Daily Retreat 05/22/08
2008 May 22 Thu: Ordinary Weekday/ Rita of Cascia, r
Jas 5: 1-6/ Ps 48(49): 14-15ab. 15cd-16. 17-18. 19-20/ Mk 9: 41-50
From today’s readings: “Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten, your gold and silver have corroded, and that corrosion will be a testimony against you; it will devour your flesh like a fire.... Fear not when a man grows rich, when the wealth of his house becomes great, For when he dies, he shall take none of it; his wealth shall not follow him down.... Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”
Richly Warned
While the Bible does not condemn riches per se, the love of money and the inordinate focus on amassing wealth are clearly asserted as incompatible with any full Christian faith commitment. Even commonsense wisdom recognizes the danger of greed, and so, for instance, there’s a French proverb that goes, “Money is a good servant, but a bad master.”
The Epistle of St. James is eerily emphatic in warning of the spiritual bankruptcy of those whose primary interest is earthly wealth. In particular, those rich will be condemned who acquired their fortunes unethically (e.g., depriving workers of decent wages), or misused wealth in wanton luxury, or abused riches to buy the power to pervert justice.
Do these dire warnings apply to you and me? Our tendency is to pamper ourselves with comforting thoughts that, since many people are much wealthier and apparently more greedy than we ourselves are, surely our own attitude towards mammon is balanced and appropriate for our state in life, right? But then, it’s far too easy to buy the silence of our conscience on this matter, as if a minuscule percentage of almsgiving somehow justified the humongous investment of our time and talents in lucrative pursuits. So Scripture richly warns us: in the eternal accounting, whatever money isn’t shared and used for good, amounts to nothing but fool’s gold!
Jas 5: 1-6/ Ps 48(49): 14-15ab. 15cd-16. 17-18. 19-20/ Mk 9: 41-50
From today’s readings: “Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten, your gold and silver have corroded, and that corrosion will be a testimony against you; it will devour your flesh like a fire.... Fear not when a man grows rich, when the wealth of his house becomes great, For when he dies, he shall take none of it; his wealth shall not follow him down.... Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”
Richly Warned
While the Bible does not condemn riches per se, the love of money and the inordinate focus on amassing wealth are clearly asserted as incompatible with any full Christian faith commitment. Even commonsense wisdom recognizes the danger of greed, and so, for instance, there’s a French proverb that goes, “Money is a good servant, but a bad master.”
The Epistle of St. James is eerily emphatic in warning of the spiritual bankruptcy of those whose primary interest is earthly wealth. In particular, those rich will be condemned who acquired their fortunes unethically (e.g., depriving workers of decent wages), or misused wealth in wanton luxury, or abused riches to buy the power to pervert justice.
Do these dire warnings apply to you and me? Our tendency is to pamper ourselves with comforting thoughts that, since many people are much wealthier and apparently more greedy than we ourselves are, surely our own attitude towards mammon is balanced and appropriate for our state in life, right? But then, it’s far too easy to buy the silence of our conscience on this matter, as if a minuscule percentage of almsgiving somehow justified the humongous investment of our time and talents in lucrative pursuits. So Scripture richly warns us: in the eternal accounting, whatever money isn’t shared and used for good, amounts to nothing but fool’s gold!
posted by FrPitstick | 5/20/2008
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