Christian Art | Parables Of Jesus | King James Audio Bible KJV
Luke 12: 13-21 – Sunday Week 18 (Year C) | Week 29 Ordinary Time, Monday (King James Audio Bible Spoken Word)
13 ¶ And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.
14 And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?
15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
In the clamour of people crowding to be near to Jesus, one man comes to Jesus with a problem which is entirely his own and has nothing to do with his or anyone’s spiritual life. He asks Jesus to use his influence to solve a family dispute about material possessions, the family inheritance, by telling his brother to divide the inheritance fairly.
The man’s problem is real enough to him – an injustice has been committed – but Jesus firmly rejects the role of arbiter. This is not why Jesus is here. It is not part of our Lord’s redemptive mission to intervene in such matters. Jesus gives to us key spiritual, moral and social precepts, and these inspire our actions. We are endowed with the intelligence and freedom to order our lives and circumstances according to Christ’s way.
This incident does, though, lead into the exposition of a principle which does indeed have some bearing on the man’s problem. Jesus offers a reflection on wealth and attitudes to wealth which may indeed imply a criticism of the man – perhaps of the man’s seeking to bring his material concerns, his concerns about wealth, in the way of the infinitely more significant spiritual path being trod by Jesus. The man wants his inheritance; Jesus rebuffs him, then continues to teach his disciples, warning them now about the evil of covetousness. Possessions, Jesus will go on to say, don’t matter; indeed, the disciples should sell what possessions they have and store treasure in heaven (12: 33-34).
The parable of the rich fool gives vivid dramatic expression to the teaching, that a life may become so clogged with transient material possessions that the soul loses sight of God, and has no treasure in heaven laid up for eternal life. We are asked to think of the sense of life. In the parable, the jolly, self-satisfied anticipation of a long and well-fed life to come – with, it seems, no thought of sharing – is immediately exposed as the short-sighted thinking it is as God calls time. The absolute contrast between delusion and reality, and the suddenness of the reversal of fortune, force listeners to stand right back and reconsider their values. We are bound to ask: where are our treasures stored?
God, Lord and master of the vineyard, you allot us our tasks and determine the just rewards of our labours.
Help us to bear the burden of the day and accept your will in all things without complaint.
Through Christ our Lord.
King James Audio Bible | Endnotes
The Parable of the Rich Fool highlights dangers of focusing on material wealth and the evil of coveting what is not rightfully ours. In the Ten Commandments, it is written: ‘Thou shalt not steal’ and ‘Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, wife, or goods.’ The commandments call upon us to recognize the vanity of wealth and such harm our desire for material wealth must cause to others and to our relationship with them.
Indeed, in quest for material satisfaction, we set ourselves against Christianity as we give way to sin. Lust of the flesh precludes spiritual renewal.
Pope Francis has spoken of the need for harmonious relationship with the world and with one another, and the dangers of pursuing material wealth at the expense of others. He has emphasized the importance of caring for creation, including natural resources, and of working to address poverty and inequality in the world. He reminds us that we are all part of one human family, and that the earth and its resources are not just for the benefit of a few, but are to be shared and cared for by all.
Pope Francis has called for a culture of encounter, in which we reach out to one another, listen to one another, and work together to build a better world for all. This means rejecting the delusion of material wealth and instead seeking to live a life of simplicity, humility, and generosity. By living in this way, we can resist temptation to accumulate wealth for ourselves, and instead work to build a world in which all can flourish.
As we explore through the parables of Jesus relationship with God, an understanding of the meaning of parables is that within the context of engagement with the parables we are present with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane – toward crucifixion of Jesus and hence redemption.
