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During the Crusades, the mercenaries who were hired to fight would get baptized since they were fighting a religious war. When they were baptized, they would ride their horses into the river. As they went under the water, they would hold their sword out of the water. They didn't want their sword baptized as they wanted their sword to be free, so they could use it however they chose to use it.
It is unclear whether this is a true story or a legend. But it's a good metaphor for Catholics who hold their money "out of the water" to indicate that they can use money however they please, totally independent of how they live their Catholic faith.
Yet if we follow the teachings of the Church, all areas of our life should be dedicated to God, even something as secular and practical as how we handle money. Almost 100% of our time is somehow related to money. We earn it. We spend it. We use things we bought with money. Money is a large part of everyday life.
The Catholic Church is referred to as "The Pilgrim Church" on earth, and each of us is a pilgrim. The moment we are born is the start of our pilgrimage and the moment we die is the end of our pilgrimage. This world is not our true home - heaven is the destination of our pilgrimage.
Pilgrims travel light and only take the necessary items on their journey. They travel with a purpose and a specific destination in mind. They don't get bogged down carrying things they don't need. Material items are necessary, but only if they facilitate the journey to their final destination.
A pilgrim's mindset is the opposite of the messages we get from our materialistic, consumeristic culture. We are immersed in thinking this world is all there is. The house we live in, or the car we drive, or our job, or the money we have in the bank, or how we dress is of utmost importance. We spend money we don't have to buy things we don't need to impress people we don't know.
However, when we acknowledge that we are pilgrims, and everything here on earth is temporary, we can focus on what is really important in the long term. All the times we get caught up in buying, spending and wanting get pushed to the background and our role as stewards of God's blessings come to the foreground.
Stewards know that every spending decision is a spiritual decision. They live in a way that acknowledges that the house, car, job or money loses all importance the moment we take our last breath and our pilgrimage comes to an end as we "march towards the homeland." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1533.)
Coming soon.... why you don't want to use a budget.