Homily For Friday Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 21st June, 2024. The Memorial St. Aloysius Gonzaga

 

Reading: 2Kings 11:1-4.9-18.20; Ps.132; Matt. 6:19-23

Rev.  Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia

 

WHAT IS YOUR ULTIMATE TREASURE AND HOW ARE YOU SECURING IT?

 

Every day under terrible scourges of the sun and noisy streets, people struggle to acquire things that they value as treasures of life. The quarrelling and fighting, the early morning rush, the traffic jam, the aggressive words all just to acquire things of this life and people are never tired of acquiring properties for themselves and their generation yet to come, forgetting that all these things sooner or later pass away as we ourselves expire from this world.

 

Thus, in our Gospel passage today we are called to reflect on what should be our ultimate treasure and how we can acquire it. For Jesus said: Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moths and woodworms destroy them and thieves can break in and steal. But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor woodworms destroy them and thieves cannot break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

 

Here, Jesus knowing how humanity is so attached to the things of this passing world, calls our attention to what should be our ultimate treasure. He made us know that the kingdom of God is the greatest and ultimate treasure anyone can and should acquire. It will be a waste of time trying to store up our treasures in this world because the world as we know is passing away likewise the things in it.

 

The world is not a safe place to store one’s ultimate treasures. The safest place to store our treasures is in heaven. For heaven itself is the ultimate treasure that cannot be compared to anything whatsoever we have in this world and it is so precious and great, that it is worth more than our entire life and our worldly possessions and treasures. This is exactly what we see in the life of St. Aloysius Gonzaga whose memorial we celebrate today. Though born into a wealthy family, he renounced the world’s riches and honour in order to live a life of service, simplicity, holiness and piety.

 

Therefore, we must do all that it takes to ensure that our focus is on things of heaven and how to acquire them. Because losing it over the temporal pleasure, vain glory, fame, power and influential things of this passing world will be complete foolishness. For none of them last forever and what good is it for us to gain the whole world but lose our soul out of God’s Kingdom just like Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah in our first reading today, whose selfish ambition led to the death of so many people including herself.

 

Dear friends, the questions we need to ask ourselves today are: where and what is our ultimate treasure in this life? if the Lord should give us the opportunity to request what our heart desires, what would you request? How many of us are paying attention to ultimate heavenly treasures? How many think and search for the ultimate treasure of our souls? How many desire to personally discover God in their life knowing that he is the ultimate treasure anyone can acquire in this world?

 

How I wish we would understand the shortness of this life, the emptiness of this passing world and the danger of losing our soul out of greediness for the things of this passing world. Then, we will sincerely desire to experience God personally, because in him lies the ultimate treasure of life. Discovering God personally is the greatest treasure one can ever have.

 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, the world is full of distractions coming from false treasures of this passing world. Through the intercession of St. Aloysius, give us wise and discerning hearts in order to give up all our attachment to worldly possessions in pursuit of the heavenly and ultimate treasure of your kingdom. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Peace be with you.