Sponsored Sections

Against Usury

"If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people, you shall not act like an extortioner toward him by demanding interest from him." (Ex. 22:24)

"Do not exact interest from your countryman either in money or in kind, but out of fear of God let him live with you. You are to lend him neither money at interest nor food at a profit." (Lev. 25:36-37)

"You shall not demand interest from your countrymen on a loan of money or of food or of anything else on which interest is usually demanded." (Deut. 23:20)

"LORD, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy mountain? Whoever walks without blame, doing what is right, speaking truth from the heart; Who does not slander a neighbor, does no harm to another, never defames a friend; Who disdains the wicked, but honors those who fear the LORD; Who keeps an oath despite the cost, lends no money at interest, accepts no bribe against the innocent. Whoever acts like this shall never be shaken." (Ps. 15:1-5)

"Christian minds should not think that gainful commerce can flourish by usuries or other similar injustices. On the contrary We learn from divine Revelation that justice raises up nations; sin, however, makes nations miserable." (Pope Benedict XIV, "Vix Pervenit", 1745 A.D.)

"That species of sin which is called usury, and which has its proper seat and place in a contract of lending, consists in this: that someone, from the loan itself, which of its very nature demands that only as much be returned as was received, wishes more to be returned to him than was received, and therefore contends that some profit beyond the principal, by reason of the lending, is due to him. Therefore, all profit of this sort, which surpasses the principal, is unlawful and is usurious." (Pope Benedict XIV, 1745 A.D.) 

Also See: Buying & Selling Justly | The Love of Money | Nothing Contrary to Virtue Goes Unpunished | What Does it Profit to Gain the World and Lose One's Soul | Financial / Monetary (Topical Scripture)

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Buying & Selling Justly

Click here for 'Reflections' related to this topic

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Cannot Serve God and Mammon

"No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." (Our Lord Jesus Christ, Mt. 6:24)

"No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." (Our Lord Jesus Christ, Lk. 16:13)

Also See: Against Usury | Buying & Selling Justly | Fraud in Commerce | God Will Provide / Attain For Yourself an Inexhaustible Treasure in Heaven | The Love of Money | Many Sin for the Sake of Profit | Nothing Contrary to Virtue Goes Unpunished | Those Immersed in Buying & Selling | Trading is Open to Many Vices | What Does it Profit to Gain the World and Lose One's Soul

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Clerics & Business

"Can. 1392 Clerics or religious who exercise a trade or business contrary to the prescripts of the canons are to be punished according to the gravity of the offence." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"[T]rading is open to so many vices, since 'a merchant is hardly free from sins of the lips' (Ecclesiasticus 26:28). There is also another reason, because trading engages the mind too much with worldly cares, and consequently withdraws it from spiritual cares; wherefore the Apostle says (2 Timothy 2:4): 'No man being a soldier to God entangleth himself with secular businesses.' Nevertheless it is lawful for clerics to engage in the first mentioned kind of exchange, which is directed to supply the necessaries of life, either by buying or by selling." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

Also See: Collections / Alms | Selling of Spiritual Things / Simony

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Collections / Alms

"Can. 1503 With due regard for the prescription of Canons 621-24, it is forbidden that private persons, whether clerics or laity, collect [donations] for any pious or ecclesiastical institute or purpose without the permission of the Apostolic See or of their Own ordinary and the Ordinary of the place [where the collection occurs], given in writing." (1917 Code of Canon Law)

"Can. 691 § 3 No association is allowed to collect alms, unless permitted by the statues or necessity suggests it, and then with the consent of the Ordinary and following the form prescribed by him. § 4 For the collection of alms outside of [its] territory, there is required the approval of each Ordinary, given in writing. § 5 The association shall give to the local Ordinary an accounting of the offerings and alms from the faithful." (1917 Code of Canon Law) 

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Commerce With Non-Catholics

"We are not strangers to life. We are fully aware of the gratitude we owe to God, our Lord and Creator. We reject none of the fruits of His handiwork; we only abstain from their immoderate or unlawful use. We are living in the world with you; we do not shun your forum, your markets, your baths, your shops, your factories, your stables, your places of business and traffic. We take shop with you and we serve in your armies; we are farmers and merchants with you; we interchange skilled labor and display our works in public for your service. How we can seem unprofitable to you with whom we live and of whom we are, I know not." (Tertullian)

