On the Saying of Luke: "I Will Pull Down My Barns"; and Homily on the Rich

every part you may be whole and perfect by the help of the Holy Spirit, and by the indwelling grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

ON THE TEXT ACCORDING TO LUKE

^BRegarding the text of the Gospel according to Luke: "I will pull down my barns and build greater," and regarding avarice (2).

1. The kind of temptations is twofold. For either tribulations test the heart like gold in a furnace, proving its soundness and goodness through patience; or quite often the prosperity of life itself becomes a temptation for the many. For it is as difficult to keep the soul unhumbled in times of hardship ^C as it is not to be carried away toward arrogance in times of splendor. An example of the first kind of temptation is the great Job, that unconquered athlete, who received all the violence of the devil—like the rush of a mountain torrent—with an unshaken heart and steady reasoning, and appeared all the greater from his temptations the more the struggles suggested by the enemy seemed great and inextricable to him. But among the temptations in prosperous times, besides a few others, there is this rich man now read to us; he had some wealth, and ^D hoped for more; yet the most benevolent God did not condemn him from the start for the ingratitude of his character, but always added wealth to the wealth he already possessed, so that by his satiety he might somehow eventually be called to a generous and gentle frame of mind. For he says: "The land of a rich man brought forth abundant fruits, and he reasoned with himself: What shall I do? I will pull down my barns and build greater." Why, then, did the land of a man who was intending to do no good from his abundance become fruitful? In order that God’s long-suffering might the rather shine forth, and that His kindness might extend even to such as these. For He makes His rain fall upon the just and the unjust, and makes His sun rise upon the evil and the good. But such goodness of God gathers a greater punishment for those who do evil. He bestowed rains upon the land cultivated by greedy hands; He gave the sun to warm the seeds and multiply the fruits through that abundance. And such are the things from God: the suitability of the land, the temperate state of the air, the abundance of seeds, the labor of oxen, and other things of this kind, by which agriculture is wont to be led to abundance and plenty. But what are the things in this…

man that were discovered? Bitter morals, hatred of men, and a mind most sparing in giving. This was the return he made to his bountiful benefactor. He did not recall our common nature; he did not think it necessary to distribute his surplus to the needy; he had no regard for the commandment: ^A *Do not withhold doing good to the needy*; and, *Let mercy and faith not forsake thee*; and, *Break thy bread to the hungry*. And though all the prophets and all the teachers cried out, they were not heard. Instead, his storehouses were bursting, cramped by the multitude of grain stored within, but his avaricious heart was not filled. For by always adding new things to the old, and increasing his abundance with yearly additions, he fell into this inextricable poverty of counsel: on account of his greed, he would not allow the old to be removed, while the new, on account of their number, could not be accommodated. Because of this, his plans were endless ^B and his anxieties without remedy. What shall I do? Who would not pity one so besieged? Wretched because of his fruitfulness, miserable because of the goods he has acquired, and yet more miserable because of what he expects. For the earth does not bring him produce and revenue; it brings forth sighs for him. It does not heap up a store of fruits for him; it conciliates cares, troubles, and grave anxiety. He laments just as the poor do. Does he not utter the same cry as one who is straitened by poverty? "What shall I do? Whence shall I get food? Whence clothes?" The rich man says these things too. He is tormented in spirit, eaten away by cares. For what brings joy to others, this consumes the avaricious man. He does not rejoice when all ^C his inner rooms are filled; rather, the riches that flow around him, and which cannot be contained in his storehouses, pierce his soul, lest by chance, if they should overflow even to those outside, they might become an occasion of some relief to the needy.

2. Moreover, his soul's affliction seems to me similar to that of gluttons, who prefer to burst from their surfeit than to share their leftovers with the needy. Recognize, O man, the Giver. Remember yourself—who you are, whose dispensation you have been entrusted with, from whom you have received it, and why you have been preferred before many. You have become a minister of a good God, a steward of your fellow-servants; do not think all things were prepared for ^D your own belly; but dispose of what you have in your hands as if it belonged to another. It gladdens you for a short time, then it flows away.

and for these things a full account will be demanded of you with precision. You, however, have locked everything away together behind doors and bars; and having fastened them with seals, you keep anxious watch, and you take counsel within yourself—a fool who has used himself as his own counselor. "What shall I do?" It was ready to hand to say: "I will fill the souls of the hungry, I will open the storehouses, and I will summon all who are in need. I will imitate Joseph in his proclamation of philanthropy; I will utter a high-minded voice: 'As many as are lacking bread, come to me, that each may receive what suffices, as if partaking from common fountains of the bounty granted by God.'" But you are not such a man; how could you be? You, who indeed begrudge men their enjoyment, and having formed an evil assembly in your soul, you are concerned, not with how you might impart to each what is necessary, but with how, having gathered all things, you might deprive everyone of the utility ^B of them. Those who were to demand his soul were standing by, and he was reasoning with his soul about food. In that very night his life was being taken away, and he was imagining possession of things for many years to come. He was permitted to deliberate on all this, and to make his intent manifest, that he might receive a sentence worthy of his resolve.

