Riches and Poverty
1. There is a striking contrast between the luxurious living of wealthy
people who waste their money on pleasure and amusement and the abject
poverty of those who are without food, clothing and shelter. This is in
complete contradiction of the Gospel message which has proclaimed that
we are all brothers.
Extravagance is always self-centred, whereas Christianity is the
creed of love. Sumptuous living cannot be justified by an appeal to the
right to own private property, for it is a shameless betrayal of the
Gospel spirit of fraternal charity. When St. Thomas is defending the
right to private property, he adds at once: "In regard to the use of it,
however, a man should not regard material goods as belonging entirely
to himself, but... should be ready to share them with others in their
necessity." (Summa, II-II, q. 66, a. 2.) If such maxims which derive
their inspiration from the Gospel were put into practice, there would be
neither excessive wealth nor excessive poverty in the world today.
It is true that there would still be poverty, but destitution would disappear.
Poverty is good in that it makes us detached from worldly things and
helps us to think more about the next life. But destitution is really a
social crime, for it is the result of human egoism and can breed hatred
and spiritual degradation.
"Poverty," writes Péguy, "is decent.
It does not dress in rags... Its dwelling is tidy, healthy, and affords
a welcome. It can have a change of linen once a week. It is not
emaciated nor hungry... It is not good for anyone to live in easy
circumstances; on the contrary, it is much better always to feel the
goad of necessity..." (La guerre et la paix, p. 338)
It was in
this sense that Jesus blessed the poor and condemned the rich. He is
referring to the poor man who has enough to supply his needs, is
detached from worldly possessions, uses his poverty to assist him in his
journey towards Heaven, and is happy or at any rate content. But He
condemns the rich man who squanders his wealth on selfish amusement and
is deaf to the entreaties of those in need.
After twenty
centuries of Christianity the violent contrast still exists in modern
society. If we have any reason to reproach ourselves, let us try now to
make up for our deficiencies.
2. We must face this unfortunate
fact. One half of the world is living in luxury while the other half
lives in squalor. Worse still, both the inanity and arrogance of the
wealthy and the degradation and abjectness of the destitute extinguish
the light of the Gospel and drown the voice of conscience.
Who
is at fault? We must all share the blame, for nobody has ever fully
implemented the Gospel teaching, which alone contains a complete
solution for the problems of the human race. A great deal of want and
misery would disappear if all those whose assets exceed what they need
for themselves remembered that they are obliged to love their neighbour
as themselves. They would then take heed of the precept: “Give that
which remains as alms.” (Luke 11:41) We should all examine ourselves
rigidly on this point, because we could all do far more to help the
needy, whom we do not love, unfortunately, as much as we love ourselves.
3. In this matter as in all others, we have a great deal to learn from
the Saints. Not only did they give to the poor whatever was superfluous
to themselves, but they deprived themselves even of the necessaries of
life because they saw in their destitute fellow-men the person of Jesus
Christ. They really loved their neighbour as themselves, and more than
themselves, in fact, for the sake of the love of God. For this reason
they enjoyed clothing the naked and feeding the hungry whenever it was
in their power to do so.
We may not be capable of doing exactly
the same because we have not reached the same height of perfection. But
we must remember that the precept to "give that which remains as alms"
applies also to us. If there is somebody in grave need whom we have the
means of helping, we are obliged to do so by the command of the Gospel.
It is the same Gospel which warns us that if we fail to do so, the
Divine Judge will one day condemn us.
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