Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Matthew 6,19-23

'Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and woodworm destroy them and thieves can break in and steal. But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor woodworm destroys them and thieves cannot break in and steal. For wherever your treasure is, there will your heart be too. 'The lamp of the body is the eye. It follows that if your eye is clear, your whole body will be filled with light. But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be darkness. If then, the light inside you is darkened, what darkness that will be!

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

There is a dictatorship of materialism in our world which imposes a submission to the law of consumption and accumulation of goods. The Gospel teaching is very clear in this regard: whoever accumulates much is prey to a great love for things and is moved by a passion which eats the heart. For this reason, Jesus affirms, "There where your treasure is, your heart will also be." Jesus continues that the true treasure is where your heart is directed. It is necessary to cultivate the heart and make it grow according to the gospel. The Gospel word, listened to carefully and continuously, must shape our actions and feelings, forging a lifestyle far from the yearning of possessions and accumulation, which Jesus compares to rust which consumes. In this case, more than consuming actual things, the rust consumes the heart, our feelings and the very meaning of life. To accumulate treasures in heaven, instead, means loving the Word and putting it in practice, allowing ourselves to be guided by that design of love which is revealed to us. It means becoming steadfast and joyous workers. It is the great dream of God on the world. The heavens then, are not only a distant destination; heaven is life with the Lord, with our brothers and sisters and the poor. Those who spend their life according to the Gospel, accumulate treasures that will remain fixed in heaven; not only can no one rob them, but they will bear abundant fruit.