Page:The Complete Works of Henry George Volume 3.djvu/315

 ENCYCLICAL LETTER OF POPE LEO XTTT. 123

with Him* His labors and His sufferings, accepted by His own free will, have marvelously sweetened all suffer- ing and all labor. And not only by His example, but by His grace and by the hope of everlasting recompense, He has made pain and grief more easy to endure ; for that which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation, worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of gloryj

24. Therefore those whom fortune favors are warned that freedom from sorrow and abundance of earthly riches are no guaranty of the beatitude that shall never end, but rather the contrary ;f that the rich should tremble at the threatenings of Jesus Christ threatenings so strange in the mouth of Our Lord; and that a most strict account must be given to the Supreme Judge for all that we possess. The chiefest and most excellent rule for the right use of money is one which the heathen philosophers indicated, but which the Church has traced out clearly, and has not only made known to men's minds, but has impressed upon their lives. It rests on the principle that it is one thing to have a right to the possession of money, and another to have a right to use money as one pleases. Private ownership, as we have seen, is the natural right of man ; and to exercise that right, especially as members of society, is not only lawful, but absolutely necessary. It is lawful, says St. Thomas of Aquin, for a man to hold private property ; and it is also necessary for the carrying on of human life.\\ But if the question be asked, How must one's possessions be used ? the Church replies without hesitation in the words of the same holy Doctor : Man should not consider his out-

��* 2 Timothy ii. 12. t 2 Corinthians iv. 17.

t St. Matthew xix. 23, 24. $ St, Luke vi. 24, 25.


 * 2a 2 Q. Ixvi. Art. 2.

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