Is it "theft" to keep high-value items that were abandoned in my home?

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"Jesus’s own Mother, Mary didn’t give up her home. Was not homeless. Also, the Apostles didn’t sell off their homes either, Peter still owned his home and still owned his fishing boat(s)."

Where in the Bible does it state that Mary did not give up her home? I found this verse about Mary regarding John’s home: John 19:26–27
As for Peter and the Apostles: Luke 18:24-34

Peter’s words, “Behold, we have left our own things [lit.] and followed You” refer back to Jesus’ words to the rich young ruler (18:22), “Sell all that you possess, and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” The twelve had done what the young man refused to do. They had given up their jobs and even had left their families for a time in order to follow Christ.
Thanks for sharing the story of the rich man BUT my main point still stands: If we were going to be purists, then we might want to do the same exact thing and give up worldly pursuits in favor of full-time ministry. An abundance of material possessions draw us away from spirituality.
 
DeniseKYGirl said:
"Jesus’s own Mother, Mary didn’t give up her home. Was not homeless. Also, the Apostles didn’t sell off their homes either, Peter still owned his home and still owned his fishing boat(s)."

Where in the Bible does it state that Mary did not give up her home? I found this verse about Mary regarding John’s home: John 19:26–27
As for Peter and the Apostles: Luke 18:24-34

Peter’s words, “Behold, we have left our own things [lit.] and followed You” refer back to Jesus’ words to the rich young ruler (18:22), “Sell all that you possess, and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” The twelve had done what the young man refused to do. They had given up their jobs and even had left their families for a time in order to follow Christ.
Thanks for sharing the story of the rich man BUT my main point still stands: If we were going to be purists, then we might want to do the same exact thing and give up worldly pursuits in favor of full-time ministry. An abundance of material possessions draw us away from spirituality.
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Yes. Peter said “we LEFT our own things.” He didn’t say we sold our things. Bible scholars (even Protestant ones) believe that the house where the man was lowered from the roof was actually Peter’s house.

Remember, Peter had a mother-in-law (if he didn’t still have a wife). Scholars believe that Jesus and the 12 stayed at Peter’s house when they were in his hometown.

The Blessed Mother had a home too. It was the house Jesus grew up in. She wasn’t on the road with Jesus His whole ministry. However, when Christ was killed, it was obvious that Mary was going to need someone to take care of her (hence John). I would argue that it was no longer safe for the Blessed Virgin Mary to remain in Israel, which is why John eventually took her to Ephesus.

My point is that it wasn’t necessary to physically get rid of one’s belongings. But it was necessary to rid themselves of the ATTACHMENT to physical belongings.

FYI - This is something that Catholic priests (esp ones in Religious Orders) still do today. Religious Order priest take vows of poverty, while diocesan priests & priests of Societies of Apostolic Life typically live a pretty unattached life, even though they don’t technically take vows of poverty.
 
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Thank you for clarifying what I have suspected, that you either were raised a non-Catholic or are no longer one. Not judging you on that. I just deduced it because you seem to lean more toward the strict fundamentalism of evangelicals – i.e., the absolute letter of Scripture, and only Scripture, with no room for interpretation other than the most literal. That’s fine. I don’t see God having any real problem with that. You are obviously a purist.
 
"… Don’t be scared of evangelization! It’s the very purpose of the Church and of our lives as Christian people. (Our Role in the "Great Commission" - St. Francis of Assisi) Evangelicals are more heavily focused on the Great Commission, but Catholic teachings do not put you above it. I like to think of myself as an exegete, and the “interpretation” you are referring to is what I view as eisegesis: “…The opposite of exegesis (to draw out) is eisegesis (to draw in), in the sense of an eisegetic commentator ‘importing’ or ‘drawing in’ his or her own purely subjective interpretations into the text…” (Exegesis - Wikipedia). You are welcome for the clarification, but most people who are raised in a religion are faced with evaluating it, critically, and adjusting their views accordingly, hopefully according to reason and subjectivity. We must let scripture interpret scripture, and that is seen by some (including you, apparently) as being “purist” and either somewhat or entirely negative. I think of Christians as being in one of two categories: passive or active. Passive Christians are the bench-warmers who go to church and, frankly, can’t wait to get out. Case-in-point was the time when so many Catholics were bailing early to get out of the parking lot (to avoid the bottleneck) that the priest had to give a stern admonishment to the congregation. They were, basically, wanting to get out of there and back to their worldly activities. The “active” Christians would be the ones who stay late, clean up, and after THAT, they will go out and minister to the sick. Perhaps such ones will go read to a blind person after Mass. See the difference? Do you call THIS behavior “purist”, because I’m sure there are PLENTY of parishioners all around you who operate this way. At least they are actively working for Christ and doing what he wants them to do rather than leaving church early to go wash their Cadillac Escalades or the like. You don’t have to be a “born again” fundamentalist to be on fire for the Lord and imitate him.
 
