Found money

[lucky4075]

Hi all,
I tens to be a bit scrupulous but some opinions would be nice. My friends and I went to the movies tonight and when I stepped out of the car in the mall parking lot I saw $50 bill on the ground. There was no car next to us where the person could have been so I used it to buy my 3 friends and I tickets. Should I have turned it in?

 

[1ke]

This is your scrupulosity at work.

 

[Jaypeeto4]

In my opinion, you committed no sin whatsoever.
There was no car around that it could conceivably (though not certainly)
have dropped from.
It was, apparently, not found in a wallet with i.d. in it (which would
be another matter entirely).
And going up to people in the crowd at the theatre would have been
interesting. Ask a large crowd of people if anybody lost a $50 bill,
and I can practically guarantee you that SEVERAL people will most
likely claim to have lost $50. That’s just the way people are. Unfortunately.

If you feel bad about using the $50 for you and your friends,
simply SINCERELY pray a Memorare and ask the Blessed Mother Mary
to ask the LORD to restore the $50 to whomoever it was who lost it,
and most especially so if they were poor and really need that $50,
out of God’s generous mercy for the needy. And offer a prayer to Jesus
the Divine Mercy for the conversion and salvation of whoever lost the $50
as well. That way, you will also have performed a great work of mercy
as well as asked God to help the person who lost the cash get their money back.
Love to you,
Jaypeeto4
+JMJ+

 

[ASimon]

Hi all,
I tens to be a bit scrupulous but some opinions would be nice. My friends and I went to the movies tonight and when I stepped out of the car in the mall parking lot I saw $50 bill on the ground. There was no car next to us where the person could have been so I used it to buy my 3 friends and I tickets. Should I have turned it in?

I don’t think it’s morally suspect that you kept it.

 

[Jaypeeto4]

And I agree with 1ke that you are kind of overly-scrupulous, maybe.

So after you do what I suggested by praying for whoever lost the $50,
LET THE MATTER GO and DO NOT feel ANY GUILT OVER IT WHATSOEVER.

Love to you,
Jaypeeeto4
+JMJ+

 

[Scout]

I’d consider it a blessing. It seemed to come out of nowhere, there would’ve been no way for you to find who it could’ve belonged to, and you weren’t even selfish with it. You shared it with your friends.

Thank God for His blessing and don’t worry so much. I think you did a good thing.

Scout :tiphat:

 

[JRKH]

“I feel your pain”, as the old saying goes…But in this instance I have to agree with the others.
My first thought would likely be to try to check with the office.
I haven’t been to a theater in a long time, but as I recall there really isn’t an “office” or anything where you could perhaps mention that you found some money in the parking lot (without mentioning the amount) and did anyone report lost money…
So that makes it nearly impossible to find the owner.

Pray for the person who lost the money that they have good fortune.

Peace
James

 

[IrishRush]

In my opinion, you committed no sin whatsoever.
There was no car around that it could conceivably (though not certainly)
have dropped from.
It was, apparently, not found in a wallet with i.d. in it (which would
be another matter entirely).
And going up to people in the crowd at the theatre would have been
interesting. Ask a large crowd of people if anybody lost a $50 bill,
and I can practically guarantee you that SEVERAL people will most
likely claim to have lost $50. That’s just the way people are. Unfortunately.

If you feel bad about using the $50 for you and your friends,
simply SINCERELY pray a Memorare and ask the Blessed Mother Mary
to ask the LORD to restore the $50 to whomoever it was who lost it,
and most especially so if they were poor and really need that $50,
out of God’s generous mercy for the needy. And offer a prayer to Jesus
the Divine Mercy for the conversion and salvation of whoever lost the $50
as well. That way, you will also have performed a great work of mercy
as well as asked God to help the person who lost the cash get their money back.
Love to you,
Jaypeeto4
+JMJ+

Excellent response here.

 

[Dan_Daly]

It is an interesting topic. If you read Catholic books from 1950ish or earlier, you will often find keeping found money or other lost property specifically mentioned as a violation of the 7th Commandment.

