Think
of the amazement of that man over his discovery, the joy that fired him as
he went about selling ALL he had to purchase THAT field, the dreams of debts
paid, possessions purchased, future security ensured.
If discovering a temporal treasure sets one to such total commitment
of assets to insure its possession --
how much more should one commit to
finding and possessing the eternal treasure?
St. Clare of Assisi
highlighted this priority when she congratulated Agnes of Prague for
disposing of her earthly treasures in order to procure spiritual treasure.
Clare wrote:
I see that by humility, the power
of faith and the strong arms of poverty, you have taken hold of that
incomparable treasure hidden in the field of the world and of the human
heart, with which is bought that through which all things have been made
from nothing.
But what IS the
incomparable treasure
so precious that nothing less than
humility, faith and spiritual poverty can take hold of it?
Scholars put forward a number of answers -- the life of most high
poverty, the perfection of the holy Gospel, the summit of contemplative
prayer. But St. Clare’s
phrasing, which combines allusions to the Gospel of St. John and the Letter
to the Hebrews, points to a
treasure that is not something but Someone, the Word of God
through whom all things were made.
For Clare,
JESUS
is
the
Treasure hidden in the field.
He is the
Treasure hidden
in the Sacred Scriptures and in the Holy Eucharist.
He is the
Treasure
hidden at the center of God’s creative,
redemptive and sanctifying plan for the human family.
Only those armed with
humility, the power of faith and the strong arms of poverty can lay hold of
this incomparable Treasure,
which
is concealed from the proud and the powerful.
This
hidden
Treasure gives meaning and direction to
earthly life.
It is the ransom that pays the price of our
sins,
the Presence that is our pledge of future glory.
But Jesus is not only the
Treasure hidden “out there” in the great field of the world.
He is the Treasure hidden deep in the soul of the baptized.
The Lady Clare well knew that the same spiritual “weapons” are needed
to take hold of this priceless Treasure within -- humility, faith and
poverty. Aware that
we carry this Treasure in earthen vessels
2 Cor. 4:7, she strove not only to protect that Treasure but to
draw from it in her daily life:
The
good man out of his good treasure brings forth good.
Matt. 12:35
St. Clare reminds us that the spiritual life is a “treasure hunt” in which we seek nothing less than God Himself. If Christ is the Treasure to be found, then we must seek Him where He is -- in the field of the world, in the field of our own heart. We need to equip ourselves with the tools that the Seraphic Mother found so indispensable on her spiritual search: humility, faith and spiritual poverty. We have our Lord’s word that if we seek, we shall find. Our lives will be enriched beyond all measure by this incomparable Treasure. Then we shall understand why Jesus said: Where your Treasure is, there will your heart be. Luke 12:34
