About fasting and almsgiving
― You , Lord , are the One Who has and the One Who gives riches to the man . Some people work with them to urge many on the way of good deeds and prayer and gratitude for Your help , and of the cleanness of the mind and soul . Those rich men are Your stewards for the work of the saints on the earth and for the help of the destitute who wait from You in their wants . These rich people work for their own dwelling and wealth in the tents of Your saints , of Your righteous people , Lord . However , others have riches to receive their reward on the earth for the little that they give to those in need , but they are not dedicated themselves for You with those that You have been giving them to have . These do not advise the poor to You , since not even them look after You with those of Yours , and in this way , not even the people who obtained mercy seek You , but they only make use of the help from the rich ones .
― Oh , children of My coming , I have taught you to whom you should give of the work of your hands , of My wealth and yours , sons , and I told you that those whom you give should not have more than you , and you should also not have more than they have , for the rich man who has from Me and does not work this way is rich to the prejudice of his soul in his temporariness and eternity . He who has got riches and keeps them first for himself , that one loves them and cannot love both Me and them , since he has never been satisfied with them and that one has been looking for his mercifulness to make Me owe him . Behold , few are with you of those who have been taking My guide from you , the guide for life . The riches are the barrier to freedom . The same it happens to the rich ones in learning and science , and their wealth is their obstacle . The man who makes things for himself to have , that one is a sick man and cannot go to heaven and cannot be free . The rich man was hindered by his riches to love Me and to follow Me for his good deeds for the fulfillment of the life commandments . But the rich man cannot fulfill the first commandment , because his heart is bound to all he has been heaping to have for himself . The learned makes uses of those he has learnt and cannot catch up with the one with a clean mind and teaching ; he cannot , but only if he denies of his knowledge , to be freed from it , and then to be able to love Me , the humble and gentle One in heart . I have not learned from the man the knowledge of this world , which the man likens to those from God . How can the one who gathers much knowledge in his heart be gentle and humble in his heart ? The one who likes to know many things , he does this because of his haughtiness . What use is his mind for Me ? What good is it for others ? It is of no use to him but only as it was to the Pharisee who prayed to Me a prayer of gratitude against the Publican who confessed his sins humiliating himself before Me .
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It is a great wonder for the man to give Me his house and his life . The house of the man is his body , and the life of the man is his work . When the man gives himself to Me , I come and I dwell in him and make him into My house and I dwell in it with My things and multiply them as a wise householder and I share them with the poor and give them to heal the people of their shortcomings so that there may be someone to testify about Me and about My saints who have become a house for Me on earth . The shortcomings of the poor man are not bread , garment and money . Those are the shortcomings of the lazy man , who does not even want to work for his food or for his garment . The poor man is the man deprived of God and of those from God . The man who is enriched by Me with those of Mine is the one who shows true mercy when he shares them around himself . To the one who gives it is given , for he knows to give mercy . The true bread , with which the man can show mercy , is the heavenly bread , the bread for the saints , the solid food of the soul .
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