In today's excerpt from St Paul's letter to the Romans, we are given a beautiful assurance that God co-operates with all those who love Him by turning everything to their good. He points us towards the reality that we have been chosen specially long ago, to become true images of His Son.

How can we become a true image of Christ? The first reading shares an insight from the story of Solomon and his request to the Lord for a discerning heart. This request pleased God greatly and He fulfilled Solomon's request generously. Similarly, may we too ask God for the wisdom we need to live a truly Christian life. It is wisdom which can lead us towards the kingdom of heaven: the true hidden treasure and the pearl of great price. For all too often in life, we are weighed down by troubles or caught up in the pursuit of worldly goods. We forget that our true home was never meant to be this world and all its pleasures. We need to discern with wisdom, as Jesus says in the parables, whether to: buy the field where the treasure is hidden; sell everything in order to buy the pearl of great value; choose which items among the many that the dragnet brought in; and bring out, like a householder from his storeroom, which things both new and old. It's going to be a difficult discernment if we don't involve God Who gives us wisdom in it.