3. Do not let the same happen to you. For this reason these things were written, that we might flee such a resemblance. Imitate the earth, O man; produce fruit as she does, lest you appear worse than that which is inanimate. She, for her part, has fostered her fruits not for her own enjoyment but for your service; but whatever fruit of beneficence you show, you gather it for yourself, because the graces of good works return to those who give. You have given to the hungry, and that which was given becomes yours, returning with an increase. For just as grain, having fallen into the earth, becomes a profit to the one who has cast it, so, too, bread, placed before the hungry, yields much profit for the future. Let the end of your ^C agriculture, therefore, be the beginning of the heavenly sowing; for "Sow for yourselves," it says, "in righteousness." Why, then, are you anxious? Why do you torment yourself, striving to shut up riches with mud and bricks? A good name is better than much wealth. But if you admire money because of the honor that comes from it, consider how much more conducive it is to glory to be called the father of ten thousand children than to have ten thousand staters in a purse. Indeed, you will leave your money here, even if you are unwilling; on the other hand, you will carry away to the Master the glory ^D gained through good works, when the whole multitude, standing around you before the common Judge, shall call you a nurturer, a benefactor, and all the names that belong to philanthropy. Do you not see those who are in the theaters, those who compete in the pancratium, the mimes, and—

those who contend with wild beasts—men whose very countenance anyone would detest—how they lavish their riches for the sake of a brief honor, and for the clamor and applause of the crowd? ^A And yet you are small-minded in your expenditures, when you are about to attain such great glory? It is God who will accept you; angels will sing your praises; all men from the foundation of the world will call you blessed; you are to receive eternal glory, the crown of righteousness, the kingdom of heaven as a reward for the things that perish, if you dispense them rightly. You have no concern for these things, for you despise the goods stored up in hope because of your zeal for present things. Come, then, dispense your riches in various ways; be liberal and splendid in your expenditures on those in need. Let it be said even of you: *He has dispersed, he has given to the poor; his righteousness remains forever* [Ps. CXI, 9]. Do not be a grievous burden, ^B imposing yourself upon their needs. Do not wait for a famine in order to open your granaries. For he who hoards grain is cursed by the people [Prov. XI, 26]. Do not wait for a famine for the sake of gold, nor for a common shortage for the sake of your own abundance. Do not become a huckster of human disasters; do not make the wrath of God an occasion for accumulating money. Do not aggravate the wounds of those who have been scourged with whips. You, however, cast your eyes upon gold, but you do not look upon your brother; you recognize the stamp on a coin, and you distinguish the genuine from the counterfeit, but you utterly ignore your brother in his time of need.

4. And indeed the shining color of gold delights you greatly; but you do not consider how many and how great are the groans of the needy that follow you. How shall I set before your eyes the sufferings of the poor? That man, having surveyed his household, sees that gold is neither present to him, nor will it ever be; he sees household goods and clothing, such as are the meager possessions of the poor, all of which are to be valued at a few pennies. What then? He turns his eyes at last to his children, so that by bringing them ^C to the marketplace, he might find from that source some consolation for his impending death. Observe here the struggle between the necessity of hunger and paternal affection. The one threatens a most miserable death, while the other holds him back, persuading him to die together with his children; and often moved, and often restrained, he is finally overcome, compelled by necessity and insatiable poverty. And what counsels does the father turn over in his mind? Whom shall I sell first? Whom will the grain-seller more gladly behold? Shall I approach the eldest? But I am restrained by the rights of his seniority. Shall I approach the youngest? But I pity his age, ^D which is as yet unaware of what is to come.

This one perfectly preserves the features of his parents; that one is apt for learning. Woe to this impasse! What shall I become? On whom of these shall I fall? What kind of beast’s soul must I assume? How can I forget nature? If I keep them all, I will see all of them consumed by the affliction. If I sell one, with what eyes shall I look upon the others, having already rendered myself suspected by them of treachery and betrayal? How shall I dwell in the house, having become to myself the author of childlessness? How shall I approach the table, which has attained this abundance from such a cause? And one man comes with a thousand tears, about to sell his dearest child; yet you, the affliction does not soften, nor does any thought of nature enter your soul. And yet hunger presses hard upon the wretch, while you delay and mock him, making his calamity longer. And he offers his own flesh as the price of provisions, while your hand, receiving price-money from such calamities, not only does not recoil, but you even haggle over the price as if offering more than enough, and you set your ambition upon taking more while giving less, heaping calamity upon the wretch from every side. No tear moves you to pity, no groan softens your heart; but you are inflexible and implacable. You see everything as gold, you imagine everything as gold; this is your dream while sleeping, and your desire while waking. For just as those ^B who are deranged by madness do not see things as they are, but imagine what they feel due to their affliction, so your soul, possessed by avarice, sees everything as gold, everything as silver. You would look more gladly upon gold than upon the sun. You pray that all things be transformed into the nature of gold, and you devise ways to ensure this happens as much as possible.

5. For what, in fact, do you not set in motion for the sake of gold?

and block up the outlets. Then, when it is held back and forms a stagnant pool, what does it do to you? It breaks through the barriers; indeed, even now, violently cornered ^A and surging, it demolishes the rich man's storehouses, levels his treasuries to the ground, just like an enemy who has broken in. Will he build larger ones? It is uncertain whether he will hand them over, when destroyed, to his successor. For he might himself be carried off and perish sooner than the storehouses can be built through his avaricious industry. Furthermore, that rich man has met an end consistent with his evil counsel; but you, if you would believe me, by throwing open all the doors of your storehouses, will provide most ample outlets for your riches. For just as a way is given to a great river reaching its fruits to the land through many channels, so do you yourself allow your wealth to be split through various paths so that it may reach the homes of the poor. If wells are drained, more abundant and clearer water flows from them; but if they are left alone, they rot: so too, when riches settle and remain in the same place, they are useless; but when they are moved and pass from one person to another, they produce public benefit and fruit. ^B How great is the praise from those who have been benefited, which you should not despise! And how great is the reward from the just Judge, in whom you should not distrust! Let the example of that accused rich man be placed before your eyes everywhere: he, while keeping the goods already acquired, was anxious about the future; and, having no certainty whether he would live on the morrow, he anticipated the coming day by sinning today. The supplicant had not yet arrived, and already he showed his ferocity; he had not yet gathered the crops, and already he was condemned for avarice. The earth indeed was dutiful in bringing forth fruits for him, showing beforehand the dense crop in the fields, displaying the many clusters on the vines, placing before his eyes the olive tree teeming with fruit, and promising every kind of delight from the fruits of the trees. ^C But he was neither kind nor productive; he did not yet have the harvest, and already he begrudged it to those in need. And yet, to how many dangers are the crops liable before they are harvested! For hail often smashes them, and heat snatches them from the midst of one's hands, and rain, bursting forth from the clouds at an untimely season, renders the fruits useless. Do you not, therefore, ask the Lord that He might perfect His gift? But instead, by anticipating it, you make yourself unworthy of the reception of what is shown. 6. And you, indeed, speak in secret ^D to yourself, but your words are weighed in heaven. Therefore, you receive responses from thence. But what are those things which He says

