Благотворительность

Enrich yourself not only with property, but also with piety, not only with gold, but also with virtue, or, better yet, with virtue alone. Earn preference over your neighbor by being more charitable than him. Be a god for the unfortunate, imitating the mercy of God. For nothing makes man more like God than doing good, although God does incomparably more good, and man less and in accordance with his own strength (1). In accordance with the commandment, which commands us to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep (see Rom. 12:15), we must open the womb of mercy to all the poor and those who suffer for any reason; We must, as human beings, bring tribute to charity to people, no matter what their need forces them to seek help - whether widowhood, or orphanhood, or expulsion from the fatherland, or the cruelty of rulers, or the insolence of rulers, or the inhumanity of tax collectors, or the murderous hand of robbers, or the greed of thieves, or an inventory of property, or shipwreck. For they all have the same right to regret and look at our hands in the same way as we look at the hands of God when we ask for something (1). Evangelizing is a matter of necessity, and evangelizing freely is a matter of zeal, but may you learn to do good to Christ by doing good to someone, even to small ones. For Christ, just as He became for me everything that is in me, except for sin, so He takes upon Himself everything that concerns me in any way - whether you provide me with shelter or clothing, whether you visit me in prison, whether you come to the sick, or, most importantly, cool the tongue of someone tormented by thirst with one cup of cold water, as the rich man suffering in the flames asked poor Lazarus, who for the here luxurious life, for the contempt of the hungry and scabbed Lazarus, is repaid by asking Lazarus and not receiving what he asked. This is what we demand from you, and I know that you will not be ashamed, both when giving an account to me, and on the last day, on which all our deeds will be collected, according to what was said: and I will come to gather your thoughts and deeds (see Isa. 66:18); this is a man, and his work and his reward are with him (Is. 40:10) (1). Prudent are those who, not believing in present blessings, store up treasures for themselves in the future and, seeing the impermanence and changeability of human well-being, love charity, which will never change (see 1 Cor. 13:8) (1). When doing good deeds, think that you are imitating God (2). You might be interested in: