On the 12th Sunday after Pentecost, Fr. Matthew Howell uses the Gospel passage (Matthew 19:16-26) to ask the question: What do you treasure? He explains that if there is something more important in your life than God, then you are at risk of committing idolatry. He discusses different things that we turn into idols in this life, such as money, pleasure, entertainment, power, prestige, or even family. He also discusses different ideas of heaven and compares it to Christ's ideas of what eternal life will be in order to point out the difference between God-centered joy and self-centered happiness (or fun). He points out that salvation is about going from being egocentric (self-centered) to being Christo-centric (Christ-centered).
Along the way, he quotes St. John of Kronstadt, King David, and St. Peter quoting from Exodus and Leviticus; describes an old cartoon from the New Yorker that explains how we like to feel good without giving up the things that make us feel bad; and drops a reference to Willy Wonka's golden tickets.
