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SECTION I
Against Covetousness in General
Covetousness is an inordinate desire for riches.
Hence we regard as covetous not only the man who
steals, but also the man who passionately longs for
another's goods or too eagerly clings to his own.
With great force St. Paul condemns this vice and
declares it the source of all iniquity: "They that
will become rich fall into temptation and into the
snare of the devil, and into many unprofitable and
hurtful desires, which drown men into destruction and
perdition; for the desire of money is the root of all
evil." (1Tim. 6:9-10). When you are assailed by
this vice, arm yourself with the following
considerations: Remember that Our Lord and Saviour,
at His coming into this world, disdained to possess
riches, which are the object of your desires. On the
contrary, He so loved poverty that He chose for His
Mother not a rich and powerful queen, but a poor and
humble Virgin. He willed to be born, not in a palace,
but in a bleak stable, the manger of which, covered
with a little straw, was His only couch.
During His life upon earth He never ceased to
manifest His love for poverty and His contempt for
riches. For His Apostles He chose not the princes of
great houses, but poor and ignorant fishermen. What
greater presumption can there be than that of a base
worm coveting riches, when the Creator of the
universe became so poor for love of him! Consider,
moreover, your own vileness, since you are willing
for a gross and perishable interest to sacrifice your
immortal soul, created to the image of God and
redeemed by His Blood, compared with which the whole
world is nothing. God would not give His life for
this material world, but He gave it for the soul of
man. How much greater, therefore, must be the value
of a soul! True riches do not consist in silver, or
gold, or precious stones, but in virtue, the
inseparable companion of a good conscience. Set aside
the vain opinions of men, and you will see that these
precious metals are such only by the judgment of the
world, Will you, who are a Christian, become a slave
to that which even pagan philosophers despised? "He
who guards his riches like a slave is their victim,"
says St. Jerome; "but he who throws off their yoke
possesses them as their lord and master." Consider
also these words of Our Saviour: "No man can serve
two masters, God and mammon." (Matt. 6:24). Man
cannot freely rise to God and the contemplation of
His beauty while he is breathless in the pursuit of
riches. A heart filled with material and earthly
pleasures can never know spiritual and divine joys.
No; it is impossible to unite what is false with what
is true; what is spiritual with what is carnal; what
is temporal with what is eternal; they can never
dwell together in one heart. There is another
truth of which you must not lose sight: The more
worldly prosperity you enjoy, the more destitute you
are likely to be of spiritual riches, for an
abundance of this world's goods leads you to trust in
them rather than in God. Oh! That you knew the misery
which such prosperity prepares for you! The desire of
more which springs from the love of riches is a
torment which far exceeds the pleasure we derive from
their possession. It will entangle you in a thousand
temptations, fill you with cares, and under the
delusive image of pleasure plunge you into renewed
sin and prove an inexhaustible source of trouble and
disquiet. Again, riches are acquired only at the
expense of pain and labor; they are preserved only by
care and anxiety; and they are never lost without
bitter vexation and grief. But, worse than all this,
they are rarely accumulated without offence against
God; for, as the proverb says, "A rich man is either
a wicked man or a wicked man's heir." Moreover,
all the riches of the world, did you possess them,
would never satisfy the desires of your heart. They
would only excite and increase them. However great
the possessions you accumulate, there will be a
continual void within you; you will never cease to
long for more. In its pursuit of worldly possessions
your poor heart fruitlessly exhausts itself, for it
will never find content. It drinks deeply at the
fountains of pleasure, yet its thirst is never
appeased. Its enjoyment of the possessions it has
already acquired is destroyed by an insatiable thirst
for more. Marveling at the covetousness of the human
heart, St. Augustine asks: "Whence is it that man is
so insatiable in his desires, while brutes observe a
measure in theirs? They seek their prey only when
they feel the cravings of hunger, and after this is
appeased they are satisfied and rest. But the
covetousness of the rich knows no limit; it is never
satisfied, but is perpetually seeking more." Has not experience shown you also that where there
are great riches there are many to consume, to steal,
or to squander them? If you would free yourself from
all the anxiety consequent on these cares, put
yourself in the hands of God and fully confide in His
providence, for He never forsakes those who trust in
Him. Since He has subjected man to the necessity of
seeking food, He will not permit him to perish from
hunger. Could God, who cares for the birds of the air
and clothes the lilies of the field, be indifferent
to the necessities of one of His noblest creatures?
