Can God be your treasure?
Our gospel reading today talks about treasures new and old. So the question begging for your answers is — what do you treasure most in your life? The answer to that question of course depends largely on your moral values. To a very rich man, more money and more properties could be considered his treasure. To a dirt-poor homeless man, a roof on his head is a treasure to desire for. To a man sorely lacking in love…his treasure is to find a woman who can give him children to raise a family.
To a poor uneducated girl… her treasure would be to find someone to pay for her education. To an ugly politician…his treasure is to secure a Special Allotment Release Order so he can pocket his cut from a government-funded project. But to a spiritually inclined person, his treasure is God’s love. You can read today’s gospel in Matt.13: 44-52.
[Jesus said to his disciples] 44”The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 4 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. 46 When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. 48 When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. Thus it will be at the end of the age. The Angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
51’ Do you understand all these things?” They answered, “Yes”. 52 And he replied, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.”
* * *
As you enter his restaurant, a good Chef would often greet you with these welcoming words, “What is your pleasure sir?” So we start this layman’s homily with the question, “What is your treasure sir?” Again as we pointed out earlier everyone has his or her own treasures in life. If you were a young man with a long life ahead of you and the whole world before you… perhaps a great career could be your treasure.
But to a man sick with cancer, a cure for his medical condition could be his treasure. And to an unmarried woman looking for a family, a handsome man could be her treasure. Thus there are many treasures in life, but few find treasure in God. Perhaps I should rephrase my question and ask you, “How much do you treasure our Lord Jesus Christ?” How important is God in your life? Is he merely someone whom you go to when you need something or are in trouble? Or is God really more than the material things that you have in your life? Can God be your life’s treasure?
Let me bring you to what our Lord Jesus Christ said as written in Matt. 6: 19-21, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and decay destroys, and thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. 21 For where you treasure is, there also will your heart be.”
If he was alive and you talked to St. Augustine, his answer to this question would have been “My heart is restless until it finds its rest in Thee.” So back to you who are reading this piece, “What is really your treasure… that you would sell everything in order to get this for yourself? I’m sure that this question embarrasses many of our readers because most would never give God the importance he deserves. But allow me to give you two real examples of very successful persons who had a great career and life and were famous, then suddenly threw everything away to be a nun in a convent.
Olalla Oliveros was a beautiful Spanish model working on TV advertisements or commercials and an acting career ahead of her. Suddenly a couple of months ago gave up her flourishing career and she entered the semi-cloistered Order of Saint Michael. What happened to Olalia? Something struck her when she visited the Cova de Ira in Fatima. Now she is a nun.
There is also the story of Marisa Bertetta Miller who also became a supermodel and got married, then something struck her and she left her husband for the right reasons and today she’s in a convent. These are real stories of real women who found our Lord Jesus Christ was more important than anything in the world. You can Google their names and read their stories yourself. So back to the question…how important is God in your life? Can you even start visiting him in the Blessed Sacrament for at least once a week? It is high time for all of us to ponder that God should be the treasure that we must all seek in our boring lives.
- Latest
