04/03/2026
A reflection on greed in the season of lent
Greed is not a word many of us would use about ourselves.
We might associate greed with extreme wealth or exploitation. Yet the Christian tradition has long understood greed to be something deeper than money. It is the impulse to accumulate, to hold tightly, or to seek more in ways that shape our hearts.
Greed can appear in our desire for possessions, but it can also appear in quieter ways: the pursuit of recognition, the accumulation of experiences, the reluctance to share time, influence, or opportunity. It often hides behind things that appear good, ambition, security, even the wish to enjoy life fully.
At its heart, greed asks:
What can I keep for myself?
The Gospel asks a different question:
What has been given to me, and how am I called to share it?
The season of Lent invites us to pause and look more closely at the habits that shape our lives. The traditional practices of fasting, prayer, and generosity are not simply disciplines; they are ways of loosening our grip on what we cling to, and rediscovering the freedom that comes from trusting that there is enough.
This question is not only personal. In Laudato Si', Pope Francis reflects on the global consequences of a culture built on endless accumulation. He speaks of the need to recover simplicity, gratitude, and a sense of sufficiency, recognising that the earth itself cannot sustain a lifestyle of constant consumption.
In that sense, the Lenten question becomes both personal and communal:
Where do I live with open hands, and where do I live with closed ones?
Greed tightens the hands.
Grace opens them.
Lent invites us to rediscover the freedom of living with enough, enough to share, enough to care for others, and enough to live with gratitude for the gifts we have received.
Mercy begins by noticing where the world is crying out, including the quiet cry for enough.
