Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle A

A man finds a treasure buried in a field and instead of taking the treasure for himself he reburies it and goes off to buy the field. Why didn’t he just take the treasure he had found? The treasure rightfully belongs to the person who owns the field. The owner would have the right to reclaim his stolen property at any time. When Adam and Eve sinned against God they became a slave to death by their own choice. Death became their master and, as such, anything they did was also the property of death. This is why all mankind is subject to death. We are born into slavery to death as part of our fallen human condition.

God sees each and every one of us as a treasure of unlimited value. God is no thief, so he had to purchase us back from our rightful owner. For love of us he gave all that he had and held most dear. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross bought us back from slavery to death. It opened the gates of heaven and made an eternity in heaven with God a possibility. What it did not do was set us free to be our own masters. Our redemption allows God to present us with the same choice he set before Adam and Eve. Eternity with God is a gift offered out of love and because it is offered out of love it cannot be forced. We cannot be forced to spend an eternity in heaven with God. We get to choose who is the master of our lives and no one can serve two masters. Ultimately, we are asked to choose who we love more; God or self. An eternity in heaven with God awaits those who chose love of God over love-of-self and take God as their master. God returns those who choose love-of-self back to death who once again becomes their master. At the end of the age the angels will gather those who have made God their master for heaven and the rest will be cast into hell.

Some have asked what the funny writing under my name means. It is Greek and it means, Slave of God – Image of Jesus. This is what we all are called to be. Jesus’ sacrifice bought us back from slavery to death and we are to make God the master of our lives. We are called to become slaves of God and not slaves to sin. We all were created in the image and likeness of God. That image and likeness was veiled due to sin, but it was never lost. We are given this life to reclaim as much of that image as we can. We get to finish the job in purgatory after we die. No man is born his own master and no man dies his own master. What we are master of is our destinies. We all are destine to live forever with God but with destiny there comes a choice. We get to choose whom we serve and where we will get to spend all of eternity.

Know that you are a treasure of unlimited worth, a pearl of great price, and God has paid that price out of love for you. Do you choose to love him with that same love or do you choose only to love yourself? Eternity depends on your decision.

Your servant in Christ,

Dcn. Robert G. Collins

δούλος του θεού - Εικόνα του Ιησού

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