"Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: 'The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, "What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?" So he said, "I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.'" 'But God said to him, "Fool! This night your soul will be required of you: then whose will those things be which you have provided?" So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.'" Luke 12:16-21
St. Cyprian (c. 200-258) "Thus also the blessed apostle admonishes us, giving substance and strength to the stedfastness of our hope and faith: 'We brought nothing,' says he, 'into this world, nor indeed can we carry anything out. Having therefore food and raiment, let us be herewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many hurtful lusts, which drown men in perdition and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evil; which while some coveted after, they have made shipwreck from the faith, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.' He teaches us that riches are not only to be contemned, but that they are also full of peril; that in them is the root of seducing evils, that deceive the blindness of the human mind by a hidden deception. Whence also God rebukes the rich fool, who thinks of his earthly wealth, and boasts himself in the abundance of his overflowing harvests, saying, 'Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?' The fool who was to die that very night was rejoicing in his stores, and he to whom life already was failing, was thinking of the abundance of his food. But, on the other hand, the Lord tells us that he becomes perfect and complete who sells all his goods, and distributes them for the use of the poor, and so lays up for himself treasure in heaven."
St. Gregory Nazianzen (c. 329-389/390) "Let us not wait to be convicted by others, let us be our own examiners. An important medicine for evil is confession, and care to avoid stumbling. I will be the first to do so, as I made my report to my people from on high, and performed the duty of a watcher. For I did not conceal the coming of the sword that I might save my own soul and those of my hearers. So will I now announce the disobedience of my people, making what is theirs my own, if I may perchance thus obtain some tenderness and relief. One of us has oppressed the poor, and wrestled from him his portion of land, and wrongly encroached upon his landmark by fraud or violence, and joined house to house, and field to field, to rob his neighbour of something, and been eager to have no neighbor, so as to dwell alone on the earth. Another has defiled the land with usury and interest, both gathering where he has not sowed and reaping where he has not strawed, farming, not the land, but the necessity of the needy. Another has robbed God, the giver of all, of the firstfruits of the barnfloor and the winepress, showing himself at once thankless and senseless, in neither giving thanks for what he has had, nor prudently providing, at least, for the future. Another has had no pity on the widow and orphan, and not imparted his bread and meagre nourishment to the needy, or rather to Christ, Who is nourished in the persons of those who are nourished even in a slight degree; a man perhaps of much property unexpectedly gained, for this is the most unjust of all, who finds his many barns too narrow for him, filling some and emptying others, to build greater ones for future crops, not knowing that he is being snatched away with hopes unrealised, to give an account of his riches and fancies, and proved to have been a bad steward of another's goods."
St. Basil the Great (c. 329/330-379) "How can I bring before your eyes the poor man's sufferings that thou mayest know out of what creep groanings thou art accumulating thy treasures, and of what high value will seem to thee in the day of judgement the famous words, 'Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the founation of the world: for I was an hungered and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty and ye gave me drink:...I was naked and ye clothed me.' What shuddering, what sweat, what darkness will be shed round thee, as thou hearest the words of condemnation!-'Depart from me, ye cursed, into outer darkness prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was an hungered and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty and ye gave me no drink:...I was naked and ye clothed me not.' I have told thee what I have thought profitable. To thee now it is clear and plain what are the good things promised for thee if thou obey. If thou disobey, for thee the threat is written. I pray that thou mayest change to a better mind and thus escape it's peril."
St. Augustine (c. 354-430) "For it is not a thing to be lightly regarded, my Brethren, when our Lord, our Redeemer, our Saviour, who died for us, who gave His Own Blood as our ransom, to redeem us, our Advocate and Judge; it is no light matter when He saith, 'Beware.' He knoweth well how great the evil is; we know it not, let us believe Him. 'Beware,' saith He. Wherefore? of what? 'of all covetousness.' I am but keeping what is mine own, I am not taking away another's; 'Beware of all covetousness.' Not only is he covetous, who plunders the goods of others; but he is covetous too, who greedily keeps his own."
St. John Chrysostom (c. 347-407) "Have ye seen the insignificance of human affairs? Have ye seen the frailty of power? Have ye seen the wealth which I always called a runaway and not a runaway only, but also a murderer. For it not only deserts those who possess it, but also slaughters them; for when anyone pays court to it then most of all does it betray him. Why dost thou pay court to wealth which to-day is for thee, and to-morrow for another? Why dost thou court wealth which can never be held fast? Dost thou desire to court it? Dost thou desire to hold it fast? Do not bury it but give it into the hands of the poor. For wealth is a wild beast: if it be tightly held it runs away: if it be let loose it remains where it is; 'For,' it is said, 'he hath dispersed abroad and given to the poor; his righteousness remaineth forever.'
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