There are, I would suppose, a lot of “poor” rich people who have all the material things they want but don’t have many human relationships because they don’t know who they can trust. Imagine thinking that people like you only because you have lots of money and not simply because you are “you”. That could be very difficult to live with I would imagine!
I wish I were better at that “having fun” giving it away! For me giving it away is more like pulling teeth than having fun!I think the passage was related directly to the subject of almsgiving. That is my belief.
When Jesus heard this he said to him, “There is still one thing left for you: sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have a treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Luke 18:22)
This is Jesus the Rabbi here. Jesus is sitting down in the classis rabbinical teaching position and people are aksing him questions. It is a specific rabbinical teaching technique where the teacher would throw out a quick reference to a specific scripture in order to bring the meaning of the entire scripture to the minds of the listenters. Jesus is in the role of a teacher and his statement about selling all you have and recieving treasure in heaven was probably a reference to chapter 29 of the Book of Sirach.
Dispose of your treasure according to the commandments of the Most High,
and that will profit you more than the gold.
Store up almsgiving in your treasury,
and it will save you from every evil.
(Sirach 29:11-12)
No one can say that Jesus didn’t quote the deuterocanonical books.
Sirach 29 is worth reading. The NAB version is here.
It was taught that giving alms, fasting, and prayer were effective ways to fight the “Lust of the eyes”, the “Lust of the flesh” and the “Pride of life”.
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If any one loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. (1 John 2:15-16)
**Fasting **is a way to fight the “Lust of the flesh” or sexual lust. It teaches us to control our bodies and rely on God to get us through bodily craving.
**Prayer **is a way to fight the “Pride of life.” Prayer puts us in direct contact with God who is the creator of the universe. We can’t help but know our humility, our nothingness, and can’t help but be “Poor in spirit” when we converse with the Creator of the Universe in prayer.
Almsgiving is a way to fight the “Lust of the eyes.” The Jews were taught that giving alms was a way to fight the desire for material things. Have you been eyeing up a new Lexus lately? Drop $500 on a homeless shelter and see if you still crave that Lexus.Looking at that new titanium driver down at the PGA store? Buy two weeks worth of groceries for the woman with three kids down the street who’s husband just walked out and you will have more joy than any golf club could ever bring.
Jesus uses it as a teaching moment for his disciples and raises it to supernatural levels for those who will literally be asked to give up everything - priests and bishops, monks and nuns, brothers and sisters. And we must be willing to do no less. What if God took everything away from us tonight? What if God allowed Satan to torment us like he did Job? Would we do what Job did and complain that God was unfair or would we follow Jesus?
But the idea of almsgiving, fasting and prayer as a way to combat temptation to lust and pride should not be lost on us. By giving alms freely we teach ourselves that it isn’t the end of the world, that we are not going to die because we gave a hundred bucks to a needy person, and that it really does bring great joy.
Dave Ramsey says that there are three things you can do with money - save it, spend it, or give it away - and that the most fun you will ever have with money is giving it away.I wish I were better at it.
-Tim-
It’s great- very liberating. It really gives a sense of being a pilgrim here on earth.I don’t know. So tell me, what is it like having given all your goods to the poor?
Also, would you mind showing me the passage that says that ALL Christians need to sell all they have and give to the poor --that this wasn’t directed to ONE ‘rich young man’ only?
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You feel trolled because you are challenged about a central message of the Gospel? Yes, not committing murder, not committing adultery, not committing abortion, not stealing- these are easy, middle class things to do. But something which would concretely affect the lifestyle of a Catholic- in the same way that it affect the life of St. Francis? Is this where most modern Catholics draw the line- preferring the “wealth” Gospel of the Protestants? A Catholicism which does not upset the economic order?
Ah. You’re entitled to your opinion and all (BTW, are you typing this on a library computer or something?
) but the mere fact that you ‘suppose’ and cherry picture scripture and cite YOUR 'interpretations simply says that this is what you choose to think. . . not that it is what Christ and the Church teach are DEMANDED of a Christian in each and every circumstance.
Ordinary universal magisterium is, in fact, infallible. Perhaps you mean that the Catechism itself is not held to be infallible, even though the principles it expresses are, with the predictable result that wording is sometimes revised in the Catechism to allow the (infallible) teachings relayed in it to be understood more perfectly.
I am not saying the Church is wrong in principle. In fact, poverty has almost since the beginning been regarded as one of the Evangelical Counsels. As Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain said: “If you really desire to enjoy blessedness, suffer with endurance all the tribulations of life, and feel hatred against wealth.” I am saying that wealth imperils salvation, and poverty is recommended- but not many Catholics (apart from religious) seem to take it up. In fact, my interpretation (the poverty is recommended for Christians) is accepted by an immense community of Christians.
wow, so well put. some of the passages that refer to poverty are given to those who would become apostles. Even though those called to a religious vocation do still take a vow of poverty. This is of course the opposite of the health/wealth prosperity message!Jesus calls all of us to do different things, because He made us all different.
If you feel strongly called to carry out the evangelical counsels, then sure, you’re probably being asked to give that a try. Other people are strongly called to do other things, and some are just asked to do normal things well.
You will notice that when John the Baptist was preaching, he didn’t tell everyone to put on the sackcloth and start eating locusts and wild honey. (And if he had, and they had done it, it would have destroyed the local ecosystem and made a lot of bees die over the winter.)
Neither did Jesus demand that everyone up and follow Him at a moment’s notice, or He would have been multiplying loaves and fishes every day. He didn’t send out everyone to beg, because He didn’t mean for all of Israel to hit the road and leave nobody to feed His begging ministers; and He apparently didn’t send the lady disciples out with no cloaks or sandals and nobody to protect them from rape and murder. He didn’t send out babies that couldn’t walk or talk to spread the Gospel and cast out demons, much less sending them out in pairs to take care of each other. (Though I imagine they wouldn’t have made it more than a couple miles if He had.)
Jesus even sent out the disciples in different ways at different times, to do different things. Sometimes they got to wear sandals and swords and carry purses.
God commands us all to follow His will. But He has a lot of different ways to do that.
That wealth is a potential impediment to salvation is not indeed a new insight. That is not analogous to the claim you advance that poverty is somehow mandatory or a commandment. Avoiding sin means doing our duties; and our duties very often require material possessions. I cannot, for instance, succeed in my vocation as a husband and father if I do not have income sufficient to support my family.
I don’t know what you’re referring to here. I’m referring to your past tendencies to deny God’s omnipotence, your belief that the order of being is something evil and in need of destruction, etc.
There is simply no room for dialogue on settled dogmas and doctrines of the Church, including its sole possession of exegetical and magisterial authority. It’s infallible; you aren’t; case closed.
I don’t accept this at all. Frankly, it borders on outright denial of a central truth of the Catholic faith, namely, the Church’s role as minister of the redemption and custodian of revelation. You aren’t entitled to expound falsehood, and whatever you believe with respect to faith and morals that diverges from the Church which speaks infallibly on these matters must necessarily be false.