A reading of the holy Gospel according to Lk 12:32-48
Jesus said to his disciples:“Do not be afraid any longer, little flock,for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.Sell your belongings and give alms.Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out,an inexhaustible treasure in heaventhat no thief can reach nor moth destroy.For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.“Gird your loins and light your lampsand be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding,ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.Blessed are those servantswhom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself,have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.And should he come in the second or third watchand find them prepared in this way,blessed are those servants.Be sure of this:if the master of the house had known the hourwhen the thief was coming,he would not have let his house be broken into.You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect,the Son of Man will come.”Then Peter said,“Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?”And the Lord replied,“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent stewardwhom the master will put in charge of his servantsto distribute the food allowance at the proper time?Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so.Truly, I say to you, the master will put the servantin charge of all his property.But if that servant says to himself,‘My master is delayed in coming,’and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants,to eat and drink and get drunk,then that servant’s master will comeon an unexpected day and at an unknown hourand will punish the servant severelyand assign him a place with the unfaithful.That servant who knew his master’s willbut did not make preparations nor act in accord with his willshall be beaten severely;and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s willbut acted in a way deserving of a severe beatingshall be beaten only lightly.Much will be required of the person entrusted with much,and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”
REFLECTION
For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.
In doing my research for this reflection, I came upon Arthur Conan Doyle's Scandal in Bohemia--The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. In this short story, Sherlock Holmes finds the most sought after compromising picture of the King and Irene Adler, by throwing a smoke bomb into her home. Ms Adler, who had refused to give back the picture to the King, thinking that the house was on fire, bravely ran to the safe and retrieved the picture. The picture was her safety net for her future and her reputation. It was her treasure, where her heart was.
What is my treasure? Is it a big house with exercise room, media room, outdoor pool and outdoor kitchenette?
Or is it family and posting pictures of them on facebook, twitter, instagram or other social media avenues?
Or is it being the best in a job, for that prideful self satisfaction, or the harder I work, the more I make ?
Or do I work for God but hope and expect laudits, praises from others and lose sight that all work without God is in vain?
Most everything in my life has the power of being my god, my treasure held tightly in my heart.
But God tells us differently? Doesn't He?
The material things that are valued can affect behavior. I can, because I possess. I can because of who I am. I can because I have.
But God says, follow my will, find the light of faith that I give you and follow me. Let me be the treasure you would do anything to keep and cherish. And because He loves us, He will wait on us. But no one, except the Father, knows when our time on earth ends. So there should be no delay. Our time on earth might end any time.
I pray that my treasure will be where the heart of Jesus is. There is no split allegiance to God. One can't have both. Treasure in heaven or treasure on earth, what will it be?
