Chapter VI — Select testimonies of the Fathers, by which the rich are urged to Almsgiving, and their vain excuses are refuted

I. The concupiscence of the flesh and the cupidity of riches are the most frequent and most deadly reefs, upon which the rich above all dash their souls. For either they squander the riches granted them by God — burdened with the charge of laying out what is over and above upon the poor — in glutting concupiscence and satisfying lust, in fattening harlots and fostering luxury and pomps; or they retain and heap them up in the strongbox, that they may indulge an insatiable avarice. Wherefore, just as the holy Scriptures and the Fathers, so also Pastors and Confessors ought to press the rich with every kind of argument and force of eloquence to fulfill this most grave precept. Hence it is by no means to be turned to my fault, if even in this compendium I have inculcated at some length a truth of the highest moment.

II. St. Basil, homily 6, from the various homilies: Let almsgiving and faith not forsake thee. Likewise: Break thy bread to the hungry. But his barns, weighed down with the multitude of fruits, were bursting, while his sparing and tenacious heart was by no means satisfied ... What shall I do? he says ... Acknowledge, O man, him who gave ... by what grace thou hast been set over so many. Thou art a minister of the most good God, a dispenser to thy fellow-servants. Think not that all which thou hast in thy hands is prepared for thy belly; esteem them as another's: for a little while they will gladden thee, then, flowing away, they will pass by; and an account of them will be sharply exacted of thee ... Plainly thou usest imprudent counsel. "What shall I do?" The answer was ready for thee: I will fill the souls of the hungry, I will open my barns, and I will call all the needy, I will imitate Joseph, etc. And a little below: Imitate, O man, at least the earth: bring forth fruits as it does, that thou be not seen to be worse than that which is without a soul. For surely it strives to minister not to its own use or advantage, but to thine ... Then he adds a beautiful likeness: Wells continually drawn from flow with more copious and far more beautiful water, but if left alone and quiet they easily grow foul: so also riches hoarded and at rest are useless; but when they are moved and transferred, they bring forth public advantage and fruit ... Thou wilt say: Whom do I injure, if I keep what is mine? What things are thine, tell me? Whence didst thou bring these in, when thou camest to pass through this present life? ... Didst thou not come forth naked from thy mother's womb, and naked wilt thou return again to the earth? ... Why art thou rich, and he poor? Assuredly for no other cause than that thou mayest receive the reward of benignity and of faithful administration ... It is the bread of the hungry which thou retainest; it is the garment of the naked which thou guardest in thy chest; the shoe of the unshod which molders with thee; the silver of the needy which thou possessest buried in the earth. Likewise in homily VII against the rich, discoursing of that young man who, hearing from Christ the Lord, Matthew 19, Go, sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor, went away sad, Basil writes as follows: It seems to me that what befell this young man, or those like him, is what is wont to befall one who makes a journey desirous of seeing the spectacle of some city, and hastens as far as the walls: there, finding an inn, he rests, and out of sloth and idleness refuses to go the little that remains of the way — at once rendering vain the labor of the journey he had endured, and shutting himself out from the spectacles of the good things he might have seen in the city. Such also are those men who observe the other commandments, but limp when it comes to the laying out of their goods. I have seen many fasting, praying, sighing in penance for things past — showing, in fine, every piety that costs nothing, but giving not so much as an obol to the needy. What does the rest of their diligence in the virtues profit them? Not for that will they attain the kingdom of God. Therefore, says the Lord, it is more difficult for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle ... What wilt thou, wretch, answer the judge? Thou clothest thy walls, and clothest not a man? Thou adornest thy horses with trappings, and despisest thy brother clad in torn rags? Thou destroyest thy grain by hoarding it, and lookest not upon the hungry?

III. St. John Chrysostom, above the other Fathers, most eloquently sets forth and amplifies the duty, the force, the merit, and the reward of almsgiving. In homily 35 on Genesis he has these words: Let us spend the abundance of our money upon the salvation of souls, and lay out what is superfluous upon the needy. For why, tell me, dost thou permit thy son to squander the gold and silver which ought to have been emptied into the bellies of the poor, by storing it up in a safe storehouse, that at the time when thou hast most need of their aid thou mayest find consolation; and that those who have been fed by thee here may elsewhere open the doors of confidence to thee, and receive thee into their eternal tabernacles? Let us also not suffer our garments to be gnawed by worms and to rot unused in our chests, when there are so many who are in need and walk about naked. But let us venerate and give honor to Christ naked rather than to moths; and let us clothe him who for our salvation wills to walk about naked, that when we have clothed him we may hear on that day: I was naked, and you clothed me. Are the precepts burdensome? Those things, he says, which perish, which are gnawed by worms, which are consumed without use or fruit — dispense these, that they may become useful to thee, and that thou mayest escape the harm of loss, and that from them thou mayest gain for thyself the greatest profit.

