Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 4

The wisest of people understands the avarice and pride of human nature. He considers the nature of poverty and its terrible power to depress even the most generous spirit and to induce it often to act without shame. And so, in order that a person should not be irritated when accosted or be provoked by the continual placing of demands on him so that he becomes an enemy when he ought to bring help, such a person is instructed to be affable and accessible to the one who is asking him for things by the words, “Incline your ear to the poor, and answer him peaceably and gently.” And passing over the case of one who succeeds in exasperating—for what can one say to him who is overcome?—he addresses the person who is able to bear the other’s infirmity, exhorting him before he bestows his gift to correct the suppliant by the gentleness of his countenance and the mildness of his words.

On the Priesthood 3:16 (304)

The divine voice admonishes each one of us through the language of the holy Scriptures, “Honor the Lord with your belongings.” In another passage it says, “Pay your debt.” God is a tender and mild master. He invites us to spend the goods of our earthly belongings! He says, “Honor the Lord with your belongings.” Everything that is given to us is his, and yet, he affirms that it is ours so that we can give it away. Thus, he calls the ownership of these possessions ours so that there may be a greater reward for work since we spend more time and effort on possessions that belong to us, and in this way the worker necessarily receives a considerably greater reward for his labor.The Lord has said that the ownership is ours. However, in order that our soul not become too proud, he adds, “Pay back your debt.” If a person is not induced to be generous from his devotion, however, he will be constrained to pay from necessity. If faith is of no help to persuade a saint to operate, that which obliges him to satisfy his debt will motivate him. First he says, “Honor the Lord with your possessions,” and then, “Pay your debt,” so that, if you are devoted, you should give as though it belonged to you; if you are not, provide restitution as though it were not yours. Thus, God has rightly fixed in the law both the will to give and the necessity to pay. He wants to say to everyone, “You are invited with persuasive words or constricted by contracted debt to do holy deeds. Give, if you want; provide restitution in the contrary case.” The apostle also provided similar teaching when he ordered the rich not to be proud, not to put hope on the uncertainty of riches but on God, who, he says, “gives us everything in abundance, which we can enjoy in the will to do good works.’ ” It is one phrase, but with this the apostle teaches us who is the benefactor and what is the reason for the possessions that have been given.

Against Avarice 1:5.27-6:29

Let us understand that the divine wisdom, which is rightly praised, in some way, is the same wisdom of God, that is, nothing else than Christ, the Son of God, of whom the apostle says, I preach Christ, the power of God and wisdom of God.” That same wisdom “inspires the lives of his children” when it gives to his disciples and to all the other faithful the knowledge of his mystery and reveals that of the gospel. It welcomes those who search for it, as it shall welcome the meek, and it shall precede them on the way of the justice of the Lord, who says, “I am the way, the truth and the life; whoever follows me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life.” Therefore, who loves him, loves life, for he, observing his commandments, shall obtain eternal life, and “everyone who watches over it shall overflow with joy.” It is as promised in the book of Proverbs: “Blessed is the one who hears me, watching every day at my gates and looking toward my doorposts.” Call the holy Scriptures and their doctors the gates and the doorposts of the gate, without which we cannot enter into the promised life.

On Ecclesiasticus 1:17

Surely it ought not to seem heavy or difficult, not even for a fragile body, to reserve a part of the week, the two nights of Saturday and Sunday, for the divine office. For with these two we can sanctify, so to speak, all the other five days or nights passed in the heavy sleep of the flesh and in the mud of mundane works. Nor should anyone blush at dedicating himself with holy fervor to the devout practices. No, the wicked do not blush in committing abominable works! The biblical proverbial expression is not put forward in vain: “There is a shame that leads to sin.” It is a sin to feel ashamed for good works, while it is deadly not to be ashamed for this wickedness. If you are holy, then you love the vigils that enable you to so carefully guard your treasure and enable you to preserve yourself in holiness. If you are a sinner, you have all the more reason to keep watch and pray in order to obtain purification, beating yourself on your chest and begging even more often, “Cleanse me, Lord, from the sins that I do not see, and forgive your servant for the ones I ignore.” The one who, in fact, desires to purify himself from sins he does not see certainly cannot enjoy rolling around in the ones that defile him!

