By Father Michael J. Kavanaugh

Long before Enron collapsed, long before Merrill Lynch was bought out, long before the sub-prime housing mortgage bubble burst, and long before the New York stock exchange lost 35 to 40% of its value in less than a month, a colonial era Congregationalist minister explained what went wrong. Describing the source of the religious torpor he observed in the New England colonies in his day, Cotton Mather (1663-1728) quoted this aphorism in his Magnalia Christi Americana: Religio peperit divitias, et filia devoravit matrem. "Religion brought forth prosperity, and the daughter destroyed the mother."

Founded in large part by Puritans and other radical religious dissenters, the New England Crown Colonies had become, in Mather's view, too comfortable in terms of material well-being. As a result, their priorities were getting skewed. The population was religiously lethargic, more concerned with maintaining their relative wealth than with living the values of the Gospel. A preacher of the first "Great Awakening"-a time that saw a rapid increase in congregation membership, increased fervor in personal evangelism, and strict adherence to the principles of the Reformation-Mather lamented that the population had lost sight of its divinely ordained mission, caring for the Common Good, and was too focused on individual well-being and personal gain.

In many of his addresses in Europe and the United States, Pope John Paul II echoed Mather's lament. Materialism (or consumerism), said the pope, was distracting us from living lives of generosity and holiness. We had chosen to love money and possessions over loving our neighbor. Individuals were more concerned with getting and keeping more "stuff" without having sufficient regard for defending the oppressed, visiting the imprisoned, or clothing the naked. (See the Gospel from the Feast of Christ the King- Matthew 25-on how we will be judged.) We value being entertained far more than we value living lives of service to others.

Simply put, greed (one of the Seven Deadly or Capital sins) is the spiritual basis for our current financial crisis. We have a disordered desire to possess things even when our reason tells us that (a) we don't need whatever it is we are desiring, and (b) it is foolish to spend more than we make. This disordered desire to get "more"-more money, more toys, more house, more anything-and to spend more money than we ought to, is seductive. We fall for the seduction because, as is the case with all humans, we struggle under the reality of Original Sin. There is nothing evil about the things we desire-a house, more clothes, an extravagant vacation. Rather, it is our desire, and, therefore, our financial priorities, that have become "disordered." Without acknowledging this sin, there is little chance that we will be able to enjoy any kind of and long-lasting economic stability.

Not everyone has been greedy. Many have written and live by personal or family budgets. Millions of credit card users act prudently and pay off theses debts promptly. Thousands of home owners have not over extended themselves and have purchased comfortable, adequate houses. Many lenders did not mislead borrowers and counseled them to be financially cautious. But the poor judgment-fueled by greed-of others is now hitting all of us hard. Sin always has a communal dimension, and those who have lost jobs or retirement income as a result of the actions of others are feeling that the most.

Laws and regulations are already being proposed and enacted to help prevent this kind of tragic financial mess in the future. But only a gigantic reformation of our own attitude toward money and sweeping reprioritizing of our values can bring about economic justice for all.

Father Michael J. Kavanaugh is pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Port Wentworth.