Day 313: Ownership of Goods (2401-2406)

• It’s Day 313!!

• ARTICLE 7: THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT

• We are looking at what is typically referred to as CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING

• THE UNIVERSAL DESTINATION AND THE PRIVATE OWNERSHIP OF GOODS

• You have a right to have private property

• There should also be enough resources for everyone

• This is the Catholic BOTH-AND

• It is the paradox of the Faith

• It is not the right to private property VS the universal destination of goods

• IT IS BOTH!!

• This is so much more than DO NOT STEAL

• Let’s pray!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we praise you and we give you glory. We thank you for this day, and we ask you to please send your Holy Spirit to open our minds and to fill our hearts. Lead us to your truth, Lord God, in every part of our thinking that is shadowed or jaded, every part of our thinking that has been twisted or distorted. We ask that you please give us clarity of thought. Give us right understanding and right thinking, so that we can see the rights of all people, so that we can see the best ways that we can use the goods of this earth. And so that we can see the best way that we can care for one another, for those who are close to us and those who are far from us. Give us that Holy Spirit, that Holy Spirit of wisdom. And also give us the Holy Spirit of courage to be able to do what we know we need to do. We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen”

• So there we have it!!

• Paragraph 2401 says, “The seventh commandment forbids unjustly taking or keeping the goods of one’s neighbor and wronging him in any way with respect to his goods. It commands justice and charity in the care of earthly goods and the fruits of men’s labor. For the sake of the common good, it requires respect for the universal destination of goods and respect for the right to private property. Christian life strives to order this world’s goods to God and to fraternal charity.”

• How do we interact with each other?

• How do we care for one another?

• Isn’t this how we live?

• We are tempted to say, “Hey, if you can get ahead, get ahead. Whatever you can acquire, get it.”

• We are commanded justice and charity

• We are called to give someone what they are owed

• We are called to love in the care of earthly goods and the fruits of men’s labor

• What is a paradox?

• It is something that appears to be contradictory but is not

• It is revealing the deeper truth by highlighting the fact that there are two truths that are in tension

• Today, the tension is between the right to own private property and the universal destination of goods

• This is not a compromise

• These are two goods that are held in tension

• They are not contradictory, they are paradoxical

• What does UNIVERSAL DESTINATION OF GOODS mean?

• Let’s listen to Fr. Mike talk about FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) and their study they conducted…

• Generally speaking, the Church does not advocate any particular policy

• The Church will advocate principles

• “The universal destination of goods says that the whole of the world’s resources are made to satisfy the whole of the world’s needs.”

• The right to private property flows from our nature as we have reason, intellect, and free will

• Because we have dignity, because we have freedom, because we have agency, we have that right to private property

• The right to private property is limited by the universal destination of goods

• One of our goals is to order this world’s goods to God

• God is our reference point for everything

• Paragraph 2402 says, “In the beginning God entrusted the earth and its resources to the common stewardship of mankind to take care of them, master them by labor, and enjoy their fruits. The goods of creation are destined for the whole human race. However, the earth is divided up among men to assure the security of their lives, endangered by poverty and threatened by violence. The appropriation of property is legitimate for guaranteeing the freedom and dignity of persons and for helping each of them to meet his basic needs and the needs of those in his charge. It should allow for a natural solidarity to develop between men.”

• It makes sense that we have to have some degree of a real right to private property

• Paragraph 2403 says, “The right to private property, acquired or received in a just way, does not do away with the original gift of the earth to the whole of mankind. The universal destination of goods remains primordial, even if the promotion of the common good requires respect for the right to private property and its exercise.”

• We all are being challenged

• Some of us are big time capitalists

• Some of us may want the world's resources to all be given away (I’m paraphrasing this part because I don’t feel like typing every single word here)

• The right to private property and the universal destination of goods must be kept in balance

• The distortion of capitalism is real and can run rampant and trample upon the downtrodden

• Communism, the idea that no one has a right to private property, is a real evil

• That is why these things need to be held in tension

• We need both

• We need to have a lens that looks at this in a full way

• We as Christians are invited/challenged/commanded to look at our private property in a unique way

• Paragraph 2404 says, “‘In his use of things man should regard the external goods he legitimately owns not merely as exclusive to himself but common to others also, in the sense that they can benefit others as well as himself.’ The ownership of any property makes its holder a steward of Providence with the task of making it fruitful and communicating its benefits to others, first of all his family.”

• The mind of Christ is the thing that guides us in our ownership

• The mind of Christ is what should be guiding us in our work

• So I should regard my goods not merely exclusive to myself even though I have a right to own them

• The invitation is to see myself as a steward more than an owner

• You have a right to own private property

• How do you see your private property?

• Is it simply stuff that ends with you?

• Or do you see it as being a steward of these things and you get to use them for the sake of the people around you?

• Let’s listen to Fr. Mike talk about a couple that did the envelope system of budgeting…

• Their giving envelope was pretty big at the end of the month

• They say that money as goods God has entrusted to them

• Who do they get to bless with this money?

• Who do they get to use this money for to make their life better?

• That is an incredible way of looking at our stuff

• How can I make my home a place where people are welcome?

• Fr. Mike is continuing to talk about this couple so let’s listen more…

• We can also look at this in terms of other resources

• There are external resources

• There are also internal resources

• Things like time, intelligence, compassion

• We are invited as Christians to have an entirely new way of looking at the world and looking at the gifts we have

• To be able to look at the things that are in our possession not as owners but as stewards

• My home

• My paycheck

• My intellect

• My kindness

• My time

• That is a huge challenge for so many of us

• It is a challenge we are called to respond to

• Do I see myself as the owner of my stuff, including my time?

• OR…

• Do I see myself as the steward of my stuff and the steward of my time?

• Remember the Parable of the Talents?

• Jesus expects the people to be fruitful and use those talents in such a way that there are more talents at the end

• And also to communicate their benefits to others

• Paragraph 2405 says, “Goods of production-material or immaterial-such as land, factories, practical or artistic skills, oblige their possessors to employ them in ways that will benefit the greatest number. Those who hold goods for use and consumption should use them with moderation, reserving the better part for guests, for the sick and the poor.”

• This is an incredible challenge

• How often do we see our stuff as just our stuff as opposed to for the sake of those we are responsible for?

• For guests?

• For the poor?

• For the sick?

• Remember how in the Old Testament if you had a field, you would leave a tenth of that field for the poor, the widow, the orphan, the alien, the stranger

• It was considered to be theirs

• The People of Israel reserved that land for those who needed it most

• That is what we are called to do as Christians

• In mercy, we are called to do the same thing

• What part of my material goods belongs not to me, but to those who need them?

• What part of my resources belong not to me, but to those who need them?

• Every Christian faces this challenge

• We can’t just consider this challenge for five minutes and go about our day

• The Lord is inviting us to reframe our way of thinking for the rest of our lives

• Am I an owner?

• OR…

• Am I a steward?

• That is the challenge

• Is it my stuff?

• OR…

• Has my stuff been entrusted to me so that I can bless the maximum number of people?

• That is the challenge that we are all facing

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT…