The cost in
pursuing heaven
By
Fr. ROY CIMAGALA,
roycimagala@gmail.com
July 27, 2022
CHRIST said it clearly. To
pursue the kingdom of God, we should be willing to rid ourselves of
things that can cause us some drag in that effort, or to sell off
what we have at the moment to get the real thing.
Thus, he said: “The
Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a
person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that
he has and buys that field.” Reiterating the same idea, he continued
to say, “Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching
for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and
sells all that he has and buys it.” (Mt 13,44-46)
There will always be some
sacrifice involved in pursuing our ultimate goal which is to be with
God, our Creator, in whose image and likeness we have been created,
and in whose life we are meant to share. In this regard, let’s try
to be generous, not sparing in our effort. It’s all worth it!
We have to be wary of our
tendency to get attached and trapped in the things of this world at
the expense of our real treasure. We have to remember that it is
actually the best deal we can have to “sell off” what we have in
this world to be able to get the real thing.
Some words of Christ can
be relevant in this regard. He said: “Everyone who has left houses
or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or
fields for the sake of My name will receive a hundredfold and will
inherit eternal life.” (Mt 19,29)
All these Christ-dictated
indications do not mean that we have to hate the things of this
world. The things of this world are also God’s creation and
therefore are good. God created them in such a way that they become
pathways for us to go to God. They too deserve to be loved in a
certain way. They are means to get to God, and not the end itself.
Thus, we should be careful not to get entangled with them.
How important therefore
that we realize that our first priority should be God and our
relationship with him which should be sustained with the constant
effort to know, love and serve him! We should be ready to throw away
everything else that can stand in the way.
We have to make some
adjustments in the way we order our objective needs. We have to
distinguish them from our subjective likes and desires that can only
be the product of some personal or social preferences. In this we
have to employ the appropriate means, the relevant programs and
operations. We should be demanding on ourselves insofar as this
matter is concerned.
We have to do some drastic
effort here because we cannot deny that nowadays, there are just too
many things that can seduce us and take us away from God.
We need God first of all,
and, in fact, all the time. He is our most important objective need,
much more and infinitely more than we need air, food, rest,
pleasures, etc. For without God, we are nothing. But with him, we
can have everything. That is why, St. Teresa Avila boldly said: “He
who has God lacks nothing. God alone is sufficient.”