Gospel Reading: Mt 6:19-23
Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.
“The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light; but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness. And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be.”
DO NOT STORE UP FOR YOURSELVESTREASURES ON EARTH
Treasures and treasure-hunting have always fascinated the human imagination. But we should not think only about gold and other valuables. A treasure is what is most valuable and important in one’s life. A habit that occupies one both day and night, a person who becomes the center of one’s life (be it because of love or of hatred), money, prestige, power – all these and more can become “treasures on earth.” Jesus is right when he says, “Where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.”
What these so-called treasures have in common is that they often lead to disappointment and frustration, because none of them lasts forever. And what does not last becomes a cause for dissatisfaction. Even if a fat bank account lasts, one cannot take it on the journey into life beyond.
We begin to understand why Jesus counsels his listeners, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,” and then continues, “store up treasures in heaven.”
Treasures in heaven! How do we store them up? Being nourished by the Word of God and the Eucharist is one way.
Regular prayer is another. But the best way to store up treasures in heaven is to love one’s neighbor and care for the unfortunate, the poor, the sick, and the marginalized in society. These treasures will never disappoint because they are eternal.
“All of the Earth’s treasures can’t bring back a lost moment” (French Proverb).
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SOURCE: “366 Days with the Lord,” ST PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
