Attachment to Worldly Riches is Detachment from Eternal Bliss
The prophets and the saints, the wisemen and the seers down the ages have been insistently exhorting men against greed and attachment to worldly riches. They had a clue to base human weakness, the greed to grab, exploit others and amass wealth!
Detachment is the key word that many saints sought and taught. The Lord Jesus showed us the way to live heavenly life here on earth when he declared: “The Son of Man has nowhere, not even a stone, to lay his head on” Acomplete detachment!
In contrast we have attachment to the things of this world. In order to live and live well we have to work and make money. With this money we buy property, gold, jewellery, clothing and several things. “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” is the prime beatitude the Lord gave us. Having riches and wealth, even more than necessary, earned by your hard work indeed, you need not be so possessive of it that if a poor man picks a penny from what is yours, yet you are not upset; on the contrary you rejoice that you have come to know that this needy. The social teaching of the Church explicitly exhorts us that whatever you have extra that you do not need (of course of your hard earned money!), it belongs not to you but to someone who does not have!
The Church born in poverty, rose to great wealth in the dark ages and lost much of its messianic wealth but recovered its originality with reformation through the poverello, St Francis of Assisi, St Ignatius of Loyola and others.
These taught us detachment and love of the poor. Heeding to their appeal, the Church kept growing in caring for the poor and the needy of this world. So much so that we have now a Sunday dedicated for the poor of this world “World Day of the Poor” on November 16, 2025.
Detachment and love of the poor are correlated and are the sure way to eternal bliss. The things of this world even that I worked hard to own them do not belong to me, I am only an administrator to see that they are used well according to God’s plan. I find out the genuine needy persons and dispense the resources at my disposal equitably.