With the alleged “penny shortage” going on here in the United States as 2025 was the last year of minting, many businesses are rounding up or down to the nearest five-cent mark with their customer’s change. This puts the buyer in a situation where they’re left scratching their head as to whether or not they are going to get back change in their favor – or be shortchanged, especially if the buyer is unaware if the business rounds up or down in the buyer’s favor. Some businesses round in favor of us even when it’s to the business’ disadvantage. Others round “legitimately” up or down to the nearest five cents. In the big picture, it seems like all this “penny-rounding,” or “Swedish” rounding as it’s called, is simply capitalizing off an aggrandization of the United States having a penny shortage.
All of this nonsense (non-cents?) is nothing more than a small problem being blown out of proportion, if there is even a problem at all because there is still billions and billions of pennies out there in circulation. Rolling the dice with a customer’s change and calling it “no big deal” is a venial sin, as is aggrandizing a small problem for profit. If a business wants to give me more back that’s up to them but according to a prominent lawyer on the internet, no one is legally allowed to break the contract to give us our due change as a business. If for some reason it’s not illegal to withhold our change based on an alleged “shortage,” then surely in the eyes of God it’s a venial sin to withhold proper change. It is also a sin if a government is trying to slowly eliminate currency to transition to easier transactions in favor of the wealthy if that’s the case.
Today’s society brushes off small offenses out of convenience “to keep the presses going,” so to speak. Venial sin is also often trivialized by many of us practicing (or at least aiming at practicing) Catholics, and venial sin eventually snowballs into mortal sin, for as St Augustine warns us all to not take venial sins lightly:
While he is in the flesh, man cannot help but have at least some light sins. But do not despise these sins which we call “light”: if you take them for light when you weigh them, tremble when you count them. A number of light objects makes a great mass; a number of drops fills a river; a number of grains make a heap. What then is our hope? Above all, confession… CCC 1863
These words of Augustine may arise a change of mind in those that rely primarily on Holy Mass and the initial Confiteor / priestly forgiveness as well as Holy Communion to remit venial sin. As St Benedict says the devil loves secrets!
Jesus says if a man cannot be trusted in small matters, neither can he be trusted in larger. If one is willing to put our pocket change essentially in a lot without our consent, it makes it difficult to trust them in the big picture too. I don’t think this is applicable to all business participating in the penny shortage scheme, but I would say it’s safe to say many of them are proving the point of that gospel message aforementioned here.
On the flip side of this coin shortage nonsense, Saint Mother Theresa said something along the lines of if you take a drop out of the ocean, it’s no longer an ocean. She was referencing our good works, no matter how small, can have great merit. With the feast of Saint Therese occurring recently, her motto was “small things done with great love,” who as many of us know is the namesake Mother Theresa took. Her emphasizing doing small works with great love, was clearly seen in the work she did in caring for the very ill of India; always attributing her good works to Jesus in the holy hour she made every morning. Imagine if instead of plopping down to watch a sitcom or football game each night, we plopped down in a pew and made a holy hour a few times a week? I wonder how that would change our lives? Of course we can still watch our games and sitcoms, just divide the week in half as a sort of holy science experiment.
St Therese had a strong devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus. In the devotions of St Gertrude Mechtilde and Sister Maria de Saint Pierre, Jesus explains that “in offering My Face to My Father, they will appease His anger and they will purchase as with celestial coin pardon for poor sinners.” That’s pretty cool. We can use an image of The Holy Face of Jesus to sort of “ransom” souls to God the Father. It makes perfect sense, I mean if I were to try to get into a palace and I had a seal with the king’s son on it, the retinue of guards would drop their guard if I tried to enter. Especially if the queen of that kingdom had a paper of provenance she gave me to go along with it (daily Rosary, hint, hint!). Remember that the next time you pray for a loved one that has gone astray!
St. Teresa said upon her death, she will let fall from Heaven a shower of roses. I know this may be a bit selfish but saint Therese would you mind dropping a shower of pennies additionally if it is in the will of God?
