Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 11

God shows that the prescriptions of the Law are not arduous. His requests of humankind are not inordinate. In fact, those beings without reason, and even the most senseless among them, easily obey what he commands. Someone might allege, however, that they instinctually have the capacity to know. Therefore it is possible that what they rightly do by instinct we do through our own choice. “The ox knows his owner.” Not only does he place before them how exceptional his gift is, but he further intensifies his accusation against their inordinate wickedness by comparing them not with other human beings but with the elements of nature—those, in particular, who are without reason and are the most senseless among them. He says that they are even worse than these. This is also what Jeremiah does, bringing into play the turtledove and the swallow. Solomon, too, does something similar, returning the one who lives an idle life to now face the ant, now the bee.

Commentary on Isaiah 1:2-3

Avoid reckless judgments. This is why the Lord commands that the innocent, or the one against whom there is only one witness, should not be punished. Instead, “everything must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” Likewise, the apostle orders Timothy to “not receive accusations against an elder without the deposition of two or three witnesses.”

On Ecclesiasticus 3:4

A brother said to Poemen, ‘If I see something wrong do you want me to tell you about it?’ He said to him, ‘It is written, “If a man answers before he has heard, it is foolishness to him and discredit” (Sirach 11:8). If you are asked, speak; if not, say nothing.’

The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks

Divine wisdom teaches its children not to overly struggle to obtain earthly profits, for otherwise you will not avoid such adversity as greed, envy and similar pains. Therefore it is written in the book of Proverbs, “The one with a covetous eye is impatient to enrich himself and does not consider that misery will fall on him.” And again, “He who is greedy of dishonest gain troubles his own house,” and, “Better is little with the fear of the Lord than a great treasure with trouble,” and, in Qoheleth, “He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loves abundance with profit.”

On Ecclesiasticus 3:4

God in truth has created the body and the spirit of every single human being. Besides the diversity each person may choose to pursue, there is an infinite variety created by God beyond what could be voluntarily achieved by everyone in what each person receives at the beginning of his or her existence. But there are those who would upset us and many who would lead us astray with their vain sayings and false opinions among those who presume to be in the know about unknowable things, having attributed these original differences to fate (even if it does not exist) and to the stars. But we are firmly convinced that God the creator forms all the different types and models of things according to his will from the original elements, and although the nature of the spirit is of one kind and the body another, he deals with them according to the methods most agreeable to him. And surely these acts of God would not have been withdrawn from human knowing if there was a reason for them to be known; or it would be clearly revealed why everything happens the way it does, if it were not sufficient to know that it happens in this way. The Lord said to Moses, “Who has given speech to humankind and who has made the dumb and the deaf, the seeing and the blind? Is it not perhaps I the Lord God?” And again in Isaiah, “ ‘Have I not made the sterile and the fecund?’ says the Lord.” In the book of Ecclesiasticus there is the saying, “Good and evil, life and death, poverty and riches come from the Lord.” And Job says, “The tents of robbers are at peace, and with impudence they provoke God, even though he has given everything into their hands.”

The Call of All Nations 1:14

What is it therefore that the holy man enumerates so many of his virtues amid afflictions? What is it that he praises with his own mouth the works he had done, except that amid wounds and words which could drag him to despair, they reform his soul to hope? And he who was humble in prosperity, having recalled his good deeds to memory, remained unbroken in adversity. For whose soul would those words not drive to despair amid so many afflictions, unless he had recalled to memory the good things he had done? The holy man therefore saw his mind being shaken toward despair upon hearing so many evils, and he wonderfully strove to be strengthened in certain hope from his good actions. Thus is fulfilled what is written: In the day of good things be not unmindful of evil things, and in the day of evil things be not unmindful of good things. For if when we have good things we remember the evil things which we have either already suffered or can still suffer, the good things received do not elevate the mind, because the fear from the memory of evil things suppresses their joy. And if when we have evil things we remember the good things which we have either already received or hope we can still receive, the weight of evil things does not press the soul down into despair, because the memory of good things lifts it to hope.

Homilies on Ezekiel, Book 2, Homily 7

But that even the powers above are, as we said, subject to change is shown by those who fell from their ranks through the fault of a corrupt will. This is why we should not think that the nature of those who remain in the blessed condition in which they were created is unchangeable, simply because they were not similarly led astray to choose the worse part. For it is one thing to have a nature incapable of change and another thing for a person through the efforts of his virtue, and by guarding what is good through the grace of the unchangeable God, to be kept from change. For everything that is secured or preserved by care can also be lost by carelessness. And so we read, “Call no one happy before his death,” because so long as an individual is still engaged in the struggle, and if I may use the expression, still wrestling—even though he generally conquers and carries off many prizes of victory—yet he can never be free from fear and from the suspicion of an uncertain outcome. And therefore God alone is called unchangeable and good because his goodness is not the result of effort, but he possesses it naturally, and so he cannot be anything but good. No virtue then can be acquired by an individual without the possibility of change. However, in order that when it once exists it may be continually preserved, it must be guarded with the same care and diligence with which it was acquired.

Conferences 1:6.16

Death, previously abhorred and hated, is now the object of praise and declared blessed. What at one time procured pain and sadness, tears and melancholy, now appears as a source of joy and feasting. All the servants of God enjoy a blessed death because the end of their lives bears the security of being welcomed by God. In fact, they become perfect, and this perfection renders them blessed, giving them the solidity of virtue, as the oracle affirms, “Do not judge a person blessed before his death.”

Homily on the Dormition 1:12

I have not intended in the least to diminish the virtue of our ancestors, and above all the virtue of hospitality. In reality, among the virtues practiced by the most eminent of the patriarchs, this is the only one that tends toward piety. One of them had God the Savior at his own table; another had the angels as his guests; one received as a reward a son at his advanced age; the other his own salvation, fleeing from Sodom. This is what the apostle is talking about when he exhorts us to imitate them: “Do not neglect to show hospitality; for thereby some have received angels without knowing it.” It happens, however, that the one who offers hospitality has the prudence of the serpent and the simplicity of the dove, thus complying with the double precept of the Lord: “Give to every one who asks of you,” and, “Do not bring such a person into your home.” This is so that you do not run the danger of bringing a wolf to the place where the lamb dwells or a bear to the place where the ox resides, with the risk of turning your gain into a loss. It is first of all necessary to be aware of the place where you are—if it is deserted or has frequent visitors. Then, you must also be aware of your own ability to tolerate characters that are too difficult. Finally, you must well consider who it is who is destined to receive your benefits—whether he is rich or poor, healthy or weak, in need of food or clothes. These are the areas where acts of mercy come into play. In reality, the blessed Abraham did not receive into his home consuls, captains, the important people of this temporary world like those who have horses with bridles and glittering stirrups and whose harnesses, burnished with bronze, belch forth from afar the resonance of their pride. On the contrary, Abraham lived in a deserted place and welcomed all who passed by. Those who traveled the desert went to the patriarch because they were attracted by his virtue and because they were reduced to being beggars, which is about as extreme a poverty as you can get. In a similar way Lot, who lived in the worst city of that same desert, rightly welcomed all who passed by, given the customs of those inhabitants.

Dialogue on the Life of Saint John Chrysostom 12