Pablo Cirujeda
The quest for ownership – be it financial means, property, housing, or else – is without doubt a major driving force for many of our human activities. All through life, and rightly so, we strive to attain a certain level of material wealth that may enable us not to worry too much about tomorrow, to provide for us and for those under our care and to meet our needs and responsibilities.
Jesus in the Gospels does not reject the idea of property or ownership as such. His friend Martha, for example, owns a house, while others own fishing boats or other commodities. Jesus repeatedly is welcome to dine at the house of people who have the means necessary to offer a meal to a large group of people, and he does not challenge them on that. To his disciples, nevertheless, he suggests other priorities: leaving property and possessions behind in order to be entirely free to join him in the building of the Kingdom of God.
The teachings of the Church, 2.000 years later, continue to consider private property as morally acceptable. It is only logical that families need to own and use material means to provide for their own, secure their future and be part of society. As we know, the practice of some of the early Christians in Jerusalem, who sold all “their possessions and goods and distributed them to all” (Acts 4:44-45) did not last very long! Paul in his letters calls for an equal distribution of means in his communities, but does not suggest to ordinary Christians to sell “all you have and distribute to the poor” as Jesus had asked the “very rich” man in the Gospel (Luke 19:18-23).
On the other hand, Christian teaching does not endorse unlimited ownership. The Lord’s prayer already asks for “our daily bread” as an image of what we need to get through the day. What Jesus clearly rejects is the accumulation of wealth without limits and for private benefit only, as described in the parable of the rich landowner who wants “to lay up treasure for himself” by building larger barns in order to “have ample goods laid up for many years” (Luke 1:16-21). God himself, in the story, calls him a fool!
Ownership and possessions are means to an end: to be able to provide for all and thus meet our responsibilities as members of the human family. They are gifts to be shared with others. Inasmuch as we may have earned our wealth, we have not earned the right to use it as we please. A false sense of entitlement moved the rich man in the parable to store up treasure just for himself and his own pleasure. Jesus reminds us that we are all stewards of our possessions, and most of all, stewards of the greatest of gifts: our own life. A life not shared with others will be a life wasted; in the same way, possessions not shared with others will be wealth lost, not earned.
Jesus’s invitation is clear: it is by sharing that our gifts are multiplied, so that we may become “rich toward God”.
Jesus in the Gospels does not reject the idea of property or ownership as such. His friend Martha, for example, owns a house, while others own fishing boats or other commodities. Jesus repeatedly is welcome to dine at the house of people who have the means necessary to offer a meal to a large group of people, and he does not challenge them on that. To his disciples, nevertheless, he suggests other priorities: leaving property and possessions behind in order to be entirely free to join him in the building of the Kingdom of God.
The teachings of the Church, 2.000 years later, continue to consider private property as morally acceptable. It is only logical that families need to own and use material means to provide for their own, secure their future and be part of society. As we know, the practice of some of the early Christians in Jerusalem, who sold all “their possessions and goods and distributed them to all” (Acts 4:44-45) did not last very long! Paul in his letters calls for an equal distribution of means in his communities, but does not suggest to ordinary Christians to sell “all you have and distribute to the poor” as Jesus had asked the “very rich” man in the Gospel (Luke 19:18-23).
On the other hand, Christian teaching does not endorse unlimited ownership. The Lord’s prayer already asks for “our daily bread” as an image of what we need to get through the day. What Jesus clearly rejects is the accumulation of wealth without limits and for private benefit only, as described in the parable of the rich landowner who wants “to lay up treasure for himself” by building larger barns in order to “have ample goods laid up for many years” (Luke 1:16-21). God himself, in the story, calls him a fool!
Ownership and possessions are means to an end: to be able to provide for all and thus meet our responsibilities as members of the human family. They are gifts to be shared with others. Inasmuch as we may have earned our wealth, we have not earned the right to use it as we please. A false sense of entitlement moved the rich man in the parable to store up treasure just for himself and his own pleasure. Jesus reminds us that we are all stewards of our possessions, and most of all, stewards of the greatest of gifts: our own life. A life not shared with others will be a life wasted; in the same way, possessions not shared with others will be wealth lost, not earned.
Jesus’s invitation is clear: it is by sharing that our gifts are multiplied, so that we may become “rich toward God”.
