Jesus said in today’s gospel, “For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” This verse at first glance doesn’t have anything to do with the first reading for mass today. Christ’s words in the gospel are gentle and loving. He is warning us to pay attention to what we value in life, because this is what we will retain in eternal life. The first reading for mass by contrast, seems to be filled with negativity and violence and is void of gentleness and love. Or so it seems. But, if you go back to the first reading for mass today, it is an extensive elaboration on Christ’s words in today’s gospel.
Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” When Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, went on a rampage killing the entire royal family, Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram took his small son Joash and ran away with him . This young lady was not concerned about her possessions, or anything else in her own life. Her natural instinct was to protect the king’s little son. Her heart was with the little boy, or else she wouldn’t have run away with him to protect his life. She concealed Joash in the temple of the Lord while Athaliah ruled their land. By doing this, she saved the king’s son’s life.
Today’s readings challenge us to consider where our treasure is? Where is our heart? If you had to flee your home today, what or who would you grab at the last minute? It is interesting to ask people what they would do, if they knew the earth was going to end in one day too. How would they want to spend their last day on earth and with whom? Their answers might surprise you. Those whom you may suspect to be very worldly, might actually have their heart in the right place.
Athaliah threw a fit and started crying “treason, treason” in front of the temple in today’s first reading for mass today. She was led out of the city forcibly and put to death. Then, the people installed Joash as their new king. It was his rightful place to rule them, not Athaliah. The people took action and did the right thing. Then, they demolished the temple of Baal and shattered its altars and images. There was much rejoicing and peace finally came upon their land.
Many Catholics believe that the type of negative events in the first reading for mass are not gentle, compassionate or peaceful, and are not Christian behavior. Yet, without this major conflict that occurred between Athaliah and her people, no genuine peace could have been possible. The people would have lived under her negativity, and the influence of false idols and false gods. It would have been like living in a perpetual state of friction and violent emotions simmering just below the surface. Either that, or the people would have been indoctrinated into worshiping false gods in the temple of Baal.
In the last verse of today’s gospel Jesus said:
“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 the darkness will be.”
Athaliah suffered the loss of her son Ahaziah, and her deep grief turned into an evil force in the world. She saw the world and everyone else she encountered, through the lens of the perceived injustice of her son’s death. Evil is actually love, but it is perverted. Evil is a perverted form of love. Athaliah sought to satisfy her grief, by causing other people to suffer and taking control of the kingdom herself. A big part of this is because she worshiped Baal. Athaliah worshiped a false god, and the entire foundation of her life crumbled and did not last, because her life was built like a house of cards – on air.
It is important that we protect the love in our hearts, and keep it pure, with God’s grace. Our love too, could become perverted or tainted with evil, without God’s grace. God does not share His grace with strangers, only His sons and daughters. Let us be careful to strive always to remain in a state of grace, and to pray for God’s grace the first moment love begins to turn into something it was never meant to be.
Attending mass, receiving communion, regular confession, prayer and reading the scriptures and other good spiritual books, along with the kind of company we keep, will help to protect the love and grace that dwells within us. No one is an island all to themselves. We are just like the king’s son in the first reading for mass today. We need one another’s support, and concrete help, to help us make it to our Father’s kingdom.
Daily Mass Readings:
Kings 11: 1-4, 9-18, 20 / Psalm 132 / Matthew 6: 19-23
