I am not saying wealth is a virtue. Jesus speaks often of the rich, but not exclusively - the merciless servant, deeply in debt as he is, is hardly rich, but is no model of saintliness for that. Poverty, or at least spiritual poverty, is necessary for holiness, but it is not sufficient. Being poor does not automatically make you a saint.
And to bring us back to the original point: If Jesus repeatedly links wealth to sin, and Holy Tradition consistently reminds us that we must have no love for material things, then we have absolutely no reason to envy the rich. If we desire heaven, why covet that which risks the loss of it?
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Date: 2011-10-25 12:28 pm (UTC)And to bring us back to the original point: If Jesus repeatedly links wealth to sin, and Holy Tradition consistently reminds us that we must have no love for material things, then we have absolutely no reason to envy the rich. If we desire heaven, why covet that which risks the loss of it?