June 18, 2010
Friday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. Matthew 6:19-21
Piety
The Spirit of Christ sends us into the world. To the degree that we are guided not by our fears but by the power of the Spirit, we become aware of the needs of the world and we experience a deep desire to be of service. The prisoners, the sick, the hungry, the homeless, as well as the many who are entangled in war or in the preparation for war, are shown to us as brothers and sisters with whom we are united in solidarity.
(Henri J. M. Nouwen, A Cry for Mercy: Prayers from the Genesee, p. 103)
Study
Where, indeed, will we find our heart? Is the way to a man’s heart through looking at the investment choices in his 401K plan? What, indeed, are we storing up? Buckets of money in a saving account? Shelves of books in our personal library? Acres of music in our CD collection or MP3 files? Cars, boats and motorcycles?
Are we storing up items which may be less tangible but fulfill our need for power, influence and control over other people and organizations? Position power. Political power. Economic power.
Will Jesus find that we are trying to accrue too bountiful a serving of esteem and affection in this world by focusing on fan-dom and celebrities, the number of friends on your Facebook page, the number of connections in your LinkedIn account or the size of your I-phone contacts directory?
Do our assumptions focus on securing the items to guarantee our survival and security in this world that revolves around a red, yellow or orange-colored Homeland Security threat level? Yet why should our security take precedence over that of a Gulf Coast fisherman, the unemployed workers affected by a moratorium on off-shore drilling, or the worker who was displaced when his company moved operations to a foreign or offshore location?
Jesus tells us not to do it. He wants us to realize the inherent limitations of these pursuits of happiness based upon survival/security, affection/esteem, or power/control. He wants us to give up these selfish pursuits and replace them with self-less occupations.
Action
Let go of your pursuit of material possessions. Take the bags you got last week while grocery shopping. Go around your house, your office, your bedroom or your closets with those bags in hand. Fill up each with clothes you never wear, books you never read, shoes you never wear. Define never as anything you have not used for the past year. Let go of these items and give them to a local charity.
