Editorial

Tightening belts

The Pope of Hope has picked a great time to come to the United States.

There is growing unease in the nation right now, generated largely by mounting evidence of an economic tailspin. Indeed, whenever the economy is finally declared to be officially in a recession, millions of Americans already have the sense that something is not right.

Bear Stearns, a risk-taking company that made a lot of money, has paid a high price -- much of it in the form of its employees' own money -- for taking very unwise risks. Its rescue by the Federal Reserve Board shows that free-market policymakers who don't blink in the face of the poor, the elderly and the uninsured will draw the line when the invisible hand of Adam Smith starts smacking around major banks.

Whether the Federal Reserve's own risk-taking will be enough to stave off a financial apocalypse, we will know soon enough, but Americans are already tightening their belts, believing that the second wave of "irrational exuberance" -- to use Alan Greenspan's memorable phrase -- in the past 10 years is about to crash earthward. Wal-Mart sales are up. Starbucks is hitting its first rough patch as disposable income is being swallowed by higher gas prices. And in all but the wealthiest neighborhoods, Americans are looking for ways to cut back on luxuries and prepare for a stingier future.

People are getting laid off. Wages are being hammered by rising costs. Foreclosures are peaking. Times are getting a little tougher for some, a lot tougher for others.

Some of the fear that people are feeling is media-generated. While recessions are part of the economic fabric of life, round-the-clock coverage and the breathless tones of the reporters at Fox News and CNN imply that a recession is a natural disaster like global warming or a collision with an asteroid -- only bigger.

Our fearfulness is getting the better of us, and there is a kind of collective hysteria that can make us even more obsessive about our material status. The truth is that recessions are a fact of life. In the heady euphoria of the good times, we can be duped by dot-com bubbles and housing bubbles and now gold bubbles into thinking that we are somehow impervious to bad times. Perhaps a recessionary environment like the one found today is actually an opportunity of sorts.

The truth is that many of us have been living beyond our means. We bought the advertising pitch, and we thought that the stock markets, the housing prices and other investments would all keep going up. Our values have been distorted by the temptations of consumerism.

When Pope Benedict arrives in the United States a few weeks from now, he will bring a message of hope, but it is not a message one is likely to hear from politicians pandering for votes or the marketers of financial excess.

The pope's message is the Church's message: Our purpose on this earth has nothing to do with material success, nor is material success some sign of divine favor.

Our help is in the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Our vocation is to serve. And in this Easter season, the Church is reminding us of the big picture. Yes, this is a time for simplifying, for cutting costs and doing away with unnecessary expenditures, but it is also a challenge to be thinking of those who are truly needy, and to be thinking of the spiritual treasure that does not disappear in a falling stock market. The Apostle of Hope will bring a message of spiritual renewal. Will America hear his message? Will we?