Sunday 26 July 2026
Lectio
Divina:*
Meditatio:
‘Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern
your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this
your great people?’’ (1 Kings 3:9)
Commentary:
The gift of discernment is something we treasure especially as we learn, hopefully, from successes and mistakes in the course of one’s life. In the first reading, we hear that God was pleased with his servant, Solomon, ‘because you … have not asked for yourself long life or riches’ but had asked for ‘understanding to discern what is right’. Listening to a moving and inspiring introductory speech by newly appointed Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, on the outside 10 Downing Street the other day prompted me to think about the role of political leadership especially at this time when all that we had taken for granted – democracy, human rights, freedom of the press, rule of law, international solidarity and peace – seem to be very much under attack.
Like many other Christians I pray for the new Prime Minister
as well as leaders in civic and public life in other parts of the world
including my own country, Ireland. There is a personal dimension to any
political journey – the values and beliefs that shape one’s decision to commit
to public life. Too often personal goals
of power, money, fame or animosity towards others can motivate people to arrive
at positions of power and influence. We need to guard our hearts and minds in
terms of what we think, say and act on.
To discern God’s will we need to cultivate those precious gifts of
intuition, insight and understanding that we have garnered from a life’s
journey so far.
In the Gospel reading for this Sunday speaks, Jesus speaks
of the Kingdom of God as he does throughout all the gospels in terms of how
people relate to God and one another. Today, we hear about those precious
pearls and treasures that are worth so much that we might be prepared to give
our all. Finding a precious pearl and
keeping it implies hard choices – sometimes painful choices for us and
others.
In Psalm 119:77 we hear:
Let your mercy come to me, that I may live; for your law is my delight.
This, potentially, is our delight – to discover God’s
special plan for us and to give our whole-hearted yes.
We are treasured by the One who invites us to be our
treasure. We can discover a light and an energy that is reflected and refracted
in our very human treasures of loving and being loved.
We may also note that in finding the treasure the one who
finds discovers joy. This establishes a connection from the heart to the object
of desire. We read in Matthew
6:21:
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
We may discern – carefully – the action and inspirations of
the Holy Spirit in the discovery of an inner joy and peace. But, this must be
tested and re-tested because not every appearance of joy comes from God. Even
still, on finding joy we may be like the one who went and sold everything he
owned in order to buy the field in which the treasure was
hidden. She took a risk that the treasure would still be there.
Moreover, she took a risk that the treasure would prove to be a
treasure worth the sacrifice of all
Once again, we are shocked to hear the following words of
Jesus which echo his words in the same Gospel chapter of Matthew in last
Sunday’s reading:
when it [the net] was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ [v.48-50]
We ought to leave judgment to God. In any case who is any
one of us to judge another? We are, all of us, under judgment at the
seat of mercy and justice. There are things of which we would not be proud, as
disciples of Christ, were we to be open about everything in our
past. And, nobody is so certain of their being saved until God calls
us when He wills and as He wills.
Have you understood all this?’ They answered, ‘Yes.’ And he said to them, ‘Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old. [v.51-52]
Before we jump to judge anyone – including our favourite or
worst politician let’s remember that everyone will give account for their
actions and inactions.
At this time in my life what do I treasure the
most? Does this match the way I live? It is one thing to
say we live by such and such values or that some thing or relationship is our
priority; It is another matter when it comes to the working out of our lives
especially in near desperate situations. The precious pearl hidden
in our hearts might be a special love, a unique calling or a broad and an
intuition of something beautiful, greater, more lasting and deeper than is
apparent at first sight. What is the precious treasure or pearl of greatest
value that I am not prepared to give away? Why?
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.
Some
extras:
Collect
of the Word for this Sunday (Church of Ireland)
O God,
the fount of wisdom, you have revealed to us in Christ the hidden treasure and
the pearl of great price: grant us your
Spirit’s gift of discernment, that, in the midst of the things of this world, we
may learn to value the priceless worth of your kingdom, and be ready to
renounce all else for the sake of the precious gift you offer. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, who
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Post-Communion prayer (Roman Catholic missal of 1970)
Merciful Father, may these mysteries give us new purpose and
bring us to a new life in you. We ask
this in the name of Jesus the Lord.
Private prayer after Holy Communion
(from The Family Missal and Prayer Book of the Church of
the Holy Spirit, Ballyroan, Dublin, 1976)
Lord Jesus, Head of the Church your body, I welcome you, I
adore you, I love you. Through the grace
of this communion help me to follow your way of life. Your Father wants me to be your image. Son of
Man, you come to seek and save. You
invite all kinds of men to your fellowship, impetuous Peter, doubting Thomas,
Paul the Pharisee, the repentant Magdalen.
But we are free. We must respond
to your call. It is still possible, like
Judas, to fall away. Lord, give me a
good conscience to discern between good and evil.
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