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By Maximilian Watner
Guest Columnist

Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who discovered a treasure buried in a field. He sold everything he owned and purchased the field. The treasure was his (Mt. 13:44). Similarly, in our efforts to attain true happiness, we must imitate this man’s willingness to sacrifice everything to attain the goal. He did not let his “stuff” get in the way of attaining a great treasure but willingly sold all. We are called to be always willing to sacrifice the short-lived pleasures of earth to attain the true and eternal happiness of Heaven.

God created man to show forth His Goodness and share His infinite happiness. It is no surprise that all men seek happiness. Even the thief steals, because he (wrongly) thinks he will be happier. The desire for happiness is the mainspring of all human actions, but what is happiness? 

“The heart of man is too big to be filled with money, sensuality or the deceptive but intoxicating smoke of fame. It desires a happiness without limitation in intensity, expanse, duration and whatever else. Only God is such happiness, the infinite source of all happiness (who is) reflected in various degrees in the creatures He created.” So said St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Franciscan priest who volunteered to give his life that another prisoner might live while in the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz. 

True happiness must consist in the stable possession of God (the source of all goodness) through an intellectual vision (since He is a pure spirit). “The eye hath not seen, nor the ear heard, what God has prepared for those who love Him” (I Cor. 2:9). This is what we call Heaven. All other “goods” are meant to be used to help us achieve this goal. Heaven is the Treasure hidden in the field and all lesser goods and other possessions are only useful insofar as they help us attain it. 

The great tragedy of human existence is that, even after God has done so much to make it possible for sinful men to attain happiness by the Redemption, men choose to look for happiness in all the wrong places. We allow “counterfeit happinesses” (e.g. pleasure, fame, etc.) to distract us from attaining the only thing that will truly be able to satisfy us: the possession of God Himself. Instead of “seeking first the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mt. 6:33) and using everything else as means to help us attain our end, we shortsightedly take lesser goods as an end in themselves. 

Sadly, we often choose this mediocrity and set our sights no higher than this world. It is a tragic mistake but one made all the easier because it is ceaselessly encouraged in every aspect of our culture. As good Christians, we must “run so as to win the race” (I Cor. 9:24) and be willing to sell whatsoever we have to attain true “treasure in Heaven” (Mk 10:21).

BROTHER MAXIMILIAN WATNER is on the staff at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Buckingham County. He can be reached at webmaster@stas.org.