How ugly it is to repay harm for a favor received! When you cheat someone to whom you owe, later in your time of need you will not find a creditor. How unworthy it is, that when you cannot support yourself, when you still owe nothing, you think that you can both sustain yourself and pay the debt! Consider first how you will repay, and then borrow. I collect the fruits of the fields, he says. But those who are not abundant in usefulness, how will they be abundant in the increase of a contracted loan? But I sell my possession. And from where will come the fruits which you will use for expenses? Interest is not paid with one's own money, but it is increased: it is accumulated and grows by counting.
81. Then do you not consider the humility and modesty of the one requesting? Until you receive, you will kiss the hands of the proud moneylender, humble your voice so as not to offend his ears with the clear sound of your voice, and prevent others from hearing you beg. Poverty is not a crime, there is no dishonor in need: but it is shameful to owe, not shameful to refuse to pay. You will ask for a delay when it comes time to repay the prescribed amount: you will bring forth excuses for the money, you will argue about the time, you will heap up justifications; and even though you have promised the whole, so as not to be seen as defrauding completely, you will barely repay half. You will make a friend an enemy, you will return an insult for honor, a curse for a blessing. Consider how these opinions may harm: recognize how they differ from that of a good man.
82. Therefore, while you are free from chains, free yourself from the yoke and burden of servitude. Are you wealthy? Do not take on debt. Are you poor? Do not borrow. Are you wealthy? Do not allow any need for borrowing. Are you poor? Consider the difficulty of repaying. Wealth is diminished by interest, poverty is not alleviated by interest. However, evil is not corrected by evil, nor is a wound healed by a wound, but it is worsened by an ulcer.
83. See to it that while you are seeking money, you do not burden your mill or place a millstone on it. The mill is the means by which flour is made, by which one woman grinds the flour that is taken away, and another that is left behind. Perhaps the one who is taken away is the one who always grinds the word of God, so that she may have flour and make it into a spiritual bread. She removes the old leaven, so that there may be a new sprinkling. She maintains her mill, interprets the Scriptures, and keeps her millstone. But the one who pawns her mill is the one who is left behind. When something has been done perfunctorily, it is like pawning a stone that is on top of a millstone. I wonder what stone that is. It is written: 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone' (Psalm 118:22). Why on top of a millstone? Because He is the one who helps those who are grinding: He is the one who says: 'Search the Scriptures, in which you think you have eternal life' (John 5:39).
84. Do not, moneylender, pawn this millstone, lest you fall upon it. For everyone who falls upon this millstone will be crushed; but upon whom it falls, it will grind him to powder. Nor should you accept a widow's pledge. Take away both the burden and the means of living from the poor, or take away the widow's pledge; but it is more serious if you hold back the word from the widow who is a widow in name only, and indicate to her the barrenness of her widowhood.
Caput XXII.
Whom we should imitate, the moneylender; and how God has given more to the Church, to whom she herself has given more without demanding; and concerning the divine dispensation of mercy and judgment.
85. And so that you may know that I advise these things out of love, I will show you whom you should imitate as a lender. There were two debtors to one lender, one owed five hundred denarii, the other fifty. Since they did not have the means to repay, he forgave both of them. So, who loves him more? Simon the Pharisee answered, 'I suppose the one whom he forgave more.' (Luke, VII, 41 et seq.) And his opinion was praised, with the Lord saying: You have judged rightly. The Pharisee judged rightly, who had evil thoughts, thinking that the Lord knew more about the woman's sins than he granted. But his opinion is praised, so that every excuse is taken away from him.
86. Furthermore, the Church, which is gathered from the people of nations, is forgiven more, because it owed more: but it also gives more not to the demanding, but to the giver. It gave water to the feet of Christ, for it cleansed its own sins: it kissed his feet, bearing the insignia of peace: it sent oil to his feet, conferring mercy itself by giving to the poor. These are the feet of Christ, in which Christ walks with greater innocence. And she wiped them with the hair of her head. For whoever has the disposition of humility is humbled for Christ. And therefore, it is said, many of his sins are forgiven, because he has loved much (Ibid., 47).
87. Note that the Lord bestows both mercy and judgment. He gave in advance through grace, but he knew to whom he was giving. The Jew has no excuse. He gave me, a sinner, more; he gave him, an ingrate, less. However, he knew that even the ingrate could not repay what he had received, and the Church, mindful of grace, would repay more the more she had deserved.
Caput XXIII.
When discussing the antiquity of usury, it is argued that the blame is also ancient, which Christ came to abolish, but which the devil introduced. Moneylenders are likened to the devil and also those who bind a surety, in which they create another enemy for themselves. It is necessary to be cautious not to bind oneself for another, or at least for an amount greater than one's abilities!
