THE FOUR WOES

Many of the great saints in the early Church were rich and members of the royalty. There is nothing wrong with riches; it is the love for riches that Christ condemned. . .which, unfortunately, is a common vice among the rich, and which made Christ comment that it is easier for a camel to enter the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 

Dives, the rich man, lost his soul; and his sin was simply enjoying his wealth. Scriptures was clear, he had no other sin. Just that. 

The rich are those who love the things of the world. And so, the poor who desire worldly things that they do not have and might never have are "rich". "Rich" signifies the number of worldly desires one has. The more worldly desires, the richer one is. 

The rich are those who do not know how to use their riches. The assets that God bestows upon a person are to be used to bring him back to God. To use them to go further away from God is to misuse them. To keep one's wealth hidden while our neighbors have need of it is to misuse it. There is nothing wrong with riches; it is one's heart that is at fault. 

The rich are those who seem to enjoy simply multiplying their riches though they have more than enough. They find a sense of achievement and consolation in increasing their wealth. 

The rich satisfy, as much as possible, their every desire. In the spiritual life, this will make a soul weak against all the stings of temptation. Such souls become spiritually effeminate and incapable of any act of virtue. 

Because they live consoling lives, getting almost everything they want, Christ says, in the next life they will have no consolation . . . i.e., they will not possess the kingdom of heaven.  

(updated 07-02-02)