I have an uncle who is/was obsessed in searching for the infamous “Yamashita treasure.” He spent a lot of money in the process of his search. Until now, he was not successful. Today’s gospel tells us of two parables. A man in search of treasure in field and a man search of the finest pearl. Both were willing to sacrifice everything they had just to obtain the field with treasure and the finest of all pearls.

Perhaps one of the reasons why Jesus taught in parables is because He wants to uncover the secrets of the Kingdom of God to the ordinary and simple people of His time. And once they get the lesson, they would be able to put it in their lives. Last Sunday, we heard about the parable of the seed. Today’s Sunday pericope or account gives us a colorful parable of the weeds among the wheat.

If you are familiar with the Gospels, you would notice that they are littered with a lot of parables. This is one of the methods that Jesus uses in order to be understood by his audience, who are mostly ordinary people. People during the time of Jesus do respect the parables because they are easily construed by people. Today we hear a famous parable, the Parable of the Sower.

In this pericope or Gospel account, we focus on the theme of “rest or being refreshed.” This is what Jesus had promised to those who are laboring for His Kingdom or for His vineyard. Mind you, Jesus had just sent his twelve disciples to the towns and villages where He intended to go. He specifically instructed them to go after the “lost sheep of the house of Israel.” The disciples most of the time were successful, but there were times they were not.

All human relationships from personal to business have one principle that they follow. What is this principle? It is a “give and take” kind of relationship. Does Jesus have the right to demand from us? Of course, He does. He emptied himself to become like us in all things, except sin to show His unconditional love for us. He suffered and had to experience excruciating pain and was crucified and died for our salvation.

We humans have a lot of fears. We fear water, that is, "hydrophobia." We fear of heights, that is, "aerophobia.” We fear of death, that is, "thanaphobia." We fear enclosed spaces, that is, "claustrophobia."

In our Gospel today, Jesus assures the twelve disciples and all of us: "Fear no one. Nothing is concealed, that that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known...And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna." (Mt 10: 28)

One of the things that I have realized in the Ordinary Season is that we are being asked and invited to focus our attention on Jesus. What is He doing? What are His feelings? What are His attitudes about people? And what are His aspirations for the people?

Jesus is true and faithful to the mission that the Father has given to Him. Prior to this pericope, Jesus, according to Matthew, toured around towns and villages; in other words, he was an itinerant preacher. He proclaimed the good news of God's reign - the conspicuous realty that the reign of God is amongst the people, He cured diseases and sickness and expelled demons.

Food is an essential element in life in order to survive and to be energized. Jesus understood this when He compares Himself as the "living bread from heaven". He says: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." The Jews quarreled among themselves because they didn't understand what He was trying to tell them.

St. Augustine of Hippo had to grapple with the mystery of the Blessed Trinity. How can the three Divine persons be in one God? As he tried to look for answers to this query, he encountered a child on a seashore digging a small hole. What are you doing he asked the child. The child answered him: "I will transfer the whole ocean into this small hole." St. Augustine said in reply: "That's impossible or preposterous."

I am reminded of a famous adage or quote: "Promises are made to be broken." I suppose this is true for us humans. We have made a lot of promises to people, but how many times have we broken them? This is not so with Jesus. He always fulfills His word and promise. He said this in His Last Supper discourse to His disciples: "I will ask the Father and he will give you another Paraclete - to be with you always: the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept..." (Jn 14:16) "When the Paraclete comes, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father - whom I myself will send from the Father - he will bear witness on my behalf. (Jn 15:36) If I fail to go, the Paraclete will never come to you." (Jn 16:7)

Fr. Flor McCarthy, SDB, the author of the New Sunday & Holy Day Liturgies, has a beautiful anecdote to share with us. When Jesus returned to heaven after His death and resurrection, the Archangel Gabriel was surprised to see Him back soon. "Back so soon?" Gabriel said to Jesus. "Well, I would have stayed longer but they crucified me," Jesus replied. "Oh so, they crucified You," said Gabriel. "That means You failed." "Not necessarily," said Jesus.

In order for us to understand well and deeply this particular Gospel account, it is necessary and expedient to know the context where this particular passage is located in the whole Gospel. Where was Jesus? What was he doing? To whom is this particular passage is addressed? What were the circumstances or situations the disciples faced?

In last Sunday's of readings, we reflected one of the most beautiful descriptions of Jesus being the Good Shepherd. We Catholics have many titles to address Jesus and these are embedded in our devotions to honor Him like the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Diving Mercy, the Black Nazarene (famous in the Philippines), The Holy Child, the Redeemer and Christ the King.