“Learning to control our finances is an essential part of maturity. When we were children, our parents took care of all the financial arrangements, but as adults, the responsibility becomes ours. All too often, we find ourselves in debt because we confuse our wants with our needs. We begin to believe we can buy happiness, but happiness is only found in relationships–particularly in our relationship with God.
If you are feeling restless and unfulfilled, don’t run up your credit cards to fill empty places in your soul. Instead, use your financial resources to take care of your needs and then ask God to help you discover what’s missing from your life. It may be friendship. It may be intellectual stimulation. It may be love. Whatever it is, however, two things are certain: first, you won’t find it in any mall and second, only after you ask can God help make it a reality in your life.”
Koenig-Bricker, Woodeene 365 Saints: Your Daily Guide to the Wisdom and Wonder of their Lives by (New York: Harper San Francisco, 1995), October 16 entry.