Gospel: Mt 6:19-23
JESUS said to his disciples: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.
“The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light; but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness. And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be.”
* * *
Jesus is teaching his disciples how to be truly happy. Earthly enticements can be deceptive, and the lure of material riches can bedazzle. Jesus sets lofty ideals and admonishes the disciples not to set their hearts on material trappings that enslave.
Jesus gives his disciples a foretaste of heavenly treasures when he spreads a banquet for a multitude of people on at least three different occasions. The various healings and miracles are prelude to the heavenly Kingdom. Jesus’ disciples witness the unfolding of a new era on the numerous occasions when Jesus forgives sinners and teaches the crowds.
Jesus wants his disciples to acquire a new spiritual vision so that they will understand how the deepest longings of the human heart can be met only by the enduring values of the heavenly Kingdom.
* * *
SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord,” ST PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
