Today's readings for Mass couldn't have come at a better time. Ted and I have been seriously discussing our budget issues lately and it was so nice to have the Church's perspective on the complex matters of money. The Gospel passage was from Luke 16: 1-13 and the first reading was Amos 8: 4-7. Here's what I got out of the homily:
Money is corrosive.
Greed and dishonesty are far too prevalent when it comes to money.
The Church recognizes the importance of savings and encourages us to be responsible with our saving.
The Church also asks that we be generous. Everyone is capable of giving-no matter how little they may have.
Ted and I had a looong talk about our spending habits the other night. I was in the throughs of despair as I worried I would NEVER be able to stay home with our children. We went through all of our spending for the last several months and tried to pinpoint areas in which we could improve. Some months were better than others, but May was a killer. "Why in the world did we spend so much in May??" I wondered. "Well, this explains a lot (as I looked at the enormous amount of money we spent on medical bills and drugs that month). "Our spending on medicine was much higher than usual," I said. I only had to ponder what the cause of this was for about 0.5 seconds. I looked down at my belly. Oh yeah.
The extra money spent on medicine that month resulted in the greatest miracle we could have ever asked for. I smiled at Ted and said, "I guess that was worth it, huh?" His face said it all.
Money is important. It's important to try to save and be responsible. It's important to give away as much as possible to those who need it a lot more than we do. But it's still just money. It has no inherent value other than to better the lives of human beings and make us more capable to serve God and each other.
May I never forget this again.
"...it's still just money." Well said! :)
ReplyDeleteAnd that is exactly why I don't bother going over our budget in retrospect. I have no belly to look down upon and say, "That was well-spent."
ReplyDeleteI liked the readings today, too. Especially the emphasis on justice. We really can make a big difference in the lives of our friends (and enemies) in this world, and we need to remember this and act justly.
Congrats on winning that coveted soap!!
Exactly right! Well-stated and a great reminder!!
ReplyDeleteThat is so cute! Thanks for sharing this story.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry about the staying home part. God will provide. He just provides "in the moment" rather than sending you a detailed financial plan months before you give birth.
So glad your tummy looks big and full! (Don't worry, I'm also praying hard that all of my pregnant friends give birth to healthy babies and get to skip the whole NICU saga. I'm more than happy to carry this cross all alone).
Our priest talked about how we spend so much time trying to save money and get good deals, and that we should think about how much time we spend on this type of stuff versus the type of stuff that will get us to heaven. It really hit home for dh and I and was very humbling to hear. It is neat to see how the different priests gave different messages.
ReplyDeleteOur priest talked about how we spend so much time trying to save money and get good deals, and that we should think about how much time we spend on this type of stuff versus the type of stuff that will get us to heaven. It really hit home for dh and I and was very humbling to hear. It is neat to see how the different priests gave different messages.
ReplyDeleteGreat thoughts! I too get stressed over money, but then I am always reminded how God always provides. You are right, it's just money.
ReplyDeleteLIke Megan said, God will always provide...this book Sew gave me on Mother Teresa has such neat and interesting tidbits of her life, and one such story was when the Indian government closed the schools unexpectedly for the day, the bread for the schools went directly to MT instead and they had NOTHING at that point. You are right....that baby is worth every red cent.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. We are trying to sort out our budget now too. There are so many priorities screaming to be put at the top of the list!!!
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