I am grateful to our former diocesan spirituality adviser, Fr Andrew Mayes, for drawing my attention in his book ‘Diving for Pearls’ to the 7th century Saint Isaac of Syria’s commentary on the second half of today’s Gospel. Fr Mayes’ book draws on Isaac’s maritime, nautical and underwater imagery yoked to Our Lord’s parable in today’s Gospel: ‘the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it’ (Matthew 13:45).
The merchant becomes a diver to St Isaac who presents the spiritual life as less ascent to God and more descent into his ‘everlasting arms’ to quote Deuteronomy 33:27. Mayes writes: ‘Ascent encourages us to think in terms of hierarchy. The goal is achieving success, spiritual attainment. It also seems to emphasize the place of human effort in the spiritual quest and downplay the role of the divine. The model of descent, rather, leads us towards surrendering, sinking into God, letting go, unlearning…This contrasts with ideas of ascendency and advancement - mastery, conquest of mountains, and yes, prideful achievement. The idea of elevation of the soul sounds like superiority. We notice a contrast between gritted determination and exertion required in climbing the mountain of prayer and a gentle sinking into the ocean of grace, as Isaac commends. Will we desire to sink or strive? Cling on or let go?’
The pearl of great price is to be placed into our possession in a moment as the body of Christ is placed into our hands and we express our appreciation outwardly in one word. Simply saying ‘Amen’ to that gift is an understatement. ‘So be it’ is, yes, a sinking into the ocean of God’s grace. It’s taking a plunge to seek the depth of God’s mercy. A favourite hymn of mine is ‘There’s a wideness in God’s mercy like the wideness of the sea’ written by Fr Frederick Faber which has the lines ‘we make his love too narrow by false limits of our own and we magnify his strictness with a zeal he will not own’.
Our Lord’s parables are amazing vehicles of the love and truth of God which speak afresh to generation after generation. ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it’. Our spiritual determination links, or, under God, opens us to an anointing in God’s Spirit. As we read in John 7v37: ‘The scripture has said, "Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water'.
Our prayer, contemplation, study of scripture and the saints and our growth in grace is like an oyster generating, or opening us up to, the gift of the pearl which is Christ within us, the Lord we welcome in Holy Communion. As Isaac wrote 1300 years ago of the pearl of Jesus Christ forming within us:
‘Let us consider as oysters the prayers upon which the intellect alights, the contemplative insights, divine knowledge, wisdom, joy in spirit… The primary pearl is Jesus Christ himself – a deeper appreciation of him’.
Once again I will read the last sentence of today’s Gospel and invite you to own it more fully as the invitation it is to spiritual zeal:
Prayers
‘The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it’.
Let us ask the Lord who invites us to open our hearts more to him in praise and more to others in service to grant us the anointing of his Holy Spirit as we bring to God the needs of the church and the world:
Holy Father it is said you look less on what we have been or are than on what we would be. We would be more fully your sons and daughters and we ask your cleansing and healing for this to come to pass. Lord, hear us.
Your invitation to Holy Communion requires our ‘Amen’ or ‘So be it’, a sinking into the ocean of God’s grace, a plunge to seek the pearl of God’s mercy. May our hearts be expanded by this gift to the wideness of your mercy so we are made a grace and a blessing to all in our acquaintance. Lord, hear us.
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