^A “Soul, you have many good things stored away: eat, drink, be merry [B+]daily.” O, what senselessness! If you had the soul of a swine, what else could you have announced to it than this? Are you so beastly, so unlearned in the goods of the soul, that you provide for it with the foods of the flesh and destine for the soul what a latrine might receive? In truth, if it is endowed with virtue, if it is full of good works, if it is joined in close relationship with God, it has many good things; indeed, let it rejoice with the joy that is good ^B and appropriate to the soul. But because you savor earthly things, and have your stomach as a god, and are wholly carnal, enslaved to your passions, hear the appellation that befits you, which no human has bestowed upon you, but the Lord Himself: “Fool, this night they require your soul from you; and what you have prepared, whose will it be?” This mockery of your foolishness surpasses even eternal punishment. For he who is shortly to be seized and carried away, what kind of plans does he turn over in his mind? “I will pull down my barns, and I will build greater ones.” ^C “You do well,” I would say to him, “in doing this.” For the storehouses of iniquity are worthy of demolition. Tear down with your own hands what you have built wickedly. Undo the granaries from which no one has ever departed having received comfort. Eliminate every house that guards greed, take off the roofs, tear down the walls, show the rotting grain to the sun, lead forth from prison the prisoner of wealth, triumph over the dark chambers of mammon. “I will pull down my barns, and I will build greater ones.” But if you fill these too, what, then, will you think up? Will you tear them down again, and build again? And what is more foolish than this, to toil endlessly, to build with haste, and with haste to tear down? You have barns, if you wish, in the houses of the poor. ^D Treasure up for yourself a treasure in heaven. Those things stored there are not consumed by moths, nor eaten away by decay, nor stolen by thieves. “But I will share with the needy when I have filled my second barns.” You have fixed for yourself long times of life. Take heed, lest the day appointed for you, which is hurrying, should overtake you. For this promise of yours is not an indication of goodness, but a proof of wickedness. For you promise, not so that you might give afterwards, but so that you might fend off the present. For now, what is hindering you from sharing? Is the needy one not present? Are the barns not full? Is the reward not ready? Is the command not clearly shining? The hungry one wastes away, the naked one shivers, the one from whom the debt is required is strangled, and you put off your alms until tomorrow? Hear Solomon: “Do not say: Returning, return, tomorrow I shall give”; for you do not know what the day will bring forth.

What commandments you disregard, having stopped up your ears beforehand with avarice! ^A How much gratitude you ought to have toward the Benefactor, and to be joyful, and to be glorified by the honor that you do not trouble the doors of others, but others have recourse to yours! But now you are sullen and difficult to approach, avoiding meetings, lest you be forced to let even a little bit fall from your hands. You know one voice: "I have not, neither will I give; for I am a poor man." You are poor in truth, and destitute of every good: poor in philanthropy, poor in faith toward God, poor in ^B eternal hope. Make your brothers partakers of your grain; share today with the needy what will rot tomorrow. This is the most cruel form of avarice, not to distribute to the needy even the things that perish.

7. To whom, he says, do I do injury, while I keep and preserve what is my own? What, tell me, is your own? From where did you take it and bring it into life? Just as if someone, having occupied a seat in a theater for viewing, were then to drive away those coming in, judging as his own property what is set forth for common use to all: such are the rich. For by seizing common goods first, they make them their own ^C because of their priority of possession. For if each person took only what was sufficient to relieve his own need, and left the surplus to the needy, no one would be rich and no one would be destitute. Did you not come out of the womb naked? Will you not again return to the earth naked? From where, then, are your present goods? If you say they are from fate, you are impious, not acknowledging the Creator, nor having gratitude to the Giver; but if you confess they are from God, tell us the reason why you received them. Is God unjust, who distributes to us the necessities of life unequally? Why do you abound in wealth, while that man is poor? Is it not, in any case, so that you may receive the reward for your kindness and faithful stewardship, and he ^D may be honored with the great rewards of patience? You, however, having embraced everything within the inexhaustible folds of avarice, and depriving so many of them, do you think you are doing no one any injury? Who is the avaricious man? He who is not content with that which is sufficient. Who is the defrauder? He who takes away what belongs to each person. Are you not avaricious? Are you not a defrauder, you who make your own the things you received for stewardship?

^A Shall he be called a thief who strips one who is clothed, while the man who does not clothe one who is naked, when he has the power to do so, is worthy of some other title? The bread that you hold back belongs to the hungry; the cloak that you hoard in your chests belongs to the naked; the footwear that is rotting away in your possession belongs to the barefoot; the silver that you have buried belongs to the needy. Therefore, you do injustice to as many people as you could have provided for.

