For God does not speak in the same way to all, just as we ourselves do not use children as we use men. Now, when is it said, and by whom, and to whom? By Solomon of old to the Jews, who were familiar with sensible things only, and measured God’s power by these. It is they who say, _Is He not able to give us bread_? and, _What sign dost Thou show us? Our fathers ate manna in the desert, whose belly is their God_. Since they estimated Him by these things, he tells them that God is also able to make men rich and poor, not that He Himself does it altogether, but that He can do it if He choose, as when He says, _He rebuketh the sea, and drieth it up, and bringeth all the rivers to be a desert_, although this never happened at all. How, then, does the prophet say that it did? Not as really taking place, but implying His power to do it. Now, what sort of poverty does He give and what sort of wealth? Call to mind the patriarch, and you will see what the riches are which God bestows. For it was He Who made Abraham rich, and Job after him, as Job admitted in the words: _If we have received good things from the Lord, shall we not endure the bad things as well?_ And later on their twofold increase was His gift. And Jacob’s riches began from the same source. There is a poverty which is praised by Him, that which He proposed to that rich young man, saying, _If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and come and follow Me_; and again, when legislating for the disciples, He said, _Ye shall not possess gold nor silver nor two cloaks_. Therefore, do not say that He gives wealth to all without exception, for I have shown you that it is put together by murders and covetousness and a thousand other like causes. · · · · · · · The Rich Young Man. (_Homilies on St. Matthew_, lxiii., vol. ii., p. 227.)