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Added quotes On Almsgiving and Serving the Poor
All his works, and a few spuriously attributed to him, are available in the ''Patrologia Graeca'', which includes Latin translations of varying quality. No critical edition is yet available.
==Quotes==
'''On Almsgiving and Serving the Poor'''
“It befits those who possess sound judgment to recognize that they have received wealth as a stewardship, and not for their own enjoyment; thus, when they are parted from it, they rejoice as those who relinquish what is not really theirs, instead of becoming downcast like those who are stripped of their own.” (''To the Rich'')
“What then will you answer the Judge? You gorgeously array your walls, but do not clothe your fellow human being; you adorn horses, but turn away from the shameful plight of your brother or sister; you allow grain to rot in your barns, but do not feed those who are starving; you hide gold in the earth, but ignore the oppressed!” (''To the Rich'')
“Consider yourself, who you are, what resources have been entrusted to you, from whom you have received them, and why you have received more than others. You have been made a minister of God’s goodness, a steward of your fellow servants…Resolve to treat the things in your possession as though belonging to others.” (''To the Rich'')
“[T]hrow open all the gates of your treasury, supplying generous outlets for your wealth. Like a mighty river that is divided into many streams in order to irrigate the fertile soil, so also are those who give their wealth to be divided up and distributed in the houses of the poverty-stricken…[W]ealth left idle is of no use to anyone, but put to use and exchanged it becomes fruitful and beneficial for the public.” (''I Will Tear Down My Barns'')
“ ‘But whom do I treat unjustly,’ you say, ‘by keeping what is my own?’ Tell me, what is your own? What did you bring into this life? From where did you receive it? It is as if someone were to take the first seat in the theater, then bar everyone else from attending, so that one person alone enjoys what is offered for the benefit of all in common – this is what the rich do. They seize common goods before others have the opportunity, then claim them as their own by right of preemption. For if we all took only what was necessary to satisfy our own needs, giving the rest to those who lack, no one would be rich, no one would be poor, and no one would be in need. Did you not come forth naked from the womb, and will you not return naked to the earth? Where then did you obtain your belongings? If you say that you acquired them by chance, then you deny God, since you neither recognize your Creator, nor are you grateful to the One who gave these things to you. But if you acknowledge that they were given to you by God, then tell me, for what purpose did you receive them? Is God unjust, when He distributes to us unequally the things that are necessary for life? Why then are you wealthy while another is poor? Why else, but so that you might receive the reward of benevolence and faithful stewardship, while the poor are honored for patient endurance in their struggles?” (''I Will Tear Down My Barns'')
“At this very moment, what prevents you from giving? Are not the needy near at hand? Are not your barns already full? Is not your heavenly reward waiting? Is not the commandment crystal clear? The hungry are perishing, the naked are freezing to death, the debtors cannot breathe, and will you put off showing mercy until tomorrow? … Make your brothers and sisters sharers of your [wealth]; give to the needy today what rots away tomorrow.” (''I Will Tear Down My Barns'')
“The bread you are holding back is for the hungry, the clothes you keep put away are for the naked, the shoes that are rotting away with disuse are for those who have none, the money in your vaults is for the needy. All of these you might help and do not—to all these you are doing wrong.” (''I Will Tear Down My Barns'')
“Are you poor? You know someone even poorer. You have provisions for only ten days, but someone else has enough only for one day. As a good and generous person, redistribute your surplus to the needy. Do not shrink from giving the little that you have; do not prefer your own benefit to remedying the common distress. And if you have only one remaining loaf of bread, and someone comes knocking at your door, bring forth the one loaf from your store, hold it heavenward, and say this prayer, which is not only generous on your part, but also calls forth the Lord’s pity: ‘Lord, you see this one loaf, and you know the threat of starvation is imminent, but I place your commandment before my own well-being, and from the little I have I give to this famished brother. Give, then, in return to me your servant, since I am also in danger of starvation. I know your goodness and am emboldened by your power. You do not delay your grace indefinitely, but distribute your gifts when you will.’ And when you have thus spoken and acted, the bread you have given from your straitened circumstances will become seed for sowing that bears a rich harvest, a promise of food, an envoy of mercy.” (''In Time of Famine and Drought'')
==Hymns==
==Bibliography==
* Holy Apostles Convent, ''The Lives of the Three Great Hierarchs: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom'' (Holy Apostles Convent Pubns, 2001) (ISBN 0944359116)
==See also==
*[[Philanthropy]]
==External links==
