In today’s Gospel, Jesus cautions his hearers against amassing treasures in their lifetime. We know that we will all someday die, and all that we have amassed in earthly treasures will remain behind, no longer of any benefit to us. Jesus makes it clear that where our treasures are, that is where our hearts will be.

So, what treasures can we take with us, even after death? The evangelist John clearly says, ‘God is love and the person who abides in love abides in God.” The love we have experienced in our relationship with God, which has guided how we have lived our lives in loving relationships, will carry with us into everlasting life.

For married couples, their love for each other is the treasure of their hearts. If they are blessed with children and grandchildren, that love expands and colors their whole lives. But that love must overflow into expanding circles of loving, caring, and generous love for others. For single people, this love overflows in service to the community. Pope Francis has reflected that the love of those who can give us nothing in return is perfected. This is also true for the women and men who have given themselves to the Consecrated life or the ministry of the priesthood. The love and care they offer to those they are called to serve is the treasure they will carry into eternity.

We believe in a Christ who emptied himself, to the point of giving his blood on a cross, even to death, that we, following him, might, in whatever way of life and vocation we have been called, pour ourselves in loving service. That is where our treasure is, the Eucharist, the ongoing presence of Jesus who feeds us and challenges us to be and share this treasure we hold.

Let Us Pray:

God of all creation, through your Son, brought light and life to all you originally saw as good. Jesus taught us that all that mattered is that we love you and treat every person with their own dignity as our sons and daughters. “Love one another as I have loved you.” Give us an abundance of grace that we might live out that command, and our hearts will be where our true treasure is. Amen.