A book review on "The Holy Use of Money:
Personal Finances in Light of Christian
Faith", by John C. Haughey, author of
"Converting Nine to Five"
This book is very good, because it brings
light on how we are "infected" with "mammon
illness", and how the ideals given by the
vision of Pentecost, is one
cure to ease our financial woes.
A Brief Overview
Although the book is excellently written, it is written
within a context of theology, laden with much jargon and
terms, that may be quite heavy for those who may have no
background on theology. But if really interested to
understand the substance in the book, one can read the
book as a form of study. A theological or specialized
dictionary on hand will be very helpful and handy. The
book need not be read cover to cover in order to get
the gist of the message. Although the chapters flow
from one another from the start, it need not be
read thoroughly. Paragraphs may be scanned, especially
paragraphs that are really too heavy to read.
The basic message and content of the book is that it
makes us aware that we have what the author calls,
"mammon illness". He says this illness is more of the
spirit. It is where we put our trust. When, the
author says, that trust is put on other things rather
than on God, then we have the illness. It makes us
run after things, and be so anxious about so many
concerns, that would not be so, if we had placed our
trust in God.
After the author has named the illness many of us
have, he goes on to show that there is a "cure" to
this illness. The author tells us that the Pentecost
symbol event can be a cure to this "mammon illness".
He says that it has "the effect of giving the
economic/financial/possessional components of our
lives a meaning that conjoins them to the "spiritual"
in the hearts of believers." "...To live in time
and the Spirit, to live within the experience of
transcendence and immanence simultaneously, to
assign a spiritual worth to material possessions,
to bring to material expression a spiritual
experience, to transform money and property into
fellowship and community - any or all of these
give evidence that polarities have been bridged
and that paradoxes have been integrated..."
The Pentecost symbol "generate(s) a unitary
vision that combines opposites - the Spirit
and the economic order."
The chapters of the book
The book has only nine chapters. Below is a list of
the titles of the chapters to give one an idea of
the content in the book.
Naming and Healing the Illness
The Sublation of the Economy
Inclusion, the Second Function of Faith
Is Tithing a Holy Use of Money?
Obedient Hearing - The Third Function of Faith
Extending the Tent Poles
Discipleship and Today's Economy
Hope and Economic Activity
That Christ May Be My Wealth
Suggestion as to what chapters to focus on
To get the core of the message of the book, and the gist
of what the author wants to say, one can read the first
chapter and the eighth and ninth chapters for starters.
Once we get the gist of what the book really wants to
convey, then we can read on the other chapters to
dig in more into the details of this spiritual treatise
on the Pentecost symbol as a cure to our mammon illness.
However, if one is to pressed for time with one's
professional work or with one's business, all one really
needs to read to obtain light into one's financial
situation, is the first, the eighth, and the ninth
chapters. With that, you already understand that all
material things and possessions gain its proper place
when we put our trust in God - in the Spirit that
inspired the first Christian community to share and
help one another not only in prayer but also in
material things.
On the author
John C. Haughey, SJ, is a well respected theologian
and lecturer. He is a former editor of America and
senior research fellow of Georgetown University's Woodstock
Theological Center in Washington, D.C. At the time of this
book's publication, he is the pastor of St. Peter's Church
in Charlotte, N.C.
John wrote many books. He also wrote Conspiracy of God,
Bringing Spirituality to your Daily Work,
and Converting Nine to Five. In his apostolate as a
theologian and lecturer, he found himself becoming more and more
interested in the connections between business and faith. Events
in his ministry soon were directed towards not only pastoring
but also doing theological reflection with business people.
He had the opportunity to reflect with: members of Charlotte's
Executive Forum and Business Guild, the Center of Ethics and
Corporate Policy in Chicago, the Heartlands Conference in
Kansas City, the Wall Street Round Table on Ethics in New York,
the Jesuit Spiritual Center in Wernersville, Pennsylvania, the
Seminar on Theology at Georgetown University, the Notre Dame
University at Kirkridge, and a retreat center in Bangor,
Pennsylvania. Despite all these involvement with the
connections between business and faith, much of the author's
work is without statistics; it is rather the fruit of much
reflection and sharing with many people involved in business.
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Although the book is excellently written, it is written
within a context of theology, laden with much jargon and
terms, that may be quite heavy for those who may have no
background on theology. But if really interested to
understand the substance in the book, one can read the
book as a form of study. A theological or specialized
dictionary on hand will be very helpful and handy. The
book need not be read cover to cover in order to get
the gist of the message. Although the chapters flow
from one another from the start, it need not be
read thoroughly. Paragraphs may be scanned, especially
paragraphs that are really too heavy to read.