We read the other morning in Common Prayer about Brother Juniper, one of the companions or little flowers of St. Francis. He is often called a fool for Christ because of his outrageous generosity. He was always giving away his own clothing and when he was told by a superior not to give away his outer garments to beggars he apparently encountered someone asking for clothing and he said, “My superior has told me under obedience not to give my clothing to anyone. But if you pull it off my back, I certainly will not prevent you.”
Another story told is of a time when Juniper was caring for a sick man. He asked the man if there was anything he needed; and in response, the man told him how much he craved pig’s feet. Juniper went out to a nearby field, where he found a pig, cut off one of its feet and cooked it, then served the meal to the sick man. The owner of the pig was angry when he learned what Juniper had done. But unapologetic, Juniper told the farmer how much the sick man had enjoyed the dinner, and thanked him for his generosity. Somehow, in his enthusiasm, Juniper was able to persuade the farmer to donate the rest of the pig to help feed the poor.
In the same section in the morning’s reading we read this by a fourth-century preacher and bishop of Constantinople, John Chrysostom, “Tell me then, how is it that you are rich? From whom did you receive it, and from whom did he transmit it to you? From his father and his grandfather. But can you, ascending through many generations, show the acquisition just? It cannot be. The root and origin of it must have been injustice. Why? Because God in the beginning did not make one person rich and another poor, He left the earth free to all alike. Why then if it is common, have you so many acres of land, while your neighbor has not a portion of it?”
That’s hard to take in but I believe we do have to sit humbly with those words and then gather ourselves for more generous giving and living.