IV. The same, homily VII on Luke: It is robbery not to impart of one's own means to the poor. And perhaps what I say seems strange to you. But wonder not; I will bring you a testimony from the divine Scriptures. Thus the Lord, accusing the Jews through the Prophet, says: The earth hath brought forth her increase, and you have not brought in the tithes; but the robbery of the poor is in your houses. Because, he says, you did not give the accustomed oblations, you have robbed the things that are the poor's. And this he says declaring that they possess the goods of the poor, even if they have come to them by paternal inheritance.

V. The same, homily IV on Genesis: Let us see how great a force of abundance liberal almsgiving possesses, that, when thou hast learned the gain which is born of it, thou mayest do it eagerly. For perhaps its power is so great that it can not only purge sins, but even put death to flight. And who, someone will say, giving alms has been made superior to death? Surely we have all seen them come under the power of death. Be not troubled, beloved; but learn how the force of almsgiving has conquered even the tyranny of death. Tabitha clothed widows, and furnished them other expenses. And it came to pass that, falling ill, she died. But those whom she cared for, and whom she clothed, stood about the Apostle, showed him the garments which Dorcas made for them, and moved the Apostle to compassion: who, kneeling down and praying, said: Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, sat up; and giving her his hand, he lifted her up, and calling the saints and widows, presented her alive. Hast thou seen how great is the retribution of beneficence toward widows, even in this present life?

VI. St. Augustine, in book 1 of the homilies, in the homily on exhorting to almsgiving, homily XIX, inculcates these things: That reading, brethren, which we have just now heard from the holy Gospel, exhorts us to give alms; and it exhorts us in such a way that in his judgment the Lord imputes to those on the right hand these alms alone as done, and to those on the left these alone as undone — not that the other deeds of men, whether good or evil, do not come into judgment, for it is written that all things shall come to judgment; and yet our Lord Jesus Christ, foretelling to us his future judgment, chose nothing whereby to admonish us but alms alone. Shall it not be said to those on the right hand: because you lived chastely, because you did not seize the goods of others, because you confessed my faith even unto blood? For all these good deeds must needs be honored in the judgment of Jesus Christ. Again, do you think it will not be said to those on the left: because you were unchaste, because you fornicated, because you seized the goods of others, because by your pride and evil morals you caused my name to be blasphemed? And he enumerates all these other things; yet our Lord, foretelling to us his judgment, keeps silence about all the other right deeds of the just, and has deigned to commemorate alms alone. He kept silence about all the evils of his enemies, and judged that the barrenness of almsgiving alone was to be rebuked — for no other reason than to admonish us. Why is this? Because all crimes are redeemed by almsgiving. Therefore he praised that fruitfulness, and blamed and condemned this dryness. But you hear that all evil deeds are redeemed by alms. Do not understand it as certain men perversely understand it. For alms can profit you for blotting out past sins, if you change your ways. But if you persevere in the same evils, you will not corrupt the judgment of God by your alms. Likewise sermon 42, On the season: Surely you see that in the evangelical reading the Lord named nothing of all the virtues but almsgiving alone, which works with charity. Of the branches he kept silence; he named the root only, saying thus: Come, ye blessed, receive the kingdom. For I was hungry, etc. Likewise in his exposition on Psalm 44: Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, where the moth and rust destroy, and where thieves dig through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. Come with gifts, give alms, and all things are clean unto you. Come with gifts to him who says: "I will have mercy rather than sacrifice." Likewise sermon 62, On the season: Yet in return for the fact that he cannot fast, he ought to lay out the more upon the poor, so that the sins which he cannot cure by fasting he may be able to redeem by giving alms. It is good to fast, brethren; but it is better to give alms. If there be no possibility of fasting, almsgiving suffices thee without fasting; but fasting without almsgiving does not suffice at all.

