Ordinary Time 18
August 3, 2025
Financial Lessons from St. Homobonus
Can a
Christian desire to be rich? Certainly many people dream about hitting it big –
whether having a career that pays in the seven figures, winning the lottery, or
investing right. But can a Christian pursue riches?
Let’s
turn to a saint to show us how we ought to deal with money. St. Homobonus
(whose name literally means “good man”) lived in Italy in the 1100s. He was a
married man with kids – and he was doubly blessed, as he inherited a tremendous
fortune from his father, and his own clothing business was extremely
prosperous. But he believed that all of this was a gift from God, not given to
him for his own benefit, but so that he may help the poor. How did he do this?
First,
he was scrupulously honest in his business dealings – he knew that wealth which
came from deceit could not honor God. Second, in a time period where society
was very stratified and the rich lived quite differently from the poor, he and
his family dressed and lived simply, without flaunting their wealth or living
luxuriously. Finally, he gave away most of his earnings to various charities
and individuals – he had a particular emphasis on buying graves for those who
died without the money to buy a plot in the cemetery.
The old
saying goes that “God is never outdone in generosity” – and Homobonus experienced
that! Despite giving away so much, his business kept exponentially increasing –
which only motivated him to give away more! One time on a journey he shared his
food and drink with a beggar. When he went on and found a stream, he re-filled
his water jug, only to find that God had miraculously turned the water in the
jug to wine – a sign that God was blessing his generosity!
His life
answers the question – can a Christian desire to be rich? The answer is: only
if these riches are used to do good, to give away to the needy, not to be
self-indulgent or miserly.
As
Tolstoy said, “I am a participant in a crime if I have extra food and another
has none.” Yes, provide for your family. Yes, live a comfortable life – go on
vacation, eat at Prime 111 every now and then, save for retirement. But when it
comes to desiring to become rich for our own sake, it would indeed be the sin
of greed to try to increase our income or our possessions just so we can have more
luxuries that we don’t really need.
After
all, doesn’t St. Paul tell us in the second reading to “seek the things above”?
When someone wants fancy cars or second homes or just a bigger bank account, doesn’t
that consume our thoughts and take a great deal of time? And so, in our pursuit
of riches, we have little time for prayer or good works; so we have little
opportunity to think of God.
Let us
follow the example of St. Homobonus regarding riches. First, we ought to only
earn them with honesty – no shady business dealings. Second, we ought to not
flaunt our wealth. I have a friend who is a multimillionaire – and his kids don’t
know it, because he drives a beat-up minivan and wears Walmart clothes. That’s
how we ought to live if we have been blessed with wealth – with great humility.
And finally, we ought to give away what we do not truly need, and maybe some
things that we do need – as Mother Teresa said, “I have found the
paradox, that when we love until it hurts, there is no more hurt, but only more
love.”
So I ask
you – do you desire to be richer – and if so, why? To glorify God with it, to give
it away, or to live a more self-indulgent lifestyle, as if that could make us
happier? All of our riches will end with our last breath – but the good works
we do with our money will reverberate into eternity.
