What is Your Treasure

Homily for Friday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

The Gospel for this Friday asks us to consider where we are storing our treasure. However, before we can answer that question, we must ask ourselves what our treasure is.

In the first reading we read of Queen Athaliah. It is fairly obvious that her treasure is the power she wields as the regent in the kingdom of Judah. The fact that her son was hidden in the Temple for seven years tells us that apparently she has not been going to the Temple during that time. She has turned to the worship of Baal instead. Her demise comes at the hand of Jehosheba, her sister, who with the high priest Jehoiada has saved her son and has crowned him as king when he comes of age. The stories of the kings of Israel and Judah are painful reminders of the fact that worldly treasures are regarded more precious than the treasure of their faith. Like Jezebel, her mother, Athaliah covets her power rather than the covenant relationship with God.

God, of course, has promised that the line of King David would never be destroyed. So Athaliah’s attempt to exterminate the Davidic dynasty comes to naught. We see here a vivid illustration of Jesus’s teaching from today’s Gospel. If we set our hearts on only earthly power, goods, and honors – removed from how they might serve or glorify God – these things will disappoint us and lead us to ruin both temporally and eternally. Heavenly treasures sought for God’s glory, on the other hand, are not only immune from theft and corruption, but also will give us joy for all eternity. God has given us everything we have, and therefore all that we have and all that we are are due to his love, mercy, and grace alone.

Each day we celebrate our greatest treasure, the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. Just as God had promised that the line of King David would never come to an end, God has also promised that in the Eucharist we have a lasting treasure beyond compare.