Homily

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – “Treasure in Heaven”

Many people dream of finding treasures. When we hear about treasures what is it that comes to your mind? Probably, gold coins, precious stones and artifacts of precious metals and their clattering noise. Treasure is wealth, riches, money. However, there are also other treasures. We speak of “memories that we treasure.” We sometimes say, “we treasure our children” – so, people are treasure too. Jesus in today’s Gospel passage speaks of a very special treasure – “our own life” and about eternal life as a “treasure we need to strive for.” 

Exegesis: In the first part of today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us what our real treasure should be and how we may keep it safe. The treasure God offers is of far greater value and is more secure than any earthly treasure. But this treasure can be taken away by the devil or lost in the midst of our pursuit to gain other treasures that are not valuable for eternity. 

Bishop Fulton Sheen tells us that we will have three surprises in heaven. The first surprise: We will be surprised to see that many people we expected to be in Heaven are not there. St. John of the Cross gives the reason why they are not there: “At the evening of our life, we shall be judged on how we have loved.” Second: We will be surprised to see that the people we never expected to be in Heaven are there. It is because God judges man’s intentions and rewards them accordingly. Third: We will be surprised to see that we are in Heaven. Since our getting to Heaven is principally God’s work, we should be surprised that God somehow “went out of His way” to save us. It may be simply because we showed the goodwill and generosity to cooperate with His grace. In today’s Gospel, Jesus answers the question “who will be saved”, when and how. That is what the second part of the gospel passage is about.

Steadfast faith and eternal vigilance: In the second part of today’s gospel, using the mini-parable of the thief and the treasure, Jesus exhorts his followers to be steadfast in their faith and to be ever vigilant. Jesus presents the parable of the unwise steward as a warning to us. The unwise steward made two mistakes. (i) He said, “I will do what I like while my master is away." Unlike in his case, our Master is always with us, and we will be accountable to him on the day of reckoning. (ii) Again the steward said, “I have plenty of time to put things right before the master comes." That is another mistake. Jesus himself said, “we do not know the day or the hour.”
 
Today, looking back on two thousand years of Christian history, we find it difficult to expect Christ’s second coming during our lifetime. But we are sure to meet him at the time of our death and therefore we should always be ready to give him an account of our lives. That makes all the difference in the day-to-day choices we make in our life.

Messages: 1) We need to be aware that the real and valuable treasure is the fullness of Life with the Risen Lord in our eternal life. Jesus said, “Where our treasure is; there our hearts also will be.” If eternal life is the real treasure, we have to prioritize all our treasures. That is why being a Catholic is not something that we squeeze into our already too busy schedule – like one hour a week for Mass, some money in the collection basket, another hour if possible to do some voluntary work.
 
Being a Catholic is – “Being” – which means our whole life and all its activities are guided and inspired by what we believe.  It means, living always in such a way and doing everything in such a way that it matters to our eternity.  When it becomes our life style, no matter at what hour the Master comes, we are prepared.