Wednesday of the 8th week after Pentecost

When he was speaking about his approaching death, Peter who loved him so dearly, tried to stand in the way. When, as you remember, he rebuked him, what was it but his imprudence that he was correcting? Finally what did he mean in saying: "You do not mind the things of God," except: you do not love wisely, you are following your human feeling in opposition to the divine plan. He even called him Satan because although it was in ignorance, he was impeding salvation in trying to prevent the Savior's death.

He however, to signify that He is far from coming to the passion against His will, both rebuked Peter, and called him Satan.

Let them hear, as many as are ashamed of the suffering of the cross of Christ. For if the chief apostle, even before he had learnt all distinctly, was called Satan for feeling this, what excuse can they have, who after so abundant proof deny His economy? I say, when he who had been so blessed, who made such a confession, has such words addressed to him; consider what they will suffer, who after all this deny the mystery of the cross.

And He said not, "Satan spake by thee," but, "Get thee behind me, Satan." For indeed it was a desire of the adversary that Christ should not suffer. Therefore with such great severity did He rebuke him, as knowing that both he and the rest are especially afraid of this, and will not easily receive it.

Therefore He also reveals the thoughts of his mind, saying, "Thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men."

But what means, "Thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men"? Peter examining the matter by human and earthly reasoning, accounted it disgraceful to Him and an unmeet thing. Touching him therefore sharply, He saith, "My passion is not an unmeet thing, but thou givest this sentence with a carnal mind; whereas if thou hadst hearkened to my sayings in a godly manner, disengaging thyself from thy carnal understanding, thou wouldest know that this of all things most becometh me. For thou indeed supposest that to suffer is unworthy of me; but I say unto thee, that for me not to suffer is of the devil's mind;" by the contrary statements repressing his alarm.

Thus as John, accounting it unworthy of Christ to be baptized by him, was persuaded of Christ to baptize Him, He saying, "Thus it becometh us," and this same Peter too, forbidding Him to wash his feet, by the words, "Thou hast no part with me, unless I wash thy feet;" even so here too He restrained him by the mention of the opposite, and by the severity of the reproof repressed his fear of suffering.

What he intended when he forbade them to publicly declare him Christ is clarified in part by "From that time Jesus began to show his disciples how he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders" and the following thoughts. At the right time and in the right way, he proclaimed to those who knew that Jesus was Christ, Son of the living God (the Father had revealed this to them), that rather than believing in Jesus Christ already crucified, they should believe in Jesus Christ soon to be crucified. So also, instead of believing in Jesus Christ already risen from the dead, they should believe in "Jesus Christ soon to be raised from the dead.""Having put off from himself the principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in the cross." If anyone is ashamed of the cross of Christ, he is ashamed of the agency by which these powers were defeated. The one who both believes and is assured of these things should, more appropriately, glory in the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Through that cross, when Christ was crucified, the principalities (among them, I think, was also the prince of this world) were publicly humiliated and paraded before the eyes of the believing world.

Responding to Peter's ignorance as one opposing God, Jesus said, "Satan," which is Hebrew for opponent. If he had not spoken to him from ignorance nor of the living God when he said, "Never, Lord! This must never happen to you!" then he would not have said to him "Get behind me," as if speaking to someone who had given up being behind him and following him. Neither would he have called him "Satan." Satan had overpowered the one following Jesus in order to turn him aside from following him and from being behind the Son of God, to make him, because of ignorant words, worthy of being called "Satan" and a scandal to the Son of God, "not thinking in the ways of God but of humans."

And if even then a Prodicus or Valentinus stood by, suggesting that one must not confess on the earth before men, and must do so the less in truth, that God may not (seem to) thirst for blood, and Christ for a repayment of suffering, as though He besought it with the view of obtaining salvation by it for Himself also, he would have immediately heard from the servant of God what the devil had from the Lord: "Get thee behind me, Satan; thou art an offence unto me. It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." But even now it will be right that he hear it, seeing that, long after, he has poured forth these poisons, which not even thus are to injure readily any of the weak ones, if any one in faith will drink, before being hurt, or even immediately after, this draught of ours.