88. Therefore, you have the moneylender whom you follow, if you want to be praised, if you want not to be criticized by us. For we do not criticize the person, but the greed. Nor is it unknown that some have said, when our discourse had aroused their feelings two days ago: What did the Bishop intend by addressing the moneylenders, as if something new had been allowed, as if the earlier generation had not also engaged in moneylending, as if moneylending were not an ancient practice? It is true, and I do not deny it: but there is also an ancient fault. In the end, sin comes from Adam: from him comes fault, from which comes Eve: from her comes wrongdoing, from which comes the human condition. But for this reason Christ came, to abolish what had grown old and to establish something new; and by his grace he renewed what fault had made old. Therefore, he offered himself to suffering, so that he could be renewed in spirit and absolve everyone (Confessions of Augustine, Book I against Julian, Pelag. ch. 3). However, the devil deceived Eve in order to overthrow the man and bind the inheritance.
89. What do lenders do? They deceive the borrowers, they obligate the guarantors: but Tobias did not seek collateral or demand a guarantor (Tob. I, 17, and IV, 22). Therefore, you must ensure that you request a guarantor to bind him with your names. Behold, another enemy is prepared. For when you do not have the means to repay the debt, he will be held accountable for you. You will find in him a deceitful fraudster, whom you have deceived as a friend. He will be exposed, he will be led into chains for you: you will suffer a heavier collector than the creditor who alleges: urge your fellow citizen whom you have promised. It will happen that you yourself also begin to be ungrateful, and you pass over that which is written: Do not forget the promise of grace; for he has given a good soul for you (Eccli. XXIX, 20). You must say: Who sought you to say faith? For unless you had spoken faith, I would not have received money. I received money from an adulteress, she gave me bronze mixed with gold: I wish you had not offered yourself! Perhaps the creditor bribed you, or you him.
90. Therefore, be cautious not to involve yourself in someone else's debt, lest you be accused of having sold yourself. And if someone, out of the necessity of friendship, has given you something as a debtor's token of gratitude, be careful not to appear ungrateful. Or if you wish to intervene, you will be moved when your friend beseeches and requests you; you will be ashamed to refuse. Intervene in such a way that, if the debt is not to be paid, you know it is to be paid from your own resources. Approach these matters prepared. For you have read: Do not guarantee more than you are capable of; for if you should promise, consider it as if you were restoring what you have received (Sirach 8:16). And below: Take the next according to your strength, and take care not to fall (Sirach 29:27), that is, do not obligate yourself to a greater extent than you can bear and fulfill with your available resources. For if you give away what you have, you have lost wealth, but you have not lost faith. You do not feel the losses to your reputation, for you have redeemed a friend without deceit. Elsewhere, the Proverbs of Solomon also advise you, saying: He who gives surety for a friend, as one who obligates himself for the debts of his friends (Proverbs 17:18). But if you do not have, listen to what Solomon says: Do not put yourself forward in a pledge, if you do not have the means to pay, they will take your bed from under you. (Prov. XXII, 26 and 27). Therefore, a good lender will gain favor, and an evil one will bring down a curse.
Caput XXIV.
How can we imitate Tobias in the payment of wages; and how does he teach us the same kind of lending?
91. However, not only content with these virtues, the holy Tobias knew that a wage should be paid to the hired worker, and he offered half of it (Tob. IV, 15); and deservedly for his wage, he found an Angel (Tob. XII, 5). And how do you know that you may not unjustly defraud someone justly, even worse if they are weak? Woe to those who scandalize one of these little ones! Who knows if there is an angel in them? For we should not doubt that an angel could be in a hired worker, since Christ, who is accustomed to be in the least of these, could be there as well.
Therefore, pay the worker their wages and do not defraud them of their labor's reward; for you too are a worker of Christ, and you have been hired for his vineyard, and for you a heavenly reward has been reserved. Therefore, do not harm the servant who works in truth, nor the hired worker who gives their soul; do not despise the poor who sustains their life through their labor, and by their wages. For this is to kill a person, to deny them the support owed to them for their life. And you are a mercenary in this land: give wages to the mercenary, so that you may also say to the Lord when you pray: Give wages, O Lord, to those who sustain you (Sirach 36:18).
Tobias says to you: Luxuria mater est famis (Tob. IV, 15), in which he teaches about self-control. He also says: Give the same day's wages to every man who has worked for you, and let not the wages of a man remain with you; and your wages shall not be lessened (Ibid., 15). He says to you: Do not drink wine to drunkenness (Ibid., 16). He says to you: Share your bread with the hungry (Ibid., 17). See what he desires you to lend: And from your clothes cover the naked; from all the things that have been abundantly given to you, make alms. Bless the Lord at all times (Ibid., 18 et seq.). Therefore, in these things, interest is eternal and usury perpetual.