As much as I might be tempted to make a play for sympathy, I really cannot describe my upbringing as poor. Although we might have been considered poor by today’s standards, the reality is – we had enough. We always had a place to live, food on the table and clothing on our backs. Most months my mother was able to put the $5 monthly tuition into an envelope for me to bring to St. Sylvester’s Elementary School but we were quickly forgiven if we had to miss a payment. Although we never wanted for anything, there was seldom much left over for the extras. I guess that is part of the reason why I was so fascinated by game shows when I was a kid.

There was a thrill to watching wheels spin, hearing questions answered and observing stunts performed in the knowledge that a new washer and dryer or an exotic trip hung in the balance. On one show, newlyweds would betray private embarrassments in the hope of winning a new refrigerator. Jeopardy promised a cash prize for answering the most questions with the highest value correctly. The Price Is Right had it all – you do crazy stunts, win prizes, spin a wheel and get a chance, maybe, at an even bigger prize – if you made it into the final showdown.

Then there was Monty Hall’s “Let’s Make a Deal.” Contestant hopefuls dressed up in the most attention-getting costumes they could imagine for a chance at something much better than a prize. They wanted a bigger prize!

Our Gospel speaks directly to that attitude today. One man sells all he has to purchase a field because he knows there is a hidden treasure. Another sells all he has to purchase a pearl of great value. Both invest the wealth they had in a desire for greater wealth.

Monty’s contestants were constantly challenged – would they give up the box they won, contents unknown, for a bigger box, contents equally unknown. Did they take into consideration that a diamond ring could fit into a small box but you needed a bigger one to hide a hundred pounds of potatoes? Would they take his cash offer to forget the whole deal? Could they possibly be chosen to win what was behind door number one, two or three? Suspense mounted in the quest for bigger and better.

This very human desire for more makes the scene described in the first reading from the First Book of Kings seem strange. In a dream, the Lord offers Solomon anything he wants – anything! So what does he ask for but an understanding heart so that he could rightly fulfill his mission as King. He could have had a bigger kingdom, more obedient subjects, a larger treasury, a stronger army – anything he wanted, but he chose what he believed would get him the biggest prize of all.
In the long form of the Gospel, the similes for the kingdom are followed by the reminder that one day all will be brought into God’s presence. There, we will not be asked how much we have saved or how big our house is or how many toys are in our collection. On that day we will be asked how well we lived the Gospel message, love one another as I have loved you. The valuable and the eternally worthless will be separated.

By his birthright, Solomon knew what was expected of him. For most of us, discerning God’s will in our lives is a lifelong process. Daily we need to pray for knowledge of God’s will and, in imitation of Solomon, the ability to carry it out. He knew he had a task that he could not accomplish alone but also knew that fulfilling that mission would help him achieve real success, worthiness in God’s eyes. So, aware he could not do it alone, he asked for the grace of an understanding heart which would help him think as God thinks, love as God loves.

It is easy for the entrapments of this world to become a great temptation. But as Christians we are invited to keep our hopes on the biggest prize of all, a place in the kingdom.