“Who is the greedy person? It’s him, who doesn’t content himself with what he has. And who [is] the thief? He who steals what belongs to others. And you think that you are not greedy, and that you do not rob others? What had been granted to you so that you might care for others, you claim for yourself.
He who strips a man of his clothes is to be called a thief. Is not he who, when he is able, fails to clothe the naked, worthy of no other title? The bread which you do not use is the bread of the hungry; the garment hanging in your wardrobe is the garment of him who is naked; the shoes that you do not wear are the shoes of the one who is barefoot; the money that you keep locked away is the money of the poor; the acts of charity you do not perform are so many injustices that you commit.”
Cf. Matt. 25:31-46; Eph. 4:28; Heb. 13:5; Jam. 2:16; 1 Jn. 3:17-18.
Basil the Great (330-379), Bishop of Caesarea in On Avarices.