"Money doesn't bring you happiness but
it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery"
Spike Milligan

If you are one of the many people suffering as a result of the 'credit crunch' then you know the struggle of trying to make ends meet. However, perhaps you now also appreciate that being challenged to reassess priorities has some unexpected benefits. It forces you to think very carefully about what really matters, what you need to buy and what is likely to give longest satisfaction. It encourages you to value people and relationships rather than possessions and short-term pleasures.

The people who were the target of the remarks in today's gospel, those engaged in drunkenness and debauchery, were wasting their money in the pursuit of a happiness that wouldn't last. God wants more for us than a life numbed by the fleeting pleasure of the next drink or the next piece of designer gear or even the next TV programme. God invites us to live - like Jesus - lives of simple pleasures, lives that matter, spending time with people who matter to us.

What matters to you? What kind of Christmas do you want this year? Can you enjoy your friends and family, can you show your appreciation for them in ways that require you to spend more time than money, in ways that last?

Think - Do - Pray

Meditation

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