8. “The words are fine,” he says, “but gold is finer.” The same thing happens to us as happens to those who discuss chastity before the lascivious. For even those people, if their mistress is mentioned, have their memory stirred up and are inflamed toward ^B lust. How shall I place the sufferings and calamities of the poor man before your eyes, so that it may be plain and clear to you from what kind of groanings you are gathering up a treasure for yourself? O of what great value will that word appear to you on the day of judgment: “Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me to drink; I was naked and you clothed me.” Conversely, what horror ^C and sweat and darkness will surround you when you hear that judgment of the condemned: “Depart from me, you cursed, into the outer darkness, which is prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you did not give me to eat; I was thirsty and you did not give me to drink; I was naked and you did not clothe me.” For it is not the extortioner alone who is accused there, but he who did not share his goods is condemned. I, for my part, have set forth what I thought was expedient; but to you, if you obey, the promised blessings are clearly shown; and to you, if you disobey, the threat is written, the trial of which I pray you may escape by adopting a better mind, so that your own wealth may become for you the price of redemption, and you may arrive at the ready heavenly blessings, by the grace of Him who has called us all to His own kingdom, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

HOMILY AGAINST THE RICH

1. We have already spoken not long ago concerning this young man, ^D and whoever is a diligent hearer will surely remember the things that were then expounded. First, that he is not the same as the lawyer who is mentioned in Luke. For the one was a tempter, proposing feigned and captious questions; but this man was indeed questioning with a sound intent, but he was not listening with a docile and obedient mind. For he would not have gone away sorrowful at such answers of the Lord.

if he had questioned Him without contempt. Wherefore his ^A disposition seemed to us, as it were, mixed and various; as one who, in part, is shown by the Scripture to be worthy of praise, and in part most wretched and utterly desperate. For to recognize the true Teacher, and, having passed by the arrogance of the Pharisees, the conceit of the lawyers, and the crowd of the scribes, to ascribe this title to the only true and good Teacher—this was what was praiseworthy. And indeed, that he appeared to be concerned about how he might inherit eternal life, this too was acceptable and worthy of praise. But that final point convicts his entire purpose, looking not to what is truly good, but having an eye to what is pleasing to the many: namely, that after learning saving lessons from the true Teacher, he did not inscribe them in his own heart, nor carry the teachings into ^B effect, but went away dejected, darkened by the passion of love of wealth. This demonstrates the unevenness of his character and his lack of self-consistency. You call Him Teacher, and yet you do not do the duties of a disciple? You confess Him to be good, and yet you reject the things He gives? And yet, the one who is good is clearly the bestower of good things. And you ask indeed about eternal life, but you are found entirely addicted to the delights of the present life. Moreover, what troublesome or heavy or truly intolerable word did the Teacher propose? "Sell what you have, and give to the poor." If He had proposed to you the labors of agriculture, or the dangers of commerce, or whatever other hardships attend those who pursue gain, you would have had reason to be grieved and to be ^C distressed at the command; but if, by a way so easy, having neither labor nor sweat, He promises to make you an heir of eternal life, why do you not rejoice at the ease of salvation, but depart with a pained soul and mourning, and render all the labors you have already spent useless to yourself? For if you have not killed, as you say, nor committed adultery, nor stolen, nor borne false witness against anyone, you nevertheless make the diligence you applied in these matters fruitless for yourself, by not adding that which is lacking, through which alone ^D you will be able to enter into the kingdom of God.

^A And if a physician were promising to restore limbs that you were missing by nature or through some illness, would you not listen gladly? But because the great physician of souls wishes to make you perfect, while you are lacking in the most vital parts, you do not receive the grace, but instead you grieve and look sorrowful. For it is clear that you are far from that commandment, and you falsely testified to yourself that you had loved your neighbor as yourself. For behold, the command given by the Lord convicts you of falling far short of true love. For if what you asserted were true—that you had kept the commandment of love from your youth, and had given to each person as much as you had given to yourself—then whence does this abundance of wealth come to you? For the care of the needy is a consumer of wealth, since each person receives only a little for their necessary relief, while all things are shared out together and spent upon them. ^B Thus, he who loves his neighbor as himself possesses nothing more than his neighbor; yet clearly you appear to possess many properties. Whence are these? It is obvious that you prefer your own enjoyment to the relief of the multitude. Therefore, by as much as you abound in wealth, by so much do you lack in love. For you would have long since accustomed yourself to the alienation of your wealth, if you had loved your neighbor. But now, your wealth is more deeply attached to you than even the members of your own body, and its departure grieves you just as if it were an amputation of vital organs. For if you had clothed the naked, if you had given your bread to the hungry, if your door had been open to every guest, if you had become a father to orphans, if you had sympathized with every person in distress, what wealth would you now be grieving over? Where would you even feel vexation at setting aside the remainder, having long ago practiced distributing it ^C to the needy? Furthermore, in a marketplace, no one grieves at parting with their assets to acquire what they need; on the contrary, the lower the price at which they purchase precious goods, the more they rejoice, as having conducted the business brilliantly; yet you grieve when you give away gold and silver and possessions—that is, when you are handing over stones and soil in order to acquire the blessed life.

