Basil's homilia pros tous ploutountas, or “homily to the rich,” is a brilliant indictment of the wasteful ways of the wealthy. “Those who love their neighbor as themselves possess nothing more than their neighbor,” says Basil. If we value our luxuries more than the survival of our neighbors (and the whole world are now our neighbors), we have lost the love which is God in our hearts. “You seem to have great possessions,” exclaims Basil. “How else can this be, but that you have preferred your own enjoyment to the consolation of the many?” The wealthy deprive themselves of the true wealth which comes with loving our neighbors. “For the more you abound in wealth, the more you lack in love.”
Also included is the essay kathelo mou tas apothekas, or “I will tear down my barns,” where Basil offers a brilliant exegesis of Luke 12:8. The man in Luke’s account who put his faith in hoarding rather than in love, saying, “I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones,” becomes an exemplar of the rich man who begrudges his fellow human beings what he enjoys. “Taking wicked counsel in your soul,” says Basil, “you consider not how you might distribute to others according to their needs, but rather how, after having received so many good things, you might rob others.”
In an era in which our leaders tell us it is a civic duty to shop, the ideology of heedless consumption deserves to be called up for reexamination. Basil may offer the antidote to the “greed is good” economic philosophy that is destroying our culture, our democracy and our planet.
C. Paul Schroeder is a brilliant translator and editor. By collecting essays relevant to social justice into this slim volume, Schroeder has done a great service to all his readers.
- Amazon Business : For business-only pricing, quantity discounts and FREE Shipping. Register a free business account
