Money, Gold, Salary

The rich young man who wanted Following Jesus, unable to leave his wealth, went away sorrowful - James Tissot, Brooklyn Museum

Money or gold, which are useful to commercial exchanges, are part of one of the three great concupiscences of man. Jesus calls men to detach themselves from money, which makes them idolaters.

In "The Gospel as It Was Revealed to Me"

Gold as wealth

• But gold... but gold... Key that opens, means of corruption, it is the alpha and omega of ninety-nine Actions out of a hundred for men. For bread and Woman, man becomes a thief. For power he goes as far as murder. But for gold, he becomes idolatrous.
• The thirst for gold: speaking to bandits between Modîn and Bether: "The cursed hunger for gold drives men into abject feelings. It is through gold that man reveals himself more than by anything else. Look at how much evil this metal sows by its fascinating and useless shine. I believe the air of Hell has the same color, so infernal is its nature since man is a sinner.
  The Creator had left it inside this huge lapis lazuli that is the earth, created by His will, so that it would be useful to man with its salts and serve to decorate Temples. But Satan, by kissing the eyes of Eve and biting the self of man, gave a harmful stain to the innocent metal. And since then we kill and sin for gold. Because of it, Woman becomes coquettish and lets herself be led into the sin of the flesh.
  Through it, man becomes thief, usurper, murderer, hard toward his Neighbor and toward his Soul whom he strips of his true heritage to give himself something ephemeral, toward his soul from which he steals its eternal treasure to give it a few shining scales that he will have to leave at his death.
  Oh you, who because of gold, sin more or less lightly, more or less gravely, and the more you sin, the more you laugh at what your mothers and your teachers have taught you, that there is a reward and a punishment for what was done during life. Do you not think then that because of this sin, you will lose Protection of God, eternal life, joy, and you will have remorse, curses filling your Heart, fear as a companion, the fear of punishments from men which is nothing compared to the fear you should have and do not have, the holy fear of God's punishments? (...)"
• "Be opposed to the desire for gold as to the desire of the flesh; to carnal desire as to the desire for power. This is what Satan offers you. Oh! His deceptive riches! Honors, success, power, money: impure goods that you buy at the price of your Soul. Be content with little. God gives you what is necessary. That is enough. This, He guarantees to you, as He guarantees to the birds of the air, and you are much more than Birds. But He wants your trust and sobriety. If you have trust, He will not disappoint you. If you are sober, His daily gift will suffice."

Gold as wage and currency

• The worker has the right to a wage, even if he works on Souls because he still has a body to feed, like the donkey who helps his master...
• (Jesus) during the first sending on Mission of the Apostles: Take neither gold nor money: "Go without riches. Do not carry gold, nor silver, nor coins in your belts, no travel bags with two or more garments, no spare sandals, nor walking stick, nor weapons. For now, your apostolic visits will be short, and every eve of Sabbath we will meet (...) No need for weapons. They are good for men who do not know the holy poverty and who ignore divine forgiveness. But you have no treasure to guard and defend against thieves. The only one to fear, the only thief for you, is Satan. And he is conquered by constancy and prayer, not with swords and daggers.
  (...) Do not worry about your food. You will always have what suits your condition and your ministry because the worker deserves the food brought to him. Always. If men did not provide it, God would provide for His worker's needs."
• John at Ephraim, to a group of pilgrims that Judas was urging to give an offering to Jesus: "It is only an offering of sincere faith, of love faithful that we, I, my companions, you, we all must give for all that the Master gives us.
  When we walked through Palestine, He accepted your offerings because they were necessary for our travels and because many beggars were on our path, and hidden miseries made themselves known to us. Now, here, we need nothing — blessed be Providence — and we meet no beggars. Take back, take back your offering and give it, in Jesus' name, to the unfortunate."

In Other Works of Maria Valtorta

In the Notebooks

• Catechesis of June 29, 1943: Commentary on the phrase "go, sell what you possess and follow me": "But my phrase has another meaning still, just as there is a wealth greater than gold and life and infinitely more precious. Intellectual wealth. One's own thought! How precious it is!"
• Catechesis of June 30, 1943: "Remember this for the rest of your life. A father such as I am never gives something harmful to his children. Even if the appearance is that of a stone for one who asks for a kiss, this stone is pure gold and eternal."
• Catechesis of January 6, 1944: The prayers of the saints offer me gold and the holocaust of victims, incense; but myrrh, the myrrh so bitter, it is you who give it to me by not loving me, by your lack of love, you make me taste a second time the cup of Gethsemane and the sponge of Calvary".
• Catechesis of February 8, 1944: "This is what God is: spirit and flesh and not gold. Gold is a metal to which you give great value because, as the eternal savages you are, you have let yourselves be seduced by its shine, but it is actually less precious than the grayish iron that equips you in plowshares, sickles, hoes: these are the only useful and holy weapons, because they clear the soil, open it for sowing, reap the ears, that great gift of God to man, the ears that make your daily bread."
• Catechesis of January 10, 1945: "Gold, you will tell me, is never pure. It is always mixed with other metals to be workable. I know well. Add silver: tears. Platinum: suffering. But never add copper: rancor, never tin: fatigue. Never, never, iron or carbon: the desire to be loved and that to be understood. You would sully your gold."
• Catechesis of November 24, 1946: Decimus' answer when told he will be burned: "No: what happiness! I am happy. I will no longer see the ugliness of the world. The flatteries of the flesh and gold can no longer pass through my pupils to tempt me. In the darkness of momentary blindness I already see the Light. I see God!"
• Catechesis of March 1949: "How Heart of man is changeable and how the gleam of gold was enough to corrupt him to make him an enemy of the Friend, to the point of preferring the cold and pale gleam of a handful of coins – which he cannot keep safe during his life and which he inevitably leaves at death – over the warm and intelligent love gleam of the true Friend of Souls."

In the Bible

• "No one can serve two masters: either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." Matthew 6:24