When, contrary to what he had hoped, Peter heard this, he was troubled. For the revelation had exhibited Christ as Son of God and the living God, on the one hand. Yet on the other hand, he was found to be preparing for the dreadful events of the Passion. In rebuking Peter, Christ brings to light his own righteous judgment. When Peter confessed Christ, Christ praised him. But when he was irrationally terrified, Christ rebuked him, acting without respect of persons.

But He turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind Me, Satan: thou art an offense unto Me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of man. When Peter spoke rightly, Christ called him blessed, but when he was irrationally dismayed, and did not want Him to suffer, then Christ rebuked him and said, "Get thee behind Me, Satan." "Satan" means "the adversary." "Get thee behind Me," that is, do not oppose Me, but follow My will. He calls Peter this because Satan, too, did not wish Christ to suffer. What He is saying, then, is this: with human reasoning you think that suffering does not befit Me, but you fail to understand that by this means God is accomplishing salvation and that this, on the contrary, greatly befits Me.

Now, the self can be regarded in two ways. On the one hand, it is God's creature, an occasion of love and rejoicing; now, indeed, hateful in condition, but to be pitied and healed. On the other hand, it is that one self of all others which is called I and me, and which on that ground puts forward an irrational claim to preference. This claim is to be not only hated, but simply killed; "never," as George MacDonald says, "to be allowed a moment's respite from eternal death." The Christian must wage endless war against the clamor of the ego as ego: but he loves and approves selves as such, though not their sins. The very self-love which he has to reject is to him a specimen of how he ought to feel to all selves... The other kind of self-hatred, on the contrary, hates selves as such. It begins by accepting the special value of the particular self called me; then, wounded in its pride to find that such a darling object should be so disappointing, it seeks revenge, first upon that self, then on all. Deeply egoistic, but now with an inverted egoism... The wrong asceticism torments the self: the right kind kills the selfness. We must die daily: but it is better to love the self than to love nothing, and to pity the self than to pity no one.

As the real meaning of the Christian claim becomes apparent, its demand for total surrender, the sheer chasm between Nature and Supernature, men are increasingly "offended." Dislike, terror, and finally hatred succeed: none who will not give it what it asks (and it asks all) can endure it. That is why we must cherish no picture of the present intellectual movement simply growing and spreading and finally reclaiming millions by sweet reasonableness. Long before it became as important as that the real opposition would have begun, and to be on the Christian side would be costing a man (at the least) his career.

The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to desire. If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

Both harder and easier than what we are all trying to do. You have noticed, I expect, that Christ Himself sometimes describes the Christian way as very hard, sometimes as very easy. He says, 'Take up your Cross'—in other words, it is like going to be beaten to death in a concentration camp. Next minute he says, 'My yoke is easy and my burden light.' He means both. And one can just see why both are true.

Teachers will tell you that the laziest boy in the class is the one who works hardest in the end. They mean this. If you give two boys, say, a proposition in geometry to do, the one who is prepared to take trouble will try to understand it. The lazy boy will try to learn it by heart because, for the moment, that needs less effort. But six months later, when they are preparing for an exam, that lazy boy is doing hours and hours of miserable drudgery over things the other boy understands, and positively enjoys, in a few minutes. Laziness means more work in the long run. Or look at it this way. In a battle, or in mountain climbing, there is often one thing which it takes a lot of pluck to do; but it is also, in the long run, the safest thing to do. If you funk it, you will find yourself, hours later, in far worse danger. The cowardly thing is also the most dangerous thing.

It is like that here. The terrible thing, the almost impossible thing, is to hand over your whole self—all your wishes and precautions—to Christ. But it is far easier than what we are all trying to do instead.

It is very different for the nasty people—the little, low, timid, warped, thin-blooded, lonely people, or the passionate, sensual, unbalanced people. If they make any attempt at goodness at all, they learn, in double quick time, that they need help. It is Christ or nothing for them. It is taking up the cross and following—or else despair.

