Word to the Wise
Friday, June 23, 2023 - Friday in the 11th Week in Ordinary Time
[2 Cor 11:18, 21-30 and Matt 6:19-23]"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." [Matthew]
The word "treasure" can conjure up images of big ironbound chests of gold doubloons. Somehow it has to be buried somewhere to qualify, as well. Jesus even speaks of this image when he uses the image of buried treasure to describe the Kingdom of heaven as a treasure in a field for which a person, having discovered it, sells everything else they have so they can buy the field! [Matt. 13:44]. This image, of course, might be transferable to money of any kind (even cryptocurrency)! However, I think a treasure is anything we give value to in our "heart", even if the object of our value is something intangible, like friendship or, indeed, the Kingdom of heaven.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus challenges us to a self-examination. What is our "treasure?" To what or to whom do we give the greatest value? Can our attachment be measured in terms of the amount of time or effort we give to obtaining and maintaining the "treasure?" Where would our faith in Jesus fit in this picture? Where do family, friends, health or physical items like home or occupation fit? Where does an intangible like "power" fit? What do we discover about ourselves in our search for treasure? AMEN
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