3 Gospel Parables of Jesus Christ, in Matthew 13:44-52.  The Parables of,  'The Hidden Treasure'; 'The Merchant With Pearls'; and 'The Net Cast Into the Sea'; are proclaimed by Jesus and intended to underscore how we as people of Faith and disciples of Christ, would respond if we were literally the persons in those parabolic stories, carrying out the ordinary events of everyday life.  What "hidden treaures", do you and I, possess that we can use more effectively as members of the Body of Christ, and the common good of the Community of Believers and the temporal World in which we share ?  What "pearls" of Faith, Hope, and Love, are ours, to value and to enrich not only our own lives, but the betterment of others ?  What catch will we achieve as we "cast our nets" into the sea of selflessly seeking those who are searching to discover their own treasures and pearls of Life in the Living and True God ?  The Call of Christ is issued to the most struggling human being and the most privileged; to both sinners and righteous people; to the baptized and the uninitiated; All of us as have ordinary, everyday, opportunities to hear the Call of Christ, and to actively respond.  To do so, requires our willingness to embrace the lessons of the Parables, as we strive to share ourselves ever more fully in the Divine gift of Discipleship to serving the common good of the Church and the building up of God's Kingdom, which is the purpose and goal, we are striving to attain as initiated members of the Body of Christ in the World...........Fr.  Troy