A rich man who acts his part nobly can be an immense power for good. He is looked up to; there are many who depend on him, and with him it rests in large measure to form public opinion. If he is known to be straightforward in his business methods, if he is wisely generous in giving alms, if he is a good father or son or husband, he can easily become a leader, almost without knowing it. His integrally Catholic life is a reproach to those who have lulled their consciences to sleep and an object lesson to men who are striving to be true to their principles in a crooked world.
A rich man is God's steward. The money placed in his hands is God's gift, to be used only according to God's Will, and the owner may never forget that to God he will render an account. It is easy to preach resignation to the poor, easy to tell them to practice patience under their many trials, but at least equal emphasis must be laid on the responsibility that lies on the shoulders of him who is rich .
A rich man, after he has made sufficient provision for his immediate needs and a reasonable provision for the future of his family and himself, is bound to give what is over to those who are in need. He sins if he hoards up money that is superfluous at a time when many are in dire need. This is the Church's teaching and all too often it is ignored or toned down or forgotten.
Abundant blessings descend on the rich man who proves himself adamant against the dangers of riches. A man of highly intellectual gifts was recently offered a most lucrative post. He declined without hesitation to accept it. He had sufficient and did not see the point of entangling himself in the cares and worries that would follow. His young son questioned him. Why not take the job for two or three years, make a good sum, and then retire? "No," explained the father, "that is not how it works out. Take it for three years and when they are over, you find a reason for holding on and on. And gradually the vice tightens."
Tobias was a rich man who "daily went amongst all his kindred, and comforted them and distributed to everyone as he was able, out of his goods. He fed the hungry and gave clothes to the naked and was careful to bury the dead ...... God's angel assured him that every such deed was chronicled in heaven. "When thou didst pray ... and bury the dead ... and leave thy dinner . . . and hide the dead in thy house by day and bury them by night, I offered thy prayer to the Lord."
It is good to know that many a recording angel is still kept busily employed. There are many rich people who realize well the weight of responsibility that lies upon them. So many missions are crippled for lack of funds; so many homes for unwanted children, for fallen women, for the sick, the poor, the aged, could undertake much more if only the money was at hand. Here is the glorious opportunity for the man or woman whom God has blessed with abundance.
It is indeed an immense privilege to be in a position to further such schemes for the glory of God. But it is not merely a privilege. It is an obligation too.
Jesus, bring home to me the truth that I am Your steward. Whatever I have You have given to me. If I have money it is Your gift, to be used according to Your Will, and only according to Your Will. Soon I shall have to render a strict account of my stewardship. Save me from those temptations and dangers spoken of by Your apostle, from those unprofitable and hurtful desires which drown men in destruction and perdition.
Summary:
1. Our Lord, all through His life, taught and practiced love of poverty, and consequent shrinking from wealth.
2. Power of riches, easy to overestimate.
3. The blessings and opportunities and responsibilities of the rich stewards of God.
Thought:
The man enslaved by avarice is like one afflicted with dropsy: the more he drinks, the more his thirst increases.