He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’ And he said, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. One of the Fathers of the Church, St. John Chrysostom, preached that the error the rich man made was to imagine that the excess he possessed was for himself. He should have stored his surplus grain in the bellies of the poor, according to Chrysostom. Accumlating excess wealth when there are hungry people is contrary to the gospel, he preached. In another sermon he said that if you have two coats and your brother has none you are stealing from your brother. You can’t wear two coats so give the excess to someone who can. Christians understand that everything is a gift from God and, hence, not simply mine but meant to be shared.
