As often, dearly beloved, as there is need to admonish your charity for the zeal of religion, so often does that sentence of the Gospel reading occur to us, which in the judgment to come distinguishes between the good and the bad; which, if anyone neglect it, he shall reap tears; if anyone cultivate it, he shall acquire the most abundant fruits of gladness, as the Evangelist says: 'When the Lord shall come in His majesty, and shall separate the bad from the good, He shall say to those on the right: Come, possess with me the kingdom of heaven. I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink. And He shall say to those on the left: Depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire. I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me not to drink'
(Matthew 25:31ff.). Whoever therefore among you, dearly beloved, desires to come to that fellowship of the heavenly kingdom, let him first of all stretch out his hand to poverty, and let him not look idly upon the tears of others; for a sentence of recompense awaits every man, whether for a good work or an evil one, since the Lord says: 'Whatever a man shall sow, that shall he also reap' (Galatians 6:8). Among all the other works, therefore, dearly beloved, which we set our hand to in the zeal for a religious life, let us not overlook the need of the poor, lest we lose the traffic of the tears of the wretched. For in this stands the reckoning of money before the Lord when it is dispensed through the needy: that the more a man pays out, the more of interest he lays up.
Thus from many seeds many things come to birth, and as many bring forth, so multiplied harvests arise. Hear the Lord also saying of this: 'He who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly' (2 Corinthians 9:6). If therefore you see that he who sows little reaps little, so also he who gives out little receives little; he who sows nothing lays up nothing; so it comes about that he who stores little often goes hungry against his will. But how can it ever happen that a man should see his barns full of abundant crops, when he entrusts no seed to the earth? If then you wish that we may gather the fruits of joy, let us sow more generously in tears: 'He who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly.' 2. We often find a man who, when he has once given alms to one who is hungry,
believes that he has fully discharged the commandment. It will therefore not be enough to have once refreshed with a single day's food the limbs that are failing from hunger; for to no purpose is a man good on one day, if on the next he goes away ungrateful. For he has lost the benefit of his former mercy who thinks it enough to have given once to one who is hungry. But that man sends ahead to the Lord the whole fruits of mercy, from whom the poor man never departs sorrowful. The physician needs continual remedy to shut out the groaning of another's pain: for a sickness that grows day by day requires medicine day by day. Yet with no less care must we provide, that by abundant alms we may heal whatever within us is bloody,
whatever is defiled. For wounds are not healed at once by a single washing. Often the healing of a cut body must be repeated. If therefore you wish, dearly beloved, that no fault of avarice should defile any day of our life, let us not close our ears to the cry of the wretched, nor turn our eyes away from the nakedness of the miserable. And let no one think that what he has given to the poor is lost to him. For just as beggary follows upon lack of kindness, so wealth is procured by the pursuit of kindness; as the prophet says: 'He who gives to the poor shall never be in want; but he who turns away his face shall be in the greatest need' (Proverbs 28:27). Behold, the cry of the hungry rebukes your ears, and the sound of a failing voice from starving throats accuses your door.
Why does that saying not come to your mind: 'Blessed is he who has understanding for the needy and the poor; in the evil day the Lord will deliver him' (Psalm 41:1)! That trader is clearly foolish enough who keeps his coin shut up in his purse, whereas from it he might have profit. 3. But what is worse, many things conspire with avarice. This man, lest he take pity on the poor, drowns out the voice of those who beg with a confusion of words; that man, lest he hear, pretends to have heard something else. Wretched enough is this manner of living, that a man, while he devotes himself to avarice, tries to lay deafness upon his own ears. Consider that saying which declares: 'He who has mercy on the poor lends to God' (Proverbs 19:17).
Why then should anyone hesitate to feed the needy, when he sees that in refreshing the poor he confers these things upon our Christ? There are some who mock pitiable beggary with the hope of a postponed kindness; who, since they are ashamed to make excuses to those who beg, deceive the wretched by promising. Behold, this one says, 'The key is missing, the keeper is away; as soon as you have come back, you shall receive.' Do you not consider that saying of Solomon which declares: 'Say not, Go and return, tomorrow I will give, when you are able to do good at once' (Proverbs 3:28). How do you know what may happen the next day? You say, 'As soon as he has returned, you shall receive':
when will it be, that your steward should return for the hungry man, who perhaps often stays away at your own wish? When will it be, that those disdainful bars of your inner chambers should fly open for him who cries, which, while they serve your will, know not how to be opened? You say, 'When you have come back, you shall receive.' What if a harsher storm than usual should beat down the naked man? What if the outcome of nearby death should take away the limbs failing with hunger? Who would not judge that man consigned to death by your judgment, whom he sees might have been saved by your kindness? 'When you have come back, you shall receive.' On whose faith does he return, whom all strength has abandoned? Or with what hope does he seek the house again, who yesterday went away confounded? 4. Let us grant that he should return to satisfy your promise, coming perhaps under the same condition as yesterday.