FYI - This is something that Catholic priests (esp ones in Religious Orders) still do today. Religious Order priest take vows of poverty, while diocesan priests & priests of Societies of Apostolic Life typically live a pretty unattached life, even though they don’t technically take vows of poverty.

One other thing, we really do not have much information in the Bible about the Blessed Mother. Yes obviously she lived in a home but we do not have any details (from the Scriptures) about her finances and worldly possessions. I know she loved her son very much and understood all about His teachings.
I am well aware of this, I used to be Catholic. Thank you for sharing nonetheless. God Bless
 
The following passage about lost things found seems to apply:
1 You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, and withhold your help from them; you shall take them back to your brother. 2 And if he is not near you, or if you do not know him, you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall be with you until your brother seeks it; then you shall restore it to him. 3 And so you shall do with his ass; so you shall do with his garment; so you shall do with any lost thing of your brother’s, which he loses and you find; you may not withhold your help. (Deuteronomy 22:1-3)
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Annie said:
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DeniseKYGirl:
One thing to note is the fact that Jesus was against ownership of any high-value items
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Where is that in the Bible?
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Matthew 19:24 “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

Matthew 19:21 “Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

1 John 2:15 “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.“

Matthew 6:19-20 “ Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.”

Matthew 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Our hearts are with our treasure…if we store up treasure in the world then our hearts may be in the world. Remember 1 John 2:17 “The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” Do we want our hearts in something that will pass away? Certainly not.

As for the OP, out of kindness and Christlikeness either return it or if you can’t find the owner and it’s not a necessity maybe sell it and use the money for good works or charity. God bless
 
There is a difference between owning a high-value item and having your heart be with your treasure. Jesus never taught against merely owning high-value items, as all your quotes show.
 
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“Lay up your treasures” is clearly pointing to owning them…the point being: why would we keep something of high material value and no spiritual value when we could sell it or give it away to help others? Unless it has some sentimental value possibly, like a family inheritance of some kind.
 
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It is one thing to teach what Christ taught. It is another to teach your opinion (“I think…”) as being what Christ meant.
 
Fair enough, but you didn’t answer my question 😆 (of why we would ever own luxurious nonessential items in the first place?) It “seems to me” that it may not be pleasing to God to keep an expansive artifact to hoard in your home when others are suffering with much less. But to give it away/use it or the profit from selling it to help His less fortunate people (“Whatever you have done for the least of these, you have done for Me”) But yes this is just my personal application, though it seems to follow sound logic, unless you have a different perspective in which case please share: no disrespect, but why would we ever keep ownership of pricey material goods? The logic really just doesn’t make when we could be helping others with them or the profits from selling them, or in OP’s case return them to the possible rightful owner?
 
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Well, I certainly think that the OP should make an effort to contact the owner, but if this proves to be impossible, since the owner legally abandoned the items when he left them there, the OP is entitled to do as he pleases with them.

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Why do we need people to own more stuff? Because if no one did, we would all be living in caves.

But some people can make money because they are particularly good at something. Others can provide labor because they are strong. And so on and so forth.

So we moved out of caves into a rather brilliant idea someone had: huts! Just like caves, but you could build them, which meant you could live in places that didn’t have caves!

The stone work–the construction, the carvings-- of Ancient Egypt reflects their original buildings made of papyrus and lotus.

Did you know the statues and stonework of Nôtre Dame were painted in bright colors? As were the colonnaded of Greece and probably everything in between. Why?

Because people loved life! They were joyful!

Why do painters make beautiful paintings? For centuries in Europe: to glorify God.

Biy if no one owned a high value object, we’d all still be living in caves.

I used to have a lowly job helping someone fix things iij n houses. He was a high-end guy, I got to see some lovely homes. That lifted my spirits, even tho I knew I would never live in one. But to know that I could drive down those streets and see some of the beauty, that was nice.

And to know that because of them, I could experience more beauty in my life than if I lived in a cave, that was good too 🙂

But if everyone was a monk, no one would ever see that sort of thing.

