In 1929 in a particular part of New York city, several wealthy
business men committed suicide, all at the same time. Why?
Because of what became known as ‘the Wall Street Crash.’
The New York stock exchange collapsed over night and as a result many
people lost millions of dollars. Many of them could not handle
this and sadly they killed themselves. Money for them had
become everything. It was their god and it had just proved
itself to be a false god, an illusion. When their god
collapsed, they were left with nothing, no money, no faith and
apparently nothing to live for. It seems that many of them
despaired.
A few years ago, a woman
by the name of Maura Grealish—a good friend of mine and a highly qualified accountant—took her
final vows in the Poor Clare convent in my home town of Galway.
She took four vows: poverty, chastity, obedience and enclosure.
She will never own anything of her own, she will not get married, and
she will spend the rest of her life enclosed in a convent, dedicating
her time and energy to God and to praying for all of us and for many
others. Some would consider this a useless waste; others see it
as the gift of God which it is, the highest calling in the Church.
Her life lived in this way—as with any religious—is a sign that
we believe in the life to come and that it is worth making sacrifices
for it. If we didn’t believe in the life to come, then it
would be a waste of time.
How are the two related?
Well I suppose they are really the opposite of each other.
Those in Wall Street and in the business world sometimes put
everything into their money. Money becomes the only thing that
matters. They work for it, they live for it, they may even lie
and cheat for it. On the other hand Sister Gabriel, has given
up everything for God, and is depending totally on God for
everything.
Most of us are probably
somewhere between the two. We may not be millionaires, but we
have not given up everything for God either. We work and try
and put bread on the table and provide for our families and loved
ones. Most people are under a lot of pressure to pay their
bills and mortgages, etc.
Money is an important
tool. It would be very hard to live in our society without it,
but it is only a tool. If we lost everything over night it
would be very difficult, but we would still be alive. It
happens to people every so often, but we do survive. But if God
disappeared, what would we have left? When we died there would
be nothing. Thankfully God does not disappear, regardless of
whether we have more than we need, or barely enough to survive on.
Either way God is waiting for us and when we have served our time on
this earth then we will go to him.
In the Gospel Jesus says ‘You can not serve God and money’. We must choose who is going to be our master. That doesn’t mean that we can not enjoy our money or the things we have, but we must be careful to use it wisely. At the end of the day it is only a tool and if it was suddenly taken away from us, we would still survive.
When we live in a world
that places so much emphasis on having plenty of money, it’s hard
not to be affected by that. There is nothing wrong with having
money so long as we remember that it is only a tool to help us
survive. It is not primarily what our life is about. God
has made us much deeper than just flesh and blood. We also have
a spirit and that spirit will never be satisfied with material things
alone. It is a reminder that we are not just animals and that
we are called to something greater.
I want to finish with a
few verses from Psalm 49.
No
one can buy his own ransom,
or
pay a price to God for his life.
In
his riches man lacks wisdom,
he is
like the beasts that are destroyed.
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