# Seeking God, Finding God: Wealth, Greed, and True Treasure
*2009-03-11*

> Bill Young reflects on the Gospel reading for the second week of Lent, exploring how wealth can blind us to the needs of others and inviting listeners to discover what they truly treasure.

## Gospel Reflection

Today's Gospel reading is from Luke 12:20: “Child, remember that during your lifetime you will receive good things.” The passage reads like an indictment of those who are rich or comfortably situated. It asks us to consider whether wealth itself blinds us to the needs of those at our doorstep, or whether something deeper is at work.

## What Makes Us Hoard?

Thomas Moore, in *Care of the Soul*, suggests that we are not materialistic because we love what we own, but because we fail to truly treasure it. If we genuinely valued our possessions, we would feel less fear of losing them and would be more willing to share them. The lack of true appreciation leads to a constant desire to accumulate, which can become a form of greed.

## Papal Insight on Wealth

In March 2008, Pope Benedict XVI warned that obscene wealth can become a new capital sin. Commentator Judas Gibbs noted that even someone like Bill Gates, while a great force for good, must confront the responsibility that comes with great riches. The question arises: is the sin the wealth itself, or the greed that stems from not treasuring what we have?

## Practical Lenten Exercise

Take a moment to look around your home and your life. Identify what you truly treasure. Ask yourself how you demonstrate that treasure to others. Do you share it out of love, or merely to keep it for yourself?

## Prayer of Thanksgiving

Abundant God, thank you for your blessings. Teach me to cherish them and to share them generously. Amen.

*True treasure is recognized when we love what we have enough to give it away.*