Chapter 7 Analysis

The lessons the parables in chapter seven teaches might be a tough pill to swallow, especially for rich people living on the north shore of Chicago. The chapter basically says that if you are rich, you will not be granted access into the kingdom of heaven. It says the kingdom of heaven and money are “diametrically opposed” to one another, meaning you cannot one without the other. It implies money does not equal happiness, God does.
The chapter also says the kingdom of God is one for the poor, and that Heaven has nothing to do with money, social status or power, but the actions that have defined a person throughout the course of there life. The bible basically says the only way for a rich person to enter heaven is to give up all there possessions and live a life that is not defined by wealth or possessions. Jesus expected all of his followers to give up everything they owned to follow him, something very few people today would be willing to do.
It would also be difficult for many Catholics to accept there was no physical miracle in relation to the loaves and fishes parable. Instead the real miracle was that so many people were willing to share, something not generally done back then. Also not very many people would be willing to talk to the homeless, let alone invite them into a party in their house instead of there friends.
Also living in the first Christian community would be a difficult idea to accept for most people. Living in a community where people give up everything they have, and everyone is equal. No person is more important or has more material possessions. In most peoples minds, if this society were to exist today it would be considered communist.
Most of the stuff in this chapter would be very difficult to accept, let alone do. It seems for the most part the only people who give up everything they have for God are priests. The reason so little people would be willing to do this is they do not fully understand or grasp what the Kingdom of God or God’s love is. That is why faith is so important, people who have a genuine faith have a stronger sense of who God is and are willing to do the near impossible stuff that God asks of us.