Earning the Best at Risk
Eccl 1:2; 2:21-23; Col 3:1-5,9-11; Lk 12:13-21 (18/
C)
Can
we… worship and serve created things rather than the Creator?
(Rom 1:25)
Psalmist prayed, “What is mankind that you are
mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a
little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made
them rulers over the works of your hands. You put everything under their feet
(Ps 8: 4-6). Pope Francis instructed us, “You are important! God counts on you
for what you are, not for what you possess. In his eyes, the clothes you wear
or the kind of cell phone you use are of absolutely no concern. He doesn’t care
whether you are stylish or not. He cares about you! In his eyes, you are
precious, and your value is inestimable”. This is what we are promised in Jer 1:
5; Is 49:16; Ps 8:4; Ps 139: 18-19. And we store up our treasure in heaven by
living with integrity. St. John Mary Vianney said, “Man has a beautiful duty
and obligation to pray and to love. If you pray and love, you will have found
happiness in this world.” St. Gregory the Great taught that when we care for
the needs of the poor, we are giving them what is theirs, not ours. It is not
work of mercy. We are paying a debt of justice”.
Christ’s values contradict the values of the world. Paul
says, though we are fools in the eyes of the world, but wise in his eyes. We become
fools for Christ's sake (1Cor 3;19; 4:10). “What does it profit us to have gained
the whole world, and to have lost or ruined our self?” (Lk 9:25). “Our life is
not made secure by what we own, even when we have more than we need” (Lk
12:15). A worthy and purposeful life focuses not merely on heaping up money or
a material legacy. The rich man in the Gospel spent his energies on piling
riches upon riches. Is Jesus against our wealth and health? He does not deny
the scripture, “He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the
ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor” (1
Sam 2:8). He is not against luxuries and riches, but he has a simple question, “You
fool! This very night, your life is being demanded of you. And the things you
have prepared, whose will they be?” This
spoke to St. Ignatius of Loyola. And he had been inspiring many.
The other extreme would be to see no value at all in
working for a living. Some say, “Why bother with service since life is so
short, and we can be fed at public expense?” Living off state benefits is not a
valid vocational option. That tendency existed among some in the early Church,
who thought that the second coming of Christ was so near that work was
superfluous. Stagnancy and idleness bring no development. We become answerable
to the talents we received from God (Mt 25:14-30). Saint Paul is a pragmatist
on this matter: “If anyone refuses to work, he should not eat” (2 Thes 3:10).
Virtue is usually midway between extremes. We should
apply this to our appetite for money. We need some worldly goods, a place to
live, and money to support our lives. Riches are not unvalued in themselves. We
see how every creature created strives to bring progress, and we are called to
work for a better society. Riches are good and cannot satisfy our yearning of
our souls to reach union with God. Consequently, we should employ them only as
they are and a means to responsible progress. There are many ways to use money
responsibly. Agur prayed, “Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only
my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is
the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal and so dishonor the name of my God”
(Prov 30: 8-9). In the same way King Solomon prayed, “Give therefore your
servant an understanding heart to judge your people, that I may discern between
good and bad” (1 king 3:9).
“Blessed
are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Mt 5:6)
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