Basil of Caesarea (330-379) was an influential thinker/preacher during a pivotal time in early Church history. He was a leader in the monastic movement, starting a place called “The New City” (also called Basiliad). This community of men and women provided medical care, food, clothing, and shelter to the poor of Caesarea.
“When someone steals a person’s clothes, we call him a thief. Should we not give the same name to one who could clothe the naked and does not? The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry; the coat hanging unused in your closet belongs to those who need it; the shoes rotting in your closet to the one who has no shoes. The money which you hoard up belongs to the poor.”
Source: Common Prayer: A Liturgy to Ordinary Radicals
Joe Skillen 