Word to the Wise
Friday, June 17, 2011 - Friday in the 11th Week in Ordinary Time
[2 Cor 11:18, 21-30 and Matt 6:19-23,993]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 our heart be.
What comes to mind when one thinks of "treasure?" Does the word conjure up "buried" or "sunken" chests of gold and silver coins and jewels? Or is it something that we already have or plan to acquire for our own security? Some treasure has little material value but high sentimental value because of the memories it evokes - like a lock of hair! Or a particular photo! We may classify such things as "memorabilia" but if they are "treasured" then they have value beyond what one might pay for them. It is amazing to me what some folks will pay for memorabilia belonging to celebrity figures! The popularity of the television program where auction experts evaluate "treasures" testifies to the "treasure" streak that hides within us. Is it "junk" or is it "treasure?"
Jesus' words to us today contain a twofold challenge. The first challenge is to determine what our "treasure" really is! Can we identify it? It could be tangible items but it could also be intangible such as a memory or a relationship! Is it something we "own" or simply something that makes us feel good, such as a position of power? What is our treasure? The second challenge is to identify the "treasure" that Jesus speaks of. We know that Jesus speaks of the Kingdom like a treasure buried in a field. [Mt. 13:44] His words tell us that our "heart" is a key indicator to our treasure. On what have we set our heart?
This is not an easy exercise. I have spoken before of the exercise where students on retreat were challenged to write down the five most important friends, activities and belongings they had, and then decide in which order they would give them up by crumpling the slips of paper and throwing them into the middle of the circle! It caused a lot of tears from both female and male! If accounts of the efforts that "treasure hunters" make to recover a sunken galleon or find hidden treasures of vanished civilizations thrill us with their dangers and rewards, the effort to search our own hearts for our own treasures may be even more harrowing! AMEN