Living in a mansion?

[Renarax]

Hi
Hypothetically, if I became the richest man in the world and build myself a palatial mansion would I be sinning?
what if I give the remaining amount to the poor? Would it STILL be a sin?
I mean as long as you respect the rest of humanity and work your whole life to improve their lives I don’t think that’s too bad

 

[phillylawyer]

Hi
Hypothetically, if I became the richest man in the world and build myself a palatial mansion would I be sinning?
what if I give the remaining amount to the poor? Would it STILL be a sin?
I mean as long as you respect the rest of humanity and work your whole life to improve their lives I don’t think that’s too bad

Like with most things in our Catholic faith, the Church does not give us specific answers. The Church, as a loving mother, gives us general principals on how to live a good and holy life serving God and each other, and it is up to us to use our faith and our reason to apply those principles to our individual situation.

The Church says that we should be generous and sacrificial and not make money or things an object above God. We should love our neighbor as ourselves and serve the poor. Whether that means you are allowed to own a 1,500 sqft home, 3,500 home, 15,500 home, is a matter of serving God to the best of your ability.

The answer is, there is not absolutely moral answer for that question.

Blessings!

 

[whatsmyname]

Most of us living in the U.S. already live in palatial mansions compared with the shacks in some poorer parts of the world, so I suppose by that standard we are all sinning.

You should share with the poor and help those in need. You shouldn’t have an immoderate love of riches. I suppose whether or not your palatial mansion is a sin depends on your attitude toward the mansion, what use you make of the mansion and what use you make of your other gifts and riches.

What are you doing in your mansion? Are you counting your gold and hoarding it? Are you using it to run your charity out of it or to hold fundraisers to benefit the less fortunate? Are you overwhelmed by the generosity of the Lord in blessing you with so much? Do you live there alone or are you sharing it with others?

 

[Petaro]

This is a hard question for many of us to answer. It is the same question put to the rich young man that Jesus loved, but walked away because he could not give up his riches.
Assuming that your wealth is gained legitimately through hard work or inheritance or a lotto win, it is not inherently evil to be rich. Indeed it may be a wonderful opportunity for philanthropy. Does that mean also that we should not live in excess even whilst giving substantially to the poor?
What is excess? In many western countries a large house is not excessive. And yet millions live in hovels, and there are many refugees and even the homeless in our own countries.
I have pondered this for many years whilst trying to feed clothe and house a family. Yet I own four properties. Is this excess? It might have been when I was working hard to acquire this financial security, all the while knowing my health was failing. Now that I am dying, the rent from these properties helps support my family, and pays the life insurance I gradually accrued over many years that will feed them when I am gone. So now it is not excess.

I believe that as long as your heart is on attaining one of the rooms in His Father’s household you can morally live comfortably within the standards of your nation, without extravagance, and still not be tied to your possessions. They are licit to feed and house your family and thus it is responsible to acquire wealth in order to fulfill your responsibilities to your wife and children.

 

[phillylawyer]

Most of us living in the U.S. already live in palatial mansions compared with the shacks in some poorer parts of the world, so I suppose by that standard we are all sinning.

You should share with the poor and help those in need. You shouldn’t have an immoderate love of riches. I suppose whether or not your palatial mansion is a sin depends on your attitude toward the mansion, what use you make of the mansion and what use you make of your other gifts and riches.

What are you doing in your mansion? Are you counting your gold and hoarding it? Are you using it to run your charity out of it or to hold fundraisers to benefit the less fortunate? Are you overwhelmed by the generosity of the Lord in blessing you with so much? Do you live there alone or are you sharing it with others?

Well put.

 

[styrgwillidar]

The Bible does note an aspect of human nature, that those who are misers and resentful of spending money on themselves tend to be stingy when it comes to sharing with others.

