19th Sunday Ordinary Time – Year C

Fr. Mark Gatto

Preached: August 10, 2025

“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Where is your treasure? What is something you treasure?

How do we know what we truly treasure? I need to ask myself: Where am I spending my time, my energy? What would be hard for me to let go of? When we treasure something or someone, we protect it, we take care of it. Often we treasure certain relationships; spouse, children, grandchildren, friends, and so on. If we truly treasure these relationships then we will take care of them, we will work on these relationships. We know what we treasure by what we spend our time on, what takes up our energy.

But, what is worth being your treasure, what is worth your heart?

I see many elderly people who are forced to downsize for various reasons. Perhaps leaving a long time home, entering a much smaller place or nursing home. This requires letting go of many things. It can be hard at first, but it is also when we realize that these things that we felt were so important are not lasting. We will let go of all of them. We realize that they are not worth our heart. At the end of our life, we let go of all of it. Has it been worth our time and energy, has it been worth our heart?

To know what should be our treasure, what is worth our heart, it is important to know where we are going. What is our final destination? It is our Faith that leads us, to remind us that death is not the end, that our final destination is Heaven. Our Faith is something that we should treasure.

In the Letter to the Hebrews we heard about Abraham and his Faith. Abraham is known as the Father of Faith. Abraham, in Faith, followed where God was leading him even though he did not know where he was being led. He did not see the final destination. It is Faith that allows us to treasure what is worth our heart though we do not see the end.

One very interesting prayer is that of the monk Thomas Merton. It goes like this:“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so…”

Sometimes I have people come to me who are struggling to pray, they are not feeling anything in their prayer, they are not even sure if they believe anymore. I often think that this person has a better chance of going in the right direction than someone who is absolutely certain about themselves. Such a person is struggling with their prayer and their faith precisely because they treasure it and though they do not see or feel where this faith is leading, they continue to try to follow it. They treasure their Faith and follow despite not seeing the end, like Abraham did.

At the end of life we let go of everything. There we will see our final destination, Heaven. The treasure of the Kingdom of God. In this life we know it only in Faith. So, we should treasure our Faith now, take care of our Faith. For Faith is the one treasure that does not end for it leads us to God. Faith is one thing worth our heart.

You all came here today to this church to celebrate the Eucharist. By taking this time, you are saying that you treasure your Faith and are trying to care for it. At this Eucharist, with Faith, you are saying that Jesus is where you want your heart to be.

In September I will be going on the Camino to Santiago de Compostela. I am only doing the minimum which will be six days of about 20 kilometers a day. I have started preparing. Walking a bit more, preparing what I need to pack. Some people do the entire Camino beginning from the Pyrenees in France that can take up to 30 or 40 days. Some will describe what it is like when they come to the end and finally arrive at Santiago de Compostela. They say that on the last day when they finally see the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, no matter what challenges, what pains, what difficulties they had on the journey, in that moment, there is great excitement and joy.

They have reached their destination that made the journey worthwhile. When we enter the mystery of Heaven, it will be like that for us. All of the difficulties, the losses, the pains of this life will disappear in the face of the vision of Heaven.

What do you treasure? Reflect on that this week. Make sure it is something worth your heart. Treasure your Faith, care for your Faith. For it leads us to the greatest treasure, the Kingdom of God, where every true love in this life will be found again. Your Faith is worth your heart.