FOOLS FOR CHRIST We must take the admonition of our Lord seriously when He said,

�where your treasure is, there will your heart also.� What are the eternal values
that we seek in our life? What is it that will continue even after our death? We
are called to imitate St Paul who understood that what ultimately would last would
be the sacrifices of love and service to God and to our fellowmen. These are the
things we should be proud of and things we should be grateful for. Indeed, this is
the litmus test of a wise man who places his life entirely in the hands of God for
His service and for His people. His sacrificial love gives him great satisfaction.

Who are the fools of this world? The world considers those who are believers in
God fools because they are missing out the fun and joys of life. The wisdom of the
world seeks what is tangible, material, and what satisfies the human ego, like some
of the so-called �arch-apostles�, as St Paul labeled them sarcastically, who liked
to boast of their intelligence, their eloquence and their status in Jewish society.
They claimed to be Hebrews because they could still speak the language, unlike
those who belonged to the diaspora. They claimed to be the true Israelites and
descendants of Abraham. In other words, they were authentic Jews and members of
the Chosen Race.

This is how the world measures a person today; by his status, connections, wealth,
his eloquence, dressing, academic performance, his achievements and the accolades
he has won. When we invite a speaker, we like to list down all his past
achievements so that they sound credible and worth listening to. People we
consider intellectual, famous and successful. Indeed, many of us envy such people,
whether they are politicians, corporate leaders or celebrities. We look upon them
as the models of success and happiness in the world. Yet, few know how empty their
lives are. Many of them do not have real friends, as most are simply fair-weather
friends. They have no real relationships, even with their loved ones because they
are always working, thinking of their career, doing business, attending meetings,
going overseas for conferences, etc. They are always anxious about how they
perform, and when others would overtake them in popularity and position. So they
have no peace because they have so many competitors.

But this is what Jesus is warning us in the gospel. He said, �Do not store up
treasures for yourselves on earth, where moths and woodworms destroy them. But
store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor woodworms
destroy them.� If our treasures are just earthly goals, we will never find real
happiness and peace in life. For those who think that their worth is dependent on
how they dress, what cars they drive, what house they live in and what titles they
hold in organizations, then the Lord says, the moths and woodworms would destroy
them. Such material things cannot last for long. Either we tire of them or they
will be outdated and we will have to keep on buying new things. At any rate, the
satisfaction that worldly things can provide is never lasting. Our interest will
peak and then we will look for something else. Who is ever happy with his house,
his car, his watch or his I-phone? When we get what we want, we start looking for
something else.

Furthermore, whatever we have will also be taken from us. This is what Jesus meant
when He said, �Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where thieves can
break in and steal.� The thieves are not just those who rob and steal from us,
they refer to our enemies and competitors. There will be others who are envious of
us and are waiting to bring us down so that they can take our position, our office,
our wealth. Even our loved ones are eyeing our wealth and property. At any rate,
at death, we cannot take a single cent beyond this grave. So, all that we have
worked for, all the glories that we have attained will be forgotten eventually; all
the wealth we have earned will be distributed away and spent by others who did
nothing to deserve them. These are the real thieves because they will squander our
hard-earned money and wealth away. We came into this world naked, as Job said, and
we will leave this world naked. (Job 1:21) We will be stripped of everything and
return back to dust. (Gn 3:19)

This is why the Psalmist says, �Fools say in their hearts, �There is no God.� They
are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is no one who does good. The Lord
looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who are wise, who seek
after God.� (Ps 14:1f) The psalmist also learnt that externally the worldly rich
and powerful may look happy but they are walking the slippery road to perdition.
�I was envious of the arrogant; I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For they have
no pain; their bodies are sound and sleek. They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not plagued like other people. Therefore, pride is their necklace;
violence covers them like a garment.� (Ps 73:3-6) However, he came to realize
that �Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. How they
are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors! They are like a dream
when one awakes; on awaking you despise their phantoms.� (Ps 73:18-20)

Hence, we must take the admonition of our Lord seriously when He said, �where your
treasure is, there will your heart also.� In modern parlance, we say, we put our
money where our mouth is. In other words, we must not only be talking but also
acting out what we say. So too, if our treasure is of this earth, our heart will
only be focused on such things. We must therefore ask ourselves, what are the
treasures we are seeking in life? Do we really believe that the treasures of this
world can satisfy us and make us happy? And even if we have some satisfaction,
have we thought of what will happen after death? Otherwise, all our efforts and
sacrifices would be done in vain. We should not be working so hard, accumulating
so much money we know we cannot spend in our lifetime!

This is why we need to pray for wisdom and enlightenment. The Lord said to His
disciples, �The lamp of the body is the eye. It follows that if your eye is sound,
your whole body will be filled with light. But if your eye is diseased, your whole
body will be all darkness. If then, the light inside you is darkness, what
darkness that will be!� This is very true. How we see will affect the way we
relate with the world and the people around us. We need to put on a pair of
enlightened eyes. We need to see life in perspective. This would require us to
see life from the perspective of eternity.

What are the eternal values that we seek in our life? What is it that will
continue even after our death? Vatican II has this to say about the values of this
world. �Enduring with charity and its fruits, all that creation which God made on
man�s account will be unchained from the bondage of vanity. For after we have
obeyed the Lord, and in His Spirit nurtured on earth the values of human dignity,
brotherhood and freedom, and indeed all the good fruits of our nature and
enterprise, we will find them again, but freed of stain, burnished and
transfigured, when Christ hands over to the Father: �a kingdom eternal and
universal, a kingdom of truth and life, of holiness and grace, of justice, love and
peace.� (GS 39)

We are called to imitate St Paul who understood that what ultimately would last
would be the sacrifices of love and service to God and to our fellowmen. These are
the things we should be proud of and things we should be grateful for. He said, �I
have worked harder, I have been sent to prison more often, and whipped so many
times more, often almost to death. Five times I had thirty-nine lashes from the
Jews; three times I have been beaten with sticks; once I was stoned; three times I
have been shipwrecked and once adrift in the open sea for a night and a day.
Constantly travelling, I have been in danger from rivers and in danger from
brigands, in danger from my own people and in danger from pagans; in danger in the
towns, in danger in the open country, danger at sea and danger from so-called
brothers. I have worked and laboured, often without sleep; I have been hungry and
thirsty and often starving; I have been in the cold without clothes. And, to leave
out much more, there is my daily preoccupation: my anxiety for all the churches.
When any man has had scruples, I have had scruples with him; when any man is made
to fall, I am tortured.� Indeed, this is the litmus test of a wise man who places
his life entirely in the hands of God for His service and for His people. His
sacrificial love gives him great satisfaction.

. THE TREASURES REFERRED TO.

1. The treasures of earth are evanescent.

2. The lawful possession of earthly treasures is no sin.

3. The text does not object to your getting rich in a righteous way.

II. LAY UP TREASURES IN HEAVEN.

1. Because its bank is strong in its independence. Banks and firms are much like
ninepins with which children play; when one pin falls the others fall also. But as
for the bank of heaven, it is strictly independent; it is the only bank of its kind
in the universe.

2. Because the omniscience of the Banker is the very best security. Could men
foresee financial disaster they would avoid it.

3. Because this bank can never be broken into.

4. It is the only bank that can help you at death. You cannot very well trade in
France with English money. You must change it into French money. But no earthly
bank can change its coin so as to ferry you across Jordan.

5. Bank not with evil any longer.