Readings: 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12; Psalm 119:57, 72, 7-77, 127-128, 129-130, Romans 8:28-30; Matthew 13:44-52
What are you willing to give up for your biggest treasure?
Recently, I spent a few days with my Dad. During one of our many conversations over those few days, he talked briefly about how during most of his adult life, he had debt. After returning from World War II, he started the process of purchasing his Dad’s farm, so he borrowed money. As the years went on, and his family grew, he borrowed more money to expand the farm to provide for his growing family. But many of those years, due to droughts, hail or poor prices, there wasn’t enough money to feed the family and make the loan payments. So he often worked other jobs, from getting a job with the company building the parish’s new church, to measuring fields for the local ASC office. It was only after one of my brothers started taking over the farm, that he was finally out of debt. And during all those years, if God would have appeared before him, like He did with Solomon, and said to Dad “Ask something of me, and I will give it to you”, I don’t know what he would have asked for, but I do know Dad, like Solomon, would have asked for something for others, rather than himself. That is the same thing many of us might also do.
In the second reading from St. Paul, if you read the entire Chapter 8 of Romans, you will find Paul is talking about those living for the flesh and this living for the spirit. Those living for the flesh are concerned about the things of this world. Those living for the spirt are living for something bigger. And that something bigger is the Kingdom of Heaven, where there is intense life, freedom and joy because a loving Father is in control.
In today’s gospel, we conclude Chapter 13 of Matthew. And like we have for the past two weeks, we hear more parables. In these parables, Jesus is trying to help us understand the Kingdom of Heaven. It is a treasure God is willing to give us. It should be the treasure we desire the most, our biggest treasure. All of our focus should be on obtaining this treasure. Like the person who found a treasure in the field, sells everything he has to buy the field. Or the merchant, when finding the pearl, sells everything he has to purchase it. In these parables we discover the joy it brings them. But that joy, is just a small sample, a tiny foretaste, of the joy and happiness we will experience if we obtain the Kingdom of Heaven.
In order to obtain this treasure of the Kingdom of Heaven, we have to focus on Jesus. As we develop our personal relationship with Jesus through our prayer life, our focus will change from things of the flesh to things of the spirit. And as our focus changes, we will discover that we have been called, and as Paul writes, “those he predestined he also called; and those he called he also justified; and those he justified he also glorified.”
God is calling each of us, whether we realize it or not. We may often feel we are unworthy of such a call, but God calls us anyway. We simply have to respond to His call. As we are drawn deeper into our personal relationship with Jesus, we will discover our call, what God wants from us. And that is simply, God wants our love. And the more we love God, the more we are willing to give up in order to obtain the thing God wants to give us, membership in the Kingdom of Heaven with eternal life in Heaven. At the end of time, we don’t want to be “wailing and grinding out teeth,” because we lost the biggest treasure of our lives.
So how do you do this? What can you do to obtain this treasure?
Continue to work on your prayer life, allowing it to draw you deeper into your personal relationship with Jesus. Sometime this week, take a few minutes, maybe only 5-10 minutes, but maybe longer, to find a quiet place to reflect on your prayer life. Ask yourself, what changes do I need to make in my prayer life?
If you are not praying on a regular basis, preferable everyday, make a commitment to start. It can be as simple as starting each day with an Our Father and ending it with an Act of Contrition.
If you are praying each day, consider adding something more, like the Rosary or Divine Mercy, maybe attending Eucharistic Adoration, reading the Mass Readings or scripture. Consider praying with your spouse and family. Find one thing, to change in your prayer life, be willing to give up just a few minutes of your time to spend them with Jesus.
Then use your prayer life and relationship with Jesus, to listen for God’s voice. At this time in your life, how is God calling you, what is God asking of you? Is he asking you to visit the homebound, help someone meet Jesus? Is he asking you to join a ministry? Seek out God’s will in your life and make it your will. Spend some time reflecting on how you would respond, if God said to you, “Ask something of me, and I will give it to you.”
So my challenge to you this week, is to commit to making one change in your spiritual life starting this week. By making this change and being persistent in changing your life, you will fall more and more in love with God, and eventually, you will be willing to give up everything you have, to obtain the biggest treasure you should desire, membership in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Recent Comments