Mt 6,19-23 – Friday of the XI Week of Ordinary Time
«Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. Instead, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” At first glance these words of Jesus may seem naive or far from the concreteness of life. In reality they touch one of the deepest needs that live within us: the desire to feel safe.
Very often we accumulate not only out of selfishness, but out of fear. We think that having more makes us stronger, calmer, more protected. We look for a guarantee in things against the uncertainty of life. Yet experience teaches us that everything we possess is fragile. Time consumes, events change, what reassures us today may fail us tomorrow. No material wealth can accompany us to the end. Jesus then does not invite us to despise things, but not to confuse the means with the end. It reminds us that there is a treasure that cannot be lost and that no death can take away from us: the love we have given. Everything that is lived in charity, in generosity and in service is not lost. Indeed, it is the only reality that crosses time and reaches eternity.
Love is the true asset of our existence, the safest investment we can make. For this reason Jesus immediately adds a reflection on the gaze: “The lamp of the body is the eye”. In fact, the problem does not only concern what we possess, but the way in which we look at reality. A wounded gaze always sees what is missing, lives in continuous comparison, generates restlessness and dissatisfaction. A sick look turns life into an endless race towards something that always seems insufficient. Have a simple eye instead it means looking at things in their truth. It means recognizing good without owning it, using goods without becoming slaves to them, living relationships without transforming them into property. It is the simplicity of those who know how to distinguish what passes from what remains.
When our heart is oriented towards the true treasure, our gaze also changes. Become freer, brighter, more capable of recognizing the presence of God in reality. Because, as Jesus reminds us, where our treasure is, there our heart will also be.
Friday 19 June 2026 – (Friday of the XI Week of Ordinary Time – Even Year)
