"Investing in Heavenly Treasure" - 26th Sunday Homily

You will see in the bulletin soon the annual financial report for the parish.

I haven't seen it yet, but I think it'll be good.

It has been because of God's goodness and your generosity giving so consistently and generously to the offertory and even to the capital campaign, which now is over 1.7

million, thankfully.

But your regular giving is how we're able to offer so much

to build up community and faith formation.

So I truly, truly thank you.

I hope it continues.

The second reading from St.

James's letter really has us considering our own reports, like a personal report of stewardship, where we invest our treasure.

Are we investing it in ourselves

Keeping it to ourselves, earthly treasures for us, he says, in luxury and pleasure.

Or do we invest in helping others, in heavenly treasure?

If it's earthly treasure that's for ourselves, it sounds pretty bad.

Wealth rots away, clothes become moth-eaten, gold and silver corrodes, and it hurts others.

Picture someone who is storing up treasure for the last days, like their life, keeping to themselves, even planning for their last days, when there people around them that need

help these days.

And in the Gospel, the Lord is saying, for that person, they need to make changes.

They're all the wrong road, going the wrong direction.

Remember a couple weeks ago, He says, whoever wishes to save his life will lose it.

against saving everything for yourself.

to build up treasure for yourself and it's all for you.

Being full of yourself, you'll lose your soul.

Same idea today, just a little bit more graphic, using the invocation of Gehenna.

Wrong path, wrong road.

And when he says to cut off your hand and your foot and pluck out your eye,

think

Vincent said, know, like, Christ the butcher, come follow me.

Not to be taken literally, but those things in our lives that are leading to sin, those parts of our selfishness that the Lord is saying to let go up, to lose.

And these things are probably causing others to sin.

Especially for us adults, young people imitate what we do.

So another reason, motivation to let them go.

You know, when I publish the financial reports each year, if it's constantly showing the parishes in the red, you're probably going to say something to me.

What are you doing?

Are you taking golf trips with our money?

What is going on?

Are you listening to the finance council with their advice?

You would say something, say we need to make changes to get in the black.

That's what the Lord is saying.

If you're in the red, you're heading towards the red of Gehenna.

You need to make changes.

When we hear about the fruitlessness of earthly treasure, I mean, it's like negative return.

It's not a positive return, as St.

James writes.

Contrast that with the exponential return of heavenly treasure.

Good upon good, grace upon grace, that build over time, good things that we do that we don't even know the graces it's returning.

The thing in finance they call compound interest just grows upon itself.

That's the exponential return we want our feet, our hands, our eyes to lead us to.

Thankfully they brought us here this morning to this heavenly treasure in word and in sacrament and the Eucharist.

And we hope they continue to lead us to what is good.

To be part of this investment in heavenly treasure with this exponential return.