The true beatitude: Happy the rich person found without fault, who does not turn aside after wealth. Ben Sira 31:8

The master of wisdom Ben Sira taught us that the true beatitude of man is in the search for spiritual goods like mercy (compassion, kindness) and perseverance, and not in greed and selfishness. When men indulge in the love of money, they face a path full of risks and destructive unforeseen events. Wars are always aimed at catering to greed and the accumulation of wealth, and since the love of money can never be satisfied, those who follow this path are always deprived of peace and a quiet life because they never know where a betrayal can come from.
In the Bible King Ahab caused the death of Naboth for stealing a vineyard and was cursed by the Lord through the prophet Elijah. King Ahab, for having allowed himself to be carried away by the advice of the idolatrous Jezebel, suffered in his own flesh a teaching:
"The evil anyone does will recoil on him
without knowing how it came upon him" Ben Sira 27:27.
But the master of wisdom Ben Sira did not condemn riches but the mentality that is behind them, that is why he gave a wise teaching on the attitude that men should have towards gold and money:
"Happy the rich person found without fault,
who does not turn aside after wealth.
Who is he, that we may praise him?
For he has done wonders among his people.
Who has been tested by gold and been found perfect?
Let it be for him his glory.
Who could have sinned but did not,
and could have done evil but did not?
So his good fortune is secure,
and the assembly will recount his praises" Ben Sira 31:8-11.
Glorious, happy, and blessed is the magnanimous man, Ben Sira taught us; that man who understands in his heart that there is no greater good than life, and who puts all his efforts into increasing and perfecting it. Whoever understands this in his mind found that wisdom that God places in the human hearts like a hidden treasure. Riches are not a goal in themselves but a means, a means to help ourselves and others, in understanding this consists the true wisdom of man.

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