Riches

“Unless we were accustomed to read the New Testament from our childhood, we should be very much struck with the warnings which it contains, not only against the love of riches but the very possession of them. We should wonder with a portion of that astonishment which the apostles at first felt, who had been brought up in the notion that riches were a chief reward which God bestowed on those he loved. As it is, we have heard the most solemn declarations so continually that we have ceased to attach any distinct meaning to them. Or, if our attention is at any time drawn more closely to them, we soon dismiss the subject on some vague imagination that what is said in Scripture had a reference to the particular times when Christ came, without attempting to settle its exact application to us, or whether it has any such application at all.

But even if we had ever so little concern in the Scripture denunciations against riches and the love of riches, their very awfulness might have seemed enough to save them from neglect. And this consideration may lead a man to suspect that the neglect in question does not entirely arise from unconcern, but from a sort of misgiving that the subject of riches is one which cannot be safely or comfortably discussed by the Christian world at this day.

But, in truth, that our Lord meant to speak of riches as being in some sense a calamity to the Christian is plain from his praises and recommendations of poverty. ‘Sell your possessions, and give alms; provide yourselves with purses that do not grow old’ (Lk 12:33). ‘If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven’ (Mt 19:21). And, ‘Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God’ (Lk 6:20). Whatever be the line of conduct these texts prescribe to this or that individual, so far seems clear, that according to the rule the of the Gospel, the absence of wealth is, as such, a more blessed and a more Christian state than the possession of it.

The most obvious danger which worldly possessions present to our spiritual welfare is that they become practically a substitute in our hearts for that one object to which our supreme devotion is due. They are present; God is unseen. They are means at hand of effecting what we want; whether God will hear our petitions for those wants is uncertain. Thus they minister to the corrupt inclinations of our nature. They promise and are able to be gods to us, and such gods too as require no service, but, like dumb idols, exalt the worshipper, impressing him with a notion of his own power and security. And in this consist their chief and most subtle mischief. Religious men are able to repress, nay extirpate sinful desires, the lust of the flesh and of the eyes, gluttony, drunkenness, and the like, love of amusements and frivolous pleasures and display, indulgence in luxuries of whatever kind; but as to wealth, they cannot easily rid themselves of a secret feeling that it gives them a footing to stand upon, an importance, a superiority, and in consequence, they get attached to this world, lose sight of the duty of bearing the Cross, become dull and dim-sighted, and lose their delicacy and precision of touch as regards religious interests. To risk all upon Christ’s word seems somehow unnatural to them, extravagant, and evidences a morbid excitement. And death, instead of being a gracious release is not a welcome subject of thought. They are content to remain as they are and do not contemplate a change. They desire and mean to serve God, and actually do serve him in their measure, but not with the keen sensibilities, the noble enthusiasm, the grandeur and elevation of soul, the dutifulness and affectionateness towards Christ which become a Christian.

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It is a fearful consideration that we belong to a nation which in good measure subsists by making money. Let us consider that fact in light of our Savior’s declarations against wealth and trust in wealth: we shall have abundant matter for serious thought.”

~St. John Henry Newman (from The Tears of Christ: Meditations for Lent)