GOSPEL, Matthew (6: 19-23)
Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew
Concerning Treasures
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The Sound Eye
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; 23 but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
The Gospel of the Lord
REFLECTION
Today’s Gospel presents us with a set of sentences used by Jesus for the disciple’s benefit, concerning goods, wealth, and a commentary on the blessedness of poverty.
Our treasure must be in heaven. A Safe place away from thieves “for where your treasure is, there is your heart”.
The poor in Christ do not heap or hide perishable treasures, because they do not give in to the urge to accumulate perishable goods.
The second part of this reading speaks of the intention of the search for the true treasure. The purity of intention symbolized in the lamp of the body leads the believer to submit completely to the will of God, the source of true light.
“The ways of the Gospel all pass through the heart of man. Faith teaches the value of the eternal and relativizes the ephemeral. Earthly treasures must not dominate the human heart. Man needs to purify his interior where true light is born to give meaning to everything around him.
The contemporary person, knowing so much and having so many things, has not yet woken to true happiness. They must find reasons to live and share because true happiness is not found in earthly things but it will sprout from within.
In telling us today: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth”, Jesus invites us to live in freedom, with our hearts set in the secret treasure of true happiness: to love God above all things and to love others as we do ourselves.
PRAYER
Blessed are you, our Father, because Jesus showed us the way to true happiness.
Help us, Lord, to choose to be poor with Christ, without piling up perishable goods.
Give us a pure gaze and uprightness of intention to serve you, living in light and good. Amen.