Whatever riches God has given us are meant to help others, and we will give account for it all
2 min • Digitized on November 8, 2021
From The Sinner’s Guide, page 339
By Venerable Louis of Granada
Again, I would remind you that God, as a wise and sovereign Ruler, has appointed some of His children the depositaries of His power and the dispensers of His benefits, to guide and maintain the others.
If you are of the number of those who from their surplus possessions must contribute to the support of the poor, do you think that you are justified in expending upon yourself what has been given to you for the benefit of others?
“The bread which you withhold,” says St. Basil, “is the food of the poor; the garments you conceal should clothe the naked; the gold you accumulate is the portion of the needy.”
Therefore, you rob the poor whenever you refuse to succor them from your abundance. The riches you have received from God are meant to remedy human misery, not to be the instruments of a bad life.
Therefore, do not let your prosperity cause you to forget the Author of all your blessings, and let not those blessings be a subject of vain-glory.
Do not, I conjure you, prefer a land of exile to your true country. Do not convert into obstacles what is meant to aid you on your journey, and do not make of the succors of life instruments of eternal death.
Be content with the condition in which God has placed you, bearing in mind the words of the Apostle: “Having food and wherewith to be covered, with these we are content.” [1 Tim. vi. 8.]
“A servant of God,” says St. Chrysostom, “should never seek by his dress to gratify his vanity or indulge his flesh; his only object should be to comply with the necessities and requirements of his condition.”
“Seek ye, therefore, first the kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.” [St. Matt. vi. 33.]