WHERE ARE YOUR TREASURES? (Homily for June 17, 2016. Friday of the 11th week Ordinary Time.)


Bible Study:  2 Kings 11, 1 to 20 and Matthew 6, 19 to 23.


No human being is born poor and at no point in time is anyone completely poor. No matter our condition, we are always rich in something. While one may be rich in terms of money, another may be rich in terms of good health. You may not have a nice big house but you have a person that loves you completely for who you are. You may not be a business tycoon but you have a lot of friends that can receive you into their homes at any time. You may not be a successful politician, but you have the wealth of enjoying personal freedom without fear of anyone trying to harm you.

In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus tells us to store up treasures for ourselves in heaven where moth and rust cannot consume and where thieves cannot break in and steal. It is obvious that based on what Jesus is saying, we cannot even consider money to be a treasure. Otherwise, how are we going to store money in heaven? Can we take money with us when we die? The best we can do is to request to be buried with money but the money will still rust and decay in the grave. Dear friends, the high time we stopped seeing money as a treasure, the better for us.

So what then are our true treasures? What are those things we have that we can store for ourselves in heaven? Ever heard the saying that the best things in life are free? Our true treasures are completely immaterial, our treasures are the good deeds we have done, the kindness we have shown to others, the forgiveness we have extended to others, the help we have rendered without demanding anything in return, the justice we have allowed to prevail so that the oppressed are able to smile again, these are our true treasures; these are things we do that speak well of us and become stored in our name in the bank of heaven.

Money may be stolen from us, robbers can snatch our phones, ear-rings or even our car but one thing that nobody can take away from us is the kindness we have shown to others. Nobody can steal the smile on our faces when we look at those we have helped and see how they are succeeding based on the good we did for them. These are true treasures and Jesus says, these are things that deserve to occupy our hearts. Do not be pre-occupied with increasing your money or material possessions, instead be pre-occupied with increasing your corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Let your heart always be on the look-out for people you can help and little favours you can do to bring smiles on their faces.

Like the evil Athaliah about whom we read in today’s first reading, many today believe so much in going about hurting others, destroying people in other to advance their greed or increase their so-called riches. Wickedness is ever on the increase. Innocent lives are wasted everyday all because people want to drive on big cars and live in mansions but then at the end of the day, God will always let his justice prevail. There is always a time-frame for the wicked, he who laughs now because others are crying will soon be the one crying while others would laugh at him. But he who laughs by making others laugh will keep laughing forever.

Finally, Jesus says, the eye is the light of the body. So if your eye is infected, your whole body will be full of darkness. Nothing infects our eye so much as defining riches only in terms of how much money we have or being self-centred; assuming others are created to serve us, thinking only about our needs. We need to clean our eye by realising what our real treasures are then go about working for imperishable wealth that would speak for us in heaven.

Let us Pray:
O God, help me to realize how rich I am and how I can use my treasures to better the lives of others. Amen.


Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. 

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