Should The Church Sell Everything?

[DeoDuce]

A friend of mine asked why the Church doesn't sell all of its art and valuable things to give the money to the poor, because of Jesus' story about the widow giving everything she had.

Any suggestions on what to say to this?

[Byzantine]

Well, I suppose one might at some point mention that God provided specific directions for the decoration of the Temple. Now, doesn't the One Who Is greater than the Temple reside in our churches? Shouldn't we build a fittingly decorated dwelling-place? Of course, probably not the best defense, but it's what I've got.

[Jaime]

Exactly who is going to purchase the ceiling of Sistine Chapel?

What I tell people is that the Church didn't go to auctions to buy this stuff. They supported the artists that created it . As a result, art, music and literature was forever changed. They got this stuff when nobody knew who the artist was. It became priceless because of the Church recognizing and supporting genius

[Norseman82]

[quote name='jaime' timestamp='1326681674' post='2369832']
Exactly who is going to purchase the ceiling of Sistine Chapel?
[/quote]

[quote name='DeoDuce' timestamp='1326681202' post='2369828']
Any suggestions on what to say to this?
[/quote]

Yeah, like the Church properties can be liquidated on the open market so easily.

Makes me wonder what is really driving the question sometimes.

Edited January 16, 2012 by Norseman82

[DMcB]

[quote name='Norseman82' timestamp='1326682235' post='2369838']
Makes me wonder what is really driving the question sometimes.
[/quote]

A lack of taking the question to its logical conclusion mixed with a lack of history.

Edited January 16, 2012 by DMcB

[Jaime]

I also would tell them that the Catholic Church has fed and clothed more poor people than any other non profit in the world and will continue set the standard for social justice and feeding the poor.

[EcceNovaFacioOmni]

Even if it were feasible to sell "all" (there should be a line drawn somewhere) the Church's art, it's kind of a short-sighted suggestion. A transfer of cash as gift - even a sizable one - will not relieve the plight of the Third World.

[MissScripture]

1) The Church is making all of this stuff available to a lot more people than if it was privately owned.
2) The Church pays a lot of people to take care of these treasures and restore them and all that jazz. If the Church sold these items, these people would be out of jobs. What's better? Give people a one-time hand out, or give them a job?

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='jaime' timestamp='1326681674' post='2369832']
Exactly who is going to purchase the ceiling of Sistine Chapel?
[/quote]


I was going to buy it and put it behind my couch.

[quote name='DeoDuce' timestamp='1326681202' post='2369828']
A friend of mine asked why the Church doesn't sell all of its art and valuable things to give the money to the poor, because of Jesus' story about the widow giving everything she had.

Any suggestions on what to say to this?
[/quote]

The bible also tells us of the woman who annointed Our Lord with expensive oils, rather than selling it for the poor. He said that was a good thing.

If the Church sold all of her treasures, then they would be in private collections and only the wealthy could enjoy them. As it is, everyone can enjoy them.

[XIX]

This isn't farmville, you can't just log in for a few minutes and sell millions of dollars of stuff.

[EcceNovaFacioOmni]

Furthermore, if someone bought them, are we to consider them a decadent? Should no one own expensive things? Who better but the Church.

[Jaime]

one more point. They are all blessed. Can't sell them for a profit!

[missionseeker]

Also, the art serves to bring souls to God, not to glorify the artists. Sure Michelangelo is famous for the Sistine Chapel, but the beauty of the art is an expression of theological concepts that human minds cannot grasp.

I like to tell people that God deserves the best of everything. Hence, we work hard to make sure that His house is an reflection of His heavenly Beauty.

ANnnnnnd for good measure:

[quote][color=#000000] While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, [/color][sup]7[/sup][color=#000000] a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.[/color][color=#000000]
[sup]8[/sup] When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. [sup]9[/sup] “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”[/color]
[color=#000000] [/color][sup]10[/sup][color=#000000] Aware of this, Jesus said to them, [/color][color=#000000]“Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me.[/color][color=#000000] [/color][color=#000000][sup]11[/sup] The poor you will always have with you,[sup][[url="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+26%3A6-13&version=NIV#fen-NIV-24066a"]a[/url]][/sup] but you will not always have me.[/color][color=#000000] [/color][color=#000000][sup]12[/sup] When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.[/color][color=#000000] [/color][color=#000000][sup]13[/sup] Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” [/color][color=#000000][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=3]Matthew 26:6-13[/size][/font][/color][/quote]


