A Lenten Treasure Hunt: Final Clue

“Teach us to give and not count the cost.” St. Ignatius of Loyola

When I was preparing to receive my First Communion at the age of eight, my second-grade teacher told my classmates and I a story about a very greedy man named Paco. He always wanted to have lots and lots of money. He used to deceive others and, many times, told lies to protect his wealth. One day, he lost a bag of 50 coins. He searched for it but couldn’t find it. He told his neighbors and workers about his lost bag, asking them to inform him if they found it. After a couple of days, a man who worked on Paco’s land found the bag. Despite being a poor worker, he went to his master and returned the bag. Paco was happy to get the bag back, but due to his greediness, he decided to play a trick on the poor man. He shouted at his worker, “There were 75 gold coins in this bag, but you gave me only 50 coins. Where are the other coins? You have stolen them.” The worker was shocked to hear this and pleaded with his master, insisting that he gave him back what he had found. But selfish and greedy Paco didn’t accept it and decided to take the matter to court. The judge heard both testimonies. The worker assured him that the bag he found contained only 50 coins. Paco replied, “Your Honor, I had 75 coins in my bag, but my worker gave me only 50. He has stolen the rest of my coins.” After hearing both sides, the judge made his judgement: “Since Paco lost a bag of 75 gold coins and the bag found by his worker had only 50 coins, the bag doesn’t belong to Paco. It was lost by someone else. There is no claim against a lost bag of 50 coins; therefore, I order the worker to accept the 50 coins as a token of appreciation for his honesty.

My Spanish grandmother, who always had a saying for everything, would always say that “la avaricia rompe el saco.” (Avarice breaks the sack). Paco’s greediness broke his sack, so he ended up empty-handed. When our root sin is avarice or greediness, we may end up with nothing, just like Paco.

There are several greedy characters in the Bible. The first that comes to mind is Zacchaeus, the tax collector. He was rich in terms of money, power, status, and influence, but he was poor in friendship. In order to gain his wealth, Zacchaeus extorted money from his own people. He was a traitor who stepped on others to get ahead. So, unsurprisingly, he became an outcast. Sometimes, we prioritize wealth above people, and the result is broken and superficial relationships.

There was also Judas, who sold his Master for thirty pieces of silver. Judas was one of the twelve apostles, and yet he did not recognize what an honor that was. He allowed the sin of covetousness to take root in his heart, and it led him to eternal destruction.

Just as we find greedy characters, we also find those who are the complete opposite of greed. There’s John the Baptist, who said: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). Even though many thought that he was the Messiah, John never took the spotlight away from Jesus.

Joseph and Mary were the total antithesis of greediness. Joseph always took second place and gave the spotlight to Jesus and Mary. Joseph does not say a single word in the Bible. I always picture him as a hard-working, humble husband and father. He trusted God and obeyed Him to his last days. Mary offered everything she had and all she was to God. And if that was not enough, she gave us her greatest love, her reason for being. She gave us her Son.

And, last but not least, we have Jesus who loved us so much that He endured the cross to save us from our sins. He gave us the ultimate gift. He gave us His Life.

We overcome the vice of avarice, or covetousness, by actively living according to the virtue of generosity. Generosity is the virtue that counterbalances greed. Generosity is the virtue of giving. When we think of a generous person, we usually think of someone who makes large contributions to charitable organizations. But generosity also applies to someone that shares his time or her talents. It’s not necessarily related to money. A generous person is characterized by a kind spirit. Generosity is a seed that God has planted in all our hearts, but only a few are allowing it to bloom.

All the talents that we possess are gifts from God. They are not ours to keep hidden inside a box. They are meant to be shared. If we cling to them, they will wither away. But if we share them, they will grow and multiply. If we want our lives in God to grow, we have to learn to give it all away. If we become too attached to our possessions, there is no room for God; we become greedy, and we become more empty. When we try to fill up that emptiness with wealth, pleasure, power, honor, or material things, it never works. Not even surrounding ourselves with people will fill the emptiness within us. We have all been wired for God, and only God can fill us.

The final clue in our treasure hunt is that in order to find the most important Treasure, we must share our material possessions, our talents and our time. In other words, we must replace greed with generosity.

May we never be blinded by greed like Judas, who hung himself for thirty pieces of silver, or like greedy Paco whose sack broke because 50 coins were not enough for him. We are all called to become detached from wealth, possessions, power, and position if we are to enter the kingdom of heaven. At the end of the day, none of those things matter. We must surrender ourselves to God entirely because, in the end, only God matters. Jesus warns us: “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15). Only when we eliminate the “me” from our lives can we find the perfect freedom that Christ had as He breathed His last. It was His self-giving sacrifice that made possible the Resurrection. If we continue down the path of greediness, our sacks will break, and we will end up with nothing. But if, instead, we choose the path of generosity, we will resurrect with Christ.