Because our Lord and Redeemer came into the world as a new man, he gave new precepts to the world. For he set the newness of himself in opposition to our old life nourished in vices. For what did the old, what did the carnal man know except to hold onto his own things, to seize what belongs to others if he could, or to covet them if he could not? But the heavenly physician applies remedies that counteract each and every vice. For just as in the art of medicine hot things are cured by cold and cold things by hot, so our Lord set forth teachings contrary to sins, so that he might command continence to the unchaste, generosity to the greedy, gentleness to the wrathful, and humility to the proud. Certainly when he set forth new commandments to those following him, he said: "Unless someone renounces all that he possesses, he cannot be my disciple." As if he were saying openly: You who through your old life covet what belongs to others, through the pursuit of a new way of life give away even your own things. But let us hear what he says in this reading: "Whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself." There it is said that we should deny our possessions; here it is said that we should deny ourselves. And perhaps it is not difficult for a person to leave behind his possessions, but it is very difficult to leave behind himself. For it is a lesser thing to deny what one has, but it is a very great thing to deny what one is.

To those coming to him, the Lord commanded that we renounce our possessions, because all of us who come to the contest of faith take up a struggle against evil spirits. But evil spirits possess nothing of their own in this world. Therefore we must wrestle naked against those who are naked. For if someone clothed wrestles with someone naked, he is thrown to the ground more quickly because he has something by which he can be seized. For what are all earthly things except certain garments of the body? Therefore, whoever hastens to the contest against the devil should cast off his garments lest he be overcome. Let him possess nothing in this world by loving it; let him seek no pleasures of passing things, lest where he is covered according to his wish, he be seized for his fall from that very thing. Yet it is not enough to leave behind our possessions unless we also leave behind ourselves. What is it that we are saying: "Let us also leave behind ourselves"? For if we leave ourselves behind, where shall we go outside of ourselves? Or who is it that goes if he has abandoned himself? But we are one thing having fallen through sin, another thing as created by nature; one thing is what we have made ourselves, another is what we were made. Let us leave behind ourselves as we made ourselves by sinning, and let us remain ourselves as we were made through grace. For behold, if someone who was proud, having been converted to Christ, has become humble, he has left himself behind. If any lustful person has changed his life to continence, he has certainly denied what he was. If any greedy person has now ceased to grasp at things and has learned to give away his own possessions who previously seized what belonged to others, without doubt he has left himself behind. He himself indeed remains by nature, but he is not himself by malice. For thus it is written: "Turn the wicked, and they shall not be." For the wicked when converted shall not be—not because they shall not exist at all in essence, but surely they shall not be in the guilt of wickedness. Therefore we leave ourselves behind, we deny ourselves, when we avoid what we were through oldness and strive toward that to which we are called through newness. Let us consider how Paul had denied himself, who said: "Yet I live, now not I." For that savage persecutor had been extinguished, and the devout preacher had begun to live. For if he himself were still that same person, he would certainly not be devout. But let him who denies that he lives say from where it is that he proclaims holy words through the teaching of truth. He immediately adds: "But Christ lives in me." As if he were saying openly: I indeed have been extinguished from myself because I do not live carnally; yet I have not died essentially because I live spiritually in Christ. Therefore let the Truth speak, let him say: "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself." Because unless someone falls away from himself, he does not draw near to him who is above himself; nor is he able to grasp what is beyond himself if he does not know how to sacrifice what he is. So seedlings of vegetables are transplanted so that they may flourish, and, if I may say so, they are uprooted so that they may grow. So seeds of things perish when mixed with the earth, so that in the renewal of their kind they may rise up more abundantly. For from where they seem to have lost what they were, from there they receive the ability to appear as what they were not.