This is something I was totally unaware of growing up, although I was taught that in the example you gave, to turn it into the business in case someone who lost it came looking. If no one claims it, then perhaps the business will call you and give it to you. This happened to my brother once who found some money in the grocery store.

If you find something on the side of the road or somewhere else that makes it extremely difficult to locate the owner and there is no one to “turn it in to”, then I think perhaps the best option would be to donate it to the Church or the poor.

So, I’ll charitably disagree with the other responders, and say yes you should have done something else with the money other than using it for yourself. I think a great deal of what gets labeled as scrupulosity only looks like it because the standards of our society have become so lax.

Pax Christi

 

[mom2em]

Pay it forward. For me, found money (which for me is usually money that comes from selling something my daughter has outgrown on a swap site) I’ll often donate to St. Vincent de Paul or put in our envelope at next mass.

I won’t dare to say anything other than that because honestly, I haven’t any idea. But I think, if I found money and didn’t know where to turn it into or return it to, that would be my first idea. Just my preference really though.

 

[Jaypeeto4]

Dear mom2em,
you gave the best reponse of all of us, IMHO.
God bless you,
Jaypeeto4
+JMJ+

 

[Katie966]

This is something I was totally unaware of growing up, although I was taught that in the example you gave, to turn it into the business in case someone who lost it came looking. If no one claims it, then perhaps the business will call you and give it to you. This happened to my brother once who found some money in the grocery store.

If you find something on the side of the road or somewhere else that makes it extremely difficult to locate the owner and there is no one to “turn it in to”, then I think perhaps the best option would be to donate it to the Church or the poor.

Dan, I agree with you for once!

I think the appropriate thing would have been to find an office or someplace you could turn it in. That way if the person who lost it realized it was gone, they could call the office and ask whether anyone turned in $50, and could have gotten it back.

As a side note, one of the things that initially attracted me to my fiance was that he found a good amount of money on the floor in a mall, and without hesitation found the office and turned it in. That was the kind of guy I had always wanted to find- the one who thought about other people before himself, and didn’t even agonize over what to do.

 

[puzzleannie]

sometimes there is no place to turn in found money, nor if it is an a place so public like a parking lot is there any necessity. Certainly a large amount should be turned over to police but I doubt they or mall security is going to spend any time locating the owner of $50 The finder used it for the benefit of someone else, very kind thing to do. You could also give it to charity if using it yourself bothers you, but there is no real moral issue.

DGD found $100 frozen in the ice at the mall last year. The mall office was not interested, and it is no their policy to accept or be responsible for found cash. She had been collecting books with her GS troop to send down here to distribute to children in the colonias, but was worried about shipping costs. So that is how she decided to use her discovery, to ship over 800 children’s books we gave out at Christmas.

 

[lucky4075]

Thanks for the responses. In the future I’ll remember to make more of an effort to find the owner,but last night our movie didn’t start until about 10pm and like I said there was no car parked next to us where the person who dropped or most likely was. I’ll put the remaining $10 in the collection at mass. The CCC has alot to say about stealing etc but the main spirit behind what it says is about unjustly taking misplaced things or forcibly robbing etc. Oh well in the future I’ll think more aboutthe situation.

 

[JRKH]

Thanks for the responses. In the future I’ll remember to make more of an effort to find the owner,but last night our movie didn’t start until about 10pm and like I said there was no car parked next to us where the person who dropped or most likely was. I’ll put the remaining $10 in the collection at mass. The CCC has alot to say about stealing etc but the main spirit behind what it says is about unjustly taking misplaced things or forcibly robbing etc. Oh well in the future I’ll think more about the situation.

I believe that in this case it really is not about stealing.
I can just imagine that when you spotted and picked up the money you, and your friends, were looking around and if a car suddenly pulled up and the driver asked if you had just found $50 (how else would he know unless it was his…) you would have cheerfully returned it.

So it’s not so much about stealing as it is about doing the loving thing…the “do unto others”…and “love your neighbor as yourself” aspect of our faith.
We need to always make a good faith and reasonable effort to determine who the money belongs to and return it, especially if it is a significant amount. Obviously finding a quarter on the ground is different than finding $50.

Thanks for bringing up the topic though. It’s good for all of us to review these things.

