Monday of
the 29th Week in Ordinary Time
October 21,
2013 8:30am
Jesus says: “Guard against
greed…life does not consist of possessions.”
I wonder: If Jesus were speaking
today, might he tell us to guard against consumerism?
Our economic system is, I think,
the best kind that has yet been devised.
But, like any possible human
system, it can have its limitations.
Maybe one of its limitations or
deficiencies is consumerism.
Today’s advertising assures us
that we will be happy if we have more things.
In fact, it leads us to think
that we will be unhappy unless we have more.
We are led to be dissatisfied
with what we have and to want something else – the newest, the latest, the
biggest, whatever.
One author gives the insight that
what can happen in this endless cycle of unhappiness with what we have is that
we also become unhappy with who we are.
We are not good or good enough
unless…we have this or have that.
Maybe it is this dynamic of
dissatisfaction that explains why so many people in the richest countries are still
quite unhappy.
Now, there is not a black and
white, simple solution to dealing with this.
But I do think we can find three
helps in Jesus’ teaching.
First, Jesus wants us to find
happiness in who we are, not in what we have.
He assures us that we are
valuable and worthwhile in ourselves as sons and daughters of God and as his
brothers and sisters.
We need to be prayerfully rooted
in the Lord and in these truths.
Second, Jesus wants us to make
relationships a priority.
At the beginning of today’s
gospel, there was a squabble over money within a family.
The relationships had become
second to the money.
Jesus calls us to make
relationships first.
And third, Jesus consistently
calls us to be sensitive to those who are in need.
Our sense of charity and justice
will keep consumerism or greed in check.
So, a strong teaching from Jesus
that does relate to today’s life for us here in America!