We are each different. We are called to different things. To tell Michaelangelo or DaVinci that he could not create would be to cut them off from a part of themselves.

If we had no families, there would be no more Christians. There would be no Christian society.

If we made all our children live like hermits, we would kill their spirits.

If every entity that owned high-value things sold it all off (which would be impossible since it would lose its value immediately, and there would be no one to buy it), then we could maybe feed all the poor of the world for a month. And then what? All of us would starve.

So own things, but own them wisely. Make money, if that is your gift, and use to it glorify God. For those who are called to evangelization or to consecrate themselves by becoming priests, nuns, or monks, they will be all the more effective because of the support from those who own high-value things.
 
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Matthew 6:19–21 19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

If we had no families, there would be no more Christians. There would be no Christian society. How is this not a fallacy, my friend?

If we made all our children live like hermits, we would kill their spirits. Another fallacy?
 
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It appears you are closer to answering your own question without help!
If it’s abandoned and now you have it for safe keeping, you are the new owner unless of course someone claims it and then it’s up to you to reunite it with it’s prior owner. Only you know the circumstances of this and only you can control it’s destiny. I wouldn’t say it’s theft.

Peace!
WW
 
Did you know the statues and stonework of Nôtre Dame were painted in bright colors? As were the colonnaded of Greece and probably everything in between. Why?

Because people loved life! They were joyful!
That is all fine and dandy but did they do it for God? Perhaps some did but not all. They loved life?? Are we to love life more than God? They were joyful? Of course they were BUT what about the joy of giving to others in need instead of just self-gratification?

Why do painters make beautiful paintings? For centuries in Europe: to glorify God.
Not all painters did it for God. Not all painters were Christian.

Biy if no one owned a high value object, we’d all still be living in caves.
Matthew 6:19-20
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
valuables stored in God’s kingdom will last forever.

Colossians 3:1-4
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Earthly treasure is temporary; heavenly treasure is permanent!
Philippians 3:8-9
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith
Earthly treasure comes from an earthly heart; heavenly treasure comes from a heavenly heart
Matthew 6:24
No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

1 Timothy 6:8-10
Matthew 6:33
How do you build treasures in heaven? You store heavenly treasure when you build up God’s kingdom. When you serve God directly and not for your own reward, and when you work toward His kingdom, you are laying up treasures in heaven.
1 Timothy 6:17-19
Luke 12:32-34
 
I follow the teachings of Christ, which were preserved by the Catholic Church. We have understandings of teachings which were put forth by people who were converted by the Apostles themselves.

The teachings have been preserved by men much more learned, intelligent, and holy than I am.

You seem to own something which allows you to post here. That is a high-value item.

You also seem to value your interpretation over that of the Church, the pillar and ground of truth. That does not seem good.

And finally, repeating arguments and/or quotes over and over is not helpful.
 
You seem to own something which allows you to post here. That is a high-value item.
Just because I own something does not mean it is of high value (definition-consider as very important) or I consider it of high value. God is helping me post here, not high value items.

You also seem to value your interpretation over that of the Church, the pillar and ground of truth. That does not seem good.
Does the Church not use bible principles?
I value the Word of God, that is why I quoted those verses. High value items are garbage to me compared to the Word of God. Every Christians’ goal in life it to help one another by whatever means possible. Hoarding treasures for self-gratification is one thing but to give it away in order to help others is another.

And finally, repeating arguments and/or quotes over and over is not helpful.
The Word of God is helpful and that is all that matters to me.
What was the whole point of Jesus conquering temptation in the desert?

I treasure the Word of God above all things. You can say that that is my HIGHEST (heavenly) value!
Not my own interpretation, it is simply called bible principles. 😇 😉
 
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"Seek out and gather divine treasures like “love, charity, service, patience, goodness and tenderness,” he said June 21 during the homily at morning Mass in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where he lives.

In his own version of the common saying, “You can’t take it with you” when you die, the pope said, “I’ve never seen a moving truck following behind a funeral procession. Never.”

While material possessions will remain here on earth, there are treasures that “we can bring with us” to heaven, he said.

However, they are not the things “that you have saved up for yourself, but rather those you have given to others,” which is the gift and presence of “Jesus Christ in us,” the pope said.

In his homily, the pope commented on the day’s reading from the Gospel of Matthew, which says not to store up treasures on earth, “but store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.”

The pope said that in this passage, Jesus connects the kind of treasure that has real value in life and in heaven with the human heart."
Pope says…
 
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