The True Treasure
What is my treasure? What do I value most? Experience tells us that we must continually bring ourselves back to real life that does not simply slip away, to the radical and demanding life of evangelical love.
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Lk 12:34)
The evangelist Luke reports that Jesus shared this teaching with his disciples as they were walking towards Jerusalem, the place of the Passover of his death and resurrection. On the way, he addressed them as ‘little flock’[1] and he confided all that lay deep within his heart and soul. These thoughts included a need for detachment from earthly possessions, trust in the Father’s providence, inner vigilance and the importance of living in active expectation of the Kingdom of God.
In the preceding verses, Jesus encouraged the disciples to have an attitude of detachment and not worry about themselves or even their own lives. He told them not to be concerned about material needs because their Father in heaven knows all that is necessary. He invited them instead to seek the Kingdom of God and encouraged them to accumulate ‘a sure treasure in heaven.’[2] Jesus was not promoting a passive and disinterested attitude towards earthly things or irresponsible conduct at work. His intention was to take away our anxiety, our restlessness and our fear.
“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
In this context, the ‘heart’ means the unifying center of the person that gives meaning to everything he or she lives; it is where there is sincerity and no deception or pretense. It usually indicates one’s true intentions, what one really thinks, believes and wants. The ‘treasure’ is what is most valuable to us and, therefore, our priority. It is what we believe gives security both now and in the future.
Pope Francis wrote: “In a world where everything is bought and sold, people’s sense of their worth appears increasingly to depend on what they can accumulate with the power of money. We are constantly being pushed to keep buying, consuming and distracting ourselves, held captive to a demeaning system that prevents us from looking beyond our immediate and petty needs.”[3]
But, in the innermost depths of every woman and man, there is an ever-present search for that true happiness that does not disappoint and that no material goods can satisfy.
Chiara Lubich wrote: ‘Yes, there is what you are looking for: In your heart, there is that infinite and immortal longing; a hope that does not die; a faith that breaks through the darkness of death and is light to those who believe: it is not for nothing that you hope, that you believe! Not for nothing! You hope, you believe in order to Love.’ [4]
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
This Word of Life invites us to make an examination of conscience. What is my treasure? What do I value most? The answer may have many nuances such as economic status but also fame, success and power. Experience tells us that we must continually bring ourselves back to real life that does not simply slip away, to the radical and demanding life of evangelical love:
‘It is not enough for a Christian to be good, merciful, humble, meek and patient… In relationship with neighbors, he or she must practice the charity that Jesus taught us. […] For charity is not a readiness to give life. It is giving life.’ [5]
We should love every neighbor we meet during the day (in the family, at work, everywhere) with this measure. If we live not thinking of ourselves, but thinking of and living for others, we experience true freedom.
Augusto Parody Reyes and the Word of Life team
[1] Lk 12:32
[2] Lk 12:33
[3] Pope Francis, Dilexit nos, no. 218
[4] C. Lubich, Early Letters, June 1944, New City Press, 2012
[5] C. Lubich, Conference Calls, New City UK, 2022
