Weekly HOMILY for September 19, 2010: Warnings About Money

25th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle C
St. Patrick Church, Havre de Grace
September 19, 2010

Warnings About Money
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato


JUNO MONETA

Back in the days of the ancient Roman Empire, people believed in many gods and goddesses.

For example, we know they believed that Juno was the goddess of warning. It was her role to protect the empire by warning its people about any impending threat.

Because of this, the Romans installed their mint for making coins in Juno’s temple. The idea was that Juno, as the goddess of warning, would warn against any impending threat to the wealth of the Empire.

The Romans even gave Juno the title of Juno Moneta. The word moneta comes from the Latin word monere – to warn – so Juno Moneta means “Juno, the One Who Warns.”

Interestingly, that word – moneta, as in Juno Moneta – eventually became part of the English language as the word money.

Thus, the word money is derived from the Latin word which means to warn.


WARNING -- MONERE -- ABOUT MONEY

I found this little tidbit of etymology interesting because the Scripture readings often warn us about money.

Money, as a medium of exchange, does call for our attention. No matter who we are, we have to earn it, exchange for goods and services, save it for a rainy day – maybe in an IRA or a 401K plan or even stocks.

Jesus and the prophets before him are not saying that our getting involved in the exchange of money or even our enjoying it is bad – Not at all!

But they are giving us some “warnings” – remember it’s the root meaning of the word money. They are giving us warnings about our attitude toward money and our handling of it. I see three warnings in today’s Scripture readings.


WARNING #1: SERVE GOD

The first warning comes from Jesus’ own lips: we are not to become a servant or slave of money. Money should not be my ego self-image.

He says, “No servant can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or be attentive to one and despise the other.

“You cannot serve God and money.” To appreciate what Jesus is saying here, we have to remember that back in Jesus’ day, slavery was legal albeit a dreadful institution.

A master literally owned a slave and a slave could serve only one master. Jesus wants our relationship with him to be something like that.

Specifically, he is saying that no matter how much money we make, we are to see our relationship with God as the number one, the most important dimension of life.

And with him as absolutely front and center, we are to let this personal relationship with Jesus Christ color everything we do.

We are to let this influence even how we make our money, what we do with our money, and how we save our money.

That is the first warning about money and it leads to the other two.


WARNING #2: BE HONEST AND JUST

The second warning: we are not to cheat or steal or acquire our money in unjust ways.

In the first reading, the prophet Amos is so clear on this. He condemns those who shortchange customers or who charge more than they should.

In the gospel, Jesus says, “If you trust others in little things, you can also trust them in with greater things. If you cannot be trusted with elusive wealth, who will trust you with lasting wealth?”

From these passages, my take on them is that we should not focus only on the latest incident of corporate cheating.

Instead, we need to start with our own behavior – like plagiarizing term papers, or burning CDs of copyrighted music, or under-reporting our income on our tax returns.

The big problems in any society begin with these small, individual actions.

Jesus warns us to be honest and just in the way we acquire our money.


WARNING #3: CARE FOR THE POOR

The third and final warning: do not disregard or take advantage of the poor.

Again, the prophet Amos in the first reading is consumed with this injustice. He sternly warns those who have enough money about taking advantage of the poor and not caring for them.

Again, I think it is more effective not to focus on those pharmaceutical or insurance companies that seem to make profit their god at the expense of the well-being of the sick and needy.

Instead, let’s begin with ourselves and our own behavior.

We need to let our hearts be touched by those in our own community who are unemployed or those suffering in Haiti and other countries that are absolutely destitute.

The warning from sacred scripture is not to be so taken up with our own money to the point of not sharing with those in need.


CONCLUSION

So, Juno moneta – Juno the One Who Warns – and our money.

1) Serve God first not money
2) Be honest and just in the way we acquire money
3) Share with those who lack money and the basics of life.

Three warnings against which to check our attitude and handling of money.