Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time- C
Our Gospel reading for this Sunday comes from St. Luke, the same reading used at wakes when praying for the deceased. It reminds the mourners to be awake and warns them to be vigilant. “You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
In the paragraph just before the one mentioned, St. Luke instructs his disciples that the Kingdom of the Father can be theirs if they live a life of charity, giving their possessions and alms to those in need. Knowing the human heart like no one else, Jesus tells us a truth about ourselves: “For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.”
Jesus’s profound statement hits right to the heart of human existence. Although this may seem hyperbolic, it is not because what we treasure influences our actions and goals throughout life. Christians are aware of God’s benevolence; he showers his people with grace and opportunities to become close to him by removing our hearts of stone and giving us hearts of flesh. The prophecy of Ezekiel identifies hearts of stone as one without love, cold and indifferent to a relationship with God. God wants more than tacit approval of his existence; he wants a living and loving relationship with his creatures.
Hence, where our treasure is, there will be our hearts. Now, we see where we fall on the spectrum, discerning how much stone has accumulated in our hearts. On the far end of the extreme are those individuals who have accumulated much wealth and things. They may have expensive houses and summer homes, good cars, and plenty of money in the bank. If they are blind to the need for charity with people not in their family or orbit, it is obvious where their treasure lies. Those are reminiscent of the parable of the farmer last week, who put all his efforts into keeping his wealth while unaware he would die that same night.
While most people would objectively observe the selfishness in the extreme example, there are some things that, in contrast, we can learn. No matter how wealthy or average or above, every person has treasures. The question is how many and how much space they take in our hearts.
The treasure mentality includes the rationale and justification for where our hearts lie. Of course, it is irrelevant whether we have a significant amount of wealth or not, because the mindset of materialism is an affliction of holding on to things and treasuring them over and above other concerns, such as growing in virtue. These are those who, for whatever reason, treasure the things of this world over and above the opportunity to acquire treasures in heaven. They spend time thinking about the things, buying them, having them, and looking forward to the next purchase or event. Things can never be an appropriate companion, nor should they be what we spend our time and energies on.
Some can honestly say their items are not the source of their heart. Most of us would fall into this category. We would unflinchingly say our hearts lie in a relationship with our husband, children, or good friends. There is no denying that our fellow travelers, both intimate and not, are a treasure of the heart. But here is the hard part, we would rather not think about. All of our human interactions are terminal in a sense. Our loved ones die, and other circumstances like marriages and children growing to adulthood substantially change what was before, even if we love them. The treasure changes, and should.
However, the one relationship of the treasure that doesn’t have to change unless we want it to is our relationship with God. Throughout our lives, it can be the source of constancy, never suffering from termination. Frankly, it is the only relationship we have that is not subject to grieving. If part of our hearts is given to God and we treasure our faith, we will be ready to transition to our life after death, much like the servant prepared for his master’s return. In the second reading, St. Paul tells us what it looks like. “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” True treasure is having faith in God, changing our stony hearts into living ones.
When we take Jesus’s message to heart (no pun intended), we must be reminded of one more thing. The love in the human heart, our true treasure, is not a quantity. It is the only thing we know that never diminishes; it only grows. If we love someone, our love is not exhausted; we can love one, two, or infinite people and never run out of love. So, if some of the treasure is in loving those God has put in our lives, we have plenty of love left for God, our premier treasure. We needn’t pick between the two.
Jesus teaches us the true meaning of our hearts’ treasures. We must love God with our whole hearts and our fellow man. Then, we can understand where our hearts are and the treasures contained in them.