Where Your Treasure Is - Family Reflection Video

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has some challenging images about our hearts and eyes. He says your eyes search for what will intensify the heart's treasure. You will look for what you want the most with the greatest watchfulness.

Back in 1965, the literary editor of the magazine “Harper's Bazaar,” Alice S. Morris, published an anthology of 35 short stories chosen from among the 186 which had appeared in the magazine over the years. Two of those stories illustrate what Jesus teaches in Matthew’s Gospel about one's treasure being where one's heart is.

The first story is by Paddy Chayevsky, entitled "The Giant Fan." It is about a boy who grows up to be a fanatic supporter of a baseball team, the one then called the New York Giants. He is so engrossed with this particular team that he lives only for the times when it plays. He is so charmed by each Giant player that he is constantly arguing about the superiority of each Giant player over his counterpart on other teams. He even comes to blows on this issue. In the end, he kills a man because the man says, "Robinson was a better second baseman than Stanky." The story ends with those words.

The second story, entitled “Covetousness,” is by the British essayist and novelist, Cyril Connolly. It is about Jonathan, a collector of rare items: first editions, unpublished manuscripts, old plates, and so on. Jonathan spends all his money to enrich his collection, so much so that he refuses to put up a protective gate to prevent people from falling down the stairs of his house. Ultimately, he kills himself accidentally, tripping on one of his prized possessions and falling down the unprotected stairs, a victim of his passion.

These two stories illustrate the same point: One can quickly become a slave or the victim of a habit, of a person, or a category of things. You will look for what you want the most with the greatest watchfulness.

Treasure on Earth

Many people in Jesus' time hoarded their coins and good clothes, precious commodities of that time. The only difference between that time and ours is that we hoard them in bank vaults, while they hid theirs in the ground. Often, they were kept in storage so long that they began to rot or rust.

Our Lord advises us not to pile up treasures on earth because they don't last long, being fragile and perishable. Moths can consume expensive clothing, and rust can destroy precious metals. That thieves break in and steal is no different from that time to ours. Nothing on earth is worth putting our eyes and hearts into in an absolute way.

Treasure in Heaven

We might ask ourselves, "To what do I give my heart? What exactly is my treasure? What do I usually think about?" Our hearts should be placed in the Lord because He is the one real and absolute fortune. Everything we own today will someday belong to someone else. Our relationship with the Lord remains with us through life and death into eternity.

• Today’s Readings

• Father Boby's inspirational homily was recorded live this morning during Mass at the Father Peyton Center. Please view the video on our Facebook page. (You don't need a Facebook account to view.) 

• To view Rosary prayer and Mass streaming live, please visit our Facebook page at 11:30 am Eastern, Monday – Friday. Please invite your loved ones to join us too! (You don't need a Facebook account to view.)