Worth Everything

I spent this weekend packing for our upcoming move. Packing isn't very much fun. Especially when you think about having to unpack everything. It's easy to take the pictures off the walls, but then I remembered how long it took to hang them, making sure they well-spaced and even. And to think we might have to move again in another year! Serenity now!

What made matters worse is that I missed a bachelor party this weekend in Denver. Now the truth is, I couldn't find a ticket out to the Mile High City for much less than $500 and I don't have that kind of money to spend on a single weekend. But it was hard knowing I was one of only a few close friends NOT making the trek out to celebrate our buddy's upcoming nuptials. Especially when I thought about how long it had been since we got the guys together, were able to kick back and relax, reminisce about the good ol' days, and catch up on what life has brought our way of late.

It was hard to miss out on all the fun, the fellowship, and precious time with good, good friends. But you have to make those kind of decisions when you get married. It just isn't fair to leave your wife at home, having to do all the packing by herself. And it isn't quite responsible to drop $500 on a flight for a single weekend when we have bills to pay.

Relationships require sacrifice. And a lot of times, when we're talking about a romantic relationship, time with a loved one, whether a boyfriend or girlfriend, fiance or fiancee, husband or wife that means time with friends (and even family) gets cut.

I think we begin to notice this in high school, but it definitely occurs in college and the years afterward. Your friend starts dating someone new and all of a sudden, you stop seeing them as much. They have plans with their significant other, which means going out together on the weekends isn't going to happen quite as often. Even phone conversations get cut short, especially if your friend is WITH their significant other at the time. Calls get ignored and texts go unanswered. Your friend is making a decision: my significant other is more important than these other relationships. What we have is worth these sacrifices. Even if it might hurt some feelings or cause some other friendships to fall by the wayside.

This is exactly what today's Gospel is all about. The kingdom of heaven, Matthew tells us, "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 [or she] has and buys that field. The kingdom of heaven -- spending all eternity with Our Loving Father -- is such a gift, such a prize, that we ought to sacrifice EVERYTHING else just to make sure that we never lose it. How we spend our time and who we spend it with should reflect that everything else in life comes second to our relationship with God. Because that is what determines how we spend eternity.

So sure, going to Liturgy, making time for prayer, sitting with Scripture, and serving others in need may not always be as much fun as our other alternatives. But sometimes you just have to spend the weekend packing instead of having a blast in Denver.

It's certainly no coincidence that today's First Reading (1 Kings 3:5, 7-12) is about Solomon's opportunity to ask God for ANYTHING he desires. Solomon chooses not a long life, fame, fortune, or power ... but wisdom.

These readings are tied together so that WE realize that REAL wisdom involves the realization that our love relationship with God ought to be not just an important relationship in our lives, but THE MOST IMPORTANT relationship in our lives; worth sacrificing time and energy from other things. In fact, our love relationship with God is worth everything. Everything.