Day 36 – Let Freedom Ring: Freedom from Avarice
ANNOUNCEMENT! We are getting very close to concluding “Let Freedom Ring” and beginning the 54-Day Rosary novena entitled, “Novena for Our Nation” (August 15 – October 7). Both on August 15, the Feast of Our Lady of the Assumption. You can find information for “Novena for Our Nation” HERE.
“Let Freedom Ring” has acted as a kind of cleansing/purifying, or exorcism, as “Novena for Our Nation” acts as a call out to God to bless and heal our land. Please join us for “Novena for Our Nation!!”
Let Freedom Ring: Freedom from Avarice
My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
At a word from You, the devil and his minions flee in terror.
You are the source of all truth. You are the source of all strength.
By the power of Your Cross and Resurrection, we beseech You, O Lord
To extend Your saving arm and to send Your holy angels
To defend us as we do battle with Satan and his demonic forces.
Exorcise, we pray, that which oppresses Your Bride, The Church,
So that within ourselves, our families, our parishes, our dioceses, and our nation
We may turn fully back to You in all fidelity and trust.
Lord, we know if You will it, it will be done.
Give us the perseverance for this mission, we pray.
Amen.
Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception … pray for us
St. Joseph … pray for us
St. Michael the Archangel … pray for us
(the patron of your parish) … pray for us
(your confirmation saint) … pray for us
“Freedom from Avarice” by Fr. Jim Altman
Dear family, Avarice is a synonym of Greed. It is one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Some distinguish between Avarice and greed, essentially implying that Avarice is like Greed-on-Steroids. No matter which word we care to use, both regard an excessive or inordinate desire of gain or wealth; a selfish or excessive desire for more than is needed or deserved, especially of money, wealth, food, or other possessions.
Avarice has a long if uncomplicated history in English. Chaucer in his 14th-century The Parson’s Tale compared avarice with covetise, a now obsolete word that means “covetousness” (“Covetise is to covet such things as thou hast not; and avarice is to withhold and keep such things as thou hast, without rightful need”—743), and Shakespeare uses it in Macbeth (“With this there grows / In my most ill-composed affection such / A stanchless avarice that, were I king, / I should cut off the nobles for their lands, / Desire his jewels and this other’s house: / And my more-having would be as a sauce / To make me hunger more”—IV.iii.76-82).
As he always seemed to do, the brilliant Shakespeare got it spot-on. “My more-having would be as a sauce to make me hunger more.” Remember the Life Lesson of Adam and Eve, summarized as “Nothing is Ever Enough.” Remember how they had everything, but it wasn’t enough? That really is the problem with Avarice – nothing ever is enough, but only makes one want more.
Apart from that issue, of course, are the Gospel teachings on what happens when avarice runs amok. Remember the rich man who had a bountiful harvest. “Oh!” says he, “I will tear down my smaller barns and build bigger barns!” Not a good idea. First of all, that sounds pretty wasteful, to tear down perfectly good barns. When we hear about wealthy people buying homes and tearing them down to build bigger ones – there’s even a real estate term for it, I think it actually is called “tear downs” – don’t we suppose those people have never read Jesus’s parable? That’s first of all. Second of all, Jesus makes it pretty clear – crystal clear – what Almighty God thinks about that kind of stuff, quote: “You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?” (Lk 12:20). And then Jesus delivers the coup de Grace: “Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God” (Lk 12:21). And as if that wasn’t bad enough, there is the little problem about that camel trying to get through the Eye of the Needle.
Ok, so we know all that. But here is something few look in the mirror and contemplate. Yeah, we might not be longing for Aaron Spelling’s Hollywood mansion, but we all have it pretty good. In fact, many of us tend to live beyond “our means.” Here’s an example …
When I was teaching in the high school, I would ask the Juniors or Seniors “how much do you think you will make when you get out of college?” The answers ranged from a low of about 40k, to a high of around 80k. The thing is, it did not matter what number with which I started, when we subtracted a mere 1/3 for taxes, and then subtracted the things upon which they themselves said they would spend “their” money – housing (I mentioned to them the hidden extras like furniture, appliances, bedding, towels, laundry soap, homeowners or renters’ insurance), auto (I mentioned to them the hidden extras like auto insurance, gas, oil changes), student-loans, cell phones, cable/internet, pizza on Friday – when we got done, both high and low incomes were at least 10-20% “in the red!” The thing is, the more we make, the more we live in nicer housing, drive fancier newer cars, and get the newest latest Iphones. And then I would bring up “Christmas and birthday gifts” – where their money was spent on someone other than themselves! They thought about it and sure enough, deeper into the red they went. And then – here it comes, dear family – about this point I would say “Hey! What’s missing here?! I don’t see any almsgiving, no giving back to God for all He has given you. There is nothing here for Church and charity.”