[quote][sup]1[/sup][color=#000000] Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. [/color][sup]2[/sup][color=#000000] Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. [/color][sup]3[/sup][color=#000000] Then Mary took about a pint[/color][sup][[url="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+12%3A1-10&version=NIV#fen-NIV-26584a"]a[/url]][/sup][color=#000000] of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.[/color][color=#000000]
[sup]4[/sup] But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, [sup]5[/sup] “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.[sup][[url="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+12%3A1-10&version=NIV#fen-NIV-26586b"]b[/url]][/sup]” [sup]6[/sup] He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.[/color]
[color=#000000] [/color][color=#000000][sup]7[/sup] “Leave her alone,”[/color][color=#000000] Jesus replied. [/color][color=#000000]“It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.[/color][color=#000000] [/color][color=#000000][sup]8[/sup] You will always have the poor among you,[sup][[url="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+12%3A1-10&version=NIV#fen-NIV-26589c"]c[/url]][/sup] but you will not always have me.”[/color][/quote] John 12: 1-10

[quote][color=#000000]Now the feast of the pasch, and of the Azymes was after two days; and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might by some wile lay hold on him, and kill him.[/color][color=#000000]
[sup]2[/sup]But they said: Not on the festival day, lest there should be a tumult among the people.[/color][color=#000000]
[sup]3[/sup]And when he was in Bethania, in the house of Simon the leper, and was at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of precious spikenard: and breaking the alabaster box, she poured it out upon his head.[/color][color=#000000]
[sup]4[/sup]Now there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said: Why was this waste of the ointment made?[/color][color=#000000]
[sup]5[/sup]For this ointment might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and given to the poor. And they murmured against her.[/color][color=#000000]
[sup]6[/sup]But Jesus said: Let her alone, why do you molest her? She hath wrought a good work upon me.[/color][color=#000000]
[sup]7[/sup]For the poor you have always with you: and whensoever you will, you may do them good: but me you have not always.[/color][color=#000000]
[sup]8[/sup]She hath done what she could: she is come beforehand to anoint my body for burial.[/color][color=#000000]
[sup]9[/sup]Amen, I say to you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, that also which she hath done, shall be told for a memorial of her.[/color][color=#000000]
[sup]10[/sup]And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests, to betray him to them.[/color]
[color=#000000] [/color][sup]11[/sup][color=#000000]Who hearing it were glad; and they promised him they would give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently betray him.[/color][/quote] Mark 14:1-11



I think that is quite interesting to note that immediately after these accounts, Judas Iscariot goes to the cheif priests to obtain money for the betrayal of Christ.

[beatitude]

I agree with what people have written above, especially Miss Scripture. Not only would it be impossible to liquify these valuable treasures, it would be wrong even if we could, because treasures such as devotional artwork should be freely availabe to everyone, rich or poor. That kind of beauty is a gift from God to us.

When I think of what we should be selling (or not selling!) in order to support the world's poorer people, I often think of the arms trade. I used to work in a desperately impoverished refugee camp, which had only one part-time doctor per thirteen thousand people, and every day as I walked to the camp's medical base I would hear sophisticated high-tech fighter jets screaming overhead. I wondered then why humans have the priorities that we have: we are prepared to spend billions of dollars on devising more sophisticated means of killing each other, and selling the results at staggering prices, but apparently we can't afford more doctors to help unfortunate people who have been forced away from their homes and livelihood. That to me is a wicked thing. Selling treasured art and consigning it to someone's home or dusty private collection wouldn't help in that circumstance. Trust me, people in that kind of horrific situation need a little beauty in their lives, and the more the better.

It is also important to remember here that the Church is not a collection of buildings run by red-gowned men on the hills of Rome. We are the Church. 'Why doesn't the Church sell its things and give the money to the poor?" is a question that we should each be asking of ourselves. I'm sure that most of us here will be writing from houses that contain things that we don't really need. We're all meant to ask ourselves how we can demonstrate our love and friendship with Christ's poorest, where Christ Himself is (or should be) so clearly visible to us. The answers will be different for each person, as we all have varying needs and situations (some people here might need two cars, I don't even need one; some people here have families to support, while others are single people who have taken vows of poverty), but this something that we have all got a responsibility to think about. My experience is that many of the people who ask why the Church's collection of Michelangelo sculptures isn't on eBay aren't fulfilling their own obligations here, which is telling: making sacrifices for the sake of impoverished people is always for [i]somebody else[/i] to do. The story of the widow at the temple and her poor little offering teaches us that this isn't true. It's for everyone, in the same way that the priceless treasures in those churches are for everyone.

[EmilyAnn]

For the artefacts the Church has, I was reading about this a while ago and they are not considered possessions that the Church owns, but belonging to the world and entrusted to the Church for safekeeping. By the same logic of "the Church should sell it all and give the money to the poor" then the Louvre, the Smithsonian, the British Museum, they should all sell their artefacts and give the money to the poor. Which is ridiculous. These institutions, like the Vatican, hold the greatest treasures of human culture and history. They are beyond value, both monetarily and culturally. The institutions that hold them keep them safe and cared for and allow for them to be available to the world, as they should be. Without them, the world would become greatly culturally impoverished.

For churches themselves, why is it wrong to give our best to God? The Temple in Jerusalem was richly decorated to give glory to God. Churches are where we come together to worship and glorify the Lord. They are for His glory and so it is fitting that they be beautiful.