Sunday, October 18, 2015

Storing up a treasure in heaven is unparalleled with accumulating wealth on earth



October 19, 2015
Monday of the Twenty-ninth week in Ordinary Time


Readings
    

20He did not doubt God's promise in unbelief; rather, he was empowered by faith and gave glory to God 21and was fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to do. 22That is why "it was credited to him as righteousness."

23But it was not for him alone that it was written that "it was credited to him"; 24it was also for us, to whom it will be credited, who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25who was handed over for our transgressions and was raised for our justification. 


69He has raised up a horn for our salvation within the house of David His servant, 
70even as He promised through the mouth of His holy prophets from of old: 
71salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, 72to show mercy to our fathers and to be mindful of His holy covenant 73and of the oath He swore to Abraham our father, and to grant us that, 75in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days. 


13Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me." 14He replied to him, "Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?"

15Then He said to the crowd, "Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of possessions."

16Then he told them a parable. "There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. 17He asked himself, 'What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?' 18And he said, 'This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods
19and I shall say to myself, "Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!"

20But God said to him, 'You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?' 21Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God." 


Notes on Readings:

A). Romans 4:1-25 - This is an extended handling of the importance of Abraham's faith, which Paul mentions in Galatians 3:16-18 ; see its footnotes. 

B). Romans 4:20 - He did not doubt God's promise in unbelief: any reservations Abraham might have had were addressed in allegiance to God's promise.  Hebrews 11:8-12  underscores the faith of Abraham and Sarah.

C). Luke 1:68-79 - Like the canticle of Mary (Luke 1:46-55), the canticle of Zechariah is only loosely connected with its context. Apart from Luke 1:76-77, the hymn in speaking of a horn for our salvation (Luke 1:69) and the daybreak from on high (Luke 1:78) is more relevant to Jesus and His work than to John. Again like Mary's canticle, it is mainly composed of phrases sourced out from the Greek Old Testament and may have been a Jewish Christian hymn of praise that Luke acclimatized to fit the present context by inserting Luke 1:76-77 to provide Zechariah's reply to the question asked in  Luke 1:66.

D). Luke 1:69 - A horn for our salvation: the horn is a common Old Testament figure for strength (Psalm 18:3; 75:5-6 ; 89:18;  112:9 ; 148:14). This portrayal is appropriate to God in Psalm 18:2 and is here transferred to Jesus. The correlation of the phrase with the house of David provides the title messianic connotations and may denote a reference to a phrase in Hannah's song of praise (1 Samuel 2;10), "the horn of His anointed."

E). Luke:12:13-34 - Luke has linked together adages comparing those whose concentration and trust in life is on material possessions, represented here by the rich fool of the parable (Luke 12;16-21), with those who acknowledge their total reliance on God (Luke 12:21), those whose deep-seated disconnection from material possessions signifies their heavenly treasure (Luke 12:33-34).


F). Luke 12:21 - Rich in what matters to God: literally, "rich for God."

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Dear Humanity,

I personally encourage everyone to emulate JESUS' values on LOVE, FAITH, HOPE
and CHARITY, as the humanity has been a failure; which resulted to the more than two (2) years of pandemic and its after-effects on economy, not only here in the Philippines but worldwide.

And the saddest part of it, is that, it affected the POOREST of the POOR to even extremely be more poorer, in exchange of the affluent to be more richer.

Thank you and may GOD bless you and the whole family to have an enjoyed life's journey at home, Church, schools/universities, corporate commitments, public and places of interest.