A Spoken Silence

St. Basil the Great

I discovered an astounding truth this past weekend that lay hidden from me for over 1,700 years.  This is summed up in the words of St. Basil the Great: “The more you abound in wealth, the more you lack in love.” Many may chaff at such a statement, but that does not make it any less true.

In my weakness I have often tried to rationalize or explain away Christ’s command to the rich young ruler to sell everything and give it to the poor. This is pretty easy to do. It is easy to say that Christ was just talking to that young man, not necessarily to me. It is easy to say that what Christ was addressing was the young man’s attachment to his wealth. It is easy to say that the call to sell everything is for the few (i.e. monastics), while the many are not called to do that. Yet, still the lingering sense exists that I am not being honest with what Christ is really telling me. Maybe the problem is that I don’t understand what he is saying. Or, maybe the problem is that I do understand, but I just don’t want to hear it.

That is where my encounter with St. Basil comes in. I was reading his homily, titled “To the Rich.” In Basil’s time the passage in Matthew 19: 16-22 was interpreted mainly in two ways. (Basil, St. On Social Justice St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press Crestwood NY, Introduction by C. Paul Schroeder22-25). The monastic movement in the deserts of Egypt and the Levant were still relatively new, and the monks interpreted this command very literally. St. Anthony, the founder of Christian monasticism sold all he had, distributed it to the poor and fled into the desert to live a life of constant prayer and solitude. The monastic movement declared that this command applied to everyone.

The other interpretation was that it is merely the attachment to possessions that Christ tells the young man to give up. It is the attitude towards wealth that must be stripped away because the person who is concerned about wealth is not truly free. This interpretation has a very familiar 21st century feel to it, but it was first aticulated by St. Clement in the early third century. (Which goes to prove, there is nothing new under the sun.)

But, Basil took another approach entirely. To Basil, Jesus’ whole discourse with this young man articluates clearly for us the law of love. One cannot possess wealth and show love at the same time. Love requires that it be given away. It is best if we learn from St. Basil’s own words:

“It is thus evident that you[the rich young man] are far from fulfilling the commandment, and that you bear false witness within your own soul that you have loved your neighbor as yourself. Look, the Lord’s offer shows just how distant you are from true love!  For if what you say is true, that you have kept from your youth the commandment of love and have given to everyone the same as to yourself, then how did you come by this abundance of wealth? Care for the needy requires the expenditure of wealth: when all share alike, disbursing their possessions among themselves, they each receive a small portion for their individual needs. Thus, those who love their neighbor as themselves possess nothing more than their neighbor; yet surely, you seem to have great possessions! How else can this be, but that you have preferred your own enjoyment to the consolation of the many? For the more you abound in wealth, the more you lack in love.

“If you had truly loved your neighbor, it would have occurred to you long ago to divest yourself of this wealth. But now your possessions are more a part of you than the members of your own body, and separation from them is as painful as the amputation of one of your limbs. Had you clothed the naked, had you given your bread to the hungry, had your door been opened to the stranger, had you been a parent to the orphan, had you made the suffering of every helpless person your own, what money would you have left, the loss of which to grieve?”

What Christ is really doing is telling the young man that he is a liar. Merely because he did not murder, or steal or commit adultery and honored his father and mother, he had forgotten the greater commandment – to love your neighbor as yourself. Because, if he truly loved his neighbor he would not have possessions that so held him in fetters.

Until we love, truly love our neighbor as ourself, we can never truly follow Christ. Perhaps the moral of this story is to not focus so much on the difficulty of giving away what I possess. Perhaps the real lesson is to first do that which is even more difficult – to love our neighbor as we do ourselves.  This is the first and greatest commandment.

Christos Anesti!