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Economic Life

"Economic life must be inspired by Christian principles." (Pope Pius XI)

"Just as the unity of human society cannot be founded on an opposition of classes, so also the right ordering of economic life cannot be left to a free competition of forces. For from this source, as from a poisoned spring, have originated and spread all the errors of individualist economic teaching. Destroying through forgetfulness or ignorance the social and moral character of economic life, it held that economic life must be considered and treated as altogether free from and independent of public authority, because in the market, i.e., in the free struggle of competitors, it would have a principle of self direction which governs it much more perfectly than would the intervention of any created intellect. But free competition, while justified and certainly useful provided it is kept within certain limits, clearly cannot direct economic life - a truth which the outcome of the application in practice of the tenets of this evil individualistic spirit has more than sufficiently demonstrated. Therefore, it is most necessary that economic life be again subjected to and governed by a true and effective directing principle. This function is one that the economic dictatorship which has recently displaced free competition can still less perform, since it is a headstrong power and a violent energy that, to benefit people, needs to be strongly curbed and wisely ruled. This concentration of power and might, the characteristic mark, as it were, of contemporary economic life, is the fruit that the unlimited freedom of struggle among competitors has of its own nature produced, and which lets only the strongest survive; and this is often the same as saying, those who fight the most violently, those who give least heed to their conscience." (Pope Pius XI, "Quadragesimo Anno", 1931)

"Since the instability of economic life, and especially of its structure, exacts of those engaged in it most intense and unceasing effort, some have become so hardened to the stings of conscience as to hold that they are allowed, in any manner whatsoever, to increase their profits and use means, fair or foul, to protect their hard-won wealth against sudden changes of fortune. The easy gains that a market unrestricted by any law opens to everybody attracts large numbers to buying and selling goods, and they, their one aim being to make quick profits with the least expenditure of work, raise or lower prices by their uncontrolled business dealings so rapidly according to their own caprice and greed that they nullify the wisest forecasts of producers. The laws passed to promote corporate business, while dividing and limiting the risk of business, have given occasion to the most sordid license. For We observe that consciences are little affected by this reduced obligation of accountability; that furthermore, by hiding under the shelter of a joint name, the worst of injustices and frauds are penetrated; and that, too, directors of business companies, forgetful of their trust, betray the rights of those whose savings they have undertaken to administer. Lastly, We must not omit to mention those crafty men who, wholly unconcerned about any honest usefulness of their work, do not scruple to stimulate the baser human desires and, when they are aroused, use them for their own profit." (Pope Pius XI, "Quadragesimo Anno", 1931)

Also See: Buying & Selling Justly | Gainful Occupations | Making a Good Profit | Nothing Good Obtainable by Money | Temporal Goods | Testifying to Christ Through Secular Business | Those Immersed in Buying & Selling | Trading is Open to Many Vices

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Fraud in Commerce

"A merchant who holds a false balance, who loves to defraud! Though Ephraim says, 'How rich I have become; I have made a fortune!' All his gain shall not suffice him for the guilt of his sin." (Hosea 12:8-9)

"For in this world men live by buying and selling, and gain their support by defrauding each other." (Pseudo Chrys, as quoted by St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church)

"It is manifestly a rule of justice that a good man should not depart from the truth, nor inflict an unjust injury on anyone, nor have any connection with fraud." (St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church)

"In all contracts the defects of the salable commodity must be stated; and unless the seller make them known, although the buyer has already acquired a right to them, the contract is voided on account of the fraudulent action." (St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church)

