By Michael Patrick O’Brien–
In one of my favorite scenes from the beloved holiday film It’s a Wonderful Life, George Bailey and his guardian angel Clarence Oddbody discuss how Clarence might help George, and George suggests a loan of $8,000 to get him out of his financial bind. Clarence says “we do not use money in Heaven. “George retorts, “Well, it comes in real handy down here, bub!”
Catholic catechism actually takes George’s side in this discussion. The Church explains that money and profits “are necessary… They make possible the investments that ensure the future of a business and they guarantee employment.” The Church also teaches that those involved in business “have an obligation to consider the good of persons and not only the increase of profits.”
It’s a Wonderful Life shows how businesses and money can be a powerful force for the good of persons, the folks who George says do “most of the working and paying and living and dying in this community.” His Bailey Building and Loan lent money at reasonable rates, built homes for families, and generally encouraged positive community development. In the movie, George explains to the town’s business leaders the obvious benefits of such economic activities: “Doesn’t it make them better citizens…better customers?” When George himself gets in trouble, the neighbors he had helped in turn take up a collection and help him with, you guessed it, money.
All of this contrasts sharply with the miserly old Mr. Henry F. Potter, the wealthy banker whose abundant economic resources never make him happy. Mr. Potter uses his money only to try to either accumulate more money, or to make everyone else miserable too. He clearly missed the point of basic Catholic teaching: “The decisive point of the social question is that goods created by God for everyone should in fact reach everyone in accordance with justice and with the help of charity.” Or, to paraphrase Pastor Rick Warren, it is not a sin to be rich but it may be a sin to die rich.
There are lots of lessons in this 1946 Frank Capra cinema classic, including the value of family life, friendships, selflessness, and good old fashioned honest hard work. As George’s friends ring in the new year by toasting him as the “richest man in town,” they reveal one of the movie’s less-noted but best lessons- money is a good thing. This can only be true, however, when we use money to do good things, to create a wonderful life for others.
