Remedies for Greed

So, keeping in mind the judgment that fell on Ananias and Sapphira, let us dread keeping back any of the things we gave up and vowed to forsake completely. Let us also fear the example of Gehazi, who for the sin of greed was punished with a leprosy that never left him. From this let us take care not to acquire wealth we never possessed before. Dreading, too, both the sin and the death of Judas, let us avoid with all the strength we have taking back any of the wealth we once threw away from us. [a]

Above all, considering how weak and changeable our nature is, let us beware that the day of the Lord does not come on us like a thief in the night and find our conscience stained by even a single penny. For that would make void all the fruits of our renunciation of the world, and would cause the words spoken to the rich man in the gospel to be turned on us too by the voice of the Lord: “You fool, this night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be that you have prepared?” And not worrying about tomorrow, let us never allow ourselves to be enticed away from the rule of the coenobium.