But he who now denies himself from vices must seek out the virtues in which he may grow. For when it was said: "Whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself," it is immediately added: "And let him take up his cross, and follow me." For the cross is taken up in two ways: either when the body is afflicted through abstinence, or when the mind is troubled through compassion for one's neighbor. Let us consider how Paul had borne his cross in both ways, who said: "I chastise my body and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps while preaching to others I myself should become a castaway." Behold, in the affliction of the body we have heard of the cross of the flesh; let us now hear of the cross of the mind in compassion for one's neighbor. For he says: "Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not on fire?" Indeed the perfect preacher, in order to give an example of abstinence, carried the cross in his body. And because he drew upon himself the losses of another's weakness, he carried the cross in his heart.

But because certain vices lie close to these very virtues, we must explain which vice besieges abstinence of the flesh and which besieges compassion of the mind. For vainglory often besieges abstinence of the flesh from nearby, because when thinness in the body and pallor in the face are observed, the revealed virtue is praised; and it pours itself outward all the more quickly, the more it appears to human eyes through the display of pallor. And it often happens that what is believed to be done for God's sake is done solely for human approval. This is well signified by that Simon who, found on the road, carries the Lord's cross under compulsion. For burdens belonging to another are carried under compulsion when something is done through the pursuit of vanity. Who then are designated by Simon, if not the abstinent and arrogant? They indeed afflict the flesh through abstinence, but they do not seek the fruit of abstinence within. Therefore Simon carries the Lord's cross under compulsion, because when he is not led to a good work by good will, a sinner performs the deed of a just man without fruit. Hence the same Simon carries the cross but does not die, because the abstinent and arrogant indeed afflict the body through abstinence, but through the desire for glory they live to the world. False piety, however, often secretly besieges compassion of the soul, so that it sometimes drags it down even to condoning vices, whereas one ought not to exercise compassion toward faults, but zeal. For compassion is owed to the person, and rectitude to the vices, so that in one and the same person we both love the good that he was made and pursue the evils that he has done, lest while we carelessly remit faults, we seem not to have shown compassion through charity, but to have fallen through negligence.

(Hom. in Ev. xxxii. 2.) For unless a man departs from himself, he does not draw near to Him who is above him. But if we leave ourselves, whither shall we go out of ourselves? Or if we have forsaken ourselves, who is it then that goes? Indeed, we are one thing when fallen by sin, another thing as we were made by nature. It is therefore then that we leave and deny ourselves, when we avoid that which we were of old, and strive towards that to which we are called in newness.

(in Ezech. Hom. i. 10.) He denies himself whosoever is changed for the better, and begins to be what he was not, and ceases to be what he was.

(Mor. xxxiii. 6.) He also denies himself, who having trode under foot the risings of pride, shows himself in the eyes of God to be estranged from himself.

(Hom. in Ev. xxxii. 3.) There are two ways of taking our cross; when the body is afflicted by abstinence, or when the heart is pained by compassion for another. Forasmuch as our very virtues are beset with faults, we must declare that vainglory sometimes attends abstinence of flesh, for the emaciated body and pale countenance betray this high virtue to the praise of the world. Compassion again is sometimes attended by a false affection, which is hereby led to be consenting unto sin; to shut out these, He adds, and follow me.

We are to follow our Lord by taking up the cross of His passion; and if not in deed, yet in will, hear Him company.

Whose sense what is written in the Gospel of Matthew: If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself (Matth. 16. 24). What is self-denial? or how does one who follows the Savior deny himself? On this matter I have spoken briefly in the third book of his commentary on Matthew: He who lays down the old man with his works denies himself, saying: And yet I live, but not me, but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20) and takes up his cross and is crucified to the world. But who has crucified the world, follows the crucified Lord. "To whom we can now add: after he showed the disciples that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the priests and scribes, and the chief priests, and to be killed; Peter, taking him aside, began to rebuke him, saying: Lord, may this never happen to you. But he turned and said to Peter: Get behind me, Satan, you are a stumbling block to me; for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men." (Matthew 16:21-23) For, indeed, being terrified by human fear, he was afraid of the passion of the Lord. And just as, hearing he must suffer and be killed, he was afraid, so hearing, also, