What’s in your “wallet”?

Today at Holy Mass in the Gospel of St Matthew, Jesus addresses the issue of greed….No one likes to hear about how we are to share with others - About how we are to manage our MONEY and how it should be spent…You want to see people “walk out” of a Catholic Mass…When a good priest gives a homily about sex or money - Just watch what happens….The grumbling of people in the pews, talking under their breath….People writing letters to the bishop….Or….People getting up and walking out of in the middle of Mass…..While everything I just noted sadly can be true at times…That does not change the reality of how God views MONEY and what we are to do with it if we have been blessed to have it…..Today St Matthew addresses this sensitive issue…“There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’ And he said, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God”……Our money has no value when we stand before God - And each of us WILL stand before God - Believe it!…..Does this mean we must live in poverty? - NO - As a married man and father of five children, I MUST provide for my wife and children….I will be JUDGED by that standard…I MUST provide a safe place for them to live - Keep them out of the elements - Provide food and clothing - Educate my children…..This all requires MONEY…And living in New Jersey, just ten miles from New York City - Those basic things require a lot of MONEY…..But outside of that…If I have been blessed with MONEY - God asks me to share - Just as he asks YOU to share….What I just told you is not a suggestion either - The Church is VERY clear, and frankly so is the Gospel on this subject…That if we ignore those who are objectively poor and lack basic needs to survive - We will be judged harshly by God….So don’t shot the messenger here!…..As I write this - I can hear it now…..Your a socialist - Or worse - Your a communist…..Both claims are wrong…I am a Catholic - A follower of Jesus Christ - Remember him?….God sees us all as his children…Think of it from God’s point of view…For example - If God the Father had only two sons - One was very rich and the other had many “handicaps”….Speaking from a father’s prospective - Don’t you think that God the Father would want his rich son to help his handicapped son?…How about you as a father?….I have three sons…If one of my sons had “issues” providing for himself - I would want my other two sons to help him…..Makes sense right?….Well, even if you do not agree - That is the Gospel standard - And that is one of the ways we will be judged….So pay attention!…What I just noted is on the “final exam”

“Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”

Have you ever encountered an authentically generous person?…A person who has been gifted with wealth and abundant natural gifts but chooses to live simply and share…Have you ever met such a person?…They are rare sadly but if you have met such a person - My bet is - You remember them…..People I like just described are “Billboards” for God - What I mean by that is…You can do all the “talking” you want - Say all the “right” things about the Catholic faith….But compared to a person that lives like I just explained - Your message will not be heard over the witness of a authentically generous Catholic person…..How do we become such a person?….The answer - People like that know who they are to their core - They KNOW they are nothing more then a Child of God and that their material possessions do not “weigh in” to that understanding…Very few people know this - And this is why people are constantly trying to “SHOW” people just how IMPORTANT they are - Just take a look on social media….What that says to me is - They have NO CLUE who they are!….When we are content with just being a Child of God - There is no need to SHOW people anything……….Years ago when I volunteered with Mother Teresa sisters in Manhattan before I was married, next to their convent lived a lawyer….Based upon his address, I assume he made a good deal of money - Its VERY expensive to live in Manhattan….One Sunday I was at the convent and met this gentleman in the kitchen…He told me he lived next door to the sisters and that he practiced Corporate Law in Manhattan…If my memory serves me correctly - I believe he worked at the Google Office in Lower Manhattan at the time, which implies he was a VERY rich man….Every Sunday, this man would mop the floor of the entire first floor of the convent…I met him as he was mopping the kitchen and had no idea that he was a rich Manhattan lawyer - Just a guy mopping the floor….To do that requires humility - This man was not “caught up” in a “false sense” of himself….He was not “trying” to be something he was not…..That is just one example of what I am writing to YOU about….Understanding who YOU are - Determines how you live and how YOU share what God has blessed YOU with….When we have this understanding - We know it is by God’s grace that we are his child and because of that gift - And it is a GIFT - We have been given a GREAT responsibility - So we share with others!….Until we understand that - “The show” marches on! - Trying to impress others - Pretending we are something we are not……When in the end, the only thing that matters is - That we understood our “role” as a Child of God and acted accordingly to our neighbor…“Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions”……..The “Currency of God” is very different than the “Currency of Mankind” - And time runs out……….What’s in your “wallet”?…..JMJ

‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me. Then the righteous* will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’