On Almsgiving
-St. Basil the Great
If you, O man, marvel at coins for their value, consider how much more glorious it is to be called a father by countless children than to possess countless coins in a purse. For coins, even unwillingly, you will leave behind here, but the honor of good deeds you will carry to the Master. When all people stand before the future Judge, they will call you a provider, a benefactor, and every name of loving-kindness. At the marketplace, no one grieves spending wealth to buy what is needed, and the less one pays for precious things, the more one rejoices at a good bargain. Yet you grieve when giving silver, gold, or possessions—that is, giving mere stone and earth—to gain blessed life. Of what use is wealth to you? To clothe yourself in costly garments? But two cubits of simple cloth suffice for you, and a single robe fulfills all your need for clothing. Will you misuse wealth for lavish food? A single loaf can fill your stomach. Why then do you grieve? What do you lose? The glory that comes from wealth? If you seek not glory here, you will find true and radiant glory, leading you to the kingdom of heaven. For wealth distributed as the Lord commands endures forever, while that which is hoarded passes to others. If you keep it, you will not have it; if you scatter it, you will not lose it. For it is written: “He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever” (Ps. 111:9). Therefore, those who think wisely must consider that the use of wealth is given for meeting needs, not for indulgence. They should rejoice in giving, refrain from taking what belongs to others, and not grieve when losing their own. Why sorrow and be downcast in spirit when you hear: “Sell that thou hast, and give to the poor” (Matt. 19:21), even if it could follow you into the life to come? Yet even then, you should not be anxious about it, for the rewards promised there will overshadow it. If it must remain here, why not gain benefit by selling it? He who uses wealth for evil is poor, like one who, receiving a sword to avenge enemies, willingly wounds himself with it. But he who uses wealth well and rightly, as a steward of what God has given, not gathering it for his own pleasure, is justly praised and loved for his brotherly love and gracious disposition.
Behold how the multitude of our iniquities has altered the nature of the seasons, bringing extraordinary changes to the order of the year’s cycles. All things, transgressing the natural order in an unnatural way and conspiring evil against us, drag human life and sustenance toward ruin. What is the cause of this confusion and disorder? That we take for ourselves but do not share with others. We praise beneficence but deprive those who need it. Once slaves, we have been made free, yet we do not show mercy to our fellow slaves. Hungry ourselves, we are fed, yet we pass by the needy. Having wealth and a generous Giver in God, we are stingy and give nothing to the poor. Our livestock multiply, but the poor outnumber them. Our storehouses overflow with various crops, yet we have no compassion for the needy. Are you poor? Another is surely poorer still. Have you bread for ten days? Another has for one. Share with the needy, as a good and prudent person, what remains as surplus to you. Do not fear giving from your little, nor prefer your own gain over the common calamity. Even if one loaf remains as your only food, and a beggar stands at your door, bring out that last loaf, give it, then lift your hands to heaven and with fervor say this heartfelt plea: “This one loaf alone I had, which Thou, O Lord, seest, and dire need presses me; yet I prefer Thy commandment and give from my little to my hungry brother. Grant, therefore, to Thy struggling servant, for I know Thy grace and trust in Thy power; Thou dost not delay Thy mercy for a time but distributest Thy gifts when Thou wilt.” If you speak and act thus, the bread you give in this time of need will become a seed for sowing, yielding abundant fruit.
You claim to love your neighbor as yourself? But the Lord’s words convict you, showing you lack greatly in true love. If you gave to each as much as to yourself, how could you have such an abundance of possessions? He who loves his neighbor as himself has no more than his neighbor; but since you have more, it is clear you prefer your own profit to the comfort of many. Thus, the more wealth you have, the further you stray from love. Had you loved your neighbor, you would have long since scattered your wealth for their needs. But this wealth clings to you more closely than your own limbs, and its loss pains you as much as the severing of your body’s vital parts. Had you clothed the naked, given your bread to the hungry, opened your gates to all, been a father to orphans, and shown compassion to everyone, why would you now grieve over possessions? Had you long ago given them to the poor, how much you would owe thanks to your Benefactor, rejoicing and counting it an honor that others come to your door, not you to theirs! Make your brethren partakers of your grain; give to the needy what will rot by morning. The root of avarice is most cruel, withholding even what perishes from those in need. Is not one who strips the clothed called a robber? And what other name does one deserve who, able to clothe the naked, does not? The bread of the hungry is what you withhold; the garment of the naked is what you keep in your storehouse; the shoes of the barefoot are those rotting in your possession; the silver of the needy is what you have buried. Thus, you wrong as many people as you could help. How shall I depict the suffering of the poor so you may understand from what groans you gather your treasure? How precious will these words be to you on the day of judgment: “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:34)? And how great the terror, darkness, and trembling when hearing this condemnation: “Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41). For with God, there is no mercy without justice, nor justice without mercy. He is merciful before judgment, but just thereafter. These two are united in Him, so that mercy alone does not grant license, nor justice alone lead to despair.
