Episode Transcript  

One

Where your treasure is, there also will your heart be

In the Gospel for the Mass today, Jesus said to His disciples, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.”

God is objectively the treasure of life, this is the unchanging truth. But while we may know this in our minds, our hearts have not always fully laid hold of it. We do not yet desire Him as our greatest good, and so we chase lesser treasures.

What are the lesser treasures you chase that distract you from God?

Two

What is my true treasure?

I bet you are like me. I know God is the real treasure, and part of me genuinely wants God more than anything else. But there is another part of me that still wants other good things more than God. My heart is divided. This divided heart becomes especially clear when I sit in solitude and silence to pray. As I turn my attention to God, I am distracted. And my distractions almost always fall into three categories, revealing what I still love more than God. 

The Catechism says, “A distraction reveals to us what we are attached to, and this humble awareness before the Lord should awaken our preferential love for him and lead us resolutely to offer him our heart to be purified. Therein lies the battle, the choice of which master to serve” (CCC 2729).

What distractions in prayer reveal your divided heart?

Three

Investment increases love

Where we invest our time, money, and desires shows what we love most. Jesus teaches exactly this, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt 6:21). The more we invest in something, the more our love for it grows. If we want God to be our treasure, we must invest more in Him. 

The Sermon on the Mount isn’t just a list of good spiritual advice. It has an inner center that many people miss: How do we make God our treasure? That’s the question Jesus answers right in the middle, with prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. These aren’t just religious disciplines, they are the concrete way God heals our divided hearts and trains us to desire Him above all. This is why we return to them again, because they are not a side point, they are the path.

Prayer is how we invest time in God. We all know that if we want a close friendship with someone, there is no substitute for spending time together. Talking from the heart, listening, and simply being present, that’s how relationships grow. Prayer is the same. When we give God our time, we show Him that He matters to us. The more time we spend with God, the more our love grows, and the more He becomes our treasure.

People often say they are too busy to pray, but we always make time for what we love most. Busyness is not the real problem. Divided hearts are the real problem. And prayer is where that division gets healed. There will be times when prayer feels dry or difficult but simply showing up and remaining present before God is itself an act of love. This steady faithfulness — even without feelings — is how deep friendship with God grows.

What resolution is God calling you to about prayer?

Four

Almsgiving — Investing money in God

Almsgiving is how we invest our money in God. Just like time reveals what matters to us, so does how we use our money. We naturally spend money on what we value most. If God is our treasure, we will want to invest our money in Him by giving to the Church and the poor.

Almsgiving teaches us that true security is not found in our money or our ability to make money, but in God our Father who will always take care of us. It is not simply giving away leftovers; it is a conscious decision to break the attachment to money so we can desire and receive God more freely. The more we give, the more we detach from the illusion that money can secure our happiness.

People often say they don’t have enough to give, but we always seem to find money for the things we truly want. Lack of money is not the real problem. Divided hearts are the real problem. Almsgiving heals that division and trains us to trust God as our true security. Each act of generosity draws our hearts away from possessions and helps us make God our true treasure. Even when it feels difficult, every sacrifice stretches our hearts and increases our desire for Him.

What changes is God inspiring in you about how you spend your money and how to give directly to Him through the Church or the poor?

Five

Fasting — Investing desire in God

Fasting is how we invest our desires in God. God made us to enjoy many good things — truth, beauty and goodness — but these desires often pull our hearts away from Him when we love them in the wrong way. The problem is not pleasure itself, but choosing created pleasures over God as our source of happiness.

Fasting helps us say “no” to lesser desires so we can say “yes” more fully to God. When we willingly give up good things for God, we train both body and soul to remember that only He can truly satisfy us. Fasting is not about punishment; it is about freedom.

People often say they don’t have the strength to fast, but the real problem is not strength — it is attachment. We resist fasting because we fear losing the pleasures we still believe will make us happy. But fasting begins to break that illusion. It heals the divided heart, teaches us to trust God’s sufficiency, and purifies our desires so that over time, God becomes our greatest delight.

What comfort or pleasure pulls your heart away from God? What do you need to do to remove that occasion of sin? 

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