THE RICH MAN
Mark 10:17-29
As Jesus left, a man ran up to him, knelt down and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to receive eternal life?” Jesus replied, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments.” Jesus said the commandments to the man and he said “Teacher, I have obeyed the commandments since I was young.” Then Jesus looked at him with love “You need to do only one thing. To sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor and unfortunate.” The man went away sadly, as he was very rich. Jesus looked to his disciples and said, “It is very hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of Heaven. It is easier for a laden camel to go through the eye of a needle. The disciples then wondered who could be saved. Peter then said how they had left everything for Jesus. Was that enough? “Yes. And I tell you that anyone who leaves his or her home and family for me will receive a hundred times more! They will also receive eternal life.”
This parable gives us an insight into the requirements to be a good person in the eyes of God. It says how we must…
1) Obey the 10 Commandments.
2) Care for the poor and do not worry about money.
It shows us too how many will weaken at the prospect of giving up their millions too the poor, but if they go ahead with it they will receive much more in spiritual value, and in ethics and morals, to respect the fact that nothing is greater then God and to follow his rules. If you follow the rules of God, you shall have eternal life is basically the lesson behind this parable.
THE RICH FOOL
Luke 12:13-21
A man asked Jesus to persuade his father to divide the land between him and his brother. Jesus then said he had no right to do no such thing. He then warned the people to guard themselves against every kind of greed, that a person’s true life is not made up of possessions, no matter how valuable. He then told a parable about a rich fool.
“There was once a rich man who had land that bore good crops. He began to think to himself, ‘I haven’t anywhere to put all my crops. What can I do? This is what I’ll do. I’ll tear down all of my old barns to build bigger ones, where I will store my corn and all my other goods. Then I will say to myself “Lucky Man!” You have all the good things you need for many years. Take life easy, eat, drink and enjoy yourself!” But then God said to him “You fool! This very night you will have to give up your life; then who will get all these things you have kept for yourself?” Jesus concluded that those who are rich on Earth are not rich in God’s sight.
This parable tells how those who stockpile riches through greed will be in two hells when they die, in the sense that they will feel great pain in the fact that the riches they saved up cannot be carried on to the afterlife, while spiritual riches can. It shows how giving money when you can is also important as is demonstrated in the next parable…
THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS
Luke 16:19-31
There was once a rich man. He lived in great luxury, ate the finest food and wore the finest clothes. Then there was a poor man named Lazarus who was covered in sores and used to eat the food that fell from the table of the rich man after he had eaten his meals. The dogs belonging to the rich man would lick Lazarus sores. Both the men died and Lazarus was carried by the Angels to sit next to Abraham at the feast in heaven. The rich man went to Hades however. He saw Abraham and Lazarus and was hot so he called out “Father Abraham! Can Lazarus bring me some water to cool my tongue, as I am in great pain!”
Abraham said “My son, all your life you had the good things in life, the luxuries while Lazarus suffered every day. Besides, there is a large pit between us, so no-one can cross now!” The rich man then asked “Then can you send Lazarus to my Father’s house where I have five brothers. Let him warn them! Let them not come to this place of pain! Abraham then said, “Your brothers are already being warned by Moses and the other prophets! If they do not listen to Moses and the others, they will never be convinced, not even if someone were to rise from death!”
This parable shows that that Heaven and Hell (Hades) are places of poetic justice, that those who suffered in life shall life an afterlife of comfort and vice-versa. It also shows how you only have your mortal life to demonstrate to God what kind of a person you are and that there is no repentance in death, so you should listen to the prophets and follow God’s commandments while alive and you shall go to Heaven.
PART TWO:
“True happiness is not found in riches or well-being, in human fame or power or in any human achievement but God alone…”
Catechism of the Catholic Church
This is a piece of text from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, a book of rules, morals and ethics all Catholics are expected to follow. This particular lesson teaches that God is the single way to achieve true happiness, not in mortal wishes such as to be rich or powerful. Also, when it says “God” it also means following the rules God set, so that it also means following the Ten Commandments and giving to charity are also key to true happiness, just as they are key to entering the kingdom of God. This means that to be truly happy you must love God, and obey his rules so you may spend eternity with him in the afterlife, for which you will be truly happy too.
PART THREE:
To conclude, to outline the teachings of Catholics on wealth, poverty and charity:
You should not be a slave to money, donate it to charity so that it can be used for good, so that you will be happy with what you have done as God will be. You are only truly rich in spirit, as those riches will also be carried with you wherever you go, even to Heaven itself. If these rules are followed, you will spend a rich afterlife, rich in happiness with God.