It is clearly far more just to have refused alms at once than to deceive a hungry man with a promised hope. Hear the Lord saying: 'Break your bread to the hungry' (Isaiah 58:7-9). Let us inquire, if you will, dearly beloved, with what reward the breaking of bread is repaid. Behold the Lord says: 'Break your bread to the hungry; if you see one naked, clothe him, and despise not the members of your own household. Then shall your light break forth in its season, and your garments shall speedily arise, and justice shall go before you, and the brightness of God shall encompass you. Then shall you call out, and God shall hear you; and while you are yet speaking he shall say, Behold, I am here.' See, dearly beloved, how great a return the paying out of a slight expense secures for us, that at our petition the Lord of so great a Majesty deigns to come to meet us.
For elsewhere too he says: 'Whoever shall give to one of these least ones a cup of cold water, amen I say to you, his reward shall not perish' (Matthew 10:42). In this place the will is required, not the means. For he shows the disposition of whole devotion in the greatest things, who has displayed the resolve of compassion in the least. Let each one therefore, dearly beloved, as he has, as he is able, give out, bestow, spend. Let no one shun the lame, let no one feign that he has not heard the deaf, let no one withhold his hand from the weak, for all these things bear upon the recompense. For to clothe the poor man is to have covered the nakedness of one's own body; and it is a great gain to have refreshed the beggar. For thus says the Lord: 'Whatever you have done to one of these least ones, you have done to me' (Matthew 25:40).
For so great is the care for the wretched with our Lord, that he counts as bestowed upon himself whatever pitiable almsgiving has conferred upon the needy. We see therefore at times, amid the traffic of abundant wine and grain, needy widows whom sex and old age have failed, who have strength neither for laboring nor for providing. Wicked enough is that man whom neither the misfortune of desolation nor the infirmity of old age moves to mercy. We see also, and what is worse, often a multitude of captives wandering with naked bodies. What does the abundance of your riches profit you, if in your sight one man is cold and another hungry? 5. Behold, the time draws near, dearly beloved, of just recompense and of the promised gift of the inheritance in the heavens.
Let us therefore give out and spend in this world, if you wish, that we may obtain a share of the riches in heaven. Hear the Lord saying: 'Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven' (Matthew 6:20); and elsewhere: 'Make for yourselves purses that do not grow old' (Luke 12:33). Well has our Christ, dearly beloved, apportioned the fruit of a good work according to the measure of each one's means; that in the doing of alms neither the rich nor the poor can excuse himself: so that to him who possessed most he bade to give out treasures; and him whom he knew to be defiled with the squalor of poverty he bade to break bread to the hungry. But what barns are so empty that they cannot bear so slight an outlay of giving? Or what income is so wretched that a beggar could throw it into confusion?
Easily indeed and without difficulty can he fulfill the commandment, upon whom it is certain that nothing is imposed beyond his ability. I know indeed that slender means often stand in the way of a good will, so that there is nothing wherein the works of precious purpose may extend themselves. But if we cannot accomplish those things which are greater, let us at least not neglect these which are small and easy. 'Break your bread to the hungry.' To this, who would not answer with a devout mind, though he be oppressed by poverty and sigh under utter destitution of livelihood? Otherwise he is either too much a beggar, or vain enough, who in the doing of alms is not content with the giving out of a broken loaf. But you say: 'Many small things dispensed piecemeal make up a heap.' It is true:
but how much is that compared to what the Lord says: 'I will repay you a hundredfold, and over and above, life eternal' (Matthew 19:29)? Yet you, who so unwillingly hold out a little portion of a broken loaf, what would you do if a weight of gold, if a precious talent of silver, or anything whole were asked of you? I doubt whether you would ever, at a great price, ransom a captive, you who sigh over so small a thing. 'He who has mercy on the poor lends to God' (Proverbs 19:17). Wherefore, dearly beloved, I admonish that no one withdraw from God a share of his riches, since from just labors he carries back no difficult fruit of a good work, when he repays the reward of mercy with manifold compassion.
Let us therefore not hesitate to give out, let us not dissemble to spend. For the greatest hope of nourishing life has always been, among the tillers of the earth, to have sown out of abundance.