Jacksonville's Carla Harris - St. Augustine Catholic

fr. joe
in the know with Fr. Joe
Dear Father Joe:
did Jesus own the coat he wore?
The church seems to own a lot of
gold, art, property; why don’t we
sell all that and give it to the poor?
Why do any of us own anything?
Great question here. Did Jesus own
the coat he wore? Absolutely. But
maybe I can suggest that a better
question would be “Did Jesus’
coat own him?” The answer to that would be
a resounding “no.” The key to possessions is
that we own them and they don’t own us.
How do we know if that is the case? The
first step to knowing if we own something or
if it owns us is to break everything we have
into two categories: wants and needs.
Wants are things that are there for our
enjoyment or pleasure. They bring us a small
measure of happiness, but ultimately, they
are not things that we must have. I think my
sanity is an example of this.
Needs are those things that are important
for our survival, or enable us to function in
the world. Great examples are my truck and
phone – I need these to effectively function as
a priest. A serious argument could be made
that Double Stuf Oreos are essential to my
survival, but I won’t go there.
In terms of wants, we should be willing
and able to part with them at a moment’s
notice to help someone who will use our help
responsibly. If we can do that, then we own
our possessions and they don’t own us.
Your next question is one a lot of people
ask, and I am glad I finally have a chance to
address it here. The church does own a vast
storehouse of art and treasures; one look at
the Vatican museum or St. Peter’s Basilica can
A country lady, who has been
taken to her first show at an art gallery
in the big city, is staring curiously
at several of the paintings. One is a
huge canvas that is black, with yellow
blobs of paint splattered all over it.
The next painting is a murky gray
color that has drips of purple paint
streaked across it.
The country lady, filled with curiosity
over the unusual works of art,
walks over to the artist and says,
“I don’t understand your paintings.
Could you tell me about them?”
“I paint what I feel inside me,”
shrugs the artist.
“Have you ever tried Alka-Seltzer?”
absolutely take your breath away. The sheer
beauty of those collections is amazing.
But here is the thing – did you notice that
I typed, “One look at?” That is the key –
anyone can see and admire these treasures
whenever they are on display. The Vatican
doesn’t collect any kind of wealth for and
from them – they are available to view at
the Vatican, and then often travel to museums
around the world. The church acts as
guardian of the beauty that various artists
have created through the ages.
I found a website that states the rest of
this argument quite well: http://home.nyc.
rr.com/mysticalrose/answers2.html.
I guess Jesus’ words stand true: “The
poor you will have with you always.” (Matt
26:11) Incidentally, he said that in response
to his disciples when they objected to a
woman pouring expensive oil on his body.
They thought she should have sold the oil
and given the money to the poor. But Jesus
told them that there was nothing wrong with
her lavishing this expensive oil on him. In
the same way, there is nothing wrong with
people donating gold and precious items to
adorn a beautiful church building, since this
is done to the glory of God.
Make sure and take a look at the
Catechism, sections 2501 and 2502. They
give us a great description of the beauty and
power of art.
That’s it for me! Enjoy another day in God’s
presence. – Father Joseph Krupp
Send your questions to:
“In the Know with Fr. Joe”
St. Augustine Catholic
11625 St. Augustine Rd.
Jacksonville, FL 32258-2060
Email: kbaggmorgan@dosafl.com
Or:
JoeInBlack@priest.com
work
life
how to shift
to being the boss
I
used to laugh at the
incompetence, twisted logic
and self-centeredness of the
“pointy haired” boss in the
Dilbert comic strip. The humor began
to fade, however, when I became a boss
and discovered the pressures of middle
management. Not only did I have to keep
my boss happy; I had to keep my team
happy as well. It’s tough not to become a
“pointy haired” boss. I can recall unwittingly
using twisted logic myself to justify some
action to my team just to make a good
impression on upper management. It
took me a while to realize that the more
I focused on my own interests, the less
effective I was as a leader.
In his book, Good to Great, James
Collins identified characteristics that are
common to leaders of top performing
companies. Most of these qualities are
contrary to what we’ve come to believe
characterize great leaders. They include:
1 Modesty.
2 Motivation through inspired standards
rather than charisma.
3 Focusing on long-term results.
4 Channeling of ambition into the
company, not the self.
5 Preparing successors for even
greater success in the next generation.
6 Never blaming others for bad results.
Each of these characteristics represents
a spirit of selflessness and humility that
reflect core principles we find in the Bible.
“Choose to serve others.” (Matthew 23:11)
We’ve been conditioned to think that
business leadership is about individual
career success. Instead, Collins has
debunked that notion by demonstrating
that truly successful and lasting companies
are led by people who act in the interest of
other people and the company as a whole.
So, if you are ever called upon to be “the
boss,” remember that true success can
only be found by trusting God’s wisdom to
guide your actions and by serving others.
“Humble yourselves in the presence of the
Lord and he will exalt you.” (James 4:10)
St. Augustine Catholic February 2006 St. Augustine Catholic February 2006
–Tim Ryan
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