An old squirrel had two very young sons. He loved them so much but realized that there were not many days left for him to leave this world. So a few days later he called his two sons. “My sons, listen to my words carefully: I have to leave you soon. Now we have lots of food everywhere because it’s summer. And when the fall comes there will be more food because all the nut trees will bear nuts. But, listen! When fall comes you should work hard and gather those nuts. And store them in a safe place. I say to you, it must be a safe place! And…” The squirrel felt hard to breathe. The two sons wept and called their father. “And, and, and……” The father tried to say something but could not continue. He breathed his last breath.
As the father squirrel told, two sons saw an abundance of nuts when the fall came. The older brother told the younger, “Let us be parted and have our own territories.” So they divided the woods into half and half. Then, the two gathered nuts diligently. The elder squirrel hid nuts in the rocky ground near his hole where he lived. He thought, ‘It will easy to take them out because it takes only two minutes from my home. And it’s safe since no one can see!” Now, in the other side of the woods, the younger brother was storing nuts on the top of a big tree’s trunk where there was a hole. The tree was very high and took quite a while to climb all the way up to the hole to put nuts. In fact, the elder one gathered much more nuts than the younger one since he didn’t have to travel as much far as the younger one.
One day in the late fall, It started raining so much. The woods was flooded and mud swept the whole ground. The squirrels had to escape to the trees. The elder brother couldn’t do anything but saw the rocky ground being covered with mud. Then the elder squirrel realized the rocky ground was not a safe place at all.
My brothers and sisters, where do we spend our money, and where do we spend our time, and where do we put our hearts? Is it down here on earth and this world or is it the kingdom of heaven?
Jesus says today that he will come at an unexpected hour. Yes, we will meet him at our death and at the end of the world. And these times, we don’t know. But these are not the only occasions we will see Jesus. He comes in different forms and in different people while we are still living here and now. We really and truly meet Jesus in the forms of bread and wine during this Mass; Jesus visits us in the forms of the poor and the oppressed; Jesus is present in our family and friends who needs our care and love. In this sense, we are not really far from the judgment! Unless we put our hearts and treasures in heaven now and today, we may not be able to put them in heaven ever after.
Tags: heart, homily, luke 12, squirrel story, treasure, week 19 sunday, year c