VII. Tremendous are the testimonies of the Fathers; but most tremendous are the oracles and threats of Christ. Woe to you that are rich: woe to you, because you have your consolation: woe to you, for you shall mourn and weep. How hardly (it is Christ who exclaims, not a Rigorist, nor a Jansenist) shall they that have money enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire: for I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat, etc. Who does not tremble, who is not aghast, at these formidable oracles of Christ?

VIII. The rich excuse themselves as lacking superfluous riches. Which pretext St. Augustine routs in this fashion, on Psalm 147: But we have many superfluous things, if we keep only what is necessary. For if we seek empty things, nothing suffices. Brethren, seek what suffices for the work of God, not what suffices for your cupidity. Your cupidity is not the work of God ... Seek the things that suffice, and you will see how few they are. Two small coins sufficed the widow for doing mercy; two coins sufficed for buying the kingdom of God ... Therefore see how much he has given you, and take from it what suffices. The rest, which lies superfluous, is the necessity of others. The superfluities of the rich are the necessities of the poor. The goods of others are possessed when superfluities are possessed. Where the rich keep stored that superfluity which they deny they have, St. John Chrysostom shows, homily XI on Paul's epistle to the Romans: Thou appliest thyself to robbery and avarice, not pressed by poverty, nor driven to it by hunger, but that the bridle of thy horse, the roof of thy house, the capitals of thy columns may be lavishly gilded. But this very thing — how great a hell does it deserve, when thou drivest thy brother headlong into infinite calamities (thy brother who has been made a partaker with thee of the hidden goods, and has been so far honored by his Lord), in order that thou mayest adorn stones and the pavement of thy house, and the bodies of animals lacking reason? That thou shouldst be so solicitous in taking care to feed dogs, while a man — or rather, let me say, Christ himself — is driven for a dog's sake to the utmost hunger? What is more pestilential than this confusion? What more deadly than this iniquity? How many rivers of fire, in the end, can suffice to feed upon a soul of this kind? Behold, he who was fashioned to the likeness of God lies ragged and unseemly through thy inhumanity; while the mules that carry thy wife, and the hides and timbers of which that roof is woven, glitter with much gold; and if a seat or a footstool is to be made, everywhere gold, everywhere silver. But the member of Christ, he for whom God came down from heaven to us and poured out his precious blood, has not through thy avarice even the necessary food? And the little couches are girt about on all sides with silver, adorned on all sides; while the bodies of the saints lack even a necessary covering; and Christ himself is of less account to thee than thy mules, than thy couch, than thy seat, than thy footstool.

IX. Another pretext of the rich is a certain fictitious will of bestowing upon the poor at the time of death. Which illusion St. Basil thus explodes in homily VII against the rich: But, thou sayest, I wish indeed to enjoy my goods while I live; but after death I shall inscribe the poor in my testament as heirs and lords of my means. Alas, wretch! Then wilt thou be benign and liberal to men, when thou art no longer among men? When I look upon thee a corpse, then shall I call thee a lover of thy brother? Doubtless thou wilt be worthy of great praise for liberality; great honor or thanks will be owed thee, if, lying in the tomb and turned to earth, thou appearest magnificent and lavish. Tell me, for what time above all wilt thou demand the reward — for life, or for death? For if, having consumed in pleasures the time which is given for earning merit, thou hast by no means looked upon the poor, what action or work wilt thou, being dead, seek reward for? ... Dost thou study to perform fair and commendable works with ink and tablets? Who will announce to thee the time of thy departure? Who is surety for the manner of thy death? How many do we see extinguished suddenly, by violence and by accident, who through the anguish of pain and of breath could not so much as utter a word? How many has fever put beside their senses? Why then dost thou await a time in which thou wilt often not be master of thy own reason? For indeed the night is deep, the sickness grave, no helper at hand: nay rather, he who lies in wait for the inheritance will be present and ready, urging on only all the things that make for his own advantage, and seeking to frustrate thy counsels ... And if nevertheless it happen that thy goods be openly disposed of both by word and in writing, one letter transposed, one sign not rightly placed, will be able to change the whole sentence and make it void. Likewise two or three dishonest witnesses will turn the whole inheritance over to others.

