For the common good.

When I was young, one of the high points of the week was ''going to the pictures.'' In every film, we were faced with a choice: goodies or baddies, cowboys or indians, cops or robbers. The world seemed to be divided in two and we had to choose one side or the other. So when we read Matthew 6:24, ''You cannot serve both God and money,'' we can think that we have to choose one or the other, but our life experience tells us that that is impossible. We believe in God and want to serve him, but we need money and the things that it can buy to keep us alive. As with most things in life, it is not a question of one or the other but of seeing how two things can be combined. Black and white are opposites, but black print on a white page can make a book. God and money are only opposites when people make a god of money. God saw that all he created was good and to be used for our benefit. The danger is that material things, even other people, can be exploited for the profit of a few. In ''Laudato Si'', Pope Francis quotes the New Zealand bishops who ask what the commandment ''Thou shall not kill'' means when ''twenty percent of the world's population consumes resources at a rate that robs the poor nations and future generations of what they need to survive''. (95) As we thank God for the miracle of his creation, let us pray that we use it for our good and the good of all.