Charlie Gard and The Hidden Treasure

“What was the scripture reading this past week?” I asked, still needing my morning coffee.

“The treasure buried in the field.” My mother responded.

“Oh yeah, now I remember.”

Unsolicited my mother continued telling me what the priest spoke about in his homily.

“The priest mentioned that each of us is the treasure hidden in the field.”

It was July 30^th of this past summer. Like everyone else, I was gearing up for the dog days of August. August is a month where people take last minute vacations, visit the pool, buy school supplies or spend time with friends and family. It is also the hottest month of the year. I don’t know about you, but DC in August is a sweltering swamp. Simply taking walks at night for ten minutes at a time leaves you drenched.

August is all about enduring the heat and establishing a schedule before things get crazy again. Turns out, God’s timing with this Gospel Reading could not have been more relevant to events that were taking place across the pond in England.

The Modern Day Golgotha

Many of you have heard about the tragic case of baby Charlie Gard. He was born with a rare mitochondrial disease. Great Ormond Street Hospital or GOSH, which was supposed to be treating him, instead delayed experimental treatment and advocated to take him off his ventilator to let him die. The world responded to the plight of Baby Charlie and his parents, Chris Gard and Connie Yates. Pope Francis offered to take in Charlie at the Vatican Hospital. President Trump said he would be “delighted” to help the baby in the US. Over 350,000 signatures were collected by the parents in support of allowing Charlie to live.[i]

In the end, the hospital won out and Baby Charlie, after he was baptized, was taken off his ventilator and died at the age of 11 months on July 28, 2017.

Innocence, men, women and children are being attacked at every corner of the globe. ISIS murders men, rapes women and slaughters innocent children or sells them into slavery. Abortion, sadly, is not going anywhere. Every day I read stories of teachers abusing their students. Just yesterday, it was found that 83% of Catholics do not believe Satan exists.[ii] Eight-three percent! With stories like the case of Charlie Gard, how can you not believe that Satan not only exists, but he is working overtime!

While it is important to acknowledge the presence of evil, as well as our duty to do everything we can to oppose it, we need a new weapon to engage this Plague of Death enveloping Western Civilization faster than darkness covers daylight. Two days after Charlie Gard’s passing Christ gives us such a solution to avoid this Modern Day Golgotha that he and his parents tragically endured. It is called the self-gift.

The Hidden Treasure and The Gift of Self

The July 30th Gospel (Matt 13:44-52), as mentioned before, focuses on the Kingdom of Heaven. Christ likens it to a treasure buried in the field, which a man finds and sells everything he has to buy that field. Again, Christ says the Kingdom of Heaven is a like a merchant who searches for fine pearls. When he finds that pearl of great price he sells everything he has and buys it.

Yes the Kingdom of Heaven is the rare pearl and the hidden treasure. It is a treasure we should pursue everyday in our lives to the best of our God-given abilities with the grace he provides. But this priest at my parent’s parish is also correct.

Each and every human person is a hidden treasure, a pearl of great price. We are the treasures whom God so loved that he allowed his own Son to suffer and die the worst death in human history just to prove his love and our worth to us! (John 3:16) This treasure, which is the dignity only God can give us, is called the gift of self. Pope John Paul II says, “All is presence and gift, all things carry us to God, and he offers us all a gift to show how precious man is in his eyes as the crown of creation.”[iii]

We are created as a gift! All of us, no matter our capabilities and disabilities, successes and failures, agreements and disagreements, passions and compassion is a gift given to the world by Almighty God to point us back to the Father in Heaven. Every person is unique, irreplaceable and a gift meant to be shared with this world. In a world so full of darkness, a person is meant to be a shining light; reflecting truth, beauty and goodness to others while mirroring the Father in Heaven!

When we harm others (don’t worry, my confession always includes acts of uncharity) or in the case of Charlie Gard, kill them, we stifle the light of a glowing candle, which illuminates the darkness. Every human person points us to God. Every person embodies His face. Even more, we are His Crown of Creation. Merely by our dignity as human beings, we point others to God.

Amidst the tragedy of Charlie Gard, Our Lord gently reminds us through the Gospel Reading of July 30 that we are each an irreplaceable treasure which points man to eternity. As such, it is our sacred duty to combat this Culture of Death at every turn with acts of love, affirmation, patience and understanding to prevent a tragedy like Charlie Gard from ever happening again.

The Easiest Means

To do this, we need to implore Our Lady for these gifts of charity in affirming other's dignity. She is the first woman in recorded history to say “yes” with all her heart to defend the gift humanity is and vowed her life to defend baby Jesus. Even in eternity, Our Lady continually fights for the dignity of her children: all of us. Through our prayers to her she can intercede to change hearts so, like her, all of us, no matter our failings, may become ardent protectors of life, love and the gift of humanity that she has been to her son and all of us! Hail Mary……pray all of us, and bring us to your Son, now and at the hour of our death. And cover Charlie Gard in your mantle and rest him eternal in the eyes of the Father. Amen.

[i] Chrieten, Claire. Baby Charlie Gard Has Died. Lifesitenews.com Life Site. July 28, 2017. August 29, 2017.

[ii] Nussman, David. Poll: 83% of Catholics think Satan is just a Symbol. ChurchMilitant.com Church Militant US News. August 30, 2017. September 2, 2017.

[iii] John Paul II. Man and Woman He Created Them. A Theology of the Body. Waldstein, Michael. Pauline Books and Media. 2006. Boston.