Shining treasure

Let’s face it. A veil is meant to cover things which are not to be seen. The texts today from the Roman CatholicLectionary explore the great value which is sometimes hidden by a veil. The text from the Book of Exodus describes the change in the appearance of the face of Moses which occurred after he was meeting with God on Mt Sinai and in the tent of meeting. We understand and may have experienced how intimate encounter with the Divine changes our attitude. Friar Jude Winkler notes that our encounter with God changes our heart. It promotes a change in attitude. This may be joy, peace, forgiveness and generosity. This change is visible on our face and in our action. It is our shining because of the great value we contain. Our life in the Spirit, which Paul presented in a particular way to the Corinthians as outshining the life of the Covenant with Moses (2 Cor 3:7-9) and which Friar Jude notes is marked by the tearing of the veil before the Holy of Holies in the Temple so that the full glory of God in Christ can be seen by all people at all times, is the visible witness which Paul declared to the Philippians (Philippians 3:8) made everything refuse by comparison. The Gospel of Matthew looks at two parables which compare the Kingdom of Heaven, our living in relationship with Jesus, to finding treasure and pearls. The action of the people who encounter such value in the parables and who sell everything to acquire that value is a difficult movement for modern people to contemplate when we are so connected to social economic activity which appears to be connected to our sustenance and which spreads our time and treasure over many areas. What do we sell? Friar Jude phrases the question in a way which we can better approach our attitude toward the value of our relationship with Jesus. What event in life would cause me to lose my faith? That death of a loved one, the loss of my employment, a natural disaster, humiliation or loss of prestige which would cause my loss of faith is something I value more than the treasure of relationship with the Divine.