^A 2. But what use is gold to you? A tunic of two cubits will be enough for you, and the wrapping of a single mantle will fulfill every need for clothing. Or will you abuse wealth for more luxurious living? A single loaf of bread is sufficient to sate your belly. Why, then, are you grieving? As if deprived of what? Of the glory that comes from wealth? But if you do not seek glory on earth, you shall find that true and splendid glory which leads you into the kingdom of heaven. Yet to possess wealth itself is desirable, even if no benefit is derived from it. Now, that the pursuit of useless things ^B is foolish is known to everyone. Nevertheless, perhaps it will appear strange to you what I am about to say; yet it is truer than anything else. Wealth, when dispersed in the manner the Lord suggests, is apt to remain; but when held fast, it tends to be alienated. If you guard it, you shall not have it; if you disperse it, you shall not lose it; for “He dispersed, he gave to the poor; his justice remains forever.” But wealth is not made an object of great pursuit by most people for the sake of clothing or food; rather, a certain artifice has been devised by the devil, suggesting countless pretexts for expenditure to the rich, so that they pursue superfluous and useless things as if they were necessary, and nothing suffices for them to devise their outlays. For they divide their wealth both for present need and for the future; a part they reserve for themselves, and a part for their children. Furthermore, they parcel it out into ^C devised pretexts of various expenditures. For hear what their arrangements are. Let one portion of wealth, they say, be for use, and let another be set aside; and let that which serves for needs exceed the bounds of what is necessary; let this portion be applied to household luxuries, while that one serves for outward display; let one provide lavish expense for the traveler, and the other provide a magnificent and conspicuous life for those remaining at home; so that I am moved to marvel at the invention of superfluous things. There are countless chariots, some carrying baggage, while others carry the people themselves, and these are plated with bronze and silver.

^A There are a great many horses, and their lineage, as is the way with men, is commended by the splendor of their ancestors. Some carry these pleasure-seekers around the city; others are used for hunting, others for traveling. Bridles, girths, and collars are all silver, and all embroidered with gold. Purple coverings adorn the horses like bridegrooms; there is a multitude of mules of distinctive color, whose drivers, following one another in turn, go some in front and some behind. The number of other servants is infinite, sufficient to exhibit magnificence of every kind: stewards, tasters, farmers, and ministers skilled in every art, both that which is necessary and that which has been invented for pleasure and luxury—cooks, bakers, cup-bearers, hunters, sculptors, painters, and creators of every kind of sensuality. There are herds of camels, some destined for carrying burdens, others for pasture; herds of horses and oxen, flocks of sheep and swine, and those who herd them; lands that not only suffice to feed all these, but even increase wealth through the revenues accruing from them. There are baths in the city and baths in the country; houses that gleam with marbles of every kind, one of Phrygian stone, another of Laconian or Thessalian slabs; and of these houses, some provide warmth in winter, while others provide coolness in the summer. The floor is varied with pebbles, and gold overlays the ceiling. Whatever part of the walls is not encrusted, that is adorned with the flowers of painting.

3. ^C But when wealth is still overflowing, being distributed into countless uses, it is thrust into the earth and stored in hidden places. For the future is uncertain, lest perhaps we fall into some unexpected need. Even if it is uncertain whether you will come to need the buried gold, it is not uncertain that the penalty for such inhuman ways is great. For when you could not, with countless devices, exhaust your wealth, then you hid it in the earth. A great madness: while the gold was in the mines, to search the earth, but when it came to light, to hide it again in the earth. Then, I think, it happens to you, whoever you are who bury your wealth, that you bury your heart along with it. ^D "For where your treasure is," he says, "there will your heart be also" (Matt. vi, 21). On this account, the commandments cause them grief; for they deem their life unlivable if they are not occupied with useless expenses. And what happens to this young man, or to those similar to him, seems to me to be of such a kind as if some traveler, driven by the desire to see a certain city, were to travel strenuously as far as it: then, having stayed in inns before the walls, and being deterred by the sloth of a little exertion, he both renders his previous labor useless and excludes himself from seeing the ornaments of the city. Such are those who accept the doing of other things, but are resistant to the laying aside of their possessions.

^A I know many who fast, who pray, who groan, and who show all piety that can be practiced without expense, but who do not part with even a single obol for the sake of those in distress. What is the benefit of the rest of virtue for such people? For the kingdom of heaven does not receive them; because, He says, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Luc. XVIII, 25). The decision is indeed clear, and He who speaks is truthful; yet they who are persuaded are few. How, then, shall we live if we have acquired all things? he asks; and what will the character of life be, when all are selling and all are acquiring? Do not ask me for an understanding of the Master’s commands. The Lawgiver knows how to bring together even what is impossible with the law. ^B But your heart is being weighed as if on a balance, whether it inclines toward the true life or toward present pleasure. For it is fitting that those who think prudently should regard the use of wealth as having been granted for dispensing, not for pleasure; and when they are stripped of these things, it is right for them to rejoice as though being freed from what is another's, rather than to be distressed as though losing what is their own. Why then are you grieved? Why do you afflict your soul when you hear: "Sell what you have"? For if these things followed you into the life to come, they would not even then be worthy of such great zeal, being eclipsed by the treasures laid up there; if, however, it is necessary to remain here, why not, having sold them, carry away the profit from them? But you, when you give gold and acquire a horse, are not despondent; ^C yet when you give away what is perishing and receive in exchange the kingdom of heaven, you shed tears, and resist the Giver, and turn away from the donation, devising countless excuses for spending yourself.

