Distinguishing between Necessities and Superfluities
September 26, 2007
Here is an examen to help us distinguish between necessities and superfluities according to Fr. Thomas Dubay in his book Happy are You Poor.
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Not that “superfluities” should necessarily be discarded. (What? Give up beer? God’s finest creation?)
Or wine… :)
Here’s the rub: if you REALLY want to live a Christian life, it’s going to be extreme. As in, Mother Theresa extreme.
Many of the things we all consider necessities, or at least reasonable, are clearly luxuries in fact. Do we really have the right to enjoy luxuries when our brothers and sisters (in Christ) are dying for lack of necessities? Probably not. And yet, few of us are willing to sell all we have, giving to the poor, and following Him.
By all means, use the examen to improve your own conduct. But be careful not to use it to judge others whom you believe aren’t doing as good a job. All of us fall short of the glory of God, and there is not one who is good. (Rom. 3)
Whenver I am about to go off the deep end into communism, I simply take a trip down the beer aisle. Ah, the selection offered by a competitive market. Speaking of beer, I’m buying you one, Christopher, next time I’m in NYC.
But bourbon is the elixir of life!
Better to go without air conditioning than without beer.
Katerina,
I’m glad you posted this — Fr Thomas Dubay is the greatest spiritual writer since VII. I would recommend “Fire Within” also.
Julian: Here’s the rub: if you REALLY want to live a Christian life, it’s going to be extreme. As in, Mother Theresa extreme.
I’m not disputing a serious examination and distinguishing between “needs” and “wants” (and learning not to ‘need’ the latter); or that the acquisition of material goods may constitute an impediment to salvation. But is this to suggest that the life of poverty (along the lines of St. Francis or Mother Theresa) is the ONLY way to live an authentic Christian life?
Michael: Likewise, next time I’m in Texas.
Distinguishing between necessities and superfluities is very difficult- thank you for posting these helpful principles of discernment. This isn’t really something I will have to face as a religious (except, perhaps when it comes to liturgical items), but I have often pondered the permissibility of what might be termed “luxury items.” Take costly pieces of beautiful art, for instance. I don’t think we would want to say that people should not own such art, but at what point does the costliness of such items make it impermissible to buy them? Even a relatively unknown artist can get $5000 for a painting, for instance. Given that the artist needs to make a living, this doesn’t seem unreasonable. But what about millions of dollars for a piece of fine art? The same goes for items of high quality craftsmanship. It seems that we should support the artists and craftsmen that beautify the world around us, but at what point do we say that the price for such beauty is unconscionable?
Christopher: I struggle with that question constantly. Since I don’t in fact live a life of poverty, or anything like it, you can see which side of the argument is winning.
To be honest, however, I think it is a life of service, not poverty, that is necessary. But poverty will follow, won’t it? There is always room for more service and more sharing. Thus, enjoying luxuries is always a form of selfishness, isn’t it? At least when one of your brothers or sisters is starving to death — which is always the case.
And yet, the world wouldn’t function if everyone sold everything they had, gave the money to the poor, and followed Jesus. So maybe I DON’T have to do that after all, right?
But let’s be honest. I don’t have to worry: it is NOT the case that everyone will do that. In fact, very few people will. So we can set aside my generous offer of “taking one for the team” and foregoing a life of poverty in order to save the world from catastrophe. The world is safe without my entrepreneurial efforts, so I come back to the original question — must I live a life of service and poverty if I am to take Christianity seriously?
I don’t want to say yes. And I don’t say yes — at least not on any real level. But I also can’t see how the answer is no.
Julian,
It might be helpful to distinguish between commandments and the evangelical counsels. Try the online catholic encyclopedia article at http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04435a.htm
Here is the first paragraph:
“Christ in the Gospels laid down certain rules of life and conduct which must be practiced by every one of His followers as the necessary condition for attaining to everlasting life. These precepts of the Gospel practically consist of the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments, of the Old Law, interpreted in the sense of the New. Besides these precepts which must be observed by all under pain of eternal damnation, He also taught certain principles which He expressly stated were not to be considered as binding upon all, or as necessary conditions without which heaven could not be attained, but rather as counsels for those who desired to do more than the minimum and to aim at Christian perfection, so far as that can be obtained here upon earth.”
Julian, et al. All good questions — and complex, for instance: abiding by the directive to “sell all you have and give to the poor” literally might ( I suspect) be morally prohibited if you have a wife and children under your charge. (Q: How about a tuition fund for your child? Or for yourself? Is a college education a necessity or a luxury?)
By all means, use the examen to improve your own conduct. But be careful not to use it to judge others whom you believe aren’t doing as good a job.
This is good advice — reviewing all the points in the examen, it seems to me there is no hard and fast criteria to discern except on a case-by-case basis.
I agree that these questions have to be discerned on an individual basis… that is why it is an examination… however, we also need to examine our consciences as a society… a consumerism-driven society. I always have this argument with my parents: “Do you really need the BMW 5 series sitting in your garage?” No, they don’t. There are some points that are just obvious.
Oh Chris… Hehehe… you should buy this book, because Fr. Dubay quotes a Harvard scholar that touches upon how Americans drinking more than one cocktail, for instance, has a direct effect on hunger around the world. Pretty interesting stuff. I may quote it next time.
Why don’t we simply open up the Catechism, which reads:
2556: “detachment from riches is necessary for entering the Kingdom of heaven.”
Br. Matthew,
Thanks for trying to help. I am aware of the distinction you point to, in substance if not by name. But I’m not sure it’s really right.
True, Jesus says, “if you would be perfect …”; but elsewhere (on the Sermon on the Mount) he commands that we “be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” And the rich man, who enjoyed his wealth rather than help Lazarus, was condemned. (Do people have to be starving right outside my door for the principle to apply to me? If so, I’m moving to a gated community where the poor can’t reach me!) And on Judgment Day, Jesus says to the goats, “every time you didn’t help the least of mine, you didn’t help me.” (No matter how much we do help, we more often don’t help others!)
Christopher: I can buy the fact that I now have duties to my family. But those duties can only extend to necessities, not luxuries. And almost everything is a luxury, isn’t it? Food isn’t a luxury; but the food I eat is. Clothes isn’t a luxury; but the clothes I wear is. MAYBE a car isn’t a luxury; but the car I drive is. (And this is all true even though I don’t dine at the finest restaurants, wear the fanciest clothes, or drive the nicest of cars.) So can I give my wife and kids luxurious food, clothes, shelter, etc. while my brother is starving to death? I’m not so sure the family gets me very far.
Katerina: you say “we also need to examine our consciences as a society… a consumerism-driven society.” but then you point to your parents and ask “’Do [they] really need the BMW 5 series sitting in your garage?’ No, they don’t.” That sounds to me like you are, in fact, using the principle to judge others, not just “our … society”. Instead, you should ask yourself: do I really need the [Ford?] I drive? or the [Nikes] I wear? or even the meat I have for dinner five times a week? Whatever it may be, you almost certainly have luxuries in your life. Unless you are truly saintly, you can easily exhaust your efforts finding flaws in your own conduct without having to point the finger at others, at least on this issue. (And if you are a saint, you can probably see even more clearly how flawed you really are!)
“Here is an examen to help us distinguish between necessities and superfluities according to Fr. Thomas Dubay in his book Happy are You Poor.”
Any chance you could email this to me? Here at school we are blocked (surprise, surprise) from the link. Patience is a virtue I am working on this year.
I would love to post it with credit back to you and vox-nova.
Blessings,
Peggy
soutenus@yahoo.com