Jesus said to his disciples:
“The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,
which a person finds and hides again,
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
searching for fine pearls.
When he finds a pearl of great price,
he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.” (Mt 13:44-46)
We all have “favorite things”.
Some of us have gone to great lengths to get some of the things that we like, that we treasure.
We should be willing to go to great lengths to “get” the Lord as well.
Jesus talks about that in the Gospel passage for today.
The Kingdom of heaven is a treasure. When we have an inkling where it is, we should be willing to put up everything in order to secure it.
How does one go about securing that great treasure?
The corporal and spiritual works of mercy are a wonderful start!
FAITH ACTION: Familiarize yourself with the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. How many of them do you do regularly? How many of them can you add to your daily life?
The corporal works of mercy are:
- To feed the hungry;
- To give drink to the thirsty;
- To clothe the naked;
- To shelter the homeless;
- To visit the sick;
- To ransom the captive;
- To bury the dead.
The spiritual works of mercy are:
- To instruct the ignorant;
- To counsel the doubtful;
- To admonish sinners;
- To bear wrongs patiently;
- To forgive offences willingly;
- To comfort the afflicted;
- To pray for the living and the dead.