What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? Matthew 16:26
“People should not rejoice over riches, neither when they possess them nor when their neighbor possesses them, unless God is served through them. If it is in some way tolerable to rejoice in riches, it is when they are spent and employed in the service of God. This is the only way profit will be drawn from them.
The same holds true for other temporal goods, titles, and positions, and so on. It is vain for people to rejoice in these goods if they do not serve God by them and walk more securely on the road of eternal life. And because they cannot know with certitude that they are serving God more, it would be vain for them to rejoice over those goods for such joy cannot be reasonable. As our Lord says, even though one gains the whole world, one can lose one’s soul. The only reason for rejoicing then is the greater service of God.”
John of the Cross (1542-1591) in The Ascent of Mount Carmel in the Collected Works of St. John of the Cross (Washington: ICS Publications, 1991) 296. John was a reformer of the Carmelite order with Teresa of Ávila in Spain.
It would be enlightening to have a reformer saint like John of the Cross as a neighbor or spiritual friend! Our world bombards us with messages, such “to rejoice over riches,” and he rightly reminds us to celebrate rather when they are “spent and employed in the service of God.”
John helps us see life through the lens of the cross so that we stay “on the road of eternal life” rather than get too comfortable here on earth. Let’s champion this perspective today with God’s help, for our own well being and the good of our neighbors.
Father in heaven, we rejoice not in earthly riches, but in the eternal life we have in you! Help us, by your Holy Spirit, to use the riches you shower on us for your service, so people may come to know Jesus. Amen.