A Prayer for the Wealthy.  A Prayer for Us.

Half of the world’s population lives on less than $2.50 of day.  Over a billion children suffer in poverty.  Will you sleep with a roof over your head tonight? Do you have more than one pair of shoes?  Did you eat breakfast this morning?  You live in a rarified world where your children get a good education, food is wasted with abandon, and all the information in the world is available to you on your handheld supercomputer.  You, my neighbor, are wealthy.

But, Jesus says, “No man can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Luke 16:13). It is not by chance that vows of poverty are fundamental to so many who devote their lives to their faith.  We cannot serve two masters.

So is it wrong to be rich?  It just might be so.  Focusing on our wealth — our clothes, our cars, our homes — means that we are not focused on God.  We cannot serve two masters.

We tell ourselves that if we give a little each month then we’re doing our part.  We tell ourselves “Others have more, let them give.”  We tell ourselves that we’re going to give it all away—but only after we’re gone.  We cannot serve two masters.

Wealth is a weight of the world chaining us to a small life, a life where we continuously fear losing our wealth. To renounce wealth takes great courage.  Actually, it takes more than courage, it takes faith.  Faith that our life will become more with less.  Without wealth our fears will fall away, our vision will become clear, and our spirit will soar.  Then, in that moment, we find God.  We cannot serve two masters.

Loving God, help all us who are burdened with worldly wealth to find the faith to eschew our hoarded treasure.  Help us to find the faith to know that with the burden of wealth gone, you will fill the void.  Help us to find the faith to serve you first.  We know that we suffer and severely limit ourselves by divided loyalties.* Amen.

*This last sentence is taken from a written piece by Richard Rohr, O.F.M.