Luke 12:21 — Community Reflections

LUKE 12:21 — KING JAMES VERSION 0

“So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys — the practical expression of kingdom orientation is the divestiture of earthly treasure and the accumulation of heavenly treasure through generosity. The person who has given their possessions away has also given away their anxiety about protecting them.

Church Fathers on Luke 12:21

Having said that the life of man is not extended by abundance of wealth, he adds a parable to induce belief in this, as it follows, And he spoke a parable to them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully.
Theophylact · 11th century

Not indeed about to reap any good from his plenty of fruits, but that the mercy of God might the more appear, which extends its goodness even to the bad; sending down His rain upon the just and the unjust. But what are the things wherewith this man repays his Benefactor? He remembered not his fellow-creatures, nor deemed that he ought to give of his superfluities to the needy. His barns indeed bursting from the abundance of his stores, yet was his greedy mind by no means…
Basil the Great · 4th century

O adversity, the child of plenty. For saying, What shall I do, he surely betokens, that, oppressed by the success of his wishes, he labors as it were under a load of goods.
Gregory the Great · 6th century

Read all 18 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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