Pope Francis: Discernment Helps us Find the Gems among the Junk

The first lesson is that the merchant is “enterprising,” Francis said. He is not complacent or satisfied by mediocrity but goes in search of precious pearls.

“This is an invitation for us not to close ourselves up in habit,” he said, but “to revive desire, so that the desire to seek, to go on, is not extinguished; to cultivate dreams of good, to seek the newness of the Lord.”

The merchant also knows how to recognize a pearl of great value when he sees one, the pope said, noting that this is not always easy.

“Let us think, for example, of the fascinating oriental bazaars, where the stalls, full of goods, are crowded along the walls of streets full of people; or of some of the stalls one sees in many cities, full of books and various objects,” he said. “Sometimes in these markets, if one stops to look closely, one can discover treasures: precious things, rare volumes that, mixed in with everything else, one does not notice at first glance.”

Pope Francis said the merchant knows how to discern the valuable pearl from the rest and then he buys it.

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“Realizing its immense value, he sells everything, he sacrifices all his goods just to have it. He radically changes the inventory of his warehouse; there is no longer anything other than that pearl: It is his only wealth, the meaning of his present and his future,” he emphasized.

“This too is an invitation for us. But what is this pearl for which one can renounce everything?” he added. “The pearl is Jesus: He is the precious pearl of life, to be sought, found and made one’s own. It is worth investing everything in him.”

Pope Francis proposed some questions for personal reflection based on the parable.

“Seeking: Am I searching in my life? Do I feel fine, accomplished, am I satisfied, or do I exercise my desire for good? Am I in spiritual retirement?” he said.

“Finding,” he continued. “Do I practice discerning what is good and comes from God, knowing how to renounce what leaves me with little or nothing? Finally, buying: Do I know how to spend myself for Jesus? Is he in first place for me, is he the greatest good in life?”

“May Mary help us to seek, find, and embrace Jesus with all of ourselves,” he concluded.

Hannah Brockhaus is Catholic News Agency's senior Rome correspondent. She grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and has a degree in English from Truman State University in Missouri.