Peace
James

 

[thistle]

Hi all,
I tens to be a bit scrupulous but some opinions would be nice. My friends and I went to the movies tonight and when I stepped out of the car in the mall parking lot I saw $50 bill on the ground. There was no car next to us where the person could have been so I used it to buy my 3 friends and I tickets. Should I have turned it in?

Frankly, you should have turned it in. The money is not yours to keep.
In the UK money found is to be turned in to the police. If unclaimed after 6 months it is given back to the finder.

 

[bbentrup]

Frankly, you should have turned it in. The money is not yours to keep.
In the UK money found is to be turned in to the police. If unclaimed after 6 months it is given back to the finder.

This is good advice, but poor guy, he has already been called scrupulous for his question, and now he is being told the opposite. Too much scrupulosity accusery on here.

 

[Jaypeeto4]

**Frankly, you should have turned it in. The money is not yours to keep.
In the UK money found is to be turned in to the police. If unclaimed after 6 months it is given back to the finder. **

Good advice, but maybe a little too good?

We’re talking about a $50 bill, found on the ground, with no wallet or purse,
no i.d., no cars nearby. It could have been blown there by the breeze from another location. How in the world could anybody reaonably “prove” to the police,
in such a situation, that they had been the one who lost that money???
They would have to keep the exact bill in an evidence bag, letting nobody touch it,
so as to preserve any identifiable fingerprints on it. And after everybody had touched it between the time it was found and the time it was turned in to the police, how could they ever prove even fingerprint evidence?? This rule seems silly to me, especially for small amounts of money like a $50 bill.

I think the O.P. should ask God to restore the money, somehow, to the person who lost or dropped it, especially if they are needy people, and then say a sincere prayer, such as a Chaplet of the Divine Mercy, for the salvation and financial security of whoever lost the money, and then put it out of his mind. He has done no wrong and didn’t steal anything.
But if his conscience is still eating away at him, then for crying out loud, get another $50 bill and turn it in to the cops telling them someone lost $50. He doesn’t have to tell them that he spent the ORIGINAL bill, cuz that doesn’t make a darned bit of difference.

 

[searching04]

Hi all,
I tens to be a bit scrupulous but some opinions would be nice. My friends and I went to the movies tonight and when I stepped out of the car in the mall parking lot I saw $50 bill on the ground. There was no car next to us where the person could have been so I used it to buy my 3 friends and I tickets. Should I have turned it in?

Nope. Turn it in to whom? It could have blown there and to be honest - it very well could have been a little gift to you - you were able to buy your friends tickets. The fact that you did that says a lot.

 

[thistle]

**Frankly, you should have turned it in. The money is not yours to keep.
In the UK money found is to be turned in to the police. If unclaimed after 6 months it is given back to the finder. **

Good advice, but maybe a little too good?

We’re talking about a $50 bill, found on the ground, with no wallet or purse,
no i.d., no cars nearby. It could have been blown there by the breeze from another location. How in the world could anybody reaonably “prove” to the police,
in such a situation, that they had been the one who lost that money???
They would have to keep the exact bill in an evidence bag, letting nobody touch it,
so as to preserve any identifiable fingerprints on it. And after everybody had touched it between the time it was found and the time it was turned in to the police, how could they ever prove even fingerprint evidence?? This rule seems silly to me, especially for small amounts of money like a $50 bill.

I think the O.P. should ask God to restore the money, somehow, to the person who lost or dropped it, especially if they are needy people, and then say a sincere prayer, such as a Chaplet of the Divine Mercy, for the salvation and financial security of whoever lost the money, and then put it out of his mind. He has done no wrong and didn’t steal anything.
But if his conscience is still eating away at him, then for crying out loud, get another $50 bill and turn it in to the cops telling them someone lost $50. He doesn’t have to tell them that he spent the ORIGINAL bill, cuz that doesn’t make a darned bit of difference.

How is any of that relevant? The money did NOT belong to the person who found it. He has no right to it. What if it belonged to someone who could not afford to lose that USD 50. What if they had been on their way to buy medicine?
It should have been turned in to the police.
In my personal opinion keeping money you find is stealing and anyone keeping money they find should feel guilty about it.