All three readings for mass today are about money. Money is a touchy subject for a lot of people. We need money to live on, even Jesus and his disciples needed money/provisions in today’s gospel account. Yet, Christ also taught us to:
“Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out”, because where your treasure is, so is your heart. ~ Lk 12:33
The first reading for mass today from the book of Timothy also says:
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.”
This is so true for so many people in today’s world, maybe even for some of us. This especially manifests itself after a person dies. Sometimes families start fighting over the money and possessions a person leaves behind even before they are buried, and it causes a great deal of hard feelings. Adult children will sometimes fight in court for years over their perceived inheritance and make themselves and everyone else around them very miserable.
People that pursue promotions on the job in order to make a lot more money can also hurt themselves, others at work, and even their own family (if they work too many hours away from home trying to achieve this). Then there are employers, landlords, investors, lawyers, etc. that will sometimes take advantage of the poor in order to become more wealthy themselves. This is a great moral wrong.
The psalm today asks why should a person worry themselves over people who seek to increase their wealth and trust in the power of money, as the focus of their lives? What ransom can they pay for their life? If their greed for money prevents them from entering heaven? Even Jesus said the same thing when he told us that one can not serve God and money because we will love one and hate the other. It is an either or situation.
There is a popular saying that, “you can’t take it with you” and today’s psalm says conveys this as well:
“For when they die they will carry nothing away;
their wealth will not go down after them.
Though in their lifetime they count themselves happy,
for you are praised when you do well for yourself.”
The bible warns us repeatedly not to get too attached to money because love is what is important in life. Love and unselfishness is what we take into eternal life. The definition of sin is selfishness. If you don’t believe this, just Google “Vatican catechism on selfishness”. What pops up is the catechism on sin. I heard a priest say in his homily one time that “selfishness is the definition of sin.” Sin is what prevents us from going to heaven. The love of money can easily become a mortal sin if we aren’t careful though.
Almost all of the saints embraced poverty. Saint Francis of Assisi is a very famous saint who was from a wealthy family who rejected wealth in order to pursue holiness by loving God and loving people more than money and possessions.
Today’s gospel sets the example on how we are to live our lives, because the women who followed Jesus provided for him and the disciples out of their own resources. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing to be remembered for? Taking care of the needs of Jesus? In modern times, we take care of Jesus, when we take care of the poor.
Mother Teresa said that she saw the face of Christ in the poor. This is something we should also take more seriously, to see Christ in others. Those who are in genuine need – need our help. Pope Francis also said the same thing in one of his tweets recently too: ” There are many people in need in today’s world. Am I self-absorbed in my own concerns or am I aware of those who need help?”
For those of us who have all of our basic needs met, then perhaps we could work on not worrying about money so much and to be willing to share even a little more of our resources with others. When a lady asked mother Teresa how she could live more like her, in service to the poor, Mother Teresa did not tell her to give up all her possessions. She told her to buy a less expensive dress from what she had intended, and give the difference to the poor. Surely most of us could do the same?