"A threefold fault may be found pertaining to the thing which is sold. One, in respect of the thing's substance: and if the seller be aware of a fault in the thing he is selling, he is guilty of a fraudulent sale, so that the sale is rendered unlawful. Hence we find it written against certain people (Isaiah 1:22), 'Thy silver is turned into dross, thy wine is mingled with water': because that which is mixed is defective in its substance. Another defect is in respect of quantity which is known by being measured: wherefore if anyone knowingly make use of a faulty measure in selling, he is guilty of fraud, and the sale is illicit. Hence it is written (Deuteronomy 25:13,14): 'Thou shalt not have divers weights in thy bag, a greater and a less: neither shall there be in thy house a greater bushel and a less,' and further on (Deuteronomy 25:16): 'For the Lord... abhorreth him that doth these things, and He hateth all injustice.' A third defect is on the part of the quality, for instance, if a man sell an unhealthy animal as being a healthy one: and if anyone do this knowingly he is guilty of a fraudulent sale, and the sale, in consequence, is illicit. In all these cases not only is the man guilty of a fraudulent sale, but he is also bound to restitution. But if any of the foregoing defects be in the thing sold, and he knows nothing about this, the seller does not sin... Nevertheless he is bound to compensate the buyer, when the defect comes to his knowledge. Moreover what has been said of the seller applies equally to the buyer. For sometimes it happens that the seller thinks his goods to be specifically of lower value, as when a man sells gold instead of copper, and then if the buyer be aware of this, he buys it unjustly and is bound to restitution: and the same applies to a defect in quantity as to a defect in quality." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

Also See: Buying & Selling Justly | The Love of Money | Making a Good Profit | Many Sin for the Sake of Profit | Nothing Contrary to Virtue Goes Unpunished | Selling of Spiritual Things / Simony | Testifying to Christ Through Secular Business | Those Immersed in Buying & Selling | Those Making or Spending Counterfeit Money | Trading is Open to Many Vices | What Does it Profit to Gain the World and Lose One's Soul | Financial / Monetary (Topical Scripture)

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Gainful Occupations

"Gainful occupations are not a mark of shame to man, but rather of respect, as they provide him with an honorable means of supporting life. It is shameful and inhuman, however, to use men as things for gain and to put no more value on them than what they are worth in muscle and energy. Likewise it is enjoined that the religious interests and spiritual well-being of the workers receive proper consideration." (Pope Leo XIII)

"[I]t is the business of a well-constituted body politic to see to the provision of those material and external helps 'the use of which is necessary to virtuous action.' Now, for the provision of such commodities, the labor of the working class - the exercise of their skill, and the employment of their strength, in the cultivation of the land, and in the workshops of trade - is especially responsible and quite indispensable. Indeed, their cooperation is in this respect so important that it may be truly said that it is only by the labor of working men that States grow rich." (Pope Leo XIII, "Rerum Novarum", 1891)

"To defraud anyone of the wage due him is a great crime that calls down avenging wrath from Heaven." (Pope Leo XIII, "Rerum Novarum", 1891)

"Of this life and virtue Christ our Lord and Master is the source and dispenser. By His example He is at the same time the universal model accessible to all, especially to the young in the period of His hidden life, a life of labor and obedience, adorned with all virtues, personal, domestic and social, before God and men." (Pope Pius XI, "Divini Illius Magistri", 1929)

"In the case of an art directed to the production of goods which men cannot use without sin, it follows that the workmen sin in making such things, as directly affording others an occasion of sin; for instance, if a man were to make idols or anything pertaining to idolatrous worship. But in the case of an art the products of which may be employed by man either for a good or for an evil use, such as swords, arrows, and the like, the practice of such an art is not sinful. These alone should be called arts; wherefore Chrysostom says (Hom. 49 super Matthaeum): 'The name of art should be applied to those only which contribute towards and produce necessaries and mainstays of life.' In the case of an art that produces things which for the most part some people put to an evil use, although such arts are not unlawful in themselves, nevertheless, according to the teaching of Plato, they should be extirpated from the State by the governing authority." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

Also See: Economic Life | God Will Provide / Attain For Yourself an Inexhaustible Treasure in Heaven | The Love of Money | A Man Unwilling to Work Should Not Partake | Nothing Contrary to Virtue Goes Unpunished | Nothing Good Obtainable by Money | Temporal Goods | Testifying to Christ Through Secular Business | What Does it Profit to Gain the World and Lose One's Soul

