The acquisition of money is necessary to live. There is a Latin adage that says: “Abusus non tollit usum,” which means, “the abuse of something does not take away its rightful use.” This wise adage applies to the use of money. The scriptures roundly condemn the abuse of money and wealth, not its rightful use. This abuse can take three forms: a) how one acquires it, b) how one uses it, and c) how one invests it.

The first form of abuse is seen in those who exploit the poor to get rich. The rich who are condemned in James 5: 1-6 belong to this class because they withheld the honest wages of the “laborers who mowed their fields.” Wealth is good when a person works honestly for it without defrauding anyone else, but when someone gets it through dishonesty and fraud, then it has been abused. This is what St. James is condemning in his letter.

The second abuse is that of those who may have become wealthy by honest means but who use wealth to indulge themselves, excessively. Jesus gives us an example of this form of abuse in the Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:19-20) who laid up his wealth, saying: now is the time “to relax, eat, drink, and be merry.” But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” Wealth, like every other blessing, is given to us in trust so that we may serve God and our fellow man with it. God does not give us the blessings of wealth for our self-gratification or misuse. It was never ours in the first place. We only have it on loan or on trust from God, the creator, to use for His glory, and not for self-indulgence.

Finally, there are those who invest in wealth for themselves rather than to benefit their fellow man. For people like this, wealth has become another god. It is of such people that Jesus said: “No servant can serve two masters; for he will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Luke 16:13).

It is no wonder they say, “money is the root of all evil.” Some like to modify this saying by stating, “its not money, but the love of money that’s the root of all evil.” Whatever way you look at it, the abuse of money in any of the three ways described above, is evil. Following are a few things to ponder when it comes to the use of money.

  1. Money can buy you a house, but not a home.
  2. Money can buy you a bed, but not sleep.
  3. Money can buy you a clock, but not time.
  4. Money can buy you a book, but not knowledge.
  5. Money can buy you food, but not an appetite.
  6. Money can buy you friends, but not love.

Money can buy you a lot of things, but it cannot buy you what’s most important in life. When people, a society, a church, or an institution make a God of money, they fall into the abyss of corruption and greed, no matter how well they rationalize it. Everybody should act against the abuse of money and promote its proper use.

Let us pray for a balanced attitude towards money: in the way we acquire it, in the ways we use it, and in the way we invest it.

—Fr. Hugh Duffy