Upheaval Watch: The Rich Richer Than Perhaps Rich Ever Was

The other day, the news aggregate Drudge Report spun its siren over the halcyon money-making time we live in — beyond question similar to, if not exceeding, any other, including the Roaring Twenties:

The Midas touch, it seems, is contagious, as is profligate consumerism.

All this while farmers in crisis have to turn to high-interest loans (while Wall Street brokers grow rich, on paper, trading agricultural commodities). As a group, the wealthiest one percent in America now have just about as much money as the entire middle class.

A couple days later, just before Christmas, in red, a banner headline:

$34.4 BILLION:
BIGGEST SHOPPING DAY IN HISTORY!

(How much farther can a society get from the manger of Bethlehem?)

(It will lead to revolt.) He who hoards distances himself from God — is poor; close to Him –rich — is he who shares his gift.

Let us simply quote the Virgin of Medjugorje:

December 5, 1985 “Dear children! I am calling you to prepare yourselves for Christmas by means of penance, prayer and works of charity. Dear children, do not look toward material things, because then you will not be able to experience Christmas.”

April 17, 1986 “Dear children! You are absorbed with material things, but in the material you lose everything that God wishes to give you. I call you, dear children, to pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit which are necessary for you now in order to be able to give witness to my presence here and to all that I am giving you. Dear children, let go to me so I can lead you completely. Don’t be absorbed with material things.”

February 25, 1992: “Dear children! Today I invite you to draw still closer to God through prayer. Only that way will I be able to help you and to protect you from every attack of Satan. I am with you and I intercede for you with God, that He protect you. But I need your prayers and your – “Yes.” You get lost easily in material and human things, and forget that God is your greatest friend. Therefore, my dear little children, draw close to God so He may protect you and guard you from every evil.”

September 25, 1993: “Dear children! I am your Mother and I invite you to come closer to God through prayer because only He is your peace, your savior. Therefore, little children, do not seek comfort in material things, but rather seek God. I am praying for you and I intercede before God for each individual. I am looking for your prayers that you accept me and accept my messages as in the first days of the apparitions and only then when you open your hearts and pray will miracles happen.”

March 25, 1996: “Dear children! I invite you to decide again to love God above all else. In this time when due to the spirit of consumerism one forgets what it means to love and to cherish true values, I invite you again, little children, to put God in the first place in your life. Do not let Satan attract you through material things but, little children, decide for God who is freedom and love. Choose life and not death of the soul, little children, and in this time when you meditate upon the suffering and death of Jesus I invite you to decide for life which blossomed through the Resurrection, and that your life may be renewed today through conversion that shall lead you to eternal life.”

April 25, 2000: “Dear children! Also today I call you to conversion. You are concerned too much about material things and little about spiritual ones. Open your hearts and start again to work more on your personal conversion. Decide everyday to dedicate time to God and to prayer until prayer becomes a joyful meeting with God for you. Only in this way will your life have meaning and with joy you will contemplate eternal life.”

Message of August 25, 2001: “Dear children! Today I call all of you to decide for holiness. May for you, little children, always in your thoughts and in each situation holiness be in the first place, in work and in speech. In this way, you will also put it into practice; little by little, step by step, prayer and a decision for holiness will enter into your family. Be real with yourselves and do not bind yourselves to material things but to God. And do not forget, little children, that your life is as passing as a flower.”

Message to Mirjana of November 2nd, 2009: “Dear children, Also today I am among you to point you to the way that will help you to come to know God’s love, the love of God Who permitted you to call Him Father and to perceive Him as Father. I ask of you to sincerely look into your hearts and to see how much you love Him. Is He the last to be loved? Surrounded by material goods, how many times have you betrayed, denied and forgotten Him? My children, do not deceive yourselves with wordly goods. Think of your soul because it is more important than the body, cleanse it.”