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

God Will Provide / Attain For Yourself an Inexhaustible Treasure in Heaven

"[Jesus] said to (his) disciples, 'Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life and what you will eat, or about your body and what you will wear. For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. Notice the ravens: they do not sow or reap; they have neither storehouse nor barn, yet God feeds them. How much more important are you than birds! Can any of you by worrying add a moment to your lifespan? If even the smallest things are beyond your control, why are you anxious about the rest? Notice how the flowers grow. They do not toil or spin. But I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass in the field that grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? As for you, do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not worry anymore. All the nations of the world seek for these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these other things will be given you besides. Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.'" (Lk. 12:22-34)

Also See: Cannot Serve God and Mammon | Economic Life | Gainful Occupations | The Love of Money | A Man Unwilling to Work Should Not Partake | Nothing Contrary to Virtue Goes Unpunished | Nothing Good Obtainable by Money | Temporal Goods | Testifying to Christ Through Secular Business | Those Immersed in Buying & Selling | What Does it Profit to Gain the World and Lose One's Soul

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Importance of Advertising / Problems with Advertising

"The importance of advertising is steadily on the increase in modern society. It make its presence felt everywhere; its influence is unavoidable. It offers real social benefits. It tells buyers of the goods and services available. It thus encourages the widest distribution of products and, in doing this, it helps industry to develop and benefit the population. All this is to the good so long as there is respect for the buyer's liberty of choice, even though in trying to sell some particular objects appeal is made to a person's basic need. Advertising too must respect the truth, taking into account accepted advertising conventions. If harmful or utterly useless goods are touted to the public, if false assertions are made about the goods for sale, if less admirable human tendencies are exploited, those responsible for such advertising harm society and forfeit their good name and credibility. More than this, unremitting pressure to buy articles of luxury can arouse false wants that hurt both individuals and families by making them ignore what they really need. And those forms of advertising which, without shame, exploit the sexual instincts simply to make money or which seek to penetrate into the subconscious recesses of the mind in a way that threatens the freedom of the individual, those forms of advertising must be shunned. It is therefore desirable that advertisers make definite rules for themselves lest their sales methods affront human dignity or harm the community." (Pope Paul VI)

"In fact the vast sums of money spent in advertising threaten the very foundations of the mass media. People can get the impression that the instruments of communication exist solely to stimulate men's appetites so that these can be satisfied later by the acquisition of the things that have been advertised. Moreover, because of economic demands and pressure, the essential freedom of the media is at stake. Since advertising revenue is vital for these media only those can ultimately survive which receive the greatest share of advertising outlays. Consequently, the door is open for monopolies to develop in the media which may impede the right to receive and give information and inhibit the exchange of views within the community. A variety of independent means of social communication must therefore be carefully safeguarded even if this requires legislative action. This will ensure that there is an equitable distribution of advertising revenue among the most deserving media of communication and prevent the lion's share from going to those that are already the most powerful." (Pope Paul VI) 

Also See: Buying & Selling Justly | Fraud in Commerce | The Love of Money | Making a Good Profit | Nothing Contrary to Virtue Goes Unpunished | Nothing Good Obtainable by Money | Selling of Spiritual Things / Simony | Temporal Goods | Testifying to Christ Through Secular Business | Those Immersed in Buying & Selling | What Does it Profit to Gain the World and Lose One's Soul

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Investing

"Therefore, if they desire to invest their money, let them exercise diligent care lest they be snatched by cupidity, the source of all evil; to this end, let them be guided by those who excel in doctrine and the glory of virtue." (Pope Benedict XIV, "Vix Pervenit", 1745)

Also See: Against Usury | Cannot Serve God and Mammon

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

The Love of Money

"Let your life be free from love of money but be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never forsake you or abandon you.'" (St. Paul, Heb. 13:5)

"For we brought nothing into the world, just as we shall not be able to take anything out of it. If we have food and clothing, we shall be content with that. Those who want to be rich are falling into temptation and into a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains." (St. Paul, 1 Tm. 6:7-10)