When Jesus returns to Nazareth, to his own country, he attends synagogue on the Saturday and teaches there, not as a leader of the synagogue but as a participant in the faith community. Nonetheless, Jesus’ teaching is different from other people’s. Jesus, we have been told, teaches with authority, and not as the scribes (Matthew 7: 29). Jesus does not merely interpret Scripture, according to scholarly tradition; rather, Jesus reworks Scripture, providing for the people a new Torah, which centres upon himself and which we may understand as Jesus himself. In this way, Jesus’ authority matches and exceeds that of Moses. Jesus is a new Moses, and then infinitely more [ … ]
Christian Art | Our Lord Jesus On The Cross | God The Father | God The Son Office Of Readings | Advent December 23rd | A Reading From The Treatise Of Saint Hippolytus Against The Heresy Of Noetus | The Hidden Sacrament Is Revealed ‘The hidden sacrament is revealed.’ In this reading, Saint Hippolytus writes against the Noetic heresy, which denied the real distinction between the Father and the Son by treating them as the same person acting under different names. The purpose of Saint Hippolytus is to defend the Church’s confession of one God who is not solitary, but who exists with his Word and Spirit. Hippolytus begins by setting a principle: knowledge of God comes from the Holy Scriptures, not from speculation or private reasoning. Faith is not shaped by human preference but by what God has chosen to reveal. The Father determines how He is believed, the Son how He is glorified, and the Spirit how He is received. This establishes Scripture as the rule of faith and guards against theological invention. Hippolytus then affirms that God existed alone before creation, with nothing co-eternal alongside Him. At the same time, God was not without reason, wisdom, or power. Hippolytus insists that plurality within God does not compromise divine unity. God contains within himself Word, wisdom, and counsel. Creation begins when God wills and manifests His Word. The Word is not created from nothing but proceeds from God and acts as the agent of creation. The Word is first invisible to the created world, though known to God. When God chooses, He makes the Word visible, described as ‘Light of Light’. This language safeguards both distinction and unity: the Word comes from God and reveals God, without being separate from Him. The manifestation of the Word is ordered towards salvation, so that the world may see and be saved. Hippolytus identifies this Word clearly with the Son of God. Through him all things were made, and he alone comes forth from the Father. The Law and the prophets belong to the same saving plan. God speaks through them by the Holy Spirit, so that they proclaim not their own ideas but the Father’s will. Revelation is therefore coherent: creation, prophecy, and incarnation belong to one divine purpose. Hippolytus appeals to the Gospel of John to show continuity between prophecy and fulfilment. The Word spoken of by the prophets is the Word made flesh. Though the world was made through him, it failed to recognise him. This failure does not negate God’s plan but reveals the depth of the mystery now disclosed. A Reading From The Treatise Of Saint Hippolytus Against The Heresy Of Noetus | The Hidden Sacrament Is Revealed There is, brethren, one God, the knowledge of whom we gain from the Holy Scriptures and from no other source. Whatever things the Holy Scriptures declare, at these let us look; and whatever they teach, let us learn it; and as the Father wills our belief to be, let us believe; and as he wills the Son to be glorified, let us glorify him; and as he wills the Holy Spirit to be bestowed, let us receive him. Not according to our own will, nor according to our own mind, nor yet storming by force the things which are given by God, but even as he has chosen to teach them by the Holy Scriptures, so let us discern them. God, subsisting alone, and having nothing coeval with himself, chose to create the world. And conceiving the world in mind, and willing and uttering the Word, he made it; and at once it appeared, formed it in the way he desired. For us it is sufficient simply to know that nothing was coeval with God. Outside him there was nothing; but he, while existing alone, yet existed in plurality. For he did not lack reason, or wisdom, or power, or counsel. All things were in him, and he was the All. At a time and in a manner chosen by him he made his Word manifest, and through his Word he made all things. He bears this Word in himself, as yet invisible to the created world. He makes him visible, uttering the voice first, and begetting him as Light of Light. He presents him to the world as its Lord; and whereas the Word was visible formerly to God alone, and invisible to the world which is made, God makes the Word visible in order that the world might see him and be able to be saved. This is the mind which came forth into the world and was manifested as the Son of God. All things came into being through him, and he alone comes from the Father. He gave us the Law and the prophets; and in giving them, he made them speak by the Holy Ghost, in order that, receiving the inspiration of the Father’s power, they might declare the Father’s counsel and will. Thus, then, was the Word made manifest, even as the blessed John says. For he sums up the things that were said by the prophets, and shows that this is the Word, by whom all things were made. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by him, and without him nothing was made. And later, The world was made by him, and the world did not know him; he came to his own, and his own did not receive him. Christian Prayer With Jesus Lord God,You are one, and from You come the Word and the Spirit.You have chosen to make Yourself known, not by human effort,but by what You have revealed in the scriptures. You spoke Your Word, and all things were made.You made that Word visible, so that the world might see and be saved.Grant that we may receive what You give,believe what You teach,and worship You as You have shown Yourself to be. Keep us […]
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, writing in the fourth century, speaks with a clarity and breadth that remains strikingly relevant for the Church today. In this catechetical excerpt, drawn most likely from his Catecheses delivered to those preparing for baptism, Cyril undertakes a profound reflection on what it means for the Church to be both Catholic and the assembly of God’s people. His insight provides not only a robust theological definition, but a spiritually rich vision of what it means to belong to the Church of Christ [ … ]
