The Fathers of the Church are a group of remarkable bishops who have shaped the early Church. Their teachings, meditations, and theological insights are the basis for the centuries of Christian thought that followed.
Their influence persists today, but it is often unacknowledged and overlooked. They are not read enough — except for Augustine, and even him is sometimes read in second hand. So I propose three quotes that remind us of the demands that this financial crisis places on those who have much and live in abundance. Basil of Caesarea, a Greek father, and Ambrose of Milan, a Latin father, said the following in the 4th century. The two first paragraphs are from Basil. The third one is from Ambrose. Little has changed.
What keeps you from giving now? Isn’t the poor person there? Aren’t your own warehouses full? Isn’t the reward promised? The command is clear: the hungry person is dying now, the naked person is freezing now, the person in debt is beaten now — and you want to wait until tomorrow? “I’m not doing any harm”, you say. “I just want to keep what I own, that’s all.” You own! You are like someone who sits down in a theater and keeps everyone else away, saying that what is there for everyone’s use is your own [...]. If everyone took only what they needed and gave the rest to those in need, there would be no such thing as rich and poor. After all, didn’t you come into life naked, and won’t you return naked to the earth?
The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry person; the coat hanging unused in your closet belongs to the person who needs it; the shoes rotting in your closet belong to the person with no shoes; the money which you put in the bank belongs to the poor. You do wrong to everyone you could help, but fail to help.
The large rooms of which you are so proud are in fact your shame. They are big enough to hold crowds — and also big enough to shut out the voices of the poor [...]. There is your sister or brother, naked, crying! And you stand confused over the choice of an attractive floor covering.