Also See: Cannot Serve God and Mammon | Fraud in Commerce | God Will Provide / Attain For Yourself an Inexhaustible Treasure in Heaven | Nothing Good Obtainable by Money | Temporal Goods | Trading is Open to Many Vices | What Does it Profit to Gain the World and Lose One's Soul | Financial / Monetary (Topical Scripture)

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Making a Good Profit

"If you want to make a good profit, know how to lose." (Br. Giles)

Also See: Buying & Selling Justly

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

A Man Unwilling to Work Should Not Partake

"For you know how one must imitate us. For we did not act in a disorderly way among you, nor did we eat food received free from anyone. On the contrary, in toil and drudgery, night and day we worked, so as not to burden any of you. Not that we do not have the right. Rather, we wanted to present ourselves as a model for you, so that you might imitate us. In fact, when we were with you, we instructed you that if any man was unwilling to work, neither should that man eat." (St. Paul, 2 Thes. 3:7-10)

Also See: Gainful Occupations

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Many Sin for the Sake of Profit

Also See: Sin (Topic Page)

"For the sake of profit many sin, and the struggle for wealth blinds the eyes." (Sirach 27:1)

Also See: Against Usury | Buying & Selling Justly | Cannot Serve God and Mammon | Fraud in Commerce | The Love of Money | Making a Good Profit | Nothing Contrary to Virtue Goes Unpunished | Selling of Spiritual Things / Simony | Testifying to Christ Through Secular Business | Those Immersed in Buying & Selling | Those Making or Spending Counterfeit Money | Trading is Open to Many Vices | What Does it Profit to Gain the World and Lose One's Soul

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Nothing Contrary to Virtue Goes Unpunished

"[T]he Divine law leaves nothing unpunished that is contrary to virtue" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

Also See: Buying & Selling Justly | Fraud in Commerce | The Love of Money | Many Sin for the Sake of Profit | Selling of Spiritual Things / Simony | Testifying to Christ Through Secular Business | Those Immersed in Buying & Selling | Those Making or Spending Counterfeit Money | Trading is Open to Many Vices | What Does it Profit to Gain the World and Lose One's Soul

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Nothing Good Obtainable by Money

"Nothing that is God's is obtainable by money." (Tertullian)

Also See: Cannot Serve God and Mammon | God Will Provide / Attain For Yourself an Inexhaustible Treasure in Heaven | The Love of Money | Temporal Goods

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Selling of Spiritual Things / Simony

"A man named Simon used to practice magic in the city and astounded the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great. All of them, from the least to the greatest, paid attention to him, saying, 'This man is the 'Power of God' that is called 'Great.'' They paid attention to him because he had astounded them by his magic for a long time, but once they began to believe Philip as he preached the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, men and women alike were baptized. Even Simon himself believed and, after being baptized, became devoted to Philip; and when he saw the signs and mighty deeds that were occurring, he was astounded. Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who went down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for it had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. When Simon saw that the Spirit was conferred by the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money and said, 'Give me this power too, so that anyone upon whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.' But Peter said to him, 'May your money perish with you, because you thought that you could buy the gift of God with money. You have no share or lot in this matter, for your heart is not upright before God. Repent of this wickedness of yours and pray to the Lord that, if possible, your intention may be forgiven. For I see that you are filled with bitter gall and are in the bonds of iniquity.' Simon said in reply, 'Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.'" (Acts 8:9-24)

"Now a spiritual thing is undue matter for buying and selling for three reasons. First, because a spiritual thing cannot be appraised at any earthly price, even as it is said concerning wisdom (Proverbs 3:15), 'she is more precious than all riches, and all things that are desired, are not to be compared with her': and for this reason Peter, in condemning the wickedness of Simon in its very source, said (Acts 8:20): 'Keep thy money to thyself to perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.' Secondly, because a thing cannot be due matter for sale if the vendor is not the owner thereof... Now ecclesiastical superiors are not owners, but dispensers of spiritual things, according to 1 Corinthians 4:1, 'Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ, and the dispensers of the ministers of God.' Thirdly, because sale is opposed to the source of spiritual things, since they flow from the gratuitous will of God. Wherefore Our Lord said (Matthew 10:8): 'Freely have you received, freely give.' Therefore by buying or selling a spiritual thing, a man treats God and divine things with irreverence, and consequently commits a sin of irreligion." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"Can. 827 From any kind of Mass stipend every hint of business or commercialism should be avoided." (1917 Code of Canon Law)

