Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, C August 4, 2019
Fr. Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette
What does it mean to be rich? Having $100,000? $1,000,000? Someone who makes more than $200,000 a year is in the top ten percent of the world. And not just of the present day, but in all of history! Yet so many who make that much consider themselves “middle class” and say they worry about their finances. 70% of millionaires do not consider themselves wealthy. How can that be?
Well, for most people, when they make more, they spend more. People with 6 and 7 figure salaries tend to live in fancy homes in pricey neighborhoods and pursue expensive hobbies. Seeing other people with more, they feel “average” by comparison. So, like the man in this parable, when more money comes their way, they naturally hold on to it, chasing after an ever-moving goal of becoming wealthy. They don’t see that the comfortable, convenient life is impossible for most people. And while they’re competing for bigger homes, fancier vacations, and golden toilets, most people are just trying to survive.
This is not a homily about economic and social policy. It is not a condemnation of making money. Jesus never says that money is evil. It’s the love of money that is evil. Yet, greedy people rarely see themselves as greedy just like wealthy people often don’t see themselves as wealthy. Jesus says “take care to guard against greed” because it is so subtle, so easy to fall into. So easy, in fact, that plenty of genuinely average and even poor people are just as guilty of being greedy. It’s easy to look at and condemn those who are rich and don’t realize it, but our job is not to condemn them. It’s to look in the mirror and ask, “am I greedy?”
So, how can we recognize that problem? First, forget about comparing bank accounts. Greed is an attitude, not a number. A great place to start is to ask ourselves this question: “why do I make money?” If the answer is “to be comfortable,” or “to get ahead,” or “to be able to do fun things,” there’s some greed there. The rich man in the parable didn’t hurt anyone. He just wanted to be comfortable and have some fun. Vanity of vanities! Fun and comfort can be part of this life, but they are never the goal.
Why? Why is it wrong to enjoy my success? Because, by itself, financial success is basically meaningless. Our readings make that clear. Death puts everything into focus. If you die after winning the lottery, what did you gain? If you die with a $10 million in the bank, what does it matter to you? Everything in this world, especially money, is going to disappear. You, however, will live for eternity. It’s crazy to waste gold by turning it into a toilet. It’s even crazier to waste an immortal soul chasing something that is worth nothing after death.
Perhaps you’re thinking “yeah, but I need money to survive. I can’t just do without it.” In most cases that’s true. In fact, the psalm we just heard prays for God to “prosper the work of our hands.” It is asking for success and it even asks twice. Well, then, what is the difference between greed and this prayer for success? How can we strive to earn the money we need without also becoming greedy?
By remembering that money is nothing but a means to an end. It is not the goal, but a tool and an instrument. As a tool, it is only as good or as bad as what we use it for. If we use that money for self-love, for the sake of our personal comfort, fun, and social status, it is a terrible thing, a weight to drag us down and trap us for eternity.
But if that money is used for love – real, godly love – then it can actually be quite good. Wealthy women provided for Jesus’ needs and Joseph of Arimathea used his wealth to provide Jesus with a tomb. Working hard to provide a home and food and education for our family is not only good, it is part of what it means to love our family. Yet, even caring for loved ones, we must guard against the greed that justifies too much luxury, that leads us to spoil our children and ourselves. Greed has a way of sneaking even into our best motives.
So, how do we follow Christ’s advice here; how do we “guard against greed?” By becoming “rich in what matters to God.” This is an important realization. We can’t just go around constantly thinking “don’t be greedy, don’t be greedy.” Growing in virtue and holiness is more about what you chase than what you avoid, more about what you love than what you hate. Yes, we should hate and avoid sins like greed and all the rest, but we can’t be shortsighted. The reason we avoid greed, the reason we practice self-denial and penance and self-emptying is so that we can eventually become full of what is good. We want to be rich in what matters to God.
And what matters to God? Love. Love of God and love of Neighbor. When we choose to give up this or that luxury or even choose to make ourselves a little uncomfortable in order to give to God and His Church, that increases our wealth in what matters to God. If someone cannot afford to keep clothes on their back and food in their stomach, love of neighbor means striving to help them, even to the point of sacrificing a little of our own comfort to afford it. There are literally hundreds of saints who say over and over that giving to the poor is also giving to God. Some even compare almsgiving – giving to the poor – to depositing money in a heavenly bank. So, there actually is a way to “take it with you.” If you want your money matter even after death, then give it away while you’re alive.
If you want to be rich, don’t worry about being a millionaire – they often don’t recognize their wealth. Instead work hard and honestly and let God decide how he will “prosper the work of [y]our hands.” If you are good at making money, go ahead and make lots of it! But, if you want that money to make you happy, then spend as little on yourself as possible. Deposit it in heaven by charity. Invest it in salvation through generosity. I promise you, God promises you, that will make you truly rich.