Do you live in luxury? If so, what are your luxuries?

[punisherthunder]

Well, Catholics don’t believe that any of those things makes one rich.
I’m happily married, no fancy stuff except for the grand piano my father bought me 40 years ago.
I feel pretty good. God is good.

What do you mean “Catholics don’t believe any of those makes one rich”?

Are you saying that richness comes from something else? Or what I named is pretty average things to own or have?

 

[pianistclare]

What do you mean “Catholics don’t believe any of those makes one rich”?

Are you saying that richness comes from something else? Or what I named is pretty average things to own or have?

We speak of richness in faith. Richness in love. Rich in knowledge and wisdom.
Not things that you buy. As my pastor once said, there’s never been a U-haul behind a hearse at any funeral he’s celebrated.

We can have plenty of material things, but that doesn’t imply that we are rich or that we own riches. The pearl of great price is our salvation. That was last weeks Gospel. Remember it?

The Church doesn’t condemn the wealthy of course.
To whom much is given much will be expected.

 

[mommy_k]

We speak of richness in faith. Richness in love. Rich in knowledge and wisdom.
Not things that you buy. As my pastor once said, there’s never been a U-haul behind a hearse at any funeral he’s celebrated.

We can have plenty of material things, but that doesn’t imply that we are rich or that we own riches. The pearl of great price is our salvation. That was last weeks Gospel. Remember it?

The Church doesn’t condemn the wealthy of course.
To whom much is given much will be expected.

Beautifully stated.:yup:

 

[DarkLight]

After a certain point money doesn’t make people any happier.

Of course, I’ve noticed that it’s rarely people near that point who are told that money can’t buy happiness…

 

[pensmama87]

After a certain point money doesn’t make people any happier.

Of course, I’ve noticed that it’s rarely people near that point who are told that money can’t buy happiness…

Yeah.

When my husband got a new job, after years of looking, you bet I started sleeping a lot better at night. I’m glad I learned what I learned and I did lean on God a lot. That’s not bad. But the sheer stress of it was terrifying.

 

[Rose71]

I suspect DH and I are happy because we don’t compare our lives with anyone else’s.

The people I know who carp about their lot are the people who always have evidence to hand about how other people earn more, or own more. I tend to think that I’m only 1 generation removed from poverty and eating 3 meals a day and having a warm house with plumbing is wonderful.

My luxuries come from TK Maxx - I love spotting bargains! I also love setting my own agenda as to what’s desirable and buying lots of second hand furniture because I like it.

Other luxuries come from things we make ourselves, like sloe gin, blackcurrant vodka and food we have grown, or been given by friends who have the same approach to life. In theory, my good friend who earns more than twice as much as DH and I combined has a better lifestyle, but in reality, she’s trapped by a huge mortgage, HP on the ‘right’ kind of car and is so time-poor with her career, she has to pay for so much that we take for granted will be done in-house because we can!

 

[punisherthunder]

I suspect DH and I are happy because we don’t compare our lives with anyone else’s.

The people I know who carp about their lot are the people who always have evidence to hand about how other people earn more, or own more. I tend to think that I’m only 1 generation removed from poverty and eating 3 meals a day and having a warm house with plumbing is wonderful.

My luxuries come from TK Maxx - I love spotting bargains! I also love setting my own agenda as to what’s desirable and buying lots of second hand furniture because I like it.

Other luxuries come from things we make ourselves, like sloe gin, blackcurrant vodka and food we have grown, or been given by friends who have the same approach to life. In theory, my good friend who earns more than twice as much as DH and I combined has a better lifestyle, but in reality, she’s trapped by a huge mortgage, HP on the ‘right’ kind of car and is so time-poor with her career, she has to pay for so much that we take for granted will be done in-house because we can!

I understand making some things ourselves. I’m a fan of doing this with certain cooking ingredients, spices and herbs namely. I grow them, dry them out and then ground it all up with a mortar and pestle. A small luxury to some, but it is still simple. Now only if my wife could sew her own fox fur coats we would be good

 

[DarkLight]

Yeah.

When my husband got a new job, after years of looking, you bet I started sleeping a lot better at night. I’m glad I learned what I learned and I did lean on God a lot. That’s not bad. But the sheer stress of it was terrifying.

