On Monday Pope Benedict XVI briefly remarked on the financial crisis during the opening of the first General Congregation of the Twelfth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. In the aftermath of the “fall of the great banks,” he reminded synod attendees that money is of “secondary importance” to the Word of God, which he called the “foundation of all reality.”
The Pope referenced Christ’s words at the close of the Sermon on the Mount in which he speaks of building one’s house’s foundation upon sand or upon rock.
“Those who build on sand do so only on visible and tangible things: on success, career and money,” the Pope explained.
“These seem to true reality, but one day they will pass away”, he continued.
“We see this now with the fall of the great banks. Money disappears, it becomes nothing. And thus all these things which seem to be real and upon which we can rely, are in fact of secondary importance.
“All human things, all things we can invent and create are finite. So too all human religious experiences are finite. They show only one aspect of reality, because our limited being understands only some parts, some elements.
“Only God is infinite and through him, his Word too is universal and knows no end,” Pope Benedict remarked.
“Only the Word of God is the foundation of all reality, stable like heaven. Therefore we must change our concept of reality. A realist is one who recognizes that the Word of God – this reality that appears so weak – is in fact the foundation of everything.”
Our liberal and leftwing friends are all about money – who has it, how much they have, what they do with it, how much should be taxed, how it will resolve all problems if only leftists are allowed to control it. But money is nothing – nothing of any importance. My house was worth $400,000, now its worth about $225,000 – back when it was worth 400k, if I hadn’t shown proper love, respect and devotion to my wife that day, what does it matter that my house is worth 400k? If today I show my wife the proper love, respect and devotion, of what consequence is it that the house is worth 225k? Its all a lot of rot and nonsense – a paper chase in the worst sense of the word, and we’ve allowed ourselves to be caught up in it as if it mattered.
Yesterday afternoon, I did a Rosary – for those unfamiliar, this is a prayer Catholics frequently do (but don’t do nearly enough). Its a great devotional prayer and something is strongly pulling me towards doing it each day, starting yesterday, for nine days. Various mysteries are contemplated when doing the Rosary – for yesterday, it was what are called the “Joyful Mysteries”; the Annunciation (when Mary was told she would bear Jesus), Visitation (Mary visits Elizabeth), Nativity (birth of Jesus), Presentation (Jesus consecrated at the Temple) and Finding Jesus in the Temple. In contemplating these things, we look for the spiritual fruits of Humility, Love of Neighbor, Poverty, Obedience and Joy in Finding Jesus. If one is humble, loves his neighbor, renounces the tyranny of material things, obeys the laws human and divine and worships God, what then does it matter if a person is rich or poor? We really need to get things back into the proper perspective – to understand the relative value of things in relation to humanity.
In God We Trust – in great wisdom we have placed that phrase on our currency, because we understood, once upon a time, that while money can be useful, one shouldn’t put any faith in it. Its here today and gone tomorrow – and if you win a million dollars next week and die the week after, what did the money matter? If you pile up billions, what will it advantage you upon your death? You’ll get a fancy casket, I guess. Other than that, I can’t think of anything – and for the corpse the type of casket doesn’t seem to be a matter for concern. It is time we take the one thing our money has of great value – In God We Trust – and start to re-apply it to our lives. In God We Trust – not political parties, not politicians, not business, not the media…heck, in the end, we are not even to place our trust in our rabbis, priests and pastors. In God We Trust. Our leftwing friends, especially, should take that to heart – I’ve seen “Obama Youth”, blue shirted fanatics and people fainting dead away at the mere sight of Barack Obama. He’s just a man – if you place your trust in him, you will be disappointed. He’s human – he’ll make mistakes, and all the more of them the more people ascribe to him a super-human ability to solve problems and make things all better.
I will write of politics; argue of politics; I will vote in November – I will try talk everyone I know into casting a McCain/Palin vote…but if McCain/Palin wins it won’t make life perfect, nor will an Obama/Biden win make it all miserable (though it would spread a great deal of misery). Battle! Strive! Love! Endure! – but In God We Trust; remember that.
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