St Robert Bellarmine: He Did Not Choose Wealth

Today we celebrate a great Jesuit saint. When he was a child, his father hoped he would use his intellect to obtain a lucrative position that would bring the family great wealth. Instead, he decided to become a Jesuit. (It made me laugh out loud when the book In Caelo et in Terra said it just like that.)

He did great work in writing, preaching, and teaching. You can read more about him here. But what I want to focus on is his decision to become a priest. He COULD have chosen wealth. He had the ability to amass a great fortune for himself and his family. But he didn't choose that. He chose instead to store up great treasure in heaven. If he had chosen wealth, I'm 99.99% sure we would never have heard of him today. Instead he chose the riches of heaven, and is now a saint in heaven, being celebrated every September the 17th throughout the whole world. 

You have the same choice before you - invest in the things of this world, or invest in what lasts forever. Choose wisely.

God, thanks for the great choice made by this highly intelligent Jesuit priest. St Robert Bellarmine, pray for us.