Conflicted during church

Today at church, the Gospel reading was Luke 12:13-21. It's the classic parable about the rich man who is given so much abundance from his crops he decides to tear down his barns and build bigger ones so he can store it all. But he dies the next day. The point is not to spend so much time on earthy things but rather the things of the Lord, which is built on eternity.

The priest reminded us about ho much we possess and asked how much do we really need in our life. I thought it was a fine homily, and it is a good reminder to us, especially in the United States, that we can really do without certain earthly things and to live a simplistic lifestyle. I'm all for this. I still don't own a bed. Simplicity to me is a valuable trait which Christians should be willing to exercise as often as possible. Too much stuff distracts us from the Lord and relying on Him and his provision.

So we move into the creed and then to intercessions. Here's where it was a problem.

"Let's pray that wealth can be distributed evenly..."

I did not reply "Lord, hear our prayer."

I was not sure what to do at that point. My political convictions of conservative principles and small government told me this prayer was misguided and wrong. Governments should not redistribute the wealth. Ever. Charity should be based on the individual, not on someone telling you to do something. It ceases to be charity at that point. You should tithe your money and give even more out of your wealth. You should make the choice. It should be done because you are convicted to help, not because if you do not pay you get convicted for tax evasion.

But the Catholic side of me said the Church knows what it should be doing. They should be the agent of change. They should be on the front lines of helping the poor and living up to the teachings of Christ. But I would also say the church has to be aware the places where the Gospel is growing the most are places where there are many who are poor. Europe, with the exception of Poland, is becoming more and more godless as time progresses. It will only be a matter of time before Islam will be their top religion, with atheism probably somewhere in the top three (and yes, I know atheism is not a religion; it's just to illustrate the point). In Central and South America; Asia, especially China and South Korea; and Africa show the largest growth of Christianity. These are places where wealth is minimal.

Maybe I'm looking at it the wrong way. Maybe the goal is to make everyone poor so the proud will be humbled and the Gospel will flourish once again. But prayer requests for the redistribution of wealth should be left out of church. Prayers for an increase in charity and an emphasis on actually tithing ten percent of your income should be what is being preached.