What To Do With Your Money

One

Gospel Warnings about Being Rich

Let’s finish the tenth commandment which warns us against greed with the rich young man who came to see Jesus.

He is described as having many possessions. He asked what he must do to enter Heaven and Jesus told him to keep the Commandments.

The young man said to him, 'I have kept all these. What more do I need to do?'

Jesus said, 'If you wish to be perfect, go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me'.

But when the young man heard these words, he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth.

Jesus invited the young man to be one of the inner circle with God Himself! But he couldn’t do it. His wealth held him back. He went away sad. After that, Jesus said that it would be very difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And then, to really double down, Jesus added, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Throughout the Gospel, an attachment to riches is presented as the primary obstacle to receiving God. In the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, the rich man goes to hell just because he didn’t use his money rightly. Judas steals from the money-purse, complains about how much money the honor of Jesus costs, and then betrays the Savior of the world – all for money. Jesus says that we cannot worship “God and money,” as though money is the primary competitor to true worship of God. And St. Paul says that, “love of money is the root of all evil.”

Money, and especially having a lot of money, is something that we’re warned about over and over and over in the New Testament. But what if you are blessed by God with the gifts to make a lot of money or you’ve inherited a lot of wealth, and now you have significant resources at your disposal? And the fact is, most of us praying this Rosary live better than most of the kings in the history of the world. We have been abundantly blessed.

So what do we do with the resources God has given us? 

Two

Recognize that while wealth is a gift, it is spiritually dangerous

The first thing to do is to recognize that wealth is the kind of gift that can enable you to do immense good but if not wielded well it is spiritually dangerous.

Again, that’s why Scripture warns us against it so much. Remember, all sin is caused by worldliness, when we prefer some created good to God. And money is a symbol of all the goods of this world. When we have money, we feel like we can acquire many goods, and we feel like we can safeguard many goods.

When we have money, we can feel like we don’t need God and we don’t need to rely on God as much because we’ll be insured against whatever challenges arise, we’ll be insured by our money. And when we don’t think we need God then we don’t want God, we don’t desire God as much because we can satisfy all our earthly desires and needs on our own.

Money is the symbol of the world, and the weight of our own money pulls us down to earth the way strapping bars of gold to a bird would keep it from flying.

So part of ascending to God is necessarily divesting ourselves of our riches. And as we do, we’ll see that we’re not just closer to God, we’re able to enjoy this life more as well. 

Three

Don’t prioritize inflicting wealth on your kids

If great wealth is both spiritually dangerous and an obstacle to happiness, then what should you do about it? 

Well, for one thing, you don’t want to get stuck with too much of the stuff on you when Christ comes for you. Our extra money is to be used for the good of others and if Christ finds that we have a lot more than we need, we’re going to have some awkward explaining to do.

So should you bequeath it all to your kids? Pass it all on to the next generation?

But why would you do that? We just finished saying that a lot of money makes it harder to be close to God and it’s also an obstacle to happiness even in this life. So why would you inflict an obstacle to holiness and happiness on your kids? Wouldn’t it be better to make sure they don’t end up rich? You can give them some, but why would you give them a lot?

No, if we have a lot of money, then we are bound to use that for Christ.

So how can we give our money to Christ?

Four

Giving our money to Christ

Jesus has given us everything, the goal of the Christian life is to give everything back to Jesus. And Jesus has identified Himself with two groups: The Poor (“whenever you did it for the least of my brethren, you did it for me”) and the Church (“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me.”

When Jesus comes to get you, He’s going to ask you, “Where’s all your money now?” And if you have lived wisely, if you have given your wealth to the poor and the Church, you will be able to look Jesus in the eye, and say, “I gave it all to You.”

That’s the only way to turn great wealth from a burden into a blessing.

Five

St. Francis De Sales gives three principles to avoid the sin of greed.  

First, he says, “Are not gardeners of kings attentive and more diligent about cultivating and making beautiful the gardens in their charge than they are of their own? Why? Because they appreciate the fact that these gardens belong to the king, whom they wish to please. Our possessions are not our own; God has given them to us to cultivate and he wishes us to render them fruitful and useful by taking care of them. It is essential that we take more earnest care of our possessions than unbelievers do because we are working for God’s love, they are working only for love of themselves…Let us therefore be diligent in our care for our earthly goods, even to increase them if some legitimate opportunity arises and our situation calls for it.”

So take care of what God has given you and work to increase your wealth because it is not yours, it ultimately belongs to God.

Second, De Sales says, “To prevent…the care of earthly goods from becoming greed…Always detach yourself from some portion of what you possess by giving it willingly to the poor.”

We should detach ourselves from our wealth by giving it to Christ in the two groups He identifies Himself with, the Church and the spiritually and materially poor.

Third, De Sales counsels, “When certain trials occur which impoverish you a little or a great deal such a storms, fires, floods, poor crops, thefts, lawsuits…remember that that is the right time to practice poverty and accept this impoverishment with serenity and patience. When our wealth is rooted in our heart and a storm or thief takes away a part of it, what complaints, what trouble, what impatience! But when we give these things only the care that God wants us to have for them, and we then lose them, we do not for all that lose our heads or our peace.”

Everyone occasionally lacks something. Take these occasions to practice being content with what you have. 

Remember St. Maryam of Nazareth and her motto, “Always be content.”

These are three practical steps to practice the virtue of poverty that overcomes the vice of greed.