Cariduitku

AN ANGLICAN PRIEST is warning that the love and worship of money and the desire to get rich can be tempting and lead many people down the wrong path.

Reverend Canon Wayne Issacs told his congregation that included members of the Royal Barbados Police Force at St Paul's Anglican Church Sunday that a person could not serve God and Mammon (wealth regarded as an evil influence) together.

"The two cannot live in peaceful coexistence," he said at a service to mark the start of Police Week celebrations and which was also attended by Prime Minister David Thompson, Attorney-General Freundel Stuart, Commissioner of Police Darwin Dottin and the heads of other organisations.

The priest, who noted that money could be a good servant or a bad master, said that without it the Government could not carry out its programmes and people could not take care of their needs.

However, money became an evil when it was not used to serve the interest of God.

"There are three evils about materialism – greed, the desire to get rich and the worship of money have been the downfall of many persons. These three lead to corruption and dishonesty in both the public and private life and cause many to fall in disgrace. These three evils . . . cause us to compromise our principles. . . .

"Our national security is endangered when people with whom we place our confidence allow greed to make them slaves of materialism . . .," he continued.

Issacs added that the desire to get rich was responsible for some of the social problems facing Barbadian society today such as people involved in selling drugs.

"The desire to get rich is a factor that causes some persons to overcharge for services," the canon added.

He warned that people spent so much time trying to make money that at the end of the day, salvation was lost to them and they were sometimes miserable and discontented.