Is living in Luxury a sin?

I made a startling discovery.

Did you know Catholics are not allowed to live in luxury?  Like, it actually goes against our religion!

Just as God calls some people to celibacy, but all people to chastity, so God calls some people to poverty, but all to simplicity.  I don't mean the kind of simplicity where you just have less stuff but what you have is really expensive, or the kind of simplicity where you are a fool incapable of thinking complex thoughts. But I mean the kind implied by the phrase attributed to Mother Teresa- "Live simply, so that others might simply live."

As Christians, we are called to "Make love your aim" (1 Corinthians 14:1) and to "love your neighbour as yourself" (Mark 12:31).   It is self evident that you cannot love your neighbour as yourself if you are living in luxury while your neighbour goes without basic needs. This seems irrefutable- it is also the clear teachings of the scriptures and of the Catholic Church.   In fact the Church teaches that living simply is not merely a matter of charity, but a matter of justice!

And yet I find that Christians, who otherwise have a high view of scripture, and Catholics who give their assent of faith to the Church, who affirm the universal call to holiness, and who put into practice even the hard teachings like those on contraception... that even these do not know or follow the teachings with regards to living simply!  Moreover, it seems like no one is teaching it...  Ignatius press, Lighthouse, Catholic Answers-  you can't find stuff on living simply or our obligation to the poor!

That's what this blog is about. What does the Church teach? What do the saints say? And what practical things can we do to actually start complying with this hard teaching?