Life is short; every moment brings us nearer to
death. Why, then, lay up so much provision for so
short a journey? Why burden yourself with so many
possessions which must necessarily impede your
progress? When you will have reached the end of
your earthly pilgrimage, poor in this world's goods,
your wealth of real treasure will far exceed that of
the covetous, whose lives have been spent in
accumulating riches. How different will be the
account exacted of you, and how readily you will part
from the little you may have of the goods of earth,
because you always esteemed them at their true value!
But the rich and the covetou, in addition to the
terrible account which will be required of them, will
be rent with anguish at parting from that wealth
which they loved and adored during life. Besides
the reflections I have suggested, I would ask: For
whom are you amassing these goods? Do you not know
that you must leave this world as poor and naked as
you entered it? (Cf. Job 1:21). Think of this, says
St. Jerome, and it will be easy for you to despise
the riches of this world. (Cf. Ad Paulin. in Prol.
Bib.). Beware, then, lest in the pursuit of these you
lose the treasures of eternity. Death will rob you
of all your earthly possessions; your works, good and
bad, will alone accompany you beyond the tomb. If
this dread hour finds you unprepared, great will be
your misfortune. All that remains to you will then be
distributed into three portions, your body will
become the food of worms; your soul the victim of
demons, and your wealth the prey of eager and perhaps
ungrateful or extravagant heirs. Ah! Dear Christian,
follow the counsel of Our Saviour; share your wealth
with the poor, that it may be borne before you into
the kingdom which you hope to enjoy. What folly to
leave your treasures in a place of banishment whither
you will never return, instead of sending them before
you to that country which is intended for your
eternal home! Again, I would remind you that God,
as a wise and sovereign Ruler, has appointed some of
His children the depositaries of His power and the
dispensers of His benefits, to guide and maintain the
others. If you are of the number of those who from
their surplus possessions must contribute to the
support of the poor, do you think that you are
justified in expending upon yourself what has been
given to you for the benefit of others? "The bread
which you withhold," says St. Basil, "is the food of
the poor; the garments you conceal should clothe the
naked; the gold you accumulate is the portion of the
needy." Therefore, you rob the poor whenever you
refuse to succor them from your abundance. The riches
you have received from God are meant to remedy human
misery, not to be the instruments of a bad life.
Therefore, do not let your prosperity cause you to
forget the Author of all your blessings, and let not
those blessings be a subject of vainglory. Do not, I
conjure you, prefer a land of exile to your true
country. Do not convert into obstacles what is meant
to aid you on your journey; and do not make of the
succors of life instruments of eternal death. Be
content with the condition in which God has placed
you, bearing in mind the words of the Apostle:
"Having food and wherewith to be covered, with these
we are content." (1Tim. 6:8). "A servant of God," says St. Chrysostom, "should
never seek by his dress to gratify his vanity or
indulge his flesh; his only object should be to
comply with the necessities and requirements of his
condition. Seek ye, therefore, first the kingdom of
God and His justice, and all these things shall be
added unto you." (Matt. 6:33). Remember also that
it is not poverty but the love of poverty which is a
virtue. Hence all who voluntarily forsake wealth bear
a striking resemblance to Our Saviour, who, being
rich with the riches of God, became poor for love of
us. They who are compelled to live in poverty, but
bear it with patience, never coveting the wealth
which is denied them, convert their necessity into a
meritorious virtue. As the poor by their poverty
conform themselves to Jesus Christ, so the rich by
their alms can conform their hearts to the merciful
Heart of this Divine Model, who in His lowly crib
received not only the shepherds with their simple
tokens of affection, but also the wise and powerful
men of the East, who came to lay at His feet the
treasures of their gold and frankincense and myrrh.
