“Give to the one who is wishing you well; it’s Christ himself. He’s asking you for what he has given you. You should blush for shame…Give something to your brother, give something to your neighbor, give something to your companion. You, after all, are rich and he is poor. This life is a road, you are both walking along it.
But perhaps you’ll say, “I’m rich, he’s poor.” Are you walking along together, or not? What does it mean, your saying “I’m rich, he’s poor.” but “I’m overloaded, he’s traveling light.” “I’m rich, he’s poor.” You’re mentioning your burden and praising the weight you carry. And what’s more serious still, you have strapped your burden to your shoulders; that’s why you can’t stretch out a hand.
Overloaded, tightly strapped up, what are you being so proud of, why are you praising yourself? Undo your straps, decrease your burden. Give some of it to your companion, and you are helping him and giving relief to yourself. Among all these words of yours in praise of your burden, Christ is still asking, and not receiving anything…
For when you did it for one of the least of mine, you did it for me. Haven’t you read that, haven’t you taken any notice of it? When you failed to do it for one of the least of mine, you failed to do it for me (Mt 25:40, 45). Haven’t you read that, hasn’t it frightened you? Look who’s in want…your Lord.”
Augustine of Hippo (354-430),Sermon on the Christian Discipline 399.7-8. He delivered this sermon around 398, most likely in Carthage during a meeting of an all-African council. Augustine insists that Christians are called to love God and their neighbors more than they love their money, and he employs considerable irony and sarcasm to counter the skepticism that meets his challenge.