By Sister Michele Morek

“Let them have Jesus Christ for their only treasure, for there also will be love.” 

Saint Angela Merici, 5^th Counsel

I was reflecting on what it would be like to have a treasure chest full of gems. This was not hard for me to imagine because I used to be a “rock hound” (even when I was very young my family called me a “pebble pup.”)  All right, it was not a treasure chest – only a shoe box full of rocks –my jar full of peridots and garnets, the agates and obsidian and petrified wood.  But when I left home  to join the convent it was so hard to leave my rock collection behind!

What would it be like to have a REAL treasure of diamonds and rubies and emeralds? I’ll bet you would not keep it in a shoebox on a basement shelf, where my rocks stayed. I imagine it would be in a safe, and your thoughts would be fixed on it, even when you were away from home, obsessing over whether a thief would break in and steal it. That is one of the benefits of having a vow of poverty; I am certainly free from that worry.

Of course, there are different types of treasure. A vivid example is my experience of following a dog walker in New York City.  He was walking a large dog, obviously well-trained, which trotted peacefully along at his master’s side – most of the time – except when they got to each intersection at a side street.  Then the dog would lunge to the right, straining against his collar, gasping and panting, toenails scratching desperately on the sidewalk, completely forgetting his good manners and training.

This happened at every intersection, and I finally commented  that obviously the dog had other objectives! The man laughed and said there was a favorite dog  park in that direction, and that was all the dog could think of – it was truly fixated on the prize!

The next time I read that quote by Angela I laughed and thanked  that dog for being a “sacramental” to me.

Jesus, my only treasure!  What would I do to find him, how eagerly should I seek him? And how any “treasure” pales in comparison with love.