“…where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.”
One of my family’s favorite memories involves my maternal Grandpa and Grandma, who taught us children a card betting game named CAD…or 31. As children we would gather around the dining room table to play CAD and get a chance to win the pot, the treasure…usually about $1.50. It is still a fun card game, as some of my nephews and nieces can attest.
Treasure is something all of us know and understand. A metal detector beeping over a coin or gold ring…a storage locker worth thousands of dollars…a hunch that pays off. A big win, money gained without working very hard — treasure! When Jesus mentions money and treasure, and He often uses them in His parables, people listen. The crowd is interested and they want to hear more… more about treasure.
In our parables this week, He also speaks of the treasure of the Faith, once found, and how it becomes for the person who discovers the Faith a treasure found in a field…a pearl of great price. It is the thought we get from St. Peter, in his first letter as he writes: “…you were ransomed from your futile conduct…not with perishable things like silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ…” (1 Peter 1:18-19) as of a spotless unblemished lamb.
Jesus also knows the danger of wealth and treasure as He teaches clearly: “…where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” (Matthew 6:21). He was tempted by riches and power in the desert, and He teaches in the same section of the Gospel of Matthew that, “No one can serve two masters…You cannot serve God and mammon…” (Matthew 6:24).
Certainly, there are many treasures to be found or won in this world…but real treasure is not of the gold and silver and old buried kind. Real treasure involves love and sacrifice and forgiveness and perseverance and Faith. These are all part of life and part of what Jesus teaches us and shows us…I know I won a few pots (treasures) when I played those card games with my Grandpa, Grandma, and my family…but the real treasure went much deeper and lasts much longer…
Fr. Chris Uhl, OMV
