Friday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

The story is told that Saint Anthony attended a funeral of a wealthy, wicked man. For whatever reason the mourners discovered to their horror the man’s heart was not in his chest where it belonged. Why they would discover this is not told. In any case, Saint Anthony told them to look in the coffers rather than the coffin. Sure enough, there it was tucked away amid the gold and silver coins.

“Where your heart is, there also will be your treasure.”

As I understand there are four kinds of capital. Economists, political scientists, sociologists and wiser leaders know this. Money is the least important of the four. Intellectual capital (knowledge, ability, training, experience, etc.) and social capital (How well do people know one another? How well do they work together and trust one another?) are far more important than financial wealth. A society can experience severe recessions and bounce back easily provided they have the know-how and the confidence in one another.

On the other hand, a society like many of the oil-rich nations, stratified and largely illiterate, suffers endemic poverty despite its enormous financial wealth. When the oil runs out they collapse. 

But the most important form of wealth is virtue. Are people honest? Can you get ahead without cheating? Can you deal with your government without bribery? Do school test scores mean anything?

The story is told of Louisiana’s Governor Huey Long. He had appointed a fellow to inspect warehouses. The man, probably someone’s brother in law, actually went about inspecting warehouses, writing reports and making trouble! The Governor called him in and told him in no uncertain terms, “Your job is to collect your pay check! Period!”

An honest society trusts one another, invests wisely in knowledge and builds a prosperous nation.

The scriptures do no hesitate to describe as fools those who invest unwisely, and the worst investment is placing your heart in wealth.