Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

August 1, 2010

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart. — Psalm 90:12

Many Saturday mornings, people in search of a bargains, get up early and make the local circuit of yard sales. As a rule, things that may have once been expensive, can often times be purchased for pennies on the dollar, as some people are more interested in making room in their home or garage than they are making any serious amount of money, proving the adage that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

Whether treasures be gold, diamonds or some other valuable item, treasure is often defined as something which is precious and many times rare. Historically, treasure has been hoarded, bringing wealth and establishing power and security, but rarely bringing joy as time and effort are always needed to protect and maintain the acquired treasure. As such, treasure ends up possessing the individual rather than the individual possessing the treasure. As a result, when it is time to return to God, the treasure and all acquired wealth is left behind and the individual ends up standing before God, either clothed in the glory of a holy life on earth, or exposed in shame for the sins of a selfish life. God cannot be deceived and nothing is hidden from God. Additionally, no earthly treasure will journey with us into eternity.

That’s the reason the example of the gospel is so important. The man described in the parable has been blessed with a bountiful harvest. Rather than use the abundance of his acquired wealth for the benefit of others and the building up of the kingdom of God, he decides to do as so many others have done with earthly treasure and hoard it as a sign of his success. The thing the rich man doesn’t consider is that God is still in charge and will demand his life from him that very night. The justice of God will remove the man from his earthly existence to an eternal existence where after a life focused on wealth and material possessions, he is going to be asked what kind of heavenly treasure he has to show for a life time of work. If nothing has been stored in heaven, then nothing will be enjoyed in eternity as a person forfeits their treasure in heaven by a life of sin.

God’s blessings flow into our lives in super abundance. Some of those blessings are found in material possessions and some are found in relationships and in the shared lives of the people we love. Regardless of how our lives are filled, these things are not meant to be hoarded, but shared. Shared for the love of God and for the building up of the kingdom of God here on earth. As we sow, so do we reap, meaning that treasure stored in heaven is dependant upon how charitably and lovingly we have lived our lives for the love of God while here on earth. God is infinitely merciful, but we cannot presume that God will be merciful with us, when we have shown no love, compassion, charity or mercy with others in our earthly lives, nor used the blessings of our lives for the greater good or the building up of the kingdom of God.

To make the task of building heavenly treasure easier, the Church tells us through the corporal works of mercy to, feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, house the homeless, visit the sick and those in prison and help to bury the dead. The spiritual works of mercy assist us as well as we help others by instructing the ignorant, counseling the doubtful, admonishing sinners, bearing wrongs patiently, forgiving offences willingly, comforting the afflicted and praying for the living and the dead.

Saint Paul tells us that we need to put to death the parts of our lives that are earthly and put on a new self which is being renewed in Christ. who is all and is in all. In as much as treasure is that which is precious and rare and the blessings of God are seen as gifts to be used and not hoarded, to build up treasure in heaven is accomplished by firstly unwrapping the common gift of baptism we have each received, and then generously living our lives in Christ. He became poor that we might become rich. He gave all that we might have everything and calls us to use the gifts He gives us to build up treasure in heaven not by hoarding the gifts of life, but sharing them as they have been shared with us recognizing that earthly works reflect only an earthly life but that eternal works of holiness build eternal treasures in heaven.