Catholic Men In Tough Times
The economy's been challenging a lot of us. Jobs are scarce. Some of us - even we who have jobs - are struggling to make ends meet. It's been harder than ever to raise a family on one salary in this country.
A friend recently told me that he's been helping his married children raise their families. Both of his children are married with kids and this friend would like to help so that the mother of his grandchildren could stay home with the kids. He has the means to do this. He also said friends of his are doing the same.
If you're feeling pressed trying to raise a family, especially on one salary, don't be surprised. Don't think it's just you who's struggling.
It wasn't always like this. Not that people didn't struggle in the past. Just think about Our Lord and His Holy Family. St Joseph worked hard. He taught Our Lord the cabinet-making/carpentry trade and Our Lord helped out working in the family business. It's some consolation to us Catholic men to think of the Holy Family. It's why so many of us pray to St Joseph and look to him as a good example of fatherhood.
So why does it feel especially hard these days? After all, many of us have fathers or grandfathers who raised their families on one salary. How come they could do it?
I think it's a combination of factors, starting with how people live now and how they lived then. One quick example: McMansions. You know, those gigantic houses so many people live in these days. They didn't exist then. And they're really expensive to keep up, as you can imagine.
Then there's the multiple cars families own. Owning one car was normal for a long time. A new car was a big deal. How about designer clothes, shoes, etc. - and how much of this stuff we all own now. We have lots of stuff these days.
Then there's eating out, vacations, and all that. The point here is that we live life differently now. Our way of living is more expensive and more luxurious.
Yes, I know, many of you don't think you live lives of luxury. You don't take expensive vacations. Still, compared to the past...
But there's more. Even if you really do watch your pennies, if you really do live on shoestring, you're paying more taxes than your fathers and grandfathers. Not just federal and state income tax, but local taxes, sales taxes - the list goes on. Oh, and don't forget social security and medicare taxes that we all pay. It all adds up.
So if you're feeling squeezed, there's good reason for it. If you're wondering why you it's so hard to get by on one salary, there's good reason for it.
Part of the reason is that many of us live better, but part is that the government takes more.
There's more to this story, more than I have time to go into here. But the purpose of today's post is to encourage you. You're not alone.
The other purpose is to tell you that it's possible that times will get even tougher - at least for a while. This may sound discouraging, but it's not meant to be. It's just looking at things the way they are, and facing facts.
It's times like these that test us. Times like these remind us of the importance of relying on God. Sure we need to work hard, to do all we can to support our families. But we can't forget that not only do things happen for a reason - that is, according to God's plan - but that we need to always ultimately rely on Him and not on ourselves in this world.
I don't have any magic to make your life easier. I'm facing the same difficulties. And I'm struggling to remind myself every day to trust more in Him. Trust in God. We all know this, as Catholics. It's time to live it.
A friend recently told me that he's been helping his married children raise their families. Both of his children are married with kids and this friend would like to help so that the mother of his grandchildren could stay home with the kids. He has the means to do this. He also said friends of his are doing the same.
If you're feeling pressed trying to raise a family, especially on one salary, don't be surprised. Don't think it's just you who's struggling.
It wasn't always like this. Not that people didn't struggle in the past. Just think about Our Lord and His Holy Family. St Joseph worked hard. He taught Our Lord the cabinet-making/carpentry trade and Our Lord helped out working in the family business. It's some consolation to us Catholic men to think of the Holy Family. It's why so many of us pray to St Joseph and look to him as a good example of fatherhood.
So why does it feel especially hard these days? After all, many of us have fathers or grandfathers who raised their families on one salary. How come they could do it?
I think it's a combination of factors, starting with how people live now and how they lived then. One quick example: McMansions. You know, those gigantic houses so many people live in these days. They didn't exist then. And they're really expensive to keep up, as you can imagine.
Then there's the multiple cars families own. Owning one car was normal for a long time. A new car was a big deal. How about designer clothes, shoes, etc. - and how much of this stuff we all own now. We have lots of stuff these days.
Then there's eating out, vacations, and all that. The point here is that we live life differently now. Our way of living is more expensive and more luxurious.
Yes, I know, many of you don't think you live lives of luxury. You don't take expensive vacations. Still, compared to the past...
But there's more. Even if you really do watch your pennies, if you really do live on shoestring, you're paying more taxes than your fathers and grandfathers. Not just federal and state income tax, but local taxes, sales taxes - the list goes on. Oh, and don't forget social security and medicare taxes that we all pay. It all adds up.
So if you're feeling squeezed, there's good reason for it. If you're wondering why you it's so hard to get by on one salary, there's good reason for it.
Part of the reason is that many of us live better, but part is that the government takes more.
There's more to this story, more than I have time to go into here. But the purpose of today's post is to encourage you. You're not alone.
The other purpose is to tell you that it's possible that times will get even tougher - at least for a while. This may sound discouraging, but it's not meant to be. It's just looking at things the way they are, and facing facts.
It's times like these that test us. Times like these remind us of the importance of relying on God. Sure we need to work hard, to do all we can to support our families. But we can't forget that not only do things happen for a reason - that is, according to God's plan - but that we need to always ultimately rely on Him and not on ourselves in this world.
I don't have any magic to make your life easier. I'm facing the same difficulties. And I'm struggling to remind myself every day to trust more in Him. Trust in God. We all know this, as Catholics. It's time to live it.
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