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Gospel Reflection
Today’s gospel passage begins and ends with reference to treasure. It invites us to pause and name what constitutes the real “treasure” in our lives, to know our own hearts.
What do we really want?
Many of our contemporaries are asking that question in relation to a consumerist life-style that appropriates far more than our share of the world’s resources and leaves little time or energy for considering either the plight of our endangered planet or the needs and aspirations of those on the edge.
There is a new realisation that standard of living and quality of life are far from synonymous. Like Matthew’s community, we need to be ‘scribes’ trained for or educated in the ways of God. We need to bring out of the treasury of our traditions ‘what is new and what is old’, wisely discerning what to keep and what to relinquish. Parables help to see our ways of looking at the world. They disturb our complacency if we allow them to do so. The parables of the buried treasure and the pearl of great price remind us that gospel discipleship demands an all-embracing investment of heart and spirit. We don’t have to re-invent the wheel. We simply need to search our hearts to know where our treasure lies.