Should American Catholics Justify The Purchase Of Luxury?

Pope Francis emphasizes the need for a ‘simple’ way of life. A life without luxury is necessary. A humbler lifestyle devoid of extravagance paves the path of a holy life. Luxury is simply “a hindrance to Christian witness” (Cloutier). It upholds the vice of unnecessity, especially because it is a means to obtain a higher social status. Looked at with the correct perspective, luxurious is synonymous for something that is unnecessary. It is not simply a item that no other possesses and ownership of that item will not automatically upgrade one to a higher status. Unfortunately, even American Catholics have not truly understood the unnecessity of luxury or have simply failed to live out this teaching.

Generally, American Catholics are unable to

The core reason is that they are helping the economy. To truly comprehend the ridiculousness of this justification, the meaning of economy must be understood. An economy is not meant to support one particular individual. Rather, an economy’s purpose is to improve society as a whole. The economy is not about wealth and luxury. Those who are spending more on extravagance may think that luxury and wealth are helping the economy, but really, the economy is doing worse because of this. If the belief that wealth and luxury is necessary to support the economy, then a continuous cycle of spending will last forever. What is worse is that this continous cycle will never lead to happiness as “the more we get, the more we want” (Cloutier). There is no significant reward given when it comes to luxury. All the money spent on luxury can be donated to help the less fortunate. There are many who are not in possession of the most basic necessities. Food, water, clothing, etc. are unavailable to those in need. Clearly, a solution must be found to resolve the unreasonable logic of American Catholics who purchase

While these aspects include “friendships, family, and personal health”, helping society is also important. Charity, volunteering to help others is crucial. Luxury can never provide the happiness that is obtained from charity. Helping others is the true path of happiness, not spending money. The whole point of living is to seek vocation. This can never be achieved with material items.Vocation is about our lives as a whole, how we interact with others, and whether we treat others with respect. Anything that is associated with luxury will never live up to “the total giving of self which Jesus requires of every one of his disciples” (Cloutier). Our vocation to help others can only be achieved when we show that we value those who don’t have much as us. The way we spend our money demonstrates how we are treating the poor. The more money spent on luxury signifies the lack of money donated to the poor. Clearly, spending money is the means to simply 'help' ourselves. We are not doing any good to help others when we should be donating our money to charity or devoting more time to help