"In every place there is a sacrifice,
and a pure victim is offered to my name."
Malic. i.
"He will then be our victim indeed,
when we sacrifice ourselves to him."
St. Gregory.
Twentieth Day.—On Alms Deeds.
1. We minister to Christ when we relieve the poor. He abides in the Eucharist to receive our adoration, and to become our nourishment; he abides in the poor to excite our compassion, and to be fed by us in our turn. Happy the man who gives alms to Jesus! but wretched is he who refuses to assist him. Shall we feed our dog, and let Christ famish with hunger!
2. What we give to the great ones of the earth may, in a great measure, be considered as forfeited: but what we present to God is always attended with advantage. He gives it back with interest. He repays with liberality the crumbs that are given for his sake; his rewards are laid up even for a cup of cold water. Play, luxury, and debauch, have ruined innumerable families, but alms have impoverished no one.
3. Men at the day of judgment shall be accountable for their alms; but what answer can the unfeeling rich ones make when the poor shall accuse them, when Jesus Christ himself shall reproach them with their insensibility? "Go, ye accursed, into eternal fire: I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat; I was naked, and you did not clothe me," &c. A heart that is hard to the poor, is the heart of a reprobate; but on the contrary, a soul that is truly charitable, is a soul predestined. What can our Judge say against us, when he shall see our clothes upon himself, when he shall see our bread and our money in his own hands? We shall approach his awful tribunal with confidence, provided the poor be our advocates.
Consider seriously how you behave to the poor; whether you treat them as members of Jesus Christ, by doing them all the good in your power.
"He gives at interest to the Lord,
who has pity on the poor."
Proverbs xix.
"Give unto all, lest he whom you refuse should be Jesus Christ."
St. Augustine.