"Just as religion consists in a kind of protestation of faith, without, sometimes, faith being in one's heart, so too the vices opposed to religion include a certain protestation of unbelief without, sometimes, unbelief being in the mind. Accordingly simony is said to be a 'heresy,' as regards the outward protestation, since by selling a gift of the Holy Ghost a man declares, in a way, that he is the owner of a spiritual gift; and this is heretical." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

Also See: Many Sin for the Sake of Profit | Nothing Contrary to Virtue Goes Unpunished | Trading is Open to Many Vices | What Does it Profit to Gain the World and Lose One's Soul

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Temporal Goods

"[Jesus] said to (his) disciples, 'Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life and what you will eat, or about your body and what you will wear. For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. Notice the ravens: they do not sow or reap; they have neither storehouse nor barn, yet God feeds them. How much more important are you than birds! Can any of you by worrying add a moment to your lifespan? If even the smallest things are beyond your control, why are you anxious about the rest? Notice how the flowers grow. They do not toil or spin. But I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass in the field that grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? As for you, do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not worry anymore. All the nations of the world seek for these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these other things will be given you besides. Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.'" (Lk. 12:22-34)

"We should seek temporal things not in the first but in the second place. Hence [St.] Augustine says (De Sermone Domini in Monte ii,16): 'When He says that this' (i.e. the kingdom of God) 'is to be sought first, He implies that the other' (i.e. temporal goods) 'is to be sought afterwards, not in time but in importance, this as being our good, the other as our need.'" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"Not all solicitude about temporal things is forbidden, but that which is superfluous and inordinate" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"When our mind is intent on temporal things in order that it may rest in them, it remains immersed therein; but when it is intent on them in relation to the acquisition of beatitude, it is not lowered by them, but raises them to a higher level." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"[I]t is not unbecoming for anyone to desire enough for a livelihood, and no more; for this sufficiency is desired, not for its own sake, but for the welfare of the body, or that we should desire to be clothed in a way befitting one's station, so as not to be out of keeping with those among whom we have to live. Accordingly we ought to pray that we may keep these things if we have them, and if we have them not, that we may gain possession of them." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church)

Also See: Buying & Selling Justly | Cannot Serve God and Mammon | Economic Life | Gainful Occupations | The Love of Money | Nothing Contrary to Virtue Goes Unpunished | Nothing Good Obtainable by Money | Those Immersed in Buying & Selling | Trading is Open to Many Vices | What Does it Profit to Gain the World and Lose One's Soul

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Testifying to Christ Through Secular Business

"Can. 225 §1 Since lay people, like all Christ's faithful, are deputed to the apostolate by baptism and confirmation, they are bound by the general obligation and they have the right, whether as individuals or in associations, to strive so that the divine message of salvation may be known and accepted by all people throughout the world. This obligation is all the more insistent in circumstances in which only through them are people able to hear the Gospel and to know Christ. §2 They have also, according to the condition of each, the special obligation to permeate and perfect the temporal order of things with the spirit of the Gospel. In this way, particularly in conducting secular business and exercising secular functions, they are to give witness to Christ." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

Also See: Buying & Selling Justly | Commerce With Non-Catholics | Economic Life | Making a Good Profit

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Those Immersed in Buying & Selling

"Whoever among a Christian people spend their time in nothing else but buying and selling, continuing but little in prayers or in other right actions, these are the buyers and sellers in the Temple of God." [Origen ("the greatest scholar of Christian antiquity" - although he would eventually be excommunicated and be regarded as a heretic), 3rd century A.D.]