4. What will you answer to the Judge when you clothe the walls, but do not clothe the man? You adorn the horses, but ignore your brother who is in rags? You allow the grain to rot, but do not feed the hungry? You bury your gold in the earth, but treat the one who is being strangled with contempt? And if, indeed, a wife who loves wealth lives with you, the disease becomes twice as great; for she flames up with luxuries, multiplies carnal pleasures, and adds stings to vain desires, thinking up certain stones, pearls, ^D and emeralds and jacinths, and gold—working the one and weaving the other...

and increasing this sickness through every lack of taste. For the effort spent on these things is not incidental, but night and day they have anxieties regarding them. And countless flatterers, running to serve their desires, assemble for them the dyers, the goldsmiths, the perfumers, the weavers, and the embroiderers. She leaves the man no time to breathe, because of her constant demands. ^B No wealth is sufficient to serve women’s desires, not even if it flowed in from rivers; since they look for barbarian perfume as if it were oil bought from the market, and marine flowers, purple-fish, and pinna—more abundant than wool from sheep. And the gold, binding together the stones of great price, becomes an ornament for them, one upon the forehead, another around the neck; and another is in their girdles, and another binds their hands and their feet. For these gold-lovers rejoice to be bound by shackles, provided only that it is gold that binds them. When, then, will he whose life is spent serving female desires ever take thought for his soul? For just as storms and whirlwinds overwhelm rotting ships, so do the evil dispositions of women sink the fragile souls of those who live with them. Since, therefore, wealth is being squandered on such things by both husband and wife, outdoing one another in the invention of vanities, it is no wonder that they find no opportunity to look out for those outside. But if you hear, "Sell what you have, and give to the poor, that you may have provisions for eternal happiness," you depart sorrowful; but if you hear, "Give money to luxurious women, give ^C to stone-cutters, carpenters, workers in mosaic, and painters," then you rejoice as though you were acquiring something more precious than money. Do you not see these walls, collapsed by the length of time, whose remains stand up like certain jagged rocks throughout the entire city? How many poor were there in the city when these were being built, who, because of the zeal spent on these things, were neglected by the wealthy of that time? Where, then, is the splendid furnishing of the works? Where is he who was so highly praised for their magnificence? Have these not so collapsed and been abolished, like the things built in the sand by children at play? Does not he himself lie in Hades, repenting of the zeal spent on vain things? Be of a great soul: walls, both small and large, fulfill the same need. When I pass into the house of a foolish and very wealthy man ^D and see it gleaming with every kind of ornament, I understand that he has nothing more precious than the things that are seen; rather, he bedecks inanimate things, while he leaves his soul unadorned...

garments, I know that he keeps nothing of the visible world worth more than these, but he adorns lifeless things while leaving his own soul unadorned. What greater use, tell me, do silver beds and silver tables provide, or ivory couches and ivory chairs, such that because of these things riches do not pass through to the poor, even though countless poor stand at your door giving vent to every piteous cry? ^A Yet you refuse to give, and say that you cannot suffice for those who ask. And while with your tongue you swear that you cannot, you are convicted by your hand; for even if your hand is silent, it nonetheless proclaims your lie, flashing with the setting of your ring. How many debts can your one ring pay off? How many falling houses can it set upright? Your one chest of clothing is able to provide garments for a whole shivering throng; yet you can endure to send a poor man away empty-handed, not fearing the just compensation of the Judge. You have not shown mercy, you shall not obtain mercy; you have not opened your house, you shall be excluded from the kingdom; you have not given bread, you shall not receive eternal life.

5. But you call yourself poor, and in this I agree with you. For a poor man is one who needs many things. But insatiable greed makes you all lack many things. You strive to add ten other talents to ten talents: once twenty are collected, you seek as many more, and that which is always added to you does not halt the impulse, but rather inflames the appetite. For just as to those who are drunk the addition of wine becomes an occasion for drinking, so also the newly rich, ^B when they have acquired much, crave more, feeding their disease with what is ever being added, and their very zeal turns to the contrary. For present goods, however great they may be, do not exhilarate them as much as what is lacking distresses them—those things, I mean, which they imagine they lack—so that their mind is always worn away by cares while they strive to acquire even greater things. For when it would be right for them to rejoice and give thanks that they are more opulent than so many others, they on the contrary chafe and grieve that they are perhaps surpassed by one or two wealthier men. But when they have reached this rich man, they immediately strive to be made equal to one still wealthier; and when they have attained even him, they transfer their zeal to another. ^C Just as those who climb ladders, always lifting their foot to the higher step, do not rest before they reach the summit, so also these do not cease from their impulse for power until, having been raised to a sublime position,

^A they dash themselves down from that dizzy altitude. The Creator of all things fashioned the bird called the seleucis to be insatiable for the benefit of mankind; but you have made your own soul insatiable for the ruin of many. Whatever the eye sees, the greedy man desires. The eye will not be satisfied with seeing, nor will the covetous man be satiated with acquiring. Hell never said, "It is enough," nor has the greedy man ever said, "It is enough." When will you use your present possessions? When will you enjoy them, since you are always occupied by the labor of acquisition? "Woe to those who join house to house and field to field, that they may take something away from their neighbor." But what do you do? do you not invent ten thousand excuses to seize the property of your neighbor? "The neighbor's house," he says, "darkens mine, it raises an uproar, or it harbors ^B drifters," or whatever else he happens to allege, harassing, pushing out, always pulling and tearing, he does not rest until he forces upon them the necessity of moving house. Why did he kill Naboth the Jezreelite? Was it not Ahab’s desire for his vineyard? The greedy man is an evil neighbor in the city, an evil neighbor in the country. The sea knows its bounds; the night does not overstep its ancient limits. But the greedy man does not respect time, does not recognize a limit, does not defer to the succession of others, but mimics the violence of fire: it seizes all, it consumes all. And just as rivers, starting from a small ^C source, then by little-by-little additions gaining an irresistible increase, sweep away with the violence of their current whatever stands in their way; so also those who have advanced to great power, drawing from those already oppressed the strength to commit even greater injustice, enslave to those previously wronged the remaining ones, and the abundance of their wickedness becomes their increase in power. For those who have already suffered harm, by being forced to provide their aid to them, cooperate in inflicting harms and injustices upon others. For what neighbor, what fellow-dweller, what business associate is not dragged along? Nothing withstands the violence of wealth; everything yields to its tyranny, everything cowers before its authority, ^D since each of those who have already been wronged is more anxious not to suffer any further evil than to take vengeance for what has already been done. The rich man brings his teams of oxen, he plows, he sows, he reaps what does not belong to him. If you argue, you receive blows; if you lament, you are summoned on charges of wrongdoing, you are dragged to court,

^A you will inhabit the prison, the informers will be ready, placing you in danger of your life. You will be glad, by giving even more, to be rid of these troubles.

