Although we know many things about the life of King Solomon, we do not know how old he was when he came to the throne of Israel, to succeed his father David. Solomon is the tenth of David’s sons, and as I Kings opens, he is described as not yet being an adult. So it is to a young and vulnerable Solomon , who doesn’t “know how to go out or to go in” that the Lord appears in our first reading today, when He says “Ask what I shall give you.” This kind of question occurs with some regularity across the pages of the scriptures and throughout Christian history: it seems that God wants to see what it is that we desire. How would we answer this question? What is our treasure hidden in a field? What is our pearl of great price?
Recorded at St John Vianney Church, Mass with Disciples of Jesus Community (7’36”)
Sunday 17, Year A. I Kings 3:5-14; Matthew 13:44-46