GOSPEL REFLECTION, FRIDAY, 11TH WEEK IN OPRDINARY TIME, 19 JUNE 2026

Matthew 6:19-23.  Our gospel today is about our priority in life s Jesus’ disciples.  This means that we must continually understand our own lives in the perspective of the Kingdom of God which Jesus came to teach.  Treasuring worldly things, our gospel says, is the way of impermanence, ultimate instability, and no foundation for our lives in eternity.  Anything we amass on earth, wealth, property, material goods all pass away in time.  The good things we invest in eternal life, however, are the foundation of our true lives.  They are “investments,” if we may use that term, in our hearts, our inner selves, where we seek and meet God.  That is where we can avoid God, reject him, or simply not care about the things of our eternal lives.  Jesus taught that this is where our real treasure lies – in our hearts, our inner beings, our ‘true selves’ as the gospel and the Christian tradition teaches us.

Earthly goods and worldly possessions pass away.  Of course, we must provide for our earthly lives, but do we have possessions which suffice for our earthly life?    Or do they possess us?  In time, they pass away.  As Job (1:21) said, ‘naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return.’   Heavenly treasures, the good things of the Kingdom, do not pass away.  They are the foundation of our true lives, ‘for where your treasure lies, there your heart will be also’ (v.  20).  A few lines after today’s gospel reading we find these words of Jesus: “no one can serve two masters; for a slave will despise the one and love the other.  You cannot serve God and wealth” (v. 24).  We ask ourselves, ‘which do I treasure?   Which do I love --  the worldly way, or the Kingdom way?  Which is my first priority?