A Fruitful Treatise, Chapter 13
¶The .xiii. Chapter.
GOd hath put y• goods of this worlde into the ritche mens hands,Aspectacle for rytch… men. that they shuld distribute part of them to the pore people. They ar the stewards of god and the dispensatours of his treasures, that they conueniently lyuing of them, shuld also with the distribucion of part of them comforte the nedy members of Christ If they spend them otherwise thē God hath appointed in his word they shall render a streyghte accountes for it to the highe iudge Christe. They hauehave nothynge at all, but that they shall be called too accountes for it euen too the vttermooste farthynge.
If they bee not founde to hauehaveMath. xxv vsed theyr talente wel, and vntounto the profit of other they shal with that vnprofitable seruaunte of the Gospell bee caste into vtter darckenes, where wepynge and gnashinge of teethe shall be. If they be proued vnmercifull and negligent in the destribucion of the worldlye goodes, surely they shalbe caried with the rich glotō of whom blessed Luke speaketh in the gosple vntounto hel,Luke. xvi. and there burne in suche cruell and bytter flames, as the fire wherof shal neuer be quenched,Esay. lxxi. neither shal the worme which shal gnaw the consciences of them that are ther, die at any time, as the prophet saith.
What cause then hauehave the ritch menne to boaste themselfes and to glory of theyr worldly goodes or to auaunce them selues aboue other for theyr possessions sake? C…es none at all, more then a greate mans seruaunte hathe, to whome his Lorde and Master hathe committed hys goodes for a certayne space to kepe, the seruant loking at eueryevery hour▪ when his master wil cal him to accoūts and require them of him againe.
Basilius Magnus hathe a notable sentence,Ser. i. i… d…uites auards. and it is this: He is a very the…e and a robber, saith he, which maketh that thing hys own that he hath receiued to destribute and giuegive abrode.An hathe saying for vnmercyful rytchmen. For the bread that thou retainest & kepest is the bread of the hongri, ye garment, which y• kepest in thy chest, is the garmente of the naked, the sho that is mould with the, is the shoo of him that is vnshod, & the moni, which y• hidest in the groūd is the mony of the nedye. Moreouerthou doest iniury and plain wrong to so many as thou forsakest, when thou art able to helpe them. Here to pertayneth the saiyng of the wyseman.…. xxxiiii The bread of the nedy, is the lyfe of y• poore, he that defraudeth him of it, is a manslear. God also by the Prophet teacheth, that that fast pleaseth hym best whych is accompanied wyth the workes of mercye saying:Esal. lvi. i Breake thy bread to the hungry, and lead the nedye and wayefaring into thy house. Whē th…u seest a naked manne couer hym, and despyse not thy fleshe. Mark that he sayth:What it is to break thy breade to the hungrye. Breake thy bread to the hongrye. Certayne that expound this text, saye that thou then breakest thy breade to the hungry, when thou so fastest, that thou sparest from thine own belly to gyue to the pore hongry man, For a Christen man ought to be no les careful for the poore, then for him selfe. We therefore do breake our bread to the hongrye, when wee gyue hym that, whych we our selues necessaryly shoulde hauehave eaten. So that to annoynte our head, is to breake our bread to the hongri, to lodge the poore in oure house, to gyue clothes to the naked, and to comforte accordynge to oure habilytye so manye as hauehave neede of our helpe. Unto these workes of mercy doth our Sauiour Christ exhort vsus in the Gospel, saying: when thou makest a dynner or a supper,Luk. xiiii. cal not thy fryendes, nor thy brethren, neyther thy kynsfolke, nor thy rytch neyghbours, leaste they also bid the againe, & a recompence be made the But when thou makeste a tea…e, call the pore, the feble, the lame, and the blinde, and thou shalt be happye, for they can not recompence the. But thou shalt be recompensed at the resurreccion of the …ighteous. Again he sayeth, geue almes of those things ye hauehave and beholde all thinges are cleane vntounto you.Luke. xi. But of this we shal entreate more largelye when we come to the true vse of fastinge.