A few steps will bring you from the door of the temple of materialism to the temple dedicated to the worship of money. Here too the vestibule is crowded with worshippers who await their turn to go in and adore. The desire to own, to possess exclusively, is deeply rooted in the human heart. Witness the little child's fury if you even pretend to take away its toy, and the jealousy which resents sharing or lending what it owns.
If this tendency be permitted to develop it warps one's criterion of success. Persons are evaluated by the number of dollars they own; achievement is measured, not by what a man is, but by what he possesses. The golden calf usurps the place on the altar due to God alone, and the world, in blind infatuation, goes on its knees to adore. Is it any wonder that souls who, like Moses, have touched reality in their contact with God, are filled with anger, and with compassion too, for the rich who are thus deceived?
A priest of very many years' experience used to say: "Give me a sinner who is a slave to impure habits and I have hope of him. Give me a man who has been neglecting the Sacraments and Mass and prayer, and through divine grace he may yet become a saint. Even a person who is embittered and sadly lacking in charity can still attain to great holiness. But, frankly, when I encounter a person who is a slave to money and the ostentation it can buy, I nearly despair of making on him any lasting impression."
This is the greedy spirit of Judas which asks: "To what purpose is this waste?" This is the grasping spirit that hugs to its heart its purse and betrays Christ rather than forfeit its silver coins. This is the bombastic spirit that decks itself with airs, despises those who happen to be without money, delights in making them feel the humiliation of their position and the vaunted superiority of its own. What disillusionment awaits it! "Son, remember that thou didst receive good things in thy lifetime and likewise Lazarus evil things. But now he is comforted and thou art tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is fixed a great chaos, so that they who would pass from hence to you, cannot, nor from thence come hither."
Is this true? Are those thousands of persons whose only ambition is to increase their possession, to swell their bank account, are they indeed all blind and insane? The world does not think so. They are wise; they are clever; the world votes them a success every time. But when one such man died God called him a fool. Which is right God or the world? What is success? Who knows God, Who created and sees all things; or man, with his tiny mind and limited outlook?
In view of the false perspective in which money is seen, it is more imperative than ever for me to be mindful of the papal teaching about shunning all ostentation and practicing genuine love of the poor. "When We see thousands of the needy," writes the Holy Father, "victims of real misery for various reasons beyond their control, and on the other hand so many round about them who spend huge sums of money on useless things and frivolous amusement, We cannot fail to remark with sorrow not only that justice is poorly observed but that the precept of charity also is not sufficiently appreciated, is not a vital thing in daily life.... There are some who, while exteriorly faithful to the practice of their religion, yet in the field of labor and industry, in the professions, trade and business, permit a deplorable cleavage in their conscience, and live a life too little in conformity with the clear principles of justice and Christian charity. Such lives are a scandal to the weak, and to the malicious a pretext to discredit the Church."
Such Catholics pay their quota of worship at the altar of riches.
Jesus, it takes great strength to avoid being caught in the tide of worshippers who enter this temple. Money has a magnetism to draw the heart so forcibly as to wrest it from You. I would so live as not only to escape this slavery but to make quite sure that this false god will never even dispute Your sovereignty.