THE EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
‘BEING RATHER THAN HAVING:
THE RIGHT USE OF MONEY AND WEALTH’
Today’s gospel is the parable of the unwise man where Jesus teaches a person’s life is not made secure by what they own!
There is a consistent teaching in the Judaeo-Christian tradition from the Book of Deuteronomy to Pope John Paul II and Archbishop Helder Camara (Archbishop in Brazil d. 1999).
According to the Law of Israel, if a person had more than they needed, there was a requirement to share the excess with those who did not have enough. The goods of the earth belong to all.
The Acts of the Apostles indicates that the early Church members shared their wealth so that each would have what they needed (Acts 2:44-45).
St John Chrysostom wrote,
‘Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours but theirs’.
Pope John Paul II has said,
‘It is not wrong to live better; what is wrong is a style of life which is presumed to be better when it is directed towards ‘having’ rather than ‘being’” Contemplate the image of being ‘rich in the sight of God’…...1991
The words of Don Helder Camara:
‘I used to think when I was a child that Christ might have been exaggerating when he warned about the danger of wealth. Today I know better. I know how very hard it is to be rich and still keep the milk of human kindness. Money has a dangerous way of putting scales on ones eyes, a dangerous way of freezing people’s hands, eyes, lips and hearts’.
The Parish Pastoral Team
