What is My Treasure on Earth?

 

11th Week: Ordinary Time, Friday

Year One

2 Cor 11: 18, 21-30

What is My Treasure on Earth?

21 To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that! But whatever anyone dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they ministers of Christ? I am talking like a madman—I am a better one: with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless floggings, and often near death. 24 Five times I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers and sisters;[a] 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked. 28 And, besides other things, I am under daily pressure because of my anxiety for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I am not indignant? 30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness (2 Cor 11: 21-230).

St Paul goes to the extent of calling himself a mad man for Christ. In fact, it is true that he was filled with the madness of love for Christ. He often says Put on Christ. He says, 'It is not I who lives Christ who lives in me'. He lives for Christ. His purpose was to make Christ known to all sorts of people. He did everything within his reach to preach Christ. So much so, we know many Christian communities were built by St Paul. His passion for the proclamation of the Word of God was something vivid in his life and in his writings. He was filled with the message of Christ. The holy spirit made him an instrument to translate the message of Christ into the praxis of the people of that time and times to come.  The above scripture passage tells us how much suffering he had to endure for the love of the gospel.

Do we love Christ as St Paul loved?

Year Two

2 King11: 1-4,9,18-20

Meditation

Athaliah was the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel and the wife of Jeham, the king of Judah. At the death of her son, Ahaziah, she ruled the kingdom for seven years. She killed the entire royal family member except Joash. Even Athaliah gets killed in the palace and people are calm and happy.

Joash became king at the age of seven and ruled Jerusalem for forty years. He followed the commands of the Lord and did what was right in the sight of God. He was faithful to God; people were unfaithful to the Lord. King Joash listened to Jehoiada. Jehoiada guided and supported him in his life decisions and even in choosing his life partners.

Are we aware that blessed are those who follow the commands of God?

Mt 6:19-23

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Mt 6:21)

Human beings encountered paucity from the time they learnt to save or preserve for themselves. We have a human tendency to be greedy, hoard things for ourselves and for our loved ones. We attempt to secure our future without relying on God and end up causing uncertainty in our lives. We need to depend on God, who is the giver of life and the provider of everything. The Lord tells us to store up treasures in heaven, where “no mirth can destroy and no thieves can steal”. We can only store good deeds in heaven, not money and material possessions. When we do good deeds for one another, we begin to live heaven on earth and only then can we experience the coming of the kingdom on earth.

What is my treasure on earth?

Fr. Putti Anthaiah sdb