Sirach, Chapter 14

The Use of Wealth

3 Wealth is not appropriate for the mean-spirited;* to misers, what use is gold?
4 What they deny themselves they collect for someone else, and strangers will live sumptuously on their possessions.
5To whom will they be generous that are stingy with themselves and do not enjoy what is their own?
6 None are worse than those who are stingy with themselves; they punish their own avarice.
7 If ever they do good, it is by mistake; in the end they reveal their meanness.
8 Misers are evil people, they turn away and disregard others.
9 The greedy see their share as not enough; greedy injustice dries up the soul.
10 The eye of the miserly is rapacious for food, but there is none of it on their own table.
11 * My son, if you have the means, treat yourself well, and enjoy life as best you can.
12 Remember that death does not delay, and you have not been told the grave’s appointed time.
13 Before you die, be good to your friends; give them a share in what you possess.
14 Do not deprive yourself of good things now or let a choice portion escape you.
15 Will you not leave your riches to others, and your earnings to be divided by lot?
16 Give and take, treat yourself well, for in Sheol there are no joys to seek.

 

[ahawk]

Accprding to the new testament it is easier for a camel to go thru the eye of a needle, than a rich man go to heaven so according to the new testament my answet would be yes

 

[phillylawyer]

Accprding to the new testament it is easier for a camel to go thru the eye of a needle, than a rich man go to heaven so according to the new testament my answet would be yes

It’s interesting you brought up that reference. When Jesus talked about the story of the rich man in scripture, it is theorizing that the reference was to a clear narrow gate in ancient Jerusalem called the “eye of the needle.” In order for the camel to go through the eye of the needle, because it was so narrow and low, the camel would have to have its baggage removed and actually get down on its knees and scoot the through the eye of the needle.

The message is not that rich people cannot enter the kingdom of heaven (it’s not the eye of a needle we think of today). Instead, the message is that a rich man will need to discard his or her baggage and enter the kingdom of heaven on his or her knees.

Beautiful parable when you understand the context!

 

[Mozarteum]

Beautiful parable when you understand the context!

Another thing to consider, is that being rich in Jesus’ day is not quite the same thing as being rich in ours. In first century Palestine, being wealthy often went hand-in-glove with being a corrupt individual who had to ruin many lives and had to take advantage of many individuals in order to reach their position of wealth. Being rich in our society, on the other hand, does not instantly imply corruption in the same way: we happen to have ways in which wealth can be accumulated that the ancients simply didn’t.

Having money isn’t the issue, so much as how you got it, what you do with it, and the general priority it has in your life over and against love of God and neighbor.

A rich man who devotes hundreds of thousands of dollars to, say, taking care of the sick, or feeding the homeless, can hardly be faulted for having the money in the first place, so long as it is his in justice. How would those people be helped if this man wasn’t, for example, an astute business man who worked hard to build legitimate and ethical sources of income?

But contrariwise, someone who has barely any money at all, but who nonetheless hordes what he has and refuses to use it on anything or anyone, certainly is not doing what he ought with the resources that are his.

 

[phillylawyer]

A rich man who devotes hundreds of thousands of dollars to, say, taking care of the sick, or feeding the homeless, can hardly be faulted for having the money in the first place, so long as it is his in justice. How would those people be helped if this man wasn’t, for example, an astute business man who worked hard to build legitimate and ethical sources of income?

If there weren’t any wealthy Catholics (who donate to Catholic Answers) Catholic Answers wouldn’t exist (at least in it’s present form), and we wouldn’t be having this discussion on this message board at all.

 

[Nihilist]

Hi
Hypothetically, if I became the richest man in the world and build myself a palatial mansion would I be sinning?
what if I give the remaining amount to the poor? Would it STILL be a sin?
I mean as long as you respect the rest of humanity and work your whole life to improve their lives I don’t think that’s too bad

Here’s a good rule- I you ever ask yourself “am I sinning in doing this?”, then generally the answer is “yes.”

It is your conscience which causes you to ask “Am I sinning?” Your conscience would not ask this unless there was actually a problem.

But then, the ‘rational part’ answers the conscience- “No, it is perfectly reasonable, etc.” But, yes, if your conscience causes you to ask if something is a sin, at the deepest level, it means you know that it is.