GREED
Monday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
My dear encountered couples:
“Avoid greed in all its forms,” Jesus advises. We all have a pretty good idea of what greed is. The dictionary defines it as “an overwhelming desire to acquire or have in excess of what one requires or deserves, such as wealth and power.”
It is not easy to see clearly how much of anything is sufficient for us. There is usually that tendency to reach out for more, and more, and more. Gluttony contains an element of greed. In eating too much of anything, like ice cream or candy, we soon discover what is too much. In drinking alcohol we can feel the limit being passed without much difficulty. The trick is learning to put an end to the eating and drinking before it’s too late.
When it comes to money, we never seem to think we have enough, certainly never too much. But when money becomes the center of our interests while everyone and everything else is pushed aside, then we are wallowing in greed.
People who want power, power, and more power, usually show their contempt of anyone else’s rights by breaking even their own laws as if the laws were intended only for their benefit. They act like a god who could do anything he wanted. The real God, however, does not break his own laws. For God’s laws are founded in his very nature and are for the good of everyone, to achieve the happiness of all.
Greed is sneaky and comes upon us unawares. Pray to the Holy Spirit to help you see it coming. Then with more of his help you can eventually achieve success and do as Jesus says – you can begin to recognize and “avoid greed in all its forms.”
