The Treasure Hidden in A
Field
(see
Mt 13:44)
Dear Sisters and Brothers in
Christ,
The Gospel story of the treasure hidden in a
field sends us a message deeply rich in Christian way of life. A man happened to find a treasure secretly
buried in the earth and he did everything necessary to buy the land in order to
take possession of the treasure.
Who is the man mentioned here? The man represents anyone in our society
worthy of being called human person, always thirsty for the meaning of their
life here on earth, and having done their best to look for it.
When looking around us, we often see most of
people are greatly worried about how to build a happy life, understood as one
filled with luxury comforts, such as expensive jewellery, delicious food, brand
new car, a four digit bank account. They
have spent much time of their life working for this purpose.
There are also people who have little or even
no concern for the meaning of their life.
The only concern that they harbor in mind and heart is nothing other
than fully living every moment of the present, because they maintain that man
came into the world in order to enjoy this life and that nothing left after
this life ends.
Christians, on the contrary, are taught by
their faith in the Holy Bible that they came from God Who made them in His
image, having the four gifts given to them by God, their heavenly Father,
namely intelligence to know the truth; a will to love the beauty; a conscience
to discern the good and the evil; and finally freedom in order to act as a
human person, responsible for their thoughts, words and deeds.
Christians do know that all things in this
world are gifts from God: the food which they eat; the water which they drink,
the air which they breathe. Their life
is also a very precious gift which they receive from God. In one word, Christians surely know that they
owe God all that they have and all that they are.
Now, we may go to the second question, that
of what the treasure hidden in the earth means.
The treasure appears to be the knowledge of
the final goal of our life here on earth.
Christians know that their origin can be
traced back as being created by God Who so loved them that when they sinned
against His love, God did not punish them.
Instead, God sent His only Son to rescue them from the power of the
forces of evil.
Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, taught us
the lesson of how to offer our life to the fulfillment of the Holy Will of
God. He not only taught us this truth
but He also put this truth into practice by doing the Holy Will of God with all
His mind and heart. Doing the Holy Will
of God, as Jesus understood, taught and did, means to give up His own will,
even to lay down His own life on the cross.
For this reason, Saint Paul taught us that no
one among us should live for themselves but for God, and if they die, it is for
God that they die.
Knowing the purpose of our life here on earth
is really finding a treasure hidden in the earth.
The wise decision we, Christians, have to
make now is to give up everything in order to obtain the land where the
treasure is buried. Amen.
Fr. Francis Nguyen Van Nhut, O.P.
