814. Why has Cod given wealth and power to some, and poverty to others?

"In order to try them in different ways. Moreover, as you know, it is the spirits themselves who have selected those trials, under which they often succumb."

815. Which of the two kinds of trial, poverty or riches, is the most to be dreaded by man?

"They are equally dangerous. Poverty excites murmurings against Providence; riches excite to all kinds of excesses."

816. If the rich man has more temptations to evil, has he not also more ample means of doing good?

"That is precisely what he does not always do. He often becomes selfish, proud, and

insatiable. His wants increase with his fortune, and he never thinks he has enough, even for himself."

Worldly grandeur, and authority over our fellow-creatures, are trials as great and as slippery as misfortune; for the richer and more powerful we are, the more obligations we have to fulfil, and the greater are our means of doing both good and evil. God tries the poor through resignation, and the rich through the use he makes of his wealth and power.

Riches and power give birth to all the passions that attach us to matter, and keep us at a distance from spiritual perfection; this is why Jesus said that it is easier for a camel to pass through the needle's eye than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. (266.)