ON POVERTY

A carpenter can either use an instrument of gold or steel. But definitely, the steel is better. So, in the quest for holiness, it is better to be poor rather than rich. Scriptures has so many warnings with regard to riches but none with regard to poverty. So never flee from poverty; it is the procurer of heaven. 

The great poverty of the Corinthians gave birth to great joy and great almsgiving. For munificence is determined not by the measure of what is given but by the minds of those who bestow the gifts. So St. Paul did not praise "the richness of the gifts" but "the richness of their liberality." 

For the Corinthians, poverty was not an obstacle to their being bountiful but was even an occasion to them for being generous. The poorer they were, the more munificent they were and contributed the more readily.  

St. John Chrysostom

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Poverty compels us to work, not to steal. Theft is the effect of indolence. For which is more difficult, to wander about at night without sleep and break open houses and to risk one's life or to be attending to one's daily task in full enjoyment of safety and security? The latter is certainly the easier task that is why the majority of people practice it rather than the other. Definitely virtue is according to nature and vice is against nature as disease and health are. 

We should weep, not when we are poor, but when we are in sin. For there is no harm in poverty as there is no good in wealth.

St. John Chrysostom

(10-18-02)