If you have not killed, committed adultery, stolen, or borne false witness, yet you render your efforts vain by neglecting the last thing, through which alone you may enter the kingdom of God. If a physician promised to heal bodily members damaged by nature or disease, would you not rejoice to hear it? Yet when the great Physician of souls seeks to perfect you through your almsgiving, you reject the blessing, weeping and lamenting, rendering futile all your prior efforts. Will you not labor diligently for yourself, O man? Will you not prepare rest for the future in this present age, looking to the ant, which gathers food in summer for winter? Since the sorrows of winter have not yet come, it does not spend that time in idleness but compels itself to work with unceasing diligence until it gathers enough food for its storehouses. Nor does it do this carelessly but with wise foresight, ensuring food suffices for a long time. It cuts seeds in two with its pincers to prevent sprouting, which would render them unfit for food. It dries those same seeds when it detects moisture, bringing them out not at any time but when it senses fair weather will persist. Thus, you will never see rain falling from the clouds while ants dry their stores. O man, imitate the earth, bear fruit as it does, lest you become worse than this lifeless thing! It produces fruit not for its own pleasure but for your service; yet you, if you show any kindness, gather it for yourself, for kindness returns to those who give it. You give to the hungry, and what you give returns to you with increase. As wheat fallen to the earth yields profit to the sower, so bread given to the hungry brings manifold benefit to the giver.
If someone stands at your door seeking money to relieve their poverty, do not consider distinctions, nor say, “This one is a friend, a relative, a benefactor, but that one is a stranger, unknown.” If you regard distinctions, you yourself will not be shown mercy. Nature is one: both this one and that are human; the poor have one need, one poverty. Give to your brother, give to the stranger; do not despise your brother, nor make the stranger your brother. God desires that you comfort those in need without partiality, that you give to your kin but do not drive away the stranger. For all are neighbors, all are brethren, all are children of one Father. Some, by the Creator’s power, have been freed from the calamity that oppressed them, yet have no means to sustain their lives, escaping affliction with only soul and body. Therefore, we who have not known the experience of such misfortune should offer all we have for common use. Let us embrace our barely surviving brethren, saying to each, “He was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found” (Luke 15:24), and cover their kindred body. Against the assaults of enemies, let us set our comfort, so that, though the enemy harms, he may do little damage, and though he wages war, he may see none defeated. By taking the possessions of brethren, he is overcome by our generous giving.
He who is generous must, out of love, give freely to those who ask, following this rule: “Give to him that asketh thee” (Luke 6:30). Yet it is necessary to discern the needs of those who ask, as we see in the deeds of the apostles, where “distribution was made unto every man according as he had need” (Acts 4:35). For many, beyond satisfying their needs, may turn such aid to their own profit or whims, so with particular prudence, one must distribute what is necessary according to each person’s need. Giving to those who, for deceit, sing mournful songs like women or display feigned bodily injuries to gain idle profit brings no benefit, even with great generosity, but only encourages their debauchery and wickedness. Such shamelessness must be restrained with measured giving. But to those who have learned to endure all manner of misfortunes, mercy must be shown, of whom it will be said: “I was an hungred, and ye gave Me meat” (Matt. 25:35). This requires great skill to distinguish the poor from the greedy. He who gives to the afflicted gives to the Lord and will receive a reward from Him, but he who gives to every vagabond casts his gift to a dog that feigns distress out of shamelessness, not to one worthy of compassion due to poverty.
Hear, you rich, what counsel we give to the poor because of your inhumanity: it is better for them to endure poverty than to accept misfortune from usury. If you submitted to the Lord, what need would there be for these words? For He says: “Lend, hoping for nothing again” (Luke 6:35). When you give to the poor for the Lord’s sake, it is both a gift and a loan: a gift, because you hope for no return; a loan, because of the great gift of the Master, who rewards in its stead, and who, receiving little through the poor, will repay with great things. Thus, every rich person must examine their income, from which they intend to offer a gift to God: Have they oppressed the poor? Have they wronged the powerless? Have they taken anything from a subordinate, using their authority against justice? Since we are bound to act lawfully and justly even with slaves, you who have authority over another must not use violence; having power, do not take from them; if you have authority, prove your justice. For where you lack authority, you cannot demonstrate obedience or fear of God, but you do so when, though able to transgress a commandment, you do not. If you give to the poor what you have taken from them, it would be better neither to take nor to give. For neither is beneficence from unjust gains poured out on the poor pleasing to God, nor is one who refrains from such thefts worthy of praise if they offer no aid from their own possessions. Of those who offer God gifts from unjust gains, it is said: “The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination to the Lord” (Prov. 15:8). Of the unmerciful, it is written: “Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard” (Prov. 21:13). Moreover, this proverb reminds us: “Honour the Lord with thy just labours, and give Him the firstfruits of thy righteousness” (Prov. 3:9). If you intend to offer God something forcibly taken, it would be better neither to acquire it nor to offer it to God. For a pure gift exalts prayer, as it is written, and “the prayers of the upright are acceptable before God” (Ps. 35:11). Again, if you do not offer God a sacrifice from your righteous labors, from which the poor are fed, it will be reckoned to you as theft, as God Himself says through the prophet Malachi: “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed Me in tithes and offerings” (Mal. 3:8). Why, then, O man, do you defile your wealth by increasing it through unjust gains? Why do you make your offering detestable through injustice, dedicating to God what could show mercy to the poor? Show mercy to the oppressed, demonstrate loving-kindness toward them, be reconciled with them, and you will fulfill mercy and justice. Usury has no place with God, nor does any robber or plunderer join Himself to the Lord. He left it to us to feed the poor, not because He is unable to provide for them, but entrusted them to us, requiring that through kindness to them we bear the fruit of righteousness and loving-kindness. Almsgiving with offense does not exist, nor blessing with a curse, nor kindness with tears. Such comes from vainglory and is praised by men, not by God. When you give alms under God’s watchful eye, beware of giving what you have taken from others, knowing that such a sacrifice is displeasing to the all-seeing God. Let us give alms in such a way that we may receive again from God. For God rewards those He praises, but He never praises the usurer. Be not deceived: your kindness to the poor will not please Christ unless you wholly cleanse yourself from injustice, casting off what belongs to others. Thus, Zacchaeus’ righteousness was pleasing to the Lord, for which He said: “This day is salvation come to this house” (Luke 19:9). For he resolved to restore fourfold to anyone he had wronged and gave half his possessions to the poor. He knew well the importance of receiving Christ. Therefore, let us permit wealth, which strives to overflow, to reach those in need. Let us not despise the Lazaruses lying before our eyes, nor withhold the crumbs from our table, sufficient to satisfy them, nor, emulating that unmerciful rich man, come with him to that fiery hell. All the more, for though we may pray much to Abraham or to any who lived virtuously, no benefit will come from our cries. For it is written: “None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him” (Ps. 48:8). Each will say to us, crying out: “Seek not the kindness you did not show to others, nor desire such great things, you who spared so little. Enjoy what you gathered in life, now weeping, for you did not show mercy to your weeping brother.” They will say this to us, and rightly so. But I fear lest they reproach us with even harsher words, for we surpass that rich man in malice, as is evident. Our flatterers not only gain lavish hospitality but depart with hands filled with rich gifts, learning from us that it is better to act thus and engage in such practices than in virtue. Yet when a poor man, scarcely able to speak from hunger, stands before us, we turn away from our fellow human, recoil, and hastily depart, as if fearing to share in his poverty through his quiet approach. If he bows to the ground, ashamed of his misfortune, we call him a hypocrite; if he looks at us boldly, driven by the sharp sting of hunger, we call him shameless and audacious. If he is clothed in bright garments given by another, we drive him away as insatiable, swearing he feigns poverty. If he wears tattered rags, we expel him as foul. Neither his invoking the Creator’s name in his pleas, nor his frequent entreaties that we not fall into similar afflictions, can bend your unmerciful will. Therefore, I fear a fiercer hellfire than that rich man’s. But to escape this, let us acquire mercy through mercy, that we may obtain eternal blessings in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power with His eternal Father and the life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages, amen.