HOMILY – 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time – If You Build It…

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"If You Build It, he will come."

One of the most memorable lines in movie history comes from Field of Dreams. Ray Kinsella, an ordinary Iowa farmer, hears a mysterious voice whisper, "If you build it, he will come."

It's an absurd request.

He's told to plow under a perfectly good corn field and build a baseball diamond. His family needs the income from the crop. The move puts his family in financial peril. His neighbors think he's lost his mind. There's no guarantee that anything will happen. Yet, little by little, Ray acts—not because he understands, but because he trusts.

Faith often looks exactly like that.

Today's readings invite us to ask: What is God asking us to build?

In the First Book of Kings, Solomon has just become king. He could ask for military strength, wealth, fame, or a long life. Instead, he asks for one thing: an understanding heart—a heart that knows how to listen to God.

That request delights the Lord.

Why? Because wisdom is the foundation upon which every other blessing is built.

We often pray, "Lord, fix this problem. Heal this illness. Change this situation."

God often answers with something even greater.

"I'll give you wisdom."

Because wisdom changes not merely our circumstances—it changes us.

In Field of Dreams, Ray doesn't know why he's building the field. He doesn't know the whole plan. He simply takes the next faithful step.

That sounds remarkably like the Christian life.

Most of us would prefer God to hand us the entire blueprint. We want to know exactly where He's leading before we take the first step.

But discipleship doesn't work that way.

God usually gives enough light for today's decision, not tomorrow's.

St. Paul says in Romans, "We know that all things work for good for those who love God."

Notice what he does not say.

He doesn't say everything that happens is good.

Cancer isn't good.

Loss isn't good.

Betrayal isn't good.

Death isn't good.

But God is so wise that He can weave even suffering into salvation.

Looking back, many of us can see moments that made no sense at the time but became turning points of grace.

Only afterward do we recognize that God was writing a story much larger than we imagined.

That is exactly what Ray discovers.

The baseball field was never really about baseball.

It was about reconciliation.

It was about healing a broken relationship with his father.

The miracle wasn't simply that long dead ballplayers would appear.

The miracle was that a son received back the father he had never stopped loving.

The scene that makes most people cry is when he introduces his father to his wife and child for the first time, calling him simply by his first name, John. He knows its his father, but doesn’t know if his father knows this is his son.

And then in a moment that causes most men to ball like babies, he asks, “Dad, do you want to have a catch?” And the two do the simplest of things, they throw a baseball to each other as the movie ends in a scene of reconciliation.

Isn't that the Gospel?

God is always building fields where reconciliation can happen.

Today's Gospel offers several short parables.

A man discovers a treasure buried in a field.

A merchant finds a pearl of great price.

In both cases, they sell everything they have because they realize they've found something worth infinitely more.

Notice that Jesus never says following Him is inexpensive.

It costs everything.

But He also says it's worth everything.

The Kingdom of God is not simply another item we add to our busy lives.

It becomes the reason for our lives.

Every saint has made that same discovery.

St. Francis let go of wealth.

St. Thérèse embraced hiddenness.

St. Maximilian Kolbe surrendered even his life in a Nazi concentration camp.

Each found the treasure hidden in Christ.

Each realized there was nothing worth keeping if it meant losing Him.

Sometimes we think surrender means losing.

The Gospel says surrender is how we finally discover what we've been searching for all along.

Ray had no idea how God would fulfill the promise.

He only knew he had to be faithful.

Faithfulness always comes before fruitfulness.

We live in a culture obsessed with measurable results.

How many followers?

How many likes?

How much success?

God asks different questions.

Were you faithful?

Did you love?

Did you forgive?

Did you listen?

Did you build what I asked you to build?

Parents build homes where faith is lived.

Teachers build minds.

Priests build communities.

Grandparents build family traditions.

Every Christian is called to build something eternal, often in quiet ways that the world never applauds.

Perhaps today God is whispering something into your heart.

Maybe it's time to forgive someone

or return to Confession.

or pray for your spouse or child.

Maybe it's time to stop postponing the vocation or ministry God has placed before you.

Maybe, like Solomon, it's simply time to ask for wisdom before asking for anything else.

We don't always understand why God asks what He asks.

Neither did Ray.

Neither did Solomon.

Neither did the saints.

But every one of them discovered that God never wastes the trust we place in Him.

The treasure is real.

The pearl is priceless.

And the Kingdom is worth everything.

So when you hear the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit calling you to take that next faithful step, don't wait until everything makes sense.

Build the field.

God will take care of the rest.

(For St. Anne’s Mission ONLY on Feast Day celebration)

This weekend the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We know very little about her life from Scripture, yet we know the greatest fruit of her faithful "building." Together with St. Joachim, she helped form the heart of the young Mary, teaching her to listen to God's voice and trust His promises. Long before Mary would say her great "yes" at the Annunciation, someone had quietly built the field where that faith could grow. St. Anne reminds us that God's greatest works often begin in hidden places—in the patient love of parents and grandparents, in daily prayer, and in ordinary acts of faithfulness that prepare future saints. Like Solomon, she sought wisdom; like the merchant, she treasured what mattered most; and through her quiet fidelity, God prepared the way for the Savior of the world.