6. I wished you would breathe a little from the works of injustice, and give leisure to your own thoughts, so as to consider toward what end the zeal for these things is directed. You have so many acres of arable land, and just as many planted with trees, mountains, fields, gullies, rivers, meadows. What, then, after all these things? Do not three cubits of earth in all await you? Will not the weight of a few stones be enough to guard your miserable body? For what sake do you toil? On whose account do you act unlawfully? Why do you gather fruitlessness with your hands? ^B Would that it were fruitlessness, and not fuel for the eternal fire! Will you not ever sober up from this drunkenness? Will you not regain a sounder mind? Will you be master of yourself? Will you not set the judgment of Christ before your eyes? What excuse will you bring, when those who have been injured, already standing around you, call out against you before the just Judge? What then will you do? What advocates will you hire? What witnesses will you produce? How will you persuade the Judge who cannot be deceived? There is no rhetorician there; there is no persuasive speech capable of stealing the truth from the Judge. No flatterers follow you there, no money, no pride of rank; deserted by friends, abandoned by supporters, without patronage, without defense, you will be taken, ^C suffused with shame, dismal, dejected, solitary, lacking freedom and boldness of speech. For wherever you turn your eyes, you will see clear and open proofs of your crimes: on one side, the tears of the orphan; on the other, the groaning of the widow; from another quarter, the poor beaten black and blue by your fists; the slaves you mangled; the neighbors you provoked to anger. Everything will rise up against you; a wicked chorus of your evil deeds will beset you. For just as a shadow follows the body, so sins accompany souls, clearly depicting the deeds. Therefore, there is no room for denial there, but the mouth—even the most shameless—is stopped. For the deeds themselves of each person bear witness, not by uttering a voice, but by appearing as they were performed by us. How can I bring those ^D horrific things before your eyes? Yet if you listen, if you are moved, remember that day in which "the wrath of God is revealed from heaven." Remember the glorious coming of Christ, when "those who have done good will rise to the resurrection of life, but those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment." Then there will be eternal shame for sinners, and the zeal of fire that

^A consumes the adversaries. Let this sadness afflict you, and let not the precept be grievous to you. How shall I move you? What shall I say? Do you not desire the kingdom? Do you not fear Gehenna? Whence shall healing be found for your soul? For if the things to be feared do not terrify you, and the things that are bright and joyous do not urge you on, it is to a heart of stone that we are speaking.

7. Consider, O man, the nature of wealth. Why are you so struck by gold? Gold is a stone, silver is a stone, the pearl is a stone, each one of these stones is a stone: chrysolite, and beryl, and agate, and hyacinth, and amethyst, and jasper. These are the flowers of wealth, some of which you lay away and hide, covering the translucent stones in darkness, while others you carry about, priding yourself on the luster of these precious things. Tell me, I pray, what is the profit to you of turning around a hand sparkling with stones? Are you not ashamed to desire stones like pregnant women ^B do? For they nibble at stones, and you are so greedy that you search diligently for the beauty of stones, for sardonyx, and jaspers, and amethysts. Who of those who seek after clothing with excessive elegance has been able to add one day to his own life? Whom has death spared because of wealth? Whom has disease ^C spared because of money? How long, O gold, you noose of souls, you hook of death, you bait of sin? How long, O wealth, you cause of war, by which weapons are forged, by which swords are sharpened? Because of this, kinsmen are ignorant of their nature, brothers look at one another with murderous eyes; because of wealth the deserts harbor murderers, the sea supports pirates, and cities harbor false accusers. Who is the father of falsehood? Who is the creator of forgery? Who has birthed perjury? Is it not wealth? Is it not the pursuit of it? What is this that you suffer, O men? Who has turned your own possessions ^D into an ambush against you? They are the means of life. Far be it that money should be given for the incitement of evil! It is the ransom of the soul. Far be it that it should be an occasion for destruction! But, you say, wealth is necessary for the sake of children. That is a specious excuse for avarice; for you put your children forward, but you are actually satisfying your own soul. Do not blame the one who is blameless; it has its own master, its own steward; it received life from another, and awaits the resources of life from Him. Was not the Gospel written for those who are married? "If you wish to be perfect, sell what you have and give to the poor." When you were asking the Lord for children, when you were seeking to become a father of children, did you add this: "Give me children, that I might violate your commandments; give me children, that I might…"

arrive at the kingdom of heaven? And who will be the guarantor for the child’s intent, that he will use what is given to him for a good purpose? For wealth has become the servant of debauchery for many. Or do you not hear the Ecclesiastes saying: "I have seen a grievous infirmity: wealth kept for its owner for his own harm"? And again: "And I shall leave it to the man who will come after me. And who knows if he will be a wise man or a fool?" ^A See to it, then, that having amassed wealth with countless labors, you do not provide material for the sins of others, and then find yourself punished twice over: both for those things which you yourself did wickedly, and for those which another has perpetrated with your assistance. Is your soul not more intimately related to you than every child? Is it not connected to you with a greater closeness than all other things? Render to it first the birthright of the inheritance, provide it with lavish provisions for life; and then you will divide the livelihood among your children. For children indeed, having received nothing by inheritance from their parents, have often created homes for themselves; but the soul, if neglected by you, who will have mercy on it? ^B