"We are most desirous that you do all in your power to call back the faithful to their duty of practicing the obligations and virtues proper to each one's state in life, since even in our own times the number is very large who never think of eternity and who neglect almost totally the salvation of their souls. Some are so immersed in business that they think of nothing but accumulating riches and, by consequences, the spiritual life ceases to exist for them. Others give themselves up entirely to the satisfaction of their passions and thus fall so low that they, with difficulty if at all, are able to appreciate anything which transcends the life of sense." (Pope Pius XI, "Rerum Omnium Perturbationem", 1923)

Also See: Cannot Serve God and Mammon | God Will Provide / Attain For Yourself an Inexhaustible Treasure in Heaven | The Love of Money | Many Sin for the Sake of Profit | Nothing Contrary to Virtue Goes Unpunished | Nothing Good Obtainable by Money | Temporal Goods | Testifying to Christ Through Secular Business | Trading is Open to Many Vices | What Does it Profit to Gain the World and Lose One's Soul

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Those Making or Spending Counterfeit Money

"Whoever knowingly makes or intentionally spends counterfeit money shall be separated from the communion of the faithful as one accursed, an oppressor of the poor and a disturber of the state." (Canon 13, First Lateran Council)

Also See: Fraud in Commerce | Many Sin for the Sake of Profit | Nothing Contrary to Virtue Goes Unpunished | Nothing Good Obtainable by Money | Trading is Open to Many Vices | What Does it Profit to Gain the World and Lose One's Soul

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Trading is Open to Many Vices

"[T]rading is open to so many vices, since 'a merchant is hardly free from sins of the lips' (Ecclesiasticus 26:28). There is also another reason, because trading engages the mind too much with worldly cares, and consequently withdraws it from spiritual cares; wherefore the Apostle says (2 Timothy 2:4): 'No man being a soldier to God entangleth himself with secular businesses.'" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

Also See: Buying & Selling Justly | Cannot Serve God and Mammon | Fraud in Commerce | The Love of Money | Many Sin for the Sake of Profit | Nothing Contrary to Virtue Goes Unpunished | Nothing Good Obtainable by Money | Those Immersed in Buying & Selling | Those Making or Spending Counterfeit Money | What Does it Profit to Gain the World and Lose One's Soul | Financial / Monetary (Topical Scripture)

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Traditional Obligations of Catholic Booksellers 

Note: Items are right are not an exhaustive list of all traditional obligations of Catholic booksellers.

"Can. 1404 Booksellers shall not sell, exchange, or stock books that by design treat of obscenities; nor shall they have other prohibited [books] for sale unless they have sought the required permission from the Apostolic See, nor will they sell them unless they prudently believe that they are being approached by a legitimate [e.g. authorized] buyer." (1917 Code of Canon Law)

"Should a Bishop, therefore, after having taken the advice of prudent persons, deem it right to condemn any of such books in his diocese, We not only give him ample faculty to do so but We impose it upon him as a duty to do so. Of course, it is Our wish that in such action proper regard be used, and sometimes it will suffice to restrict the prohibition to the clergy; but even in such cases it will be obligatory on Catholic booksellers not to put on sale books condemned by the Bishop." (Pope St. Pius X, "Pascendi Dominici Gregis", 1907) 

"And while We are on this subject of booksellers, We wish the Bishops to see to it that they do not, through desire for gain, put on sale unsound books. It is certain that in the catalogues of some of them the books of the Modernists are not infrequently announced with no small praise. If they refuse obedience let the Bishops have no hesitation in depriving them of the title of Catholic booksellers; so too, and with more reason, if they have the title of Episcopal booksellers, and if they have that of Pontifical, let them be denounced to the Apostolic See." (Pope St. Pius X, "Pascendi Dominici Gregis", 1907)

Also See: Buying & Selling Justly

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

What Does it Profit to Gain the World and Lose One's Soul

"What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul? Or what can one give in exchange for his soul?" (Our Lord Jesus Christ, Mt. 16:26)

"What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul?" (Our Lord Jesus Christ, Mk. 8:36)

Also See: Against Usury | Buying & Selling Justly | Cannot Serve God and Mammon | Fraud in Commerce | The Love of Money | Making a Good Profit | Many Sin for the Sake of Profit | Nothing Contrary to Virtue Goes Unpunished | Nothing Good Obtainable by Money | Selling of Spiritual Things / Simony | Those Immersed in Buying & Selling | Those Making or Spending Counterfeit Money | Trading is Open to Many Vices

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help

Misc.

