Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
One of my mom’s favorite comic strips has been “Peanuts.” I’m not sure how often she actually reads the comic strips, but she always loves the television specials that come on: “The Great Pumpkin,” “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” and so forth. One of the unforgettable characters of the Peanuts is Linus, the little guy who carries around his security blanket everywhere he goes. And while I have seen him swat Snoopy away from time to time, it really doesn’t live up to the security part of the name. It’s more just there for Linus to feel good and safe.
Now, while most of us would say that a security blanket does not, in fact, make us secure, we seem to have a different idea about money. We all seem to think that if I just save enough, or I just make enough at my job, then I will be safe and will have nothing to worry about.
Our current economic state should have divested people in that false belief, especially with how many people have lost their jobs, or have had to relocate in order to make it. But we shouldn’t need a recession to remind us that our security is not in green backs, stocks, or 401ks, but in the Lord. All we had to do was turn to the twelfth chapter of Luke, which is where today’s Gospel can be found.
If we would have looked there, we would have seen, not that the Lord condemns having money, but that he condemns thinking that our safety and security lie in our possessions. More than just losing money, the rich man, who has plenty of money and is not in danger of losing any of his possessions, forfeits his greatest possession, his soul, because he did not trust in the Lord. Can you imagine going to the pearly gates, and the Lord saying to you, “You fool!”? Yet, because the rich man trusted in his possessions, but was poor in what mattered to God, the rich man merited to hear those harsh words.
Again, the Lord is not condemning having money or possessions in themselves. But He warns against greed, and not treasuring what is important to God. And why is greed so bad? Shouldn’t we want to get ahead, make a good profit, and live comfortable lives? The problem with greed is that money seems to take on a life of its own, and always seeks to master us, rather than being mastered by us. As soon as we get a little money, then the cash almost seems to whisper to us, “You need more! You need to save up more of me so that if you lose your job I will be there to support you, comfort you, and get you through the tough times.” What the cash in essence is truly saying is, “I am the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of recession. Therefore, you shall love your cash and guard it with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” It makes of itself an idol. Which is why St. Paul tells us in the second reading to put to death the parts of us that are earthly, that is, that are in opposition to God: “immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry.” Money so often becomes a god to us, at whose altar we are sometimes all too ready to worship.
We put all sorts of things behind how much money we can make, and we find good reasons for doing it: it’s for the kids; it’s for the retirement fund; it’s for the Church. We rationalize trying to get more and more money so that we can have all the fancy toys, the big houses, the fastest cars, and the finest meals. And as if it’s not bad enough that we do it ourselves, we pass the message on to our kids that money is the most important thing. Sure, we would never say that directly. But when we say that choosing a college is important because if you get into the right college for the right line of work, you can get a good job, we are often insinuating that getting a good job means making good money. I can’t tell you how many people went to the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, and got a degree in business, not because they had any interest in it, or felt that God was calling them to be a good, holy businessman or woman, but because they were convinced that’s where the money was.
Of course, the security that money gives us is about as protective as Linus’ blanket. As our first reading stated, “Here is one who has labored with wisdom and knowledge and skill, and yet to another who has not labored over it, he must leave property.” In other words, you can’t take it with you. When you’re dead, it doesn’t really matter how fancy your casket is, or how big of a monument you have at the cemetery. What matters then is if you were rich in the things of God.
Again, I’m not saying, and the Church does not say, that money and capital are bad. In many ways there are very good means to an end. Money helps us to provide for our families. It is the just compensation for the effort we put forth, with our hands or with our minds, that benefits society. It helps the poor by providing basic needs, and can build beautiful churches for the proper worship of the True and Living God. As long as money is only a means to serving God according to our vocation in life, then it remains simply a thing. But, be on guard, lest the money we save up starts to take control of us, and starts to rule us, and become a god to us, and we hear from the Lord, “You fool!” If, however, we control our money, use it to provide for our families, and are generous with it to feed the poor, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty, and aid us in the worship of God, then, instead of hearing you fool, we can hope to hear, “‘Come, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’”