8. I have spoken to those who have children; but what fine cause for parsimony do those who are childless bring forward to us? "I do not sell my possessions, nor do I give to the poor, because of the necessary expenses of life." Then the Lord is not your teacher, nor does the Gospel guide your life, but you yourself are the lawgiver for yourself. See into what danger you fall by thinking in such a way. For if what the Lord commanded as necessary, you reject as impossible, you are doing nothing other than claiming to be wiser than the Legislator. "But," you say, "after I have enjoyed them for my entire life, after the end of my life I will make the poor the heirs of my possessions, having declared them in public documents and testaments the lords of my goods." When you are no longer among men, ^C then you will become a philanthropist; when I see you dead, then I will call you a lover of your brother. Extensive is the gratitude [due] for your generosity, because while lying in the monument [tomb], and dissolved into earth, you have become a...

liberal and magnanimous dispenser of your wealth. Tell me, I beseech you, the wages of what times will you demand—those in which you lived, or those which followed after your death? But at the time you were living, given over to the pleasures of life and flowing in luxuries, you did not even endure to look upon the needy; whereas when you are dead, what act is there? What wage of work is owed? Show your works, and demand repayment ^A. No one trades after the fair is over; nor is one crowned after having come [late] to the contests; nor is one renowned as a hero of valor after the wars. Consequently, it is obviously impossible to show piety after this life. You promise, forsooth, that you will be a benefactor through ink and tablets. But who will announce to you the time of your departure? Who will be the guarantor of the manner of your death? How many have been snatched away by violent accidents, who were not even permitted by their affliction to utter a sound? How many has a fever rendered deranged? Why, then, do you await a time in which you will often not be master of your own mind? The night is deep, the illness is heavy, the helper is nowhere; and he who lies in wait for the estate is ready, managing everything for his own advantage, making your counsels of no effect ^B. Then, looking about hither and thither, and seeing the solitude that surrounds you, only then will you perceive your thoughtlessness; then you will lament your folly, that you deferred the commandment to this time, when, as the tongue is paralyzed, the hand is already trembling and shaken by contractions, so that you can reveal your mind neither by voice nor by letters. And even if everything had been written clearly, and every word had been proclaimed explicitly, one letter inserted would have been enough to overturn all your intention; one forged seal, two or three unjust witnesses, would have transferred the whole estate to others.

9. Why, then, do you deceive yourself, currently managing your wealth for the enjoyment of the flesh, while promising for the future things of which you will no longer be master? As the word has shown, your counsel is wicked: "Living, I will enjoy the pleasures; but dead, I will perform the commands." Abraham will also say to you: "You received your good things in your lifetime ^C." The narrow and squeezed way does not receive you, since you have not laid aside the burden of riches. You departed carrying them; for you did not cast them away, as you were commanded. While you lived, you preferred yourself to the commandment; but dead and dissolved, you then preferred the commandment to [satisfying] your enemies. For, "Lest so-and-so receive it," you say, "let the Lord receive it." And what shall we call this—vengance on enemies, or love of neighbor? Read your testaments ^D. I wished indeed

to live yet longer and to enjoy my own possessions. But the thanks are due to death, not to you. For if you had been immortal, you would never have remembered the commandments. Do not err: God is not mocked. What is dead is not brought to the altar; bring a living victim. He who offers from the surplus is not accepted. But you, what has remained over after your whole life, these you offer to the Benefactor. If you do not dare to entertain illustrious and famous guests with the leftovers of your table, how then do you dare to appease God with your leftovers? See the end of covetousness, O rich men, and cease to be passionately disposed toward money. The more you love riches, the more you leave behind nothing of what you possess. Make everything your own, carry everything away with you, do not leave your wealth to strangers. Perhaps ^B your servants will not even shroud you in the final funeral attire, but will refuse the exequies, already eager to please your heirs. Or perhaps they will even then use philosophical words against you: It is absurd, they will say, and contrary to reason, to adorn a dead person, and to bury with great expense one who no longer feels anything. And what would be better, to have the living adorned with sumptuous and glorious clothing, rather than letting precious garments rot away along with the corpse? And what is the gain of an exceptional monument, and a sumptuous burial, and fruitless expense? It would be more fitting to spend these things on the necessities of life for the living. Such things they will say then, when they avenge themselves for your moroseness and severity, and bestow your goods upon your successors. Therefore, perform your own funeral in advance. Piety is a beautiful burial shroud. Go forth covered in all things: make your wealth your own adornment; have your riches with you. Trust in a good counselor, in Christ who loves you, who for our sake became poor, that we might be enriched by His poverty, who gave Himself as a redemption price for us. Let us either yield to Him as wise and as one who provides what is for our benefit, or endure Him as one who loves us, or repay Him as one who does us good. But above all, let us execute the things commanded to us, that we may become heirs of the eternal life which is in Christ Himself: to whom be glory and power unto the ages of ages. Amen.

HOMILY DELIVERED IN A TIME OF FAMINE AND DROUGHT

^C 1. The lion has roared, and who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken, and who will not prophesy? Let us make the opening of our discourse prophetic, and let us take the God-inspired Amos as a helper for the need of the matters at hand, since he healed sufferings similar to those that presently trouble us; explaining the judgment.