“You are not making a gift of what is yours to the poor man, but you are giving him back what is his. You have been appropriating things that are meant to be for the common use of everyone. The earth belongs to everyone, not to the rich.” – St. Ambrose
The best way of interpreting the quote is to consider present day society as it is and society as it is supposed to be as advocated for by Jesus and various church teachings. Modern day society is heavily influenced by capitalism wherein the accumulation of material gain is considered as the “goal” that everyone should aspire to. As a result, people have become materialistic, focus on the accumulation of wealth, and eschew brotherhood in favor of personal superiority over our fellow man.
However, this state of affairs is not considered as being abhorrent, nor is it considered as socially damaging. In fact, people are actively encouraged to pursue such a lifestyle since it is the “price of modernity”. The teachings of Jesus focus on an entirely different set of principles wherein brotherhood and charity to one’s fellow man is what people should aspire to. The world around us, based on the teachings of Jesus and the Old Testament writings, has a form of “universal ownership” wherein everything is meant to be shared and distributed equally based on need. Possessions, material or financial gain and even the elevation of the self are thought of as secondary objectives and are even at times considered as “damaging to the spirit” and against the gift of creation that God has given to all of humanity.
Thus, the statement “you are not making a gift of what is yours to the poor man, but you are giving him back what is his” refers to the fact that our present day attitudes regarding material gain for the self is merely denying others what should have been theirs from the start. By accumulating more than what you need, by focusing on the self instead of on others, you promote the denial of opportunity and of Earth’s shared resources and thus contribute towards the creation of an intentionally unjust and unequal society.
“You give bread to a hungry person; but it would be better were no one hungry, and you could give it to no one. You clothe the naked person. Would that all were clothed and this necessity did not exist.” – St. Augustine
The meaning of this quote focuses on present day charitable donations and how they would not be necessary in the first place if society were changed to facilitate a better form of distributing wealth and resources.
In a sense, this quote criticizes the wealthy by implying that despite their charitable actions, they contribute towards people lacking resources by hoarding it for themselves. This actually has some level of precedence in modern day society wherein recent studies showed that 74 of the richest people in the world controlled 50% of all monetary resources. This is in comparison to the hundreds of millions of people around the world who suffer from a lack of basic access to proper food, water and even clothing. So, even if the “rich” contribute to charities, the fact remains that they control more than they should and facilitate hardship through inaction.
“It is a poverty to decide a child must die so that you may live as you wish”- Blessed Mother Teresa
Similar to the other quotes that have been examined so far, this quote is also a thinly veiled criticism directed against the rich. The concept of “living as you wish” can be interpreted as the lifestyle that people have become accustomed to. The caviar topped pieces of bread, the wagyu beef steaks, the weekly trips to Paris as well as the expensive cars and large mansions are all part of the lifestyle that the rich and famous are used to.
However, when considering the cost of this lifestyle and how a similar amount could have gone towards saving thousands of people, it is immediately apparent that the money could have been better spend saving a life rather than making a person more comfortable than they already are. This quote questions whether a life of luxury is truly worth the number of lives that could have been saved if the money had gone to them instead.