Prayer, Vigil and Hymns of Praise

Just as shame is praiseworthy in evil, so it is blameworthy in good. For to be ashamed of evil is wisdom; but to be ashamed of good is foolishness. Hence it is written: There is a shame that brings sin, and there is a shame that brings glory. For he who is ashamed by repenting of the evils he has done arrives at the freedom of life. But he who is ashamed to do good falls from the state of righteousness and tends toward damnation, as it is said by the Redeemer: Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his majesty. And there are some who already conceive good things in their mind, but do not yet openly contradict evils. These indeed, because they are good in mind but have no authority in speech, are not suited for the defense of truth. For he ought to be a defender of truth who neither fears nor is ashamed to speak what he rightly perceives.

Homilies on Ezekiel, Book 1, Homily 10

If the ancient use of the sacrifices is clear to you, we see what they furthermore contain according to the mystic sense. You have heard that there are two sanctuaries, one visible and open to the priests, the other invisible and inaccessible—except for the one high priest, all the rest of whom remain outside. I think that this first sanctuary could be understood as this sanctuary we now occupy, which is our flesh: in this the priests serve at the altar of burnt offerings on which that fire is lit of which Jesus has said, “I have come to cast the fire on the earth, and I wish that it were already kindled.” Do not marvel that this sanctuary is open only to priests since all those who have been united with the ointment of the holy chrism have become priests, as Peter also says to the entire church: “You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.” You are therefore of priestly descent, and thus you have access to the sanctuary. Furthermore, each one of us has in him his burnt offering and lights the altar with his sacrifice, so that it always burns. If I renounce all that I possess, I take up my cross and follow Christ, I offer a burnt offering at the altar of God; or “if I give my body to be burnt, having charity” and if I obtain the glory of martyrdom, I offer myself in a burnt offering at the altar of God. If I love my brothers, up to “giving my life for my brothers,” if “I fight until death for justice, for the truth,” I offer a burnt offering at the altar of God. If I let my limbs die at each temptation of the flesh, if “the world is crucified for me and I for the world,” I offer a burnt offering at the altar of God, and I myself become the priest of my victim.

Homilies on Leviticus 11

“Martyrs” is a Greek word; however, tradition nowadays uses this name instead of the Latin one; in Latin, rather, one would say “witnesses.” So, there are authentic martyrs, and there are false ones. There are, in fact, true witnesses and false witnesses. But the Scripture affirms, “The false witness will not remain unpunished.” If the false one does not remain unpunished, then the true witness will not remain without rewards. Certainly, it would be an easy thing to render testimony to the Lord Jesus Christ and to the truth of him being God; but it would be an assignment arduous enough to render it until death. There were some leaders of the Jews, cited in the Gospel, who believed in the Lord Jesus; but because of the Jews, it is said, they did not dare to recognize him publicly. And it is immediately noted down in the passage; in fact, the Evangelist, continuing, affirms, “For they loved the glory of people more than the glory of God.” There were, then, those who, before people, were ashamed to recognize Christ; there were still others, certainly better, who were not ashamed to recognize Christ before people, but who were incapable of confessing him unto death. In fact, the gifts of God are such that sometimes they only gradually develop themselves in the soul. First pay attention, then confront among them these three categories of witnesses: the first includes he who believes in Christ and hardly manages to whisper his name; the next, he who believes in Christ and recognizes him openly; the third, he who believes in Christ and, in his confession, is ready to die for Christ. The first is so weak that his shame prevails over his fear; the second already puts on a brave face, but not yet until the blood; the third has everything, so there is nothing left to be desired. He meets in fact all that is written: “He fights until death for the truth.”

Sermon 286:1.1-2:1