Friends:
The parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price are speaking to us about what is truly valuable. And that cannot be bought or accumulated. It is gained on that inner journey toward the heart. The treasure is my true essence. And this contrasts with the eagerness to possess, to appear, and to compete (the culture of discard, the theology of prosperity, the cult of power…)
There is also a treasure that paradoxically accumulates when shared. A treasure born in silence, which is not emptiness but fullness. And a wisdom that lies not in making oneself heard but in knowing how to listen to God, to our brothers and sisters, and to our own heart.
Gospel and Comments on the Gospel
Matthew 13, 44-52. The kingdom of God is like a treasure hidden in a field… like the merchant who found a pearl of great value…
Miguel A. Munárriz Casajús: Full of joy. Discovering the treasure is discovering Jesus
José Luis Sicre: Parables for times of crisis (iii). The question that may continue to circulate in the minds of Jesus’ followers is whether all this is worth it.
Fray Marcos: The treasure is my essence. I do not have to reach for it, but discover it, value it, and live it.
Enrique Martínez Lozano: The treasure is already within us. Faced with reductive mental reading, wise people constantly remember that we are already what we seek.
José Antonio Pagola: Seeking God. Sociological studies say that the religious crisis is sliding in Europe toward increasing “indifference.”
Fidel Aizpurúa: Buying to keep. We have long understood that without sharing, there is no Christian life. And when we speak of sharing, we are not only referring to money, but also to other goods as important or more important than money.
Silvia Martínez Cano: A gift that cannot be renounced. The two parables are the underlining of one idea: the project of the Kingdom is more valuable than any other project in the world.
Selected Articles for the Week
José María Álvarez Rodríguez: Liberation Theology within the Catholic Church. Let us recover our dignity with freedom and express our religious experiences without the corset imposed by supremacist clericalism that reaches to affect our moral conscience until it submits.
Jesús Lozano Pino: The digital tribunal: A new secular and dogmatic religion without the sacrament of reconciliation. A society without redemption? The culture of cancellation and the forgetting of forgiveness in the digital age.
Rafael Lazcano: “Came without discourse…”: Leo XIV and true eloquence. In an age fascinated by image, planning, and perfect communication, this simplicity possesses a profoundly evangelical strength.
Raquel Mallavibarrena: Disarming words, disarming privileges. When insult replaces dialogue: Manifesto of Christian Networks before the statements of the president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference.
Koldo Aldai Agirretxe: Estella and her Forum Thank you from the heart!. The color, joy, and diversity of tomorrow became evident once again next to the formerly austere monastic building.
Evaristo Villar: Rome discovers AI and avoids looking in the mirror. Just as Leo XIII reflected on the industrial revolution, Leo XIV attempts to understand the digital revolution. The underlying question is the same: how to prevent technical progress from crushing people?
James Alison: Open letter to my more conservative Catholic sisters and brothers after the publication of the Synod Report of Group 9 (part 1). Not being welcomed to participate in the life of a local Church hurts, and I long for this situation to change.
Mario J. Paredes: The ‘Magnificent Humanity’ in need of evangelization. In the select group of great Encyclicals on the Social Doctrine of the Church, it takes up the challenge of guiding everyone through the complexity of our historical juncture: the era of exponential artificial intelligence and massive automation.
News of scope. Argüello’s words unleash an unusual wave of rejection in the Church
For more participatory and current Eucharists
1 Kings 3:5-12. Solomon only asks God for a heart to discern between good and evil… instead of asking for long life, riches…
Romans 8:28-30. God calls, counts on us for the mission, for the Kingdom.
Florentino Ulibarri: Surprising encounter. And now that I live like this, an orphan of possessions, without networks, without chains, without walls… it is when I feel richest and freest.
Vicky Irigaray: 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Treasure and pearl refer to the Kingdom of God; Jesus provokes us, challenges us, and invites us to take a stand.
Anaphora: Happiness. Let’s enjoy life fully; any renunciation must be for something better.
Benedictine Nuns of Montserrat. 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Multimedia material
Access the power of now. You will notice that the future is usually imagined as better or worse than the present. If the imaginary future is better, it gives you hope or pleasant expectations. If it is worse, it creates anxiety. Both are illusory…
Hymn of the pearl of great value. Finding and discovering the Love that we are… is the most valuable thing about human beings.
Salomé Arricibita: Give me a heart. Give me a heart docile to your voice, give me a heart that embraces the gift of your love, give me a heart that is my greatest treasure.
Song interpreted by pedro peñalba. “To live differently, to keep our light burning, even if small. We can only be happy if we dare to love without measure and without time.”
The treasure of growing and aging. Old age brings important limitations. It is not easy to react and break that decaying trajectory. The person needs to encounter something that touches the deepest part of their being and infuses a new light and meaning into their existence. Something that awakens in them dignity and the desire for a different life. Something that generates a more generous, healthier, and happier way of living.
God with us. God with us in the daily walk, light that you bring into shadows Life, Peace, accompany us in these days, to fill us and carry that Unconditional Love that we are, impregnating suffering in the world with hope.
In the EFFA School we provide the link to the syllabus where all available talks and bibliography are located, for those who could not watch them or wish to review any again. The link to access the latest uploaded videos may also be useful.
And, as I promised you, the letters will end with these three links: the weekly letter, the last week’s letter, and letters from other weeks. If someone misses -or has not received- the email with the news, they can use an old letter to access the new one.
A hug,
Inma Calvo
Fe Adulta is a 100% independent portal. We do not receive subsidies from any group. It is financed by the generous contributions of readers. We also do not have fixed fees. With the frequency that each person deems necessary, we receive income and publish both revenues and expenses, with total transparency. The accounts of the Fe Adulta Association can be seen at the link for the sum of all. The portal is also supported by the purchase of books and by contributions to the School, whose figures can be seen in EFFA in figures.
To sign up a person for the weekly mailing, you must fill out the following form.
To stop receiving these emails: [unsubscribe].