We come to the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time hearing the gospel (Mk 10:17-30) warnings to a young man about the dangers of wealth. Ever since then preachers have sought ways to soften the passage. Jesus knew that the scriptures - especially the book of Proverbs - tended to view wealth as a blessing from God. Here He turns biblical wisdom on its head warning that wealth is likely to lead us astray. Yet it can be a blessing and have value. Having been warned, the man's "...face fell and he went away sad, having many possessions..."
St Francis de Sales offers a perspective on the tension between wealth and gospel demands for poverty of spirit;
"There is a wide difference between having poison and being poisoned. All apothecaries (pharmacists) have poisons ready for special uses, but they are not consequently poisoned, because the poison is only in their shop, not in themselves; and so you may possess riches without being poisoned by them, so long as they are in your house or purse only, and not in your heart. It is the Christian's privilege to be rich in material things, and poor in attachment to them, thereby having the use of riches in this world and the merit of poverty in the next." Chapter XIV "On Poverty of Spirit and Riches" Introduction to the Devout Life
If we find ourselves feeling comfortable at this point - we are, after all, not really rich just well off - we need to read on. The pharmacist knows that the medicines in his shop are poisons to those who do not need them as a cure. Wealth is not so easily recognized as medicine when dispensed properly and poison when it possesses us, instead of the reverse. Francis writes some advice on how to tell if we have fallen into avarice and been taken over by our possessions.
After finishing with Francis de Sales, the pharmacist would do well to consult the First Principle of St. Ignatius for guiding our spiritual lives:
…All the things in this world are gifts of God,
presented to us so that we can know God more easily
and make a return of love more readily.
As a result, we appreciate and use all these gifts of God
insofar as they help us develop as loving persons.
But if any of these gifts become the center of our lives,
they displace God
and so hinder our growth toward our goal. …"(as paraphrased by David Fleming, S.J.)
None of this lets us off the hook or helps us duck the challenge presented by Jesus' warning about wealth. It does, however, give us a basis for discerning between the proper and disordered use of wealth given to us.
Now we need only to say the Serenity Prayer, and when given the wisdom to know the difference, change what needs to be changed.
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