Dear family, I wasn’t being mean. I only was pointing out the reality that pretty much all of us are infected with an avaricious “living large” mentality. We all live in the biggest barns that the banks will loan us the money to buy. We all tend to drive the best vehicles the lenders will loan us the money to buy. And we all tend to have decent cell phones, cable and internet. And pretty much none of us are going hungry when the CDC tells us: “During 2011–2014, the age-adjusted prevalence of obesity was 38.3% among women and 34.3% among men.”
Dear family, we all suffer from avarice. Whatever level our income might be, we long for more. And what’s even worse about all this, is that we even will blow off the 3rd Commandment so – really, how many times have we heard this? – “I’m working or putting in some overtime on Sunday.”
As to that last thing, working on Sundays, I also used to ask the high-schoolers if they would sell their soul to the devil for a million bucks. “Oh, NO, father,” they would say. I would up the ante to ten million dollars. “Oh, NO, father,” they would say. Finally I went all out – “would you sell your soul to the devil for a billion dollars?! You could have the house, the boat and the car, and still have 999 million to live off the interest!” “Oh, NO, father,” they all would say. At that point, I would tell them they were dead wrong – they would sell their souls to work on Sunday for minimum wage at Shopko or the IGA, all because they “needed” money for clothes, cells, car insurance or gas.
This analysis does not apply just to high-schoolers. It applies to all adults who – whether they realize it or not – suffer from a level of avarice that takes away not just from the amount of money they should be tithing, but also takes away from the most valuable time we are commanded to give back to God by actually keep the Lord’s Day holy.
Dear family, I’m not sure how to tell anyone to fix this problem. I cannot give specific advice for anyone, because the circumstances differ for each one of us. What I can say – is that each one of us, myself included, really needs to ask ourselves, are we giving back to God what is God’s? Or are we, because of the deadly sin of Avarice, keeping way too much for ourselves?
Prayer of Reparation
My Lord and my God,
We have allowed the temptation of the devil to move our hearts toward Avarice. We are greedy.
We recognize our Avarice in the many things we own – including all the stuff we bought with borrowed money.
At times we justify our Avarice so much that we do not see ourselves in the Gospel parables of the man who planned to tear down his barns.
At times we do not recognize in ourselves that we are the rich man who will have a harder time making it through the Gates of Heaven than a camel through the eye of a needle.
We immerse ourselves in so many temporal goods that we do not even recognize we are living large with what we want, which is way more than what we truly need.
We even justify leaving God out of our very budgets because we just cannot afford it!
So often we just do not recognize our Avarice.
We turn to You Lord, in our weakness, and beg Your forgiveness for our Avarice, and especially for all the times we have forfeited time with You for time to labor so we may indeed “live large.”
We love You, Lord, and we beg for the wisdom and strength to love You more.
We know, Lord, if You will it, it will be done.
Trusting in You, we offer our prayer to You who live and reign forever and ever.
Amen.
Prayer of Exorcism
Lord God of Heaven and Earth,
In Your power and goodness, You created all things.
You set a path for us to walk on and a way to an eternal relationship.
By the strength of Your arm and Word of Your mouth
Cast from Your Holy Church every fearful deceit of the Devil
Drive from us manifestations of the demonic that oppress us and beckon us to faithlessness and fear.
Still the lying tongue of the devil and his forces so that we may act freely and faithfully to Your will.
Send Your holy angels to cast out all influence that the demonic entities in charge of fear have planted in Your church.
Free us, our families, our parish, our diocese, and our country from all trickery and deceit perpetrated by the Devil and his hellish legions.
Trusting in Your goodness Lord,
We know if You will it, it will be done in unity with Your Son and the Holy Spirit, One God for ever and ever.
Amen.
Litany of St. Michael the Archangel
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy, etc.
God the Holy Ghost,
Holy Trinity, one God,
Holy Mary, Queen of the Angels, pray for us, etc.
St. Michael, the Archangel,
Most glorious attendant of the Triune Divinity,
Standing at the right of the altar of Incense,
Ambassador of Paradise,
Glorious Prince of the Heavenly armies,
Leader of the Angelic hosts,
The standard-bearer of God’s armies,
Defender of Divine glory,
First defender of the Kingship of Christ,
Strength of God,
Invincible Prince and warrior,
Angel of Peace,
Guide of Christ,
Guardian of the Catholic Faith,
Champion of God’s people,
Guardian Angel of the Eucharist,
Defender of the Church,
Protector of the Sovereign Pontiff,
Angel of Catholic action,
Powerful intercessor of Christians,
Bravest defender of those who hope in God,
Guardian of our souls and bodies,
Healer of the sick,
Help of those in their agony,
Consoler of the Souls in Purgatory,
God’s messenger for the souls of the just,
Terror of the evil spirits,
Victorious in battle against evil,
Guardian and Patron of the universal Church,
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
Pray for us, O glorious St. Michael,
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray.
Relying, O Lord, upon the intercession of Thy blessed Archangel Michael, we humbly beg of Thee, that the Sacrament of the Eucharist which we have received may make our souls holy and pleasing to Thee. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
To see the Goals, Methods and Levels of “Let Freedom Ring,” go HERE.
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