"Not only through her ministers but with the help of the faithful individually, who have imbibed in this fashion the spirit of Christ, the Church endeavors to permeate with this same spirit the life and labors of men - their private and family life, their social, even economic and political life..." (Pope Pius XII, "Mediator Dei", 1947) 

"Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we shall go into such and such a town, spend a year there doing business, and make a profit' - you have no idea what your life will be like tomorrow. You are a puff of smoke that appears briefly and then disappears. Instead you should say, 'If the Lord wills it, we shall live to do this or that.'" (St. James, Jms. 4:13-15)

"The investment of rather large incomes so that opportunities for gainful employment may abound, provided that this work is applied to the production of truly useful products, we gather from a study of the principles of the Angelic Doctor, is to be considered a noble deed of magnificent virtue, and especially suited to the needs of the time." (Pope Pius XI, "Quadragesimo Anno", 1931 A.D.)

"In these studies the Church is not in opposition if the mind discovers something new; she does not object to further investigations being made for the refinements and comforts of life; rather, as an enemy of indolence and sloth she wishes especially that the talents of man bear rich fruits by exercise and cultivation; she furnishes incentives to all kinds of arts and works; and by directing through her influence all zeal for such things towards virtue and salvation, she struggles to prevent man from being turned away from God and heavenly blessings by his intelligence and industry." (Pope Leo XIII, "Immortale Dei", 1885 A.D.)

"Those who are engaged in producing goods, therefore, are not forbidden to increase their fortune in a just and lawful manner; for it is only fair that he who renders service to the community and makes it richer should also, through the increased wealth of the community, be made richer himself according to his position, provided that all these things be sought with due respect for the laws of God and without impairing the rights of others and that they be employed in accordance with faith and right reason. If these principles are observed by everyone, everywhere, and always, not only the production and acquisition of goods but also the use of wealth, which now is seen to be so often contrary to right order, will be brought back soon within the bounds of equity and just distribution. The sordid love of wealth, which is the shame and great sin of our age, will be opposed in actual fact by the gentle yet effective law of Christian moderation which commands man to seek first the Kingdom of God and His justice, with the assurance that, by virtue of God's kindness and unfailing promise, temporal goods also, in so far as he has need of them, shall be given him besides." (Pope Pius XI, "Quadragesimo Anno", 1931)

"A tradesman is one whose business consists in the exchange of things. According to the Philosopher (Politica i,3), exchange of things is twofold; one, natural as it were, and necessary, whereby one commodity is exchanged for another, or money taken in exchange for a commodity, in order to satisfy the needs of life. Such like trading, properly speaking, does not belong to tradesmen, but rather to housekeepers or civil servants who have to provide the household or the state with the necessaries of life. The other kind of exchange is either that of money for money, or of any commodity for money, not on account of the necessities of life, but for profit, and this kind of exchange, properly speaking, regards tradesmen, according to the Philosopher (Politica i,3). The former kind of exchange is commendable because it supplies a natural need: but the latter is justly deserving of blame, because, considered in itself, it satisfies the greed for gain, which knows no limit and tends to infinity. Hence trading, considered in itself, has a certain debasement attaching thereto, in so far as, by its very nature, it does not imply a virtuous or necessary end. Nevertheless gain which is the end of trading, though not implying, by its nature, anything virtuous or necessary, does not, in itself, connote anything sinful or contrary to virtue: wherefore nothing prevents gain from being directed to some necessary or even virtuous end, and thus trading becomes lawful. Thus, for instance, a man may intend the moderate gain which he seeks to acquire by trading for the upkeep of his household, or for the assistance of the needy: or again, a man may take to trade for some public advantage, for instance, lest his country lack the necessaries of life, and seek gain, not as an end, but as payment for his labor." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church") 

Also See: Financial / Monetary (Topical Scripture)

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Catg. | Scripture: A-Z | Catg. | Help