X. The third excuse of the rich is love of their children, for whose advantage they believe it licit to lay up treasure for themselves. Which empty invention St. Augustine thus disapproves in his book On the ten strings, chapter 12: Do not, under the image of piety, increase your money. I am keeping it, you say, for my children. A great excuse: I am keeping it for my children. Let us see. Your father keeps it for you; you keep it for your children; your children for their children, and so through them all; and no one will be doing the precepts of God. Why do you not rather lay out all upon him who made you from nothing? He who made you, he feeds you; from these things which he made, he himself feeds your children too. For you do not commit your patrimony better to your son than to your Creator. And men do indeed lie. Avarice is evil, they say. They wish to cloak and whitewash themselves with the name of piety, so that men may seem to keep for their children's sake what they keep out of avarice. For that you may know that this often happens, it is said of someone: Why does he not give alms? Because he keeps it for his children. It happens that he loses one of them. If he kept it for his children's sake, let him send after that one his portion. Why does he keep it in his purse, and let it go from his heart? Give him what is his; give what you were keeping for him. He is dead, you say. But he has gone on ahead to God: his portion is owed to the poor; it is owed to him to whom he has gone; it is owed to Christ, for to him he has gone; and he said: What you did to one of the least of mine, you did to me; and what you did not do to one of these least, you did not do to me. But what do you say? I keep it for his brothers. If he were alive, was he not going to divide with his brothers? O dead faith! For your son is dead. Whatever you say, you owe to him dead what you were keeping for him alive. My son is dead; but nevertheless I keep my son's portion for his brothers. If you believe that he is dead — if Christ did not die for him, then he himself is dead. But if faith is in you, your son lives. He lives assuredly; he has not departed, but gone before. With what face will you come to your son who has gone before, when to him going before you send not his portion into heaven? Or can it not be sent into heaven? It can, assuredly. Hear the Lord himself saying: Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. If, then, that treasure is better guarded in heaven, is it then to be sent to your son when, if it were sent, it would not perish? Is it held here, where it can perish, and not sent thither, where Christ is the keeper? ... You see, brethren, that it is a lie: my brethren, it is a lie: men are avaricious ... How much do you give to hunters, how much to base persons, how much do you give to those who kill you?

XI. The fourth illusion of the rich is excessive thought about tomorrow; which deception St. Augustine refutes in sermon 43, On various matters: Avarice says: Take counsel for the future — to a man who will perhaps not live even until tomorrow. But behold, let him live as long as avarice thinks; not as long as she shows, not as long as she teaches, not as long as she trusts, but as long as she thinks — let him have lived, let him have grown old, let him have made an end: still the old man, bent, leaning on his staff, seeks gain, and hears avarice saying: Take counsel for the future. For what future? Now, already expiring, he says: For your children, she says. Would that we might find at least those old men not avaricious who have no children. To them also, even to such men, even to those who excuse their iniquity by no image of piety, avarice does not cease to say: Take counsel for the future. St. Jerome, epistle 139: Nothing so deceives the human race as that, while men know not the spaces of life, they promise themselves a longer possession of this world. Whence also that excellent saying, that no one is so old, and of so decrepit an age, that he does not still suppose he will live one year more.

XII. Lastly, the rich are wont to object the craftiness of the poor, their frauds and wiles, by which they counterfeit wounds and infirmities. This cruelty of the rich St. John Chrysostom routs in these words, homily 37 to the people: For if he feigns from want and necessity, he feigns because of thy cruelty and inhumanity, which needs the feignings of such persons, and is moved by no mercy. And so his feigning is the herald of thy inhumanity. For when, entreating and supplicating, with pitiable words, anxious and weeping, going about begging the whole day, he cannot procure even necessary food, perhaps he has found out this art, which brings not so much shame and blame upon him as upon thee. For if we were easily moved, never surely would he choose to endure such things. And why do I mention nakedness and shivering? I will say what is far more horrible: that some have been driven to blind their own sons in the flower of their age ... For since, while enjoying the sense of sight, and begging about naked, they moved neither by their age nor by their calamity men inhuman and unmerciful, to so many evils they added another calamity, and that a greater; and, that they might soften their hunger, they judged it would be the lighter thing to be deprived of this common light and of the sun's rays, granted to all mankind, than to fight perpetually with hunger, and to perish by a most wretched death ... Some walk without shoes, others fix sharp nails in their heads, others beg in the very frost with naked body, others, bearing things graver still, offer of themselves a pitiable spectacle ... But how dost thou say: Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy — when thou hast mercy not according to great mercy, and perhaps not even according to small?