Matthew 6:19-23
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Identifying What We Truly Treasure
Using the Daily Examen, we are invited to see whether our inner eye is clouded by material desires or focused on God’s light. God, you know my needs better than I know them. Give me your light and help to see how you have been with me, both yesterday and today. In doing so, we are called to identify what we truly treasure.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus warns us against accumulating worldly possessions. Instead, he invites us to focus on storing up heavenly treasures such as faith, love, and compassion. “If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light.” Conversely, if your eye is bad or clouded, the light turns to darkness and leads to feelings of unhappiness.
How often do you focus on worldly treasures? Jesus tells us that earthly possessions decay and can be taken away. Instead, we ought to hold the things of this world loosely and free ourselves from greed so that God remains our ultimate treasure.
—Ann Power Greene serves as senior director of advancement operations for the Midwest Province in Chicago and is an alum of Gesu Catholic School in University Heights, OH.
Prayer
Lord, quiet my mind and my restless desires. Grant me the grace to recognize what I truly treasure, and open my spiritual eyes so that my whole being may be filled with your light.
—Author unknown