Poverty - Properity - St. John Vianney

 On this feast of St. John Vianney, I realize how much discerning I've been doing concerning poverty and prosperity. 

What does the Bible teaches, how did Christ live, how did various saints live, how does the Church calls us to live?

I wonder about humble priest and little country towns. 

And I wonder where have they gone?

Of course they are still out there.

I live in one such small country parish and our priests are very humble and do not live an upscale life at all.

The rectory in which they live is as old as the wedding bands on my parent's hands.

Our priests live modestly, reverently, respectfully, and prudentially.

Yet elsewhere I see the thickness of money spent while it could be used better elsewhere. There is so much suffering and want in the world. I feel the burden of poverty and the demand for entitlement without knowing it myself. 

Everyone, whether rich or poor, feels entitled to more. More of what?

It's a disturbance without God's presence.

There is something that I cannot put my finger on but it sits like an ulcer upon our world, our churches, our families.

And today I'm looking to St. John Vianney to show me how to live.