A: 17th Sun of OrdTime (26 July 2020) - USURPED TREASURE (Mt 13:44-52)

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (Mt 13:44).

This is how our gospel today begins: with a malicious act of deceiving, concealing, and manipulating the acquisition of a piece of land to gain the treasure hidden in it. If the same story is recounted today under the same narrative circumstances, we will surely adjudge this activity as criminal not only against the owner of the land but even against the state that virtually owns all assets of priceless historical value. Moreover, such an action is contrary to the values of truthfulness and fair play. How can someone hide his/her ulterior motive in purchasing an estate from the owner and the government? We call him/her an opportunist, who only cares about material profit while disregarding the other’s sentiment and societal welfare.

However, before condemning sweepingly the protagonist in the parable, we should remember that gospel stories are written in the first century of the common era, and presumably operated within the concurrent socio-economic context of Roman Palestine. Accordingly, we need to investigate first the policies regarding the procurement of properties during that time. We need also to know whether treasures belong to the Roman government or to the domestic proprietor of the land. Furthermore, we need to be informed if concealing one’s intent in legally buying a geographical space is considered cheating. As we cannot answer these questions without doing historical-critical investigation—a task that requires a lengthy scholarly unpacking—we are for now content to admit that our storyline is at least neutral in terms of its moral repercussion.

But the case is different in the 21st century when all information about these things are readily available. We know of the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights that safeguards everyone’s right “to own property … [and not] be arbitrarily deprived of his property” (Art. 17 of UDHR). We know of the fundamental principle of the ancestral domain (UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of 2007) that protects indigenous inhabitants from being separated from their familial and tribal lands. We know of the global agreement (UN Convention of the Law of the Sea of 1982) that defines a nation’s sovereign right up to 200 nautical miles of her sea waters (a.k.a., Exclusive Economic Zone) which should never be usurped by any foreign body. We know of the criminality of cyber espionage, illegal surveillance, and fake news/propaganda that steal sensitive information from citizens and/or deprive them of access to the truth. We know of the international law against money laundering and illegal possession of wealth ensuring that nobody can simply enrich oneself by clandestine business operations that do not respect commercial honesty and integrity of trade. Yet, the biggest puzzle before us is why do all these laws get violated under our noses despite knowing the real political score? The answer to this query is simple: we allow them to happen because these things do not yet directly strike us to the core. But, alas, a time will come when they will!

In our first reading, we read that God praised Solomon for asking wisdom instead of anything else:“Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right,I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind” (1 Kgs 3:11-12a). Likewise, practical wisdom of what happens around us allows us to be favorable in God’s eyes. Yet, the opposite happens if we squander it. As Solomon would soon falter because of his blindness to wealth, pleasure, and power leading to the division of Israel between the north and the south, we who will be blinded by them will equally experience the same … toward our global disunity and misery. If we do not act now, we are losing the rare chance of finding the treasure of the kingdom of heaven (vv. 44, 45, 47, 52), God’s kingdom of peace on earth.

- Rex Fortes, CM