By Colleen O’Sullivan
Brothers
and sisters: Since many boast according
to the flesh, I too will boast. To my
shame I say that we were too weak! But
what anyone dares to boast of (I am speaking in foolishness) I also dare. Are they Hebrews? So am I.
Are they children of Israel? So
am I. Are they descendants of
Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ? (I am talking like an insane person). I am still more, with far greater labors, far
more imprisonments, far worse beatings, and numerous brushes with death… If I must boast, I will boast of the things
that show my weakness. (2 Corinthians
11:18, 21-23, 30)
Jesus
said to his disciples: “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. The lamp of the
body is the eye. If your eye is sound,
your whole body will be filled with light; but, if your eye is bad, your whole
body will be in darkness.” (Matthew 6:19-23a)
Piety
I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the Lord.
(Psalm 34:2-3a)
Study
Every day I
read the latest offering from the blog “People for Others.” Yesterday, the subject was Denzel
Washington’s commencement address at Dillard University in New Orleans. One of the thoughts he offered the class of
2015 was: “You’ll never see a U-Haul
behind a hearse: ‘I don’t care how much money you make, you can’t take it with
you…’”
We may pray
with the psalmist for our souls to glory in the Lord, but many of us live like
we’re glorying in our material possessions or other types of worldly treasure
like pride or an inflated sense of self-importance that will cease to matter
when we take our final breath. I once
had a roommate who told me with the utmost sincerity that her car was her
prestige. How sad, I thought. The first ding or fender bender and there
goes her self-worth…
St. Paul was
on the right track. He suffered greatly
on his missionary journeys. He was no
masochist, but when he took stock of his life, it was all that he endured out
of love for Jesus Christ that counted as his treasure. His wounds and scars might have looked like
weakness to the world, but they were signs of his great faith in the Lord and
his zeal for the Gospel. Because they
tied him to Jesus and the Cross, they were the things of which he boasted.
We have
just started the process of cleaning out my parents’ house in preparation for
selling it. My mother has been gone for
almost four years and my father is in assisted living. Jesus’ words about not storing up treasures
on earth ought to be framed and hung on the wall for us to read and
remember. 58 years of possessions from
basement to attic. This will not be an
easy task. Among the more interesting
things that have turned up are two passport-sized booklets belonging to my
maternal grandparents – their membership books for “The Purgatory Society.”
Action
Jesus says
the eyes of our hearts will fill us with light if our hearts are full of lasting
treasure. On the other hand, if our
hearts are filled with the sorts of things that moths, time and decay destroy,
we will walk in profound darkness. What
is it that you count as treasure?
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