Chapter X.
The wealthy, since they cannot steal from others, do not have the capacity to take food due to sadness: and there they should observe fasting or offer prayers to God: then they should do what God commands, even if it is contrary to their own desires.
How clearly is the custom of the wealthy expressed! They are upset if they do not seize other people's property: they renounce food, they fast, not to reduce sin, but to commit a crime. You would see them then going to church, attentive, humble, diligent, so that they may deserve the accomplishment of their wickedness. But God says to them: I did not choose this fasting, nor if you bow your neck like a circle, nor if you spread ashes and sackcloth, will you call it an acceptable fast. I have not chosen such a fast, says the Lord. But loosen every chain of injustice, dissolve the obligations of violent exchanges, forgive the broken for remission, and break every unjust conscription: break your bread to the hungry, bring those who have no shelter into your house; if you see someone naked, clothe them; and do not despise those who are of your own kin. Then your morning light shall arise, and your healing shall come quickly; your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of God shall surround you; then you shall call, and God will answer you, while you are still speaking, God will say: Here I am (Isaiah 58:5 and following).
45. Do you hear, rich man, what the Lord God says? And you come to the Church, not to give something to the poor, but to take away: you fast, not so that the expenses of your banquet may benefit the needy, but so that you may obtain spoils from the needy. What do you want with books and paper, and seals, and legal documents, and bonds? Have you not heard: Undo every bond of injustice, dissolve the obligations of violent exchanges, forgive those who are broken into remission; and tear apart every unjust document. You offer me tablets, I recite to you the law of God: you write with ink, I recall to you the inscribed oracles of the prophets with the Spirit of God: you compose false testimonies, I demand the testimony of your conscience, which you will not be able to escape or evade as judge, whose testimony you cannot refuse on the day when the Lord reveals the hidden things of men. You say: I will destroy my barns; and the Lord says: Let whatever is in the barns be given to the poor, let these storehouses be of use to the needy. You say: I will do greater things, and with that I will gather all that I have been born with; The Lord says: Break your bread to the hungry. You say: I will take away the house from the poor; But the Lord says, to bring those who have no shelter into your house. How do you expect, oh wealthy one, that God would hear you when you do not think that God should be listened to? If the will of the wealthy is not satisfied, the stage is set: it is considered an offense to God if the request of the wealthy is refused.