No kidding. My living expenses math is a little tight right now. Money isn’t everything, but getting rid of those student loans, having enough to put a nice bit away for retirement, maybe pay for computer classes, would sure make me happier.

 

[Crown_of_Stars]

I personally do not have “luxuries.” I have what I need; food, water, shelter, a bed to sleep in. These would be luxuries to more than half the world’s population. Peace.

Same for me. I don’t need a lot. I have a little house that could be called tiny, I suppose, but it’s nice, clean, on a quiet residential street, and that’s plenty for me. I would say I live reasonably comfortably, and I don’t seek unnecessary luxury. I’m a single forty-four-year-old woman, I’m not involved with a man, aren’t really looking to be, and I don’t have a “career”, I just work in a library, and it’s good enough for me. My so-called luxuries are a long bath in the evening, a cup of tea, and/ or something chocolate. I know, boring. But I’m happy. And you’re right that these things are luxuries to those in poorer countries. It makes me all the more grateful for what “little” I might have, and all the less greedy for what “more” I could have.

 

[Irishmom2]

Crown of Stars, that sounds like a pretty nice life if you ask me.

 

[Crown_of_Stars]

Crown of Stars, that sounds like a pretty nice life if you ask me.

Thankyou, IrishMom! And it is!

 

[ToeInTheWater]

Same for me. I don’t need a lot. I have a little house that could be called tiny, I suppose, but it’s nice, clean, on a quiet residential street, and that’s plenty for me. I would say I live reasonably comfortably, and I don’t seek unnecessary luxury. I’m a single forty-four-year-old woman, I’m not involved with a man, aren’t really looking to be, and I don’t have a “career”, I just work in a library, and it’s good enough for me. My so-called luxuries are a long bath in the evening, a cup of tea, and/ or something chocolate. I know, boring. But I’m happy. And you’re right that these things are luxuries to those in poorer countries. It makes me all the more grateful for what “little” I might have, and all the less greedy for what “more” I could have.

Hmm, other than the library job (though I did love to go to libraries as a kid), your current state is close to where I may be in about 10 years, God willing. I am also not looking for a man right now, though certainly I am open to being convinced otherwise in the meantime.

 

[Book_Worm]

I’ve been musing on this post for several days. We’ve always lived beneath our means, were able to send our daughter to the college of her choice without loans. Now we’re able to travel a little, but live in a small house and always buy used cars.

However, I just heard that a woman I know (who is quite wealthy, multiple beautiful house, gorgeous clothes, etc.,) lost her darling grandson today. He would have been six the end of this month and has been battling cancer since he was two.

I realized that I have been blessed with the greatest luxury–good health for myself and those I love.

 

[Bluebright]

I have what I need. I wouldn’t call it luxury no, but it’s what I need. Then again, to a homeless person it would seem like luxury. My home isn’t specifically luxurious I have a bed and a chair and my room is warm and dry. I often feel blessed when I walk home at night that I am safe, I grew up in a place where it wasn’t so, so I am aware of that as I walk home. The city I am in has a great bus service and I am blessed with a bus pass so I can go almost anywhere fairly easily, which is a luxury to my mind as I can’t drive any more. Recently I stayed with family and the buses were only hourly and miles from where I was, I felt so isolated. My city has so many Catholic churches I am spoilt for choice, I walk to my favourite in 12 mins. That’s a luxury, where I last lived it was a 45min walk or somewhat dodgy hourly bus. So while I don’t live in luxury, I make use of the luxuries around me and I have what I need and yes, I feel blessed.

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

This may wind up being a very short topic, but I have noticed that many discussions about feminism, ABC, NFP, etc. involve some posters assuming the average “cafeteria” Catholic is a selfish materialist, who lives, or at least aspires to live, a “luxurious” lifestyle with yearly vacations, a McMansion, a car for everyone over the age of 16, a giant flat screen TV in every room, closets full of clothes and shoes, etc.

And that either this lifestyle itself, or the sins committed to achieve this lifestyle (whether that be ABC, “NFP with a contraceptive mindset”, both parents working, etc.) that is somehow against Catholic teaching. (I also realize there is much debate as to whether these are sins in the first place).

