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Catholic Teaching and Consumer Culture

Catholic Teaching and Consumer Culture. Andy Yuengert The University March 10, 2009. Back to the Basics!. The Problem: Consumerism. In his riches man lacks wisdom: he is like the beasts that are destroyed. - Psalm 49:13. I’m No Angel!. The Question. How Much is Too Much?

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Catholic Teaching and Consumer Culture

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  1. Catholic Teaching and Consumer Culture Andy Yuengert The University March 10, 2009

  2. Back to the Basics!

  3. The Problem: Consumerism • In his riches man lacks wisdom: he is like the beasts that are destroyed. - Psalm 49:13

  4. I’m No Angel!

  5. The Question • How Much is Too Much? • Is it Bad to Want More?

  6. We Aren’t So Bad, Really!

  7. We Aren’t So Bad, Really!

  8. Goods Out of Order! • ‘Having’vs’Being’ – John Paul II

  9. Goods Out of Order! • ‘Having’vs’Being’ • ‘Super-development’ • ‘Slaves of possession’ – John Paul II

  10. JPII: Evidence of Consumerism • Drug Addiction

  11. JPII: Evidence of Consumerism Abuse of the Environment

  12. JPII: Evidence of Consumerism • The worst effect: the Decline of the family

  13. JPII: Evidence of Consumerism • The worst effect: the Decline of the family • Life a series of sensations • Lack of freedom to marry • Lack of generosity in having children

  14. Perspective: Are We Rich?

  15. Perspective: Are We Rich?

  16. Perspective: Are We Rich? The World’s Poor

  17. “I think people are so preoccupied with material difficulties. In the industrial world where people are supposed to have so much, I find that many people, while dressed up, are really poor.” Mother Teresa

  18. Relative Income Comparisons • Letting Neighbors Set Your Standards

  19. The Poor Shame Us All

  20. What We Need: Catholic Context • What is Wealth For? • The Dangers of Wealth • Keeping Wealth in Perspective

  21. What is Wealth For? • Who Made Wealth? • Why?

  22. What is Wealth For? • Who Made Wealth? • Why?

  23. What is Wealth For? • “God Planted a Garden …. (Genesis 2) • For Who? • For Us!

  24. What is Wealth For? • God Created man in His Own image; In the Image of God He Created him; Male and Female He Created Them (Genesis 1: 26-28)

  25. What is Wealth For? • “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth.” God also said: "See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food; and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground, I give all the green plants for food.” And so it happened. God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good. Genesis 1:28-31

  26. What is Wealth For? • Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and he placed there the man whom he had formed. - Genesis 2: 8 • The LORD God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it. - Genesis 2:15

  27. What is Wealth For? • Why Did God Make Us? • Have Dominion • Tend the Garden • Eat of the Fruit • Br Fruitful and Multiply • Creation meets our needs, and we work it.

  28. What is Wealth For? • The Material World is a Gift • What Kind of Gift? • Santa Claus? • Given and Forgotten? • No! A Gift in a Relationship • God The Father • Settles us in Garden • Visits • Limits to use

  29. What is Wealth For? • Material Goods are Good Gifts • Understood only in Relation to the Giver

  30. Danger! The Fall

  31. Danger! The Fall • The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Genesis 3: 6

  32. RightOrder God Family Charity Church Needs Fun Riches

  33. WrongOrder Riches Needs Fun Family Church God

  34. WrongOrder God Needs Fun Family Church Riches

  35. WrongOrder God These are Gifts Too! Needs Fun Family Church Riches

  36. Fails to Satisfy: Haggai 1:6 • You have sown much, but have brought in little; you have eaten, but have not been satisfied; You have drunk, but have not been exhilarated; have clothed yourselves, but not been warmed; And he who earned wages earned them for a bag with holes in it.

  37. Rich Young Man (Luke 18) • How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! • The Apostle who Said No?

  38. The Banquet (Luke 14: 15-20) • Good Excuses for Missing God’s Feast? • “I have purchased a field and must go to examine it.” • “I have purchased five yoke of oxen and am on my way to evaluate them.” • “I have just married a woman.”

  39. The Master’s Vineyard (MT. 21) • It’s God’s World! • “When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce. But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned.”

  40. Rich Fool (Luke 12) • “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

  41. Clueless in Riches: Amos 5:18 • Woe to those who yearn for the day of the LORD! What will this day of the LORD mean for you? Darkness and not light!

  42. Widow’s Mite: She Gave More!

  43. James 1:9-11 • The brother in lowly circumstances should take pride in his high standing, and the rich one in his lowliness, for he will pass away "like the flower of the field.”

  44. Advice: Get Perspective!

  45. Pray! • Fall broke Friendship with God • Befriend Him! • Get His Perspective

  46. Friendship with Christ • Read the Bible! • “Ignorance of Scripture is Ignorance of Christ” - St. Jerome

  47. Friendship with Christ • Don’t Fool Yourself • You Are Very Easy to Fool!

  48. Friendship with Christ • No Instant Answers • Don’t Seek Rules • Seek Guidance

  49. Be Generous • Live Dangerously! 10 %?

  50. Be Moderate • Live One Step Down from what You Can Afford • Cars • Clothing • Housing • Food • Play

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