WHAT ARE WE WILLING TO DO FOR IT?:
Scripture: “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, no thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” – Matthew 6:27
Catechism of the Catholic Church: “By His death and Resurrection, Jesus Christ has opened heaven to us. The life of the blessed consists in the full and perfect possession of the fruits of the redemption accomplished by Christ. He makes partners in His heavenly glorification those who have believed in Him and remained faithful to His will. Heaven is the blessed community of all who are perfectly incorporated into Christ.” – CCC #1026
Brothers and sisters, according to the Gospel reading this weekend, Heaven is like a buried treasure, and a pearl of great price; and those that find them will do all they can to obtain this greatest treasure. Therefore, it begs the question: What are we willing to do to obtain Heaven? What are we willing to give up to obtain Heaven?
When trying to answer that question for myself, I realized that is a more difficult question to answer than I had anticipated. Of course, the first thing out of my mouth was, “I would give up everything to get into Heaven!” However, when thinking about it, it’s not going to be as easy as it sounds.
Brothers and sisters, we all suffer from the same basic human weaknesses: pride, anger, gossip, envy, entitlement, revenge, hatred, prejudice, etc.; even priests, deacons, nuns and other religious share in these weaknesses. It just may be at different degrees of the same weaknesses for all of us. We all have a certain amount of pride; we all can get angry to some degree when things may not go our way. We all gossip without knowing all the facts. But the weaknesses are there.
One of the things that really gets my “dander up” is when someone cuts me off in traffic then slows down! The first thing I do when that happens is reach up and check if I am wearing my collar…If I am wearing it then I just swallow my anger (and it does not taste good). If I am not wearing my collar – well, never mind the specifics…
I know from the very depths of my soul that God never gives us more than we can handle. Therefore, I know that I am capable of controlling my anger; but am I really willing to put in the extra effort it will take to do so. Am I willing to let go of my ego long enough to say that I was wrong to get angry without knowing why the person cut me off.
And, brothers and sisters, there are questions that only we can answer for ourselves; no one can answer them for us. They are questions like: is my ego being fed more important than my desire for heaven; is my sense of entitlement more important than my desire for heaven; is my need for revenge more important than my desire for heaven; is my hatred for someone or groups of people more important than my desire for heaven.
If these things are not more important than our desire for heaven, then we know what we must do to change the direction of our lives. Yes, it may very well difficult and we may find being kind and loving exhausting, but let us remember the words of St. Thomas Aquinas: “It is better to limp along the right path than to walk strongly in the wrong direction.”
Therefore, brothers and sisters, let us face the world with a renewed faith in the love and the power of our Lord, that He will always have our backs; especially in times of difficulty.
“Let your way of life among the people be such
That whoever sees or hears you
Will glorify and praise our Heavenly Father.”
-St. Francis of Assisi