In the same Beneventan codex this sermon too is attributed to St Maximus, which the Maurists place in the appendix of the sermons of St Augustine, number 276, and judge to have been composed by St Caesarius. We read, dearest brethren, the Lord admonishing us through the prophet, that we should ever bestow both honour and love on our parents. And if perchance it happen that they labour under any poverty, we are bidden to relieve their necessities according to our ability. For thus He says: If thou seest one naked, cover him, and despise not those of the household of thy seed (Isa. 58). In this passage He willed 'those of the household of thy seed' to be understood as our parents. But someone says:
Who is there that would hold his own parents in hatred, that the Lord should have admonished this as a great matter through the prophet? Without doubt, brethren, the Holy Spirit knew that there are some men who, when they have attained to any honours or riches acquired from whatever source, so despise their poor parents that they do not even deign to see them. Whoever does this, let him not doubt that he has committed not only a sin, but even a grave crime. And it may perchance happen that that man, through riches and pride, commits great crimes or sins, while his parents, through that very poverty and humility, hold fast to righteousness. And with what face does he disdain to regard his innocent and righteous parents, when he himself is a sinner and unrighteous?
If anyone therefore is well-off, if he has any poor parents, let him first supply them with the necessities, and so let him give alms to needy strangers; because to the other poor, if he does not give then, another will give. But to thy poor parents, if thou bestow nothing, it is difficult for another to bestow. This is the just and lawful order of almsgiving: that first thou provide sufficient and moderate—not pompous nor luxurious—food and clothing for thyself and thine. Then, as I said, if there be any poor among thy parents, bestow as much as thou art able. Then permit not thy menservants and maidservants either to hunger or to be cold.
And after these things, whatever God has given thee—as I said, over and above food and clothing—store it up, not in the earthly place where thieves dig through and steal, but in the heavenly treasure, so that where thy treasure is, there may thy heart be also. And when the priest cries out, Lift up your hearts, let us answer securely and in truth, We have them lifted up unto the Lord. For whatever God, over and above moderate and reasonable food and clothing, has bestowed—whether from any military service, or from agriculture—He did not give specially to thee, but transmitted it through thee to be bestowed on the poor. If thou wilt not give, know that thou art carrying off the property of others; because, as I said, this alone is ours, which reasonably suffices for us or ours.
Whatever is left over, our God, as I said, has transmitted to be bestowed on the poor; and so we ought not only to give tithes, but also, out of the nine parts, whatever remains after tributes are paid or our expenses are met, we ought faithfully to bestow as though transmitted to others. If, however, we do this, then truly ours are the things we give away; but if we do not, then neither are those things ours which we keep, nor are we ourselves our own, who seem to keep them. And yet, brethren, I do not see with what face we do not offer a little to Him from whom we have received all? If God should be willing to make a reckoning with us, and should say: The land which thou tillest, I made; thyself, who tillest it, and thy servants, I made; the animals which help thee to till, I created;
the heat of the sun I bestow, the rain in its seasons I dispense. But by a just reckoning thou oughtest to reserve for thyself the tithes, and for me the nine parts. But this I do not require; I wish to be merciful, and I offer the sevenfold, that as I have had mercy on thee, so mayest thou have mercy on the poor. If therefore, brethren, God should be willing to make this reckoning with us, is there anything we could answer? And although in many places of the holy Scriptures God admonishes us concerning these matters, yet through the Apostle He especially cries out and admonishes, saying: Having food and clothing, with these let us be content.
For they who wish to become rich fall into temptation, and into the snare of the devil, and into many desires both unprofitable and harmful, which drown men in destruction and perdition; for the root of all evils is covetousness, which some coveting have made shipwreck, and have entangled themselves in many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things, and pursue rather righteousness, godliness, faith, and charity (1 Tim. 6). I beg you, brethren, that though we be silent concerning the rest of the Scriptures, this apostolic sentence suffices for every Christian. Truly I say, brethren, that whoever does not rise from the sleep of avarice under such thunder, must be believed to be not sleeping, but dead.
And therefore, brethren, because on account of this fleshly frailty we are, sinners, continually disquieted and pricked, as by flies swarming around us, let us hasten to the harbour of God's mercy through the storms of this very world. And perchance someone asks how he may be able to come to this harbour; let him hear Christ saying: Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy (Matt. 5). And again: Give alms, and behold, all things are clean unto you (Luke 11). Therefore, if we desire to escape from the deep of this world, we ought always to have before our eyes the just sentence of the Apostle. Let it suffice us to have reasonable food and clothing, not pompous, not luxurious;
And whatever more God has given, let it not be denied to the needs of the poor, for it is by our hands that it is shown to be passed on to them. And if we do not give what is superfluous to us, we have seized upon what belongs to another. And however many of the poor may die of hunger with our conscience privy to it, they will plead their cause together with us before the tribunal of Christ. Indeed there are two kinds of almsgiving: one which we dispense to the poor, another which we grant to our neighbors or brethren whenever they have sinned against us, by forgiving them. Let us practice both, with God's help, for the one without the other profits nothing. Just so, conversely, if you forgive those who sin against you, yet are unwilling to give to the hungry as far as you are able, then, as I have said, the one cannot profit you without the other.
But let us, brethren, prepare for ourselves these two kinds of almsgiving as it were the oars of spiritual wings, so that, despising all cravings for earthly things, and thus set free and borne up on the untrammeled feathers of the virtues, we may be able like spiritual doves happily to fly to our chief homeland and to that heavenly Jerusalem, and to arrive there: according to that which the Psalmist desires and prays for, saying: 'Who will give me wings like a dove, and I will fly away and be at rest?' (Psalm 54). It is certain, brethren, that unless each one strives to free the wings of his soul from the birdlime of sins and from the far too many hindrances and snares of this world, he can never come to true rest.
But let us, brethren, with God's help, if we cannot altogether withdraw ourselves from the hindrances of this world, at least strive, so far as our strength allows, to moderate them, or to draw back from them, so that there may remain to us some spaces of hours in which we may be free for reading or for prayer. For if earthly occupation takes everything from us, it is to be feared lest that come upon us which is written: 'The hindrances of this world made them wretched.' Rather, therefore, with the Lord's help, let us labor, that there may be fulfilled in us, at least in some part, that which is written of the blessed man: 'On the law of the Lord he will meditate day and night' (Psalm 1). May the Lord, by his merits, deign to grant this to your holy charity.