July 26, 2020: 17th Sunday A
July 26, 2020: 17th Sunday A
For what kind of treasure would you be willing to devote everything you have in order to possess the treasure? For some, it may be tangible treasures like material wealth, job advancement, spouse, or children. For others that treasure may be intangible things such as prestige, fame, love, or faith.
A successful attorney in a nearby city enjoyed both prestige and wealth from his law practice. He was a faithful Catholic while maintaining a busy work schedule. When he was about to leave for a business trip in France, his mother asked him to stop by a village in Bosnia-Hercegovina where the Blessed Mother was appearing. She told him it was really close to France. Being a good son, he obliged. He learned in reality that it wasn’t so closeby. It took him as long to travel to Paris from Louisiana as traveling from Paris to the village of Medjugorje, Hercegovina. In the tiny village with less than 2,000 inhabitants, the attorney experienced an unusual peace he had not felt before. He discovered Christ in a new way. He felt within his heart that Jesus was calling him to a deeper relationship, to surrender his life to Christ. After returning to Louisiana, he was inspired to share his experience with his co-workers and friends. The experience prompted him to return to the remote village two more times. After the third trip, he felt a call from Jesus like the Rich Young Man to sell everything he owned and follow him. Unlike the Rich Young Man in the gospel who was unwilling to follow Jesus because he was too attached to his status, material wealth, and comfort, this young man from Louisiana gave up his partnership in the law firm, sold his home and entered seminary to study to be a priest.
What treasure did this young attorney discover in the tiny, remote village that prompted him to sell everything? The treasure wasn’t something that was outside of him. This treasure was buried in his heart. It wasn’t discovered until his distracted and divided heart finally noticed the buried treasure. He discovered that he was Heavenly Father’s son created to fulfill a unique mission within the Father’s plan. Only when he surrendered to the Father did lesser, beautiful goods of the earth lose their power over him. He resolved to devote everything he possessed to begin a lifelong task of loving God with his whole being and his neighbor as himself. St. Augustine’s experience may be able to provide some insight into the hidden treasure of the heart. As a brilliant and successful young man, St. Augustine pursued beautiful earthly things and relationships. He was so enraptured by created things, he could not recognize the Creator who placed them on earth. Even as his mother, Monica, urged him to explore Christian faith, he was too prideful in his intellect to explore. Then one day he discovered the treasure in the Word of God which flooded his mind and heart with divine light. The Word of God prompted him to be baptized and eventually enter priesthood. He reflected on his own life and wrote:
Late did I love You! You were inside me, but I was outside, and sought you there. I rushed heedlessly among the things of beauty that You had made. You were with me, but I was not with You. Things kept me far from You… You called, and cried aloud, and broke open my deafness. You gleamed and shined, and chased away my blindness. You breathed out odours, and I drew in my breath, and now I breathe heavily for You. I tasted, and now I hunger and thirst. You touched me, and I burned for Your peace.
At our baptism, the treasure of the Kingdom of Heaven was sown into our hearts. St. Augustine calls our hearts, “God’s field.” We remember from a couple of Sundays ago the Parable of the Sower with four different kinds of soil and what is required for the seed of God’s grace to grow and flourish. The soil is our free will. Our free will may be like a hardened path, unresponsive to God’s promptings and unable to produce fruit. Our free will may also be like rocky ground, with a thin layer of soil which is not able to sustain God's word to take root. Or our free will may be choked by desires to be honored, praised, and esteemed by the world. In order for our free will to be able to receive God’s Word and produce fruit, it must humbly surrender to the Will of God.
Our baptism has grafted us on to life in Christ. This inestimable treasure is planted deeply in our souls, ready to be discovered and lived out. Many events in our lives have prevented us from knowing that we belong to Christ. I have counseled couples and individuals who have lost their direction because of their pursuit of career, living beyond the means, addictions, lust, and life of poverty. Even in recent months, the COVID-19 pandemic has created stress and strain in our lives. We all know that we were not made to live quarantined and isolated lives. While the pandemic has separated us physically, it cannot separate us spiritually from God and each other, unless we allow it to do so. We need to turn our focus to the buried treasure of Christ in our hearts. We have to take time to listen in prayer for the still, small voice of God who directs us to surrender to our Father. We have to reflect whether we have allowed busyness in our lives, preoccupation with social media, and 24 hour news to disturb the peace and quality time with God and our loved ones. Here is a challenge for today: what small action can I do to focus on Christ within me and to bring the light of Christ to this confused and afraid world?
