Store up treasure in heaven

Feb. 14th, 1999: (Rom. 13:11-14:4) (Mt. 6:14-21)

Dear friends in Christ!
Today we have another teaching that comes from the mouth of Our Lord, & this time, Jesus seems to be giving advice to the wealthier peoples of this world! Every area of the world has different problems to cope with, & everybody knows that! So it's only to be expected that the more affluent nations would have their own kinds of problems to overcome! We can be sure that if God blessed some countries with more wealth than some others, He had His reasons for doing so! Anyhow, the people who became rather well off, soon realize that they were now coping with problems they never had when they were poor! When money is scarce, you buy only what you need, but as money becomes more plentiful, you begin to buy things that you don't need at all! Where does God come into all this?
Well, when God was creating, His handiwork was so perfect that, to this day we still marvel at the beauty of nature! Nothing is as beautiful as nature! People will drive hundreds of miles to spend a week at the seashore, while others go to the mountains instead, but all of nature is beautiful! Wherever you find unspoiled nature, you will find unbelievable harmony & perfection, because it is God's handiwork!
Anyhow, when one's finances are more limited, you will drive out to some lake for the weekend where the kids can go swimming, after which you eat a picnic lunch & then go back home! Even on a limited budget you can have a very enjoyable time of it! And without straining your budget!
But what happens when your finances start improving a bit? You still go to the beach on the weekends to enjoy nature, but now you're wondering if you shouldn't buy yourself a cabin there, because now you can afford it! When Canadians or Americans decide they want to buy something, they just go & buy it, even if it means buying on payments! As soon as we like something, right away we're wanting to buy it!
That's human nature! The desire to buy & accumulate is so strong in humans that, our economies now run on borrowed money! Banks will lend money to any man who wants to buy something, because he usually wants it NOW! Everybody is ready to buy on credit, because we must have everything that the Joneses have!
But today, Jesus is speaking to us out of the Gospel & telling us NOT to pile up riches in this world, because this whole world & everything on it, is only temporary! At some point in time, this whole world will come to an end! Jesus is telling us to stop accumulating the goods of this world, because when we die, we can't take one red cent from here into eternity! He's telling us to value & accumulate only spiritual goods, because those are eternal treasures which we can store up for ourselves in Heaven! The nicest part is, that spiritual goods are not subject to decay, nor can moths consume, & neither can any thieves steal them! God is giving us good advice in today's Gospel!
Even our life in this world is a part of God's plan for us! Life on earth is our time of testing! We are expected to live on earth for X number of years, knowing that this world is only temporary, & also knowing that the minute we die, we will go into the world of eternity! Our permanent home will be in eternity, so we must plan for it! So here's our challenge; to keep remembering that our only goal is to be with God & heaven after we die! So we must not allow ourselves to be attracted/distracted by the goods & temptations of this world! We must keep thinking of eternity!
My friends, we humans are such weaklings that, not one of us will ever get to Heaven without God's help! We're like kids in a toy store! Do you remember telling your own kids to just look at toys, without right away wanting to buy them, because toys cost a lot of money & you need the money for something more important! So if we expect little kids to keep remembering that daddy needs to buy tires for the car, then why are WE so ready to buy everything we like? If we want kids to think like adults, well they are! Adults also want to buy everything they see, & God says DON'T do that! You don't need everything you see!
As for the second issue that derives from today's Gospel; what does it mean to lay up treasure for ourselves in Heaven? In this world, it's smart to have a few extra dollars in the bank for a rainy day, because money is the main treasure of this world!
But what other kind of treasures are to be found on earth, that we can deposit to our account in Heaven? Dear friends, those treasures are love of God & love of your fellow man! He told us that all of God's Commandments can be reduced to "The Two Commandments of Love!" These two loves are the greatest treasures we can ever carry around in our hearts, & also the greatest treasures we can bring to heaven! We love God best by worshipping Him through the Divine Liturgy!
And we show charity to our fellow man, by a kind word here, a helping hand there; & you can be sure that every such act of love is seen by God & written in the "Book of Life!" God also counts how many times we have prayed for the dead, to help those souls get out of Purgatory quicker, because the Bible tells us it's a very holy thing to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from their sins!
So love is the greatest power in the world, & the more you give to others, the more you have left!
Love is that treasure that Jesus is talking about today, & which you can store up in heaven! So although we must keep giving to Ceasar what belongs to Ceasar, but we must keep giving to God, what belongs to God, & we owe Him our LOVE!