If, then, God has given you wealth, bestow it
generously on the poor, assured that it will be laid
up for you as treasure in the kingdom of Heaven; but
if you waste the means God has given you, you must
not expect to find any before you when you leave this
life. Unless such a disposition is made of your
possessions, how can you call them good, since you
cannot bear them with you and enjoy them in your true
home? Lay up, then, by a worthy use of your worldly
wealth, a store of spiritual possessions, which alone
are truly good, and of which, unless you freely
surrender them, not even death can deprive you.
SECTION II
Against the unjust Detention of Another's Goods
In connection with the evil of which we are treating,
let us say a few words on the sin of retaining the
goods of another. Theft consists not only in unjustly
taking what belongs to another, but also in
unlawfully retaining it against the owner's will. Our
intention to restore it later will not suffice if we
are able to do it at once, for we are obliged to make
restitution as soon as possible. Inability to make
immediate restitution justifies us in deferring it;
while continued poverty, if so great as to afford us
no means, excuses us entirely, for God does not
require what is impossible. We cannot better
explain this doctrine than by the words of St.
Gregory: "Remember that the riches you have
unlawfully acquired remain in this world, but the
sins you committed in obtaining them will accompany
you into the next. How great is your folly, then, to
leave your profit here and to take only your loss
with you-to afford others gratification in this world
while you endure everlasting sufferings in the world
to come!" (Epist. ad Just). The folly of
covetousness goes still further, and causes you to
sacrifice yourself, your body and your soul, to your
miserable possessions. You are like a man who, to
save his coat, exposes his body to be pierced with a
dagger. In what does your conduct differ from that of
Judas, if for a little money you will sell justice,
divine grace, your soul itself? The hour of death, at
the latest, will compel you to make restitution if
you would save your soul. How incomprehensible, then,
is the mad folly which prompts you to accumulate your
unlawful gains, and, by living in sin, confessing in
sin, approaching the Holy Table in sin, completely
deprive yourself of spiritual treasures which are
incomparably superior to all the wealth of this
world! Is he not devoid of reason who acts in this
manner? Endeavor, therefore, to pay what you owe,
even to the smallest sum, and permit no man to suffer
by your neglect. (Cf. Deut. 24:15). Do not detain the
laborer's wages. (Cf. Tob. 4:15). Do not compel him
to seek and plead for what justly belongs to him,
that he may not have reason to say that it was more
difficult to obtain his wages than to earn them.
If you have the duties of executor to fulfill, beware
of defrauding departed souls of help due them, lest
their expiation may be prolonged because of a neglect
for which you must some day heavily atone. Pay your
dependants regularly, and let your accounts be
carefully kept, that they may give rise to no
disputes or claims after your death. Do not wholly
leave to those who survive you the execution of your
last wishes, but fulfill them yourself as far as you
are able; for if you are careless of your own
affairs, how can you expect others to be more
diligent? Make it a point of honor to owe no man,
and you will thus enjoy peaceful slumbers, a quiet
conscience, a contented life, and a happy death. The
means of acquiring these precious results is to
control your desires and appetites and to govern your
expenditure by your income, not by your caprices. Our
debts proceed from our ill-regulated, uncontrolled
desires more than from our necessities, and
consequently moderation is more profitable than the
largest revenues. Let us be convinced that the only
real riches, the only real treasures, are those which
the Apostle bids us seek when he tells us to fly
covetousness and pursue justice, godliness, faith,
charity, patience, and mildness, for godliness with
contentment is great gain. (Cf. 1Tim. 6:6,11). Be
contented with the position in which God has placed
you. Man would always enjoy peace did he accept the
portion which God gives him; but, seeking to gratify
ambition or cupidity, which craves more than God has
given him, he exposes himself to trouble and
disquiet, for real happiness or success can never be
known by one who strives against the will of God.
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