What would Jesus think?

Bible verse:
Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19: 23-30)

Inspiration:
I wonder what Jesus would think about the latest American shopping trend.

This month's issue of Vogue magazine urges readers to “harness the power of fashion to change the way the nation shops.” The magazine recommends that shoppers replace the plastic shopping bags, which are choking the country’s landfills, with reusable designer bags. 

For a mere $960, you can purchase a Hermes shopping bag made of hand-wrought silk, which folds up into a wallet-size calfskin pouch. Or, if you’re the thrifty type, you can bag your groceries in a Castiglioni fold-able nylon tote that retails for a mere $843. Better yet, for the budget-conscious there is a chic and stylish Stella McCartney organic canvas shopping bag for just under $500.

One practical handbag designer has come out with a reusable, canvas, shopping tote imprinted with the words “I’m not a plastic bag.” It sells for $15 in supermarkets. According to Time magazine, 20,000 of the totes were bought by 9am of the first day it went on sale. The bag has become a collector’s item with people bidding ten times as much for it on Ebay.

I suspect it won’t be long before we see reusable shopping bags emblazoned with the logos of Master Card and VISA.

Of course, you would need more than one canvas tote to handle a week’s worth of groceries. So the total price tag for the cheapest eco-friendly bags could come to at least $60.

I’m all in favor of saving the environment but for $60 you could feed a starving child in a third world country for almost a year. To my way of thinking, that’s a better use of grocery money.

Apparently the fashion editors have never shopped Costco where they don’t bag your groceries, nor have they shopped in the growing number of supermarkets that have plastic bag recycling bins.

What would Jesus think of the glamor bags? I suspect that He’d see them as a sign of distorted values. He’d probably shake His head at the way some of us spend our money.

America ranks fourth in the world in economic aid to less developed countries. We trail the United Kingdom, France and Japan – yet our economy is 46% larger than the combined total of those three nations.

On a per capita basis, we rank 18th in the world in financial aid at $22.91 per year per person…just ahead of Iceland.

When Jesus sent His apostles out on their first mission, He told them not to carry a purse. When He told a rich young man to care for the poor and needy, the man couldn’t bear to part with his money and left. On seeing him walk off, Jesus said, “It will be hard for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven.”

What would Jesus say about the way we care for the world's poor and needy? I suspect He’d say, “Loosen your purse strings.”

See also related reflection: "Money and Happiness"

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.