New Testament Eucharistic Readings for Ash Wednesday: All Years
2nd Corinthians 5:20 to 6:10 Matthew 6:1 to 6 and 16 to 21:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6: 19 to 21)
Moth, rust and even thieves, are not eternal; they can’t follow you into heaven. Personally, I don’t like the “Reward Seeking” aspect of this teaching. It teaches us to do good for a good that will come to us later. It smacks of “Works Righteousness” to me. As the old Christmas song goes, we should “be good for goodness sake.”
Also, I like switching the wording around from what the writer of Matthew has written. I prefer, “For where your heart is, there your treasure will be also.” Our hearts determine what our treasure is. Our treasure may be the company of good friends, or the company of the Great Cloud of Witnesses, the saints, who have gone before us. And, our treasure could be, sadly, having more money than our neighbor.
What our heart desires is what we long for. It could be position, career, power, good and eternal fellowship, or temporal material things. My point is that whatever our heart craves is what our treasure is. Let the moths, rust and thieves have the temporal things.
Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine.
As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
onewhoponders 