Origen of Alexandria: Follow Christ in fasting and humility in order to love and serve with generosity

“If you want to fast according to Christ and to humble your soul, every time of the entire year is open to you; moreover, hold all the days of your life for humbling your soul, if you have learned from the Lord our Savior that he is gentle and lowly in heart (Matt 11:29). When, therefore is there not a day of humiliation for you who follow Christ who is lowly in heart and a teacher of humility?”

Origen of Alexandria (182-254), Christian theologian and Church Father, in Homilies on Leviticus 10.3.

“Hereby were rich and poor in the first place brought into the right position towards each other.

The rich gave what he gave to God, and the poor receive what he received from God. Thus the temptation of the rich to exalt themselves above the poor, and the humiliation of the poor at being obliged to receive assistance from others, were removed, while at the same time, discontent and murmuring, as well as insolent demands and presumptuous requests, were done away with.

The rich became conscious that he only gave back to God what he had first received. The poor became conscious, that the same God, who had imparted to himself a smaller measure of earthly goods, yet took care that he should not suffer want. It was no longer a disgrace to be poor and to receive assistance from the Church.

The poor, like the officers of the Church, loved off the alter; nay, to apply to the poor in general a much used expression in the Epistle of Polycarp [to the Philippians], with respect to to widows, they were themselves, “the altar of the Church” on which it deposits its offerings.

Such gifts had not the effect, so often occurring in other instances, of separating between rich and poor by increasing and rendering still more prominent the chasm existing between them, but were a bond which united them in God, by making them conscious of their oneness in the one Lord.”

The explanation of first-century expression “the altar of the Church” of Polycarp of Smyrna (69-155) in Letter to the Philippians 4 as explained by Gerhard Uhlhorn in Christian Charity in the Ancient Church (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1883) 146-147.

“Lord, remember those who offer these gifts, and those for whom and for whose sake and for whose profit they offer them. Lord, think of those who bring forth fruit and do good works in Thy holy Church, and who remember the poor. Requite them with Thy treasures and Thy heavenly gifts. Give them for the earthly the heavenly, for the temporal the eternal, for the corruptible the incorruptible.”

The Offering Prayer in the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great (330-379) Bishop of Caesarea Mazaca as recounted by Gerhard Uhlhorn in Christian Charity in the Ancient Church (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1883) 404.

“And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succours the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead.”

Justin Martyr (100-165) in “Weekly Worship of the Christians” in First Apology 67.3.

“Work with self-restraint at your handiwork, that you may always have enough for yourselves and for the poor, and may not be a burden to the Church of God. Idleness is a disgrace, and he who will not work among us must not eat, for the Lord our God hates idlers, and none must be idle who honors God.”

Clement of Rome (This Early Church bishop was martyred in 101 by being strapped to an anchor and cast into the sea) in Apostolic Constitutions 2.63, as recounted by Gerhard Uhlhorn in Christian Charity in the Ancient Church (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1883) 135.

“For those able to work, work, for those unable to work, compassion” is a saying which…was the motto of the whole Church.

Clement of Alexandria (c. 150-215) Homil. Ep. Clem. c. 8, as recounted by Gerhard Uhlhorn in Christian Charity in the Ancient Church (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1883) 125.

The older Fathers interpret our Lord’s saying [in Luke 6:30] “Give to every one that asketh of thee,” to mean quite simply that every suppliant was to receive without distinction. “Give simply to all, without asking doubtfully to whom thou givest, but give to all.”

Shepherd of Hermas (c. 140–155) Mandates 2 as recounted by Gerhard Uhlhorn in Christian Charity in the Ancient Church (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1883) 121.

“We must grow rich in God’s sight. [Luke 12:13-21] serves as a wakeup. Wealth is deceiving; we think money or prestige is what we need, and if we have more, then life is good. But Jesus says, when you die, your ‘wealth’ is meaningless. The man in the story finds his heart in his possessions. Jesus calls us to think differently, seeking wealth through God’s eyes. We know that faith, care for the poor, loving deeds are important and our ‘wealth’. Jesus calls us find this wealth so we can be truly rich in God’s sight.”

John Schmidt in the Redemptorists of the Denver Province post for 4 August 2013.

Yesterday I was having an Einstein’s date with my daughter, Sophie, and when I asked her how God has been working in her life, she spoke of dedication—that God was drawing her to deeper levels of dedication.

That led us to converse about the commitment I made over four years ago to dedicate my life to encouraging Christian generosity. Serendipitously, we checked and realized that it was exactly 1,499 days ago, so she asked me: “What will you post to celebrate 1,500?”

I replied, “I don’t know because I ask God to lead me each morning as to what I should study.” Her reply was, “Dad, you’ve gotta use that great quote/scene from the Hobbit!” So here it is. Happy 1,500 days!

Galadriel: Why the Halfling?

Gandalf: Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay… small acts of kindness and love. Why Bilbo Baggins? That’s because I am afraid and he gives me courage.

Enjoy the “Why the Halfling?” scene on YouTube from the movie “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” based on the book by J.R.R. Tolkien.

My prayer is that these daily meditations help dispel your fears linked to the evil all around us and give you courage to show kindness and love in your everyday deeds in the spirit of Ephesians 5:15-16.

“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”

“Ordinary people who are naturally drawn to the comforts of the American dream can be converted to a radical faith in a radical Savior. Why not join us?

If you are serious about taking this journey, though, I believe a couple preconditions exist…first, you need to commit to believe whatever Jesus says…second, you need to commit to obey what you heard. The gospel does not prompt you to mere reflection; the gospel requires a response…

The gospel is the revelation of who God is, who we are, and how we can be reconciled to him. Yet, in the American dream, where self reigns as king (or queen), we have a dangerous tendency to misunderstand, minimize, and even manipulate the gospel in order to accommodate our assumptions and our desires.

As a result we desperately need to explore how much of our understanding of the gospel is American and how much is biblical. And in the process we need to examine whether we have misconstrued a proper response to the gospel and maybe we have missed the primary reward of the Gospel, which is God himself.”

David Platt, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream (Colorado Springs: Multnomah) 20-28.