On the news and social media this week, there has been some talk and debate over whether our country is in an economic recession—whether two quarters of negative economic growth constitute a recession. Whatever a recession is, and whether we are in one, rising prices at the supermarket, at the gas pump, utility bills, are concerning to a lot of people.
I’m not an economist of course or a financial advisor, but our faith does offer guidance for how we are to act in a times of turmoil; our faith helps us to know how to act at all times—including times of turmoil.
Our faith helps us to be prudent—to be prudent. What is prudence?
Prudence, the catechism says, “is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it;” What does that mean? Prudence is a virtue, a disposition of mind, intellect, and will, to know and choose what is good in order to reach our highest end, in our case, holiness on earth that leads to the beatitude of heaven.
The Book of Proverbs says, “the prudent man looks where he is going”. If you don’t look where you are going, you are likely to steer off course, get lost, perhaps crash, and you’ll fail to reach your destination. So, we are to look where we are going, paying attention to the signs of the times, and act in accord with our faith and right reason.
St. Thomas Aquinas echoes the Greek philosopher Aristotle when he defines prudence as "right reason in action.” Our reasonings need to be rightly directed. Many people are very good at rationalizing sin and evil actions, that’s not prudence. Prudence is when we’ve done everything we can to conform our intellects with the Truth that comes from God and act in accord with that Truth.
At all times Christians are to be a prudent people, making prudent decisions regarding our time, talent and treasure, and that is especially true in times of turmoil.
So what does prudence dictate in a time of economic recession? Firstly, it is prudent to avoid foolishness with money. Think before you spend. Examine your spending habits. Limit your purchases of non-essentials. No matter how little you make, try to save a little bit more than normal. Stretch your dollars.
It is also prudent to remain productive. Try to work more diligently. Show yourself to be a valuable employee. Diversify your skill set. If you are retired from work, or in your spare time, you might want to take up some of those old practical life skills again—sewing, gardening, canning, preserving salted meats and fish, or my favorite, fermenting and distilling.
One of my favorite passages from the book of Proverbs says, look to the example of the ant, you slothful one, observe her ways and be wise, Which, having no chief, Officer or ruler, Prepares her food in the summer And gathers her provision in the harvest.” God’s word gives us practical guidance in prudence: follow the example of the humble ant: industrious, self-motivated, thrifty, preparing for times when food is scarce.
Then proverbs says, “How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? The sluggard says “A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest”— Your poverty will come in like a vagabond And your need like an armed man.” In other words, we shouldn’t be like the sluggard, the afternoon farmer who instead of working when we should be, folds our hands on our chest for a nap. Proverbs warns that imprudence, laziness, leads to our provisions disappearing like a thief in the night, like an armed man you won’t be able to resist.
Now our Gospel today also talks about storing up our treasures. But the motivation of the rich man in the gospel parable is very different from the wise, prudent, and industrious ant of proverbs.
The rich man in the Gospel, has more than enough, more than he needs, but builds towers to store up his excesses, he hoards more than he needs, disregarding the needs of the hungry and poor. This too is foolishness, for instead of living for God, the rich man in the parable lives for his stuff. And so God calls him a fool, for he has placed his spiritual welfare at risk due to his greed. This too is imprudence, because his life—his actions, his decisions are not aimed at his highest spiritual good, only maintaining a life of luxury.
Catholics rather use the things of the world to help us achieve our highest end, and we of course are called to be generous with our provisions. We are to avoid the extreme on one side of fear and foolishness about spending, but also the extreme on the other side of greed and excessive love of material stuff.
St. Augustine said, you are what you love; and if what you love is stuff, profit, the things of the world, then you are guaranteed only one thing: that you will lose them. You will die with them. They will turn to dust and so will you. If your hope and joy are bound to the material, you will not possess the joy and peace that comes from holiness.
Christians place our trust in God at all times, in good times and in bad, and set our hearts on God who is the source of peace and joy and hope. So even in times of turmoil, Christians are like the calm center of the whirlwind. We aren’t frantic and hysterical because we’ve failed to prepare for the chaos; we aren’t overly disturbed when we don’t have the same access to non-essential luxuries; we have our hearts set on what matters most.
Prudence: practice it, love it, live it. For prudence is liberating, it’s freeing, it’s the key to lightheartedness because by it, our lives are ordered, our priorities are straight; we make practical, judicious, shrewd, and pragmatic use of our resources, which frees us to become instruments of God’s generous love and hope for the hopeless.
Finally, prudence dictates that we take Paul seriously in our second reading today when he says seek what is above and put to death the earthly, the worldly. And that comes through prayer. My bulletin column this week speaks of what we mean by prayer. By prayer our minds and hearts reach out to God who sustains us in all things, who liberates us from fear and sin, and causes his life to flourish in us for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
No comments:
Post a Comment