Many on CAF seem to long for the “good ol’ days” where the majority of Catholics had at least 7 children, lived in tiny houses and had all the boys bunk in one room and all the girls bunk in another, or perhaps lived in a one room cabin with no running water or electricity, sent all the kids to Catholic school, and in general were much holier and devout than is the case now.

Well, I am not Catholic, and am a single woman, not using ABC as I have no need to prevent pregnancy as I am not engaging in acts that could cause it. I could afford to buy a house but I am still renting as I am reluctant to commit to buying and therefore commit to living in a certain location for at least 4-5 years to make that investment justifiable. I very rarely eat out. I go on vacation once a year and spend about $1500 on it, if that. I liked Whole Foods when I was younger but decided I’d rather risk a 0.05% increased risk of cancer from conventional groceries than spend so much money there. (Though I do go to farmers markets and some stalls sell organic produce.)

I have a 36 inch flat screen TV, in the living room, I have an all inclusive cable TV/Net/Phone package that costs a little above $100, I also have 2 cell phones, one cost about $100/month, the other is a Tracfone that is my back up phone, I rarely use it, and I “top off” with $50 every 3 months, so $200 a year.

My furniture is very cheap, either IKEA or equivalent, plus some “vintage” goods I sourced from eBay, my own parents, and various garage sales. Oh, and HomeGoods as well.

I have owned the same car for the last 10 years.

I do not think I live in luxury, I have a lot of money saved and I do think that if I ever marry and have children I might cut back my work hours, as I fortunately work in a field where that is quite feasible. Maybe my only luxury is buying cosmetics at Sephora instead of a drugstore, though I also use eBay a lot to buy the same cosmetics at 50% off or more.

But perhaps I am a deluded modernist woman corrupted by feminism, who should just quit her job so a man can take it to support his family, and move back in with my parents until I am married? I do send them money every month and visit them about every other week. I do not think living with them is an option for me as my father used to be very verbally and emotionally abusive, though he has mellowed with the years.

I personally doubt the “Christian patriarchy” model of women being “perpetual minors” who should NEVER be independent of a man, and should go directly from her father’s “mantle of protection” to a husbands, and rely on either an adult son or brother to support her in her old age if she is widowed, to be at all Catholic. But some Traditionalists seem to see such a model as ideal and God-ordained.

Nope, I live in sweltering luxury, with more than one fork and chairs and everything.

 

[EIF5A]

I have enough food, clothing, housing, job, and decent health.

I work next to a hospital with a chapel and a Tabernacle, affording me the luxury of visiting the Tabernacle every day conveniently on the way home. (Granted, I think I babble on more than pray.)

There’s also a church two blocks from my work so I can attend weekday Mass during lunch break.

 

[petra22]

I have enough food, clothing, housing, job, and decent health.

I work next to a hospital with a chapel and a Tabernacle, affording me the luxury of visiting the Tabernacle every day conveniently on the way home. (Granted, I think I babble on more than pray.)

There’s also a church two blocks from my work so I can attend weekday Mass during lunch break.

How blessed and what luxury you live in. I’m jealous (but not in a sinful way!)
I would love to live that close to a church or chapel and a Tabernacle… and do what you do, visit EVERY DAY!

 

[Sarcelle]

Same for me. I don’t need a lot. I have a little house that could be called tiny, I suppose, but it’s nice, clean, on a quiet residential street, and that’s plenty for me. I would say I live reasonably comfortably, and I don’t seek unnecessary luxury. I’m a single forty-four-year-old woman, I’m not involved with a man, aren’t really looking to be, and I don’t have a “career”, I just work in a library, and it’s good enough for me. My so-called luxuries are a long bath in the evening, a cup of tea, and/ or something chocolate. I know, boring. But I’m happy. And you’re right that these things are luxuries to those in poorer countries. It makes me all the more grateful for what “little” I might have, and all the less greedy for what “more” I could have.

I have the same luxuries you have, a small house with indoor plumbing in a safe neighborhood, clean safe water out of the tap, available medical care if I ever need it and a job that pays the bills plus a little extra for savings.

For someone like me who grew up in the Third World, the above are luxuries.