When these sins are forbidden, what contrary virtues are enjoined and do those who are not merciful to the poor sin against the Eighth Commandment?
The virtues enjoined are these: unselfishness, seeking no dishonest gain (Act 20:33–35: “it is more blessed to give than to receive”); good faith in keeping engagements, like the one “who swears to his own hurt and does not change” (Psa 15:4); justice (Mic 6:8; see Q460, Q506); and mercy to the poor. Certainly, the one who is not merciful to the poor sins against this commandment, if he has the means of assisting them: for all that we have belongs properly to God, and our abundance is given us by his providence for the assistance of the poor. If, therefore, we do not impart to them of our abundance, we in fact rob and defraud them of their right, and of the gift of God (Prv 3:27–28; and the Study: God and Economics). On this, the great Fathers speak with one thunderous voice: “The bread you hold back belongs to the hungry; the coat you keep in your chest belongs to the naked; the shoes rotting in your possession belong to the barefoot; the silver you have buried belongs to the needy. You commit as many injustices as there are those you could have helped” (St Basil the Great, Homily on ‘I Will Pull Down My Barns’ [on Luk 12:18]; see Q017, Q024); and: “not to share our own wealth with the poor is theft from the poor, and deprivation of their means of life: we do not possess our own wealth, but theirs” (St John Chrysostom, On Wealth and Poverty [Second Sermon on Lazarus]; see Q011, Q017).
