A Sexagesima Sunday Thought About Laying Up Treasure in Heaven

We all know about the idea of laying up treasure in Heaven, right? Well, maybe some or most of us do. But if not, that's OK. We'll get some clear insight into exactly what it means today. It's important that we do. We'll get to that in a moment. But before we paint, here's the canvass we'll use.

First, consider that it's Sexagesima Sunday. Think about it: We're about to embark on potentially the greatest season for our spiritual life: Lent. And following the centuries-long wisdom of Holy Church we here choose to follow the custom of preparing ourselves before Ash Wednesday arrives. 

Lest we forget, that's why for so long we Catholics observed Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima Sundays before the beginning of Lent. That's why the priest traditionally wears purple - the color designated for penitential seasons (Advent and Lent). It was all about preparing ourselves for the - how to put it - the most penitential of the penitential seasons.  

(Not in the Novus Ordo liturgy, of course. But let's not allow our attention to be diverted by the mistakes of the past - and present. Let's just go with the flow of tradition and history - what worked for centuries. OK?)

Such preparation allows us to have our special Lenten discipline set in our minds and hearts. With this, we can more fully participate the special graces that will flow to be open to them. We stand a much better chance of not only making reparation for our sins, but to possibly change for the better; for our souls to be lighter, brighter, cleaner when we arrive at our destination: Easter Sunday and the glorious Easter Season.

All of our efforts will help us not only to advance in our spiritual life - something we should work at every day - but to lay up for ourselves treasure in Heaven. Make sense?

Next, consider last Sunday's post about burying the Alleluia. There we buried our treasure. It will rise again at Easter. A venerable tradition reserved to monasteries to be sure. But one that we can all acknowledge. And with our acknowledgement, we can bathe in the gentle stream of Catholic sensibility that can wash over us and lift us out of the ordinary stuff that keeps us occupied in our typical daily life.

Our tradition served us for centuries to so lift us. We may think that we are not in need of this supernatural lifting anymore. But we'd be so wrong. And it would be a shame if we cannot see how wrong we'd be.

So let's stay connected to the centuries of traditional practices that helped us to refocus our hearts and minds on our souls, rather than the world, the flesh, and the devil; that helped us to cooperate more fully with the graces God continually showers upon us in His Love and Mercy. 

Now, with our fresh canvass awaiting the artist's touch, we turn to the brush strokes of one of our favorite sources of spiritual nourishment. He is writing as a spiritual director to a religious, one of his spiritual children. But we can gain the understanding that will help us to be more knowledgeable in the ways of laying up treasure in Heaven.

And what better understanding to help us prepare for the coming Holy Season of Lent, when we will ideally take more than our usual share of time to build up our Interior Life, and thus grow closer to our dear Lord. 

Laying Up Treasure in Heaven
Fr. William Doyle, S.J., 1873-1917

“There is one fault in religious which should not be forgiven either in this world or in the world to come, and that is discouragement; for it means we are playing the devil’s game for him – his pet walking stick, someone has called it. Thank God, we have not to judge ourselves, for, as St. Ignatius wisely remarks, no one is a judge in his own case. Let me judge you, my child, as I honestly think God judges you. My verdict is that you have grown immensely in holiness during the past few years. To begin with, every particle of merit – and there must be millions of them since you first entered religion – is waiting for you in heaven, for no amount of infidelity or venial sin can ever diminish that by one iota. Then, in spite of your sufferings and weak health, you have worked on and struggled on from day to day – a life which must have pleased God immensely. Don’t lose heart, my dear child, the darkness you feel is not a sign of God’s displeasure, for every saint has gone through it. You are ‘minting money’ every instant you live, you are helping to save soul after soul each hour you suffer. So you should say with St. Paul, ‘I exceedingly abound with joy in all our tribulation.’”

A Blessed Sexagesima Sunday!