Luke 18:12 — Community Reflections

LUKE 18:12 — KING JAMES VERSION 0

“I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.”

I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get — twice-weekly fasting (Monday and Thursday were the voluntary fast days of the pious): beyond the Torah requirement (which required only one day per year, Yom Kippur). Give a tenth of all I get: beyond the Torah requirement (which required tithes only of agricultural produce). The Pharisee's religious performance is genuinely exceptional — and the prayer makes it the ground of standing before God.

Church Fathers on Luke 18:12

Since faith is not a gift of the proud but of the humble, our Lord proceeds to add a parable concerning humility and against pride.
Augustine · 4th century

Pride also beyond all other passions disturbs the mind of man. And hence the very frequent warnings against it. It is moreover a contempt of God; for when a man ascribes the good he does to himself and not to God, what else is this but to deny God? For the sake then of those that so trust in themselves, that they will not ascribe the whole to God, and therefore despise others, He puts forth a parable, to show that righteousness, although it may bring man up to God, yet if he…
Theophylact · 11th century

To be diligent in prayer was the lesson taught by our Lord in the parable of the widow and the judge, He now instructs us how we should direct our prayers to Him, in order that our prayers may not be fruitless. The Pharisee was condemned because he prayed heedlessly. As it follows, The Pharisee stood and prayed with himself.
GREEK EX ·

Read all 24 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain

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