Regards to wealth and possessions

[Gothedral]

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I clicked on the Vatican's official website to see what the Pope said on the matter recently, and what a coincidence I found.

Video message of the holy father Pope Leo XIV,
November: "For the proper use of wealth".

"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Lord of life, all we have comes from You:
the fertile land, the talents we’ve received,
the effort of those who came before us.
Nothing is ours alone — everything is a shared gift.

But so often, Lord, we let the wealth we seek or attain
harden our hearts, lock us in selfishness,
and make us forget the most vulnerable.
Forgive us for storing up instead of sharing,
for using goods as power rather than as service.

You remind us that true wealth
is not found in what we keep,
but in what we give with love.
A heart detached from possessions transforms the world:
it opens paths of justice, tears down walls of indifference,
and sows hope among the poor.

We ask you, Lord, that your Spirit teach us to use what we have —
money, time, talents, opportunities — as instruments of fraternity.
May each economic, family, or community decision
spring from a free heart,
able to recognize that every good is meant for all,
and that only by sharing we build the future.

Make us witnesses of a wealth
transformed into service and mercy,
so that our lives, united to the lives of others,
may be a sign of your Kingdom of justice and peace.

Amen."

I pray for those who thought to sell their soul to Satan for worldly things;
for those who refuse to work as Adam & Eve had to;
for those who covet, lie, steal, and murder like their father the Devil from all those who are otherwise blessed by You, HOLY GOD,
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on our souls
in regards to wealth and possessions.
Amen.

 

[Rad]

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I clicked on the Vatican's official website to see what the Pope said on the matter recently, and what a coincidence I found.

Video message of the holy father Pope Leo XIV,
November: "For the proper use of wealth".

"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Lord of life, all we have comes from You:
the fertile land, the talents we’ve received,
the effort of those who came before us.
Nothing is ours alone — everything is a shared gift.

But so often, Lord, we let the wealth we seek or attain
harden our hearts, lock us in selfishness,
and make us forget the most vulnerable.
Forgive us for storing up instead of sharing,
for using goods as power rather than as service.

You remind us that true wealth
is not found in what we keep,
but in what we give with love.
A heart detached from possessions transforms the world:
it opens paths of justice, tears down walls of indifference,
and sows hope among the poor.

We ask you, Lord, that your Spirit teach us to use what we have —
money, time, talents, opportunities — as instruments of fraternity.
May each economic, family, or community decision
spring from a free heart,
able to recognize that every good is meant for all,
and that only by sharing we build the future.

Make us witnesses of a wealth
transformed into service and mercy,
so that our lives, united to the lives of others,
may be a sign of your Kingdom of justice and peace.

Amen."

I pray for those who thought to sell their soul to Satan for worldly things;
for those who refuse to work as Adam & Eve had to;
for those who covet, lie, steal, and murder like their father the Devil from all those who are otherwise blessed by You, HOLY GOD,
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on our souls
in regards to wealth and possessions.
Amen.

Theyre great words by Pope Leo and the sentiment is grounded in Christs teachings of Love, Compassion and Justice. But as in most things, our words are not reflected in our actions and you have to ask yourself as a Christian, how can an Institution like the Catholic Church espouse the teachings of Christ on wealth, poverty, self sacrifice , denial and compassion for those in need when it sits upon a fortune estimated to range from hundreds of Billions of $'s to an estimate generated by AI overview of a 2023 wealth of $18 trillion!!. When the Church hierarchy live in wealth and splendour while hundreds of millions of the poorest men, women and children struggle to survive, when hundreds of millions lack food, clean water, housing, health care and basic services while "Gods representative on Earth" presides over an organisation that possesses vast wealth much of it extorted and stolen over the preceding centuries.

I do not doubt the sincerity of Pope Leo himself , for he appears a truly compassionate man, but God alone knows the truth of that, but i question how such a seemingly compassionate man can preside over a supposedly "Christian" church that has accumulated such vast wealth in a world of suffering, poverty and death and allow that situation to continue without much questioning or change.

As to your prayer, i think nearly ALL of us " sell our soul to Satan for worldly things", its just a question of how much we sell, as "for those that refuse to work as Adam and Eve did", i think we should pray more for those that work in occupations that exploit , oppress or lead to the destruction of others and of Gods creation. For those that work in the Arms trade that kills millions and creates vast suffering, for those that work in finance and banking that oils the machine of oppression and exploitation that is the evil economic system we have created, for those that work in the Oil, Coal and gas industry who have destroyed Gods creation in their desire for profit and for all of us who follow our daily routines of work without thinking or caring much about the consequences of the work we do, oh yes, i believe there will be a lot of answering to do when it comes to the "work" we did, and i'm not sure that God will accept the plea of "just doing what i had to do" to justify our actions. As for "for those who covet, lie, steal, and murder like their father the Devil from all those who are otherwise blessed by You, HOLY GOD", we are nearly ALL responsible in some way for doing that, well most of us that live in the richer nations, for everything we have over and above what we "need", not what we want, but what we "need", is paid for in the death and suffering of millions of men, women and children every year. And if we support people or political parties that engage in war, destruction and oppression then we are complicit by our actions. In the US the cuts in USAID will cost the lives of an estimated 14 million of the poorest people worldw2ide by 2030 and in the UK the cuts in the Overseas Budget will cost the lives of 5 million of the poorest people in the world. Is that not "murder", if our actions knowingly cause the deaths of millions yet we still do that action or support those that implement it?. There are many ways in this world to kill and often the men and women in suits and offices are the biggest purveyors of death and destruction, be it aid cuts, the selling of weapons or by the stroke of a pen the financial restructuring of a nations economic priorities to repay unjust debts.

Oh yes , we will ALL need Gods Mercy and Forgiveness in regards to our wealth and possessions, as we will in ALL other matters as well, the only question is will we have followed Christs teachings enough to receive that Mercy and forgiveness and the ultimate "gift" of Salvation?,......... and thats a question only God can answer.