St. Basil quote question

[fish90]

I am currently reading The Fathers by Pope Benedict XVI. On page 78, I came across a difficult quote for me to understand.

The paragraph reads:
And on this point, he used courageous, strong words in his homilies. Indeed, anyone who desires to love his neighbor as himself, in accordance with God’s commandment, “must possess no more than his neighbor.” [superscript 31, I do not know how to work superscripts]

The bibliographical is Hom. in Divites: PG 31, 281b.

1.) Can anybody explain this quote? It really sounds Marxist.

2.) Do you have advice for me when I read future unusual quotes, especially scripture?

Best,
fish90

 

[Verbum]

Hi Fish,

To me, this means that if you want to push your love of neighbor to its ultimate limit, you must be ready to share with them, so that you don’t have more than they do.

Verbum

 

[Bookcat]

I am currently reading The Fathers by Pope Benedict XVI. On page 78, I came across a difficult quote for me to understand.

The paragraph reads:
And on this point, he used courageous, strong words in his homilies. Indeed, anyone who desires to love his neighbor as himself, in accordance with God’s commandment, “must possess no more than his neighbor.” [superscript 31, I do not know how to work superscripts]

The bibliographical is Hom. in Divites: PG 31, 281b.

1.) Can anybody explain this quote? It really sounds Marxist.

2.) Do you have advice for me when I read future unusual quotes, especially scripture?

Best,
fish90

He is quoting St. Basil…(such quotes need to be taken in context…and understood within the teachings of the Church etc)…one will find all sorts of sayings like this…such as the coat that hangs in your closet belongs to the poor…but this does not mean that it is taken in a strictly literal sense…

But we do need to give from our abundance and sometimes even from our need…

See the Catechism and Compendium of the Social Doctrine…

Quotes from Scripture too must be understood by the Analogy of Faith (see Catechism) …that is the whole…

 

[anns82]

The difference between Catholic teaching (including the quote) and Marxism is that giving through faith is giving out of love, which means you are doing it for God.

With Marxism, you are giving to the government to give to others, which is not actually giving out of your free will, but rather, it is the government taking. If God was truly against the idea of private property, then He would not have outlawed stealing.

God gave us free will in order to discover and live the true meaning in life, which is to love, and which is to love God. Without free will (Marxism), love does not exist.