A Reflection for Thursday after Ash Wednesday
Find today’s readings here.
Jesus said to his disciples:
“The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected
by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.”
Then he said to all,
“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
What profit is there for one to gain the whole world
yet lose or forfeit himself?” (Luke 9:22-25)
I have never wanted to be rich and famous. This has been true for as long as I can remember. When I was young, whenever I dreamed of what my life would look like when I got older, it was never one that favored material wealth or the acquisition of status. At my most vain, I wanted to be a successful author with renowned work, but in this fantasy I was personally anonymous. I have always been very comfortable with the idea of contentment, of having just enough to secure your life and your family.
During my school years, I remember being surrounded by people primarily driven by profit. Folks who would go to business school or law school or get into big tech, and would then go on to make six-figure salaries and live in lavish apartment buildings in Lower Manhattan or Midtown. I knew people who bought Rolexes with their starting bonuses or used the money they won by investing in crypto to go on vacations to Mykonos and Aruba.
None of that was ever very appealing to me. I am, I think, instinctively opposed to the idea of seeking profit. My parents were forced to take jobs that they did not necessarily want so that they could make enough money to ensure that I could have the opportunity to do what I wanted to do. They did not force me into a particular lifestyle or career, leaving me free to decide my own path . Going into journalism was certainly a dicey move, but no riskier than any number of other jobs, but it was what I loved doing so that’s what I did. It is certainly not a traditionally high-paying career, but you do your best and, if you have sufficient luck and the wisdom to make reasonable financial decisions, things should work out.
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus asks a poignant question that has only grown more relevant over two thousand years: “What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?” At no point in history has it been easier for one person to attain “the whole world.” There are individuals now, some of whom have attained significant positions of influence on the global stage, who could be said to basically have the whole world. What’s worse is that so many of us worship these types of people or aspire to be this kind of person, the sort of person who works their way up the ladder of Big Tech, Big Pharma or Big Law with the end goal of attaining a boatload of money. When our society rewards the acquisition of wealth and power, money stops being a necessary evil and becomes a sickness in our souls.
Throughout history, wealth has always been an enemy of the moral and ethical. Those who hoard it are doomed to hellish consequences, as Jesus points out. One of the first lessons we learn as children is the importance of sharing, yet our society has never put it into practice. Our status quo favors those who keep their money and do not dole it out. In fact, the rich constantly fight against any kind of initiative that will threaten their assets even a little bit; one does not need a lot of money to live or even thrive, yet these individuals hold onto every penny like their life depends on it.
I think a lot about St. Francis of Assisi and his renunciation of worldly possessions to purify himself from the evils of wealth. That is true bravery. Of course, I am not suggesting that we get rid of all material belongings. All I am asking is that we listen to the words of Christ: “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” We must be willing to make sacrifices to lessen the amount of suffering in the world, and we must not be afraid to demand that the rich and powerful do the same. All we really need to do is apply that lesson we all learned in childhood: No one person should have too much and, when they do, they should share.
