Whose will those things be which you have provided?

 

This is the key to understanding the saving up of material goods. St. Basil the Great taught that the bread in our cupboard belongs to the hungry man; the coat hanging unused belongs to the one who needs it; the shoes rotting in our closet belong to the one who has no shoes; and the money we hoard belongs to the poor. St. Ambrose teaches, "The things which we cannot take with us are not ours. Only virtue will be our companion when we die." Even when Joseph stored up grain in Egypt (Gn 41), it was for the benefit of the whole nation. These teachings apply to parishes as well as to each person.

“For when his harvest was abundant, he said to himself, ”What shall I do? I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones.” There is nothing more wretched than such an attitude. In truth he took down his barns; for the safe barns are not walls but the stomachs of the poor. He who had neglected these did not need to concern himself about walls. What does God say to him? “Fool! Tonight they require your soul from you." You see, here [In the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus] it says "was carried away by the angels," there, "they require;" one was led away as a prisoner, the other was carried on their shoulders as a victor.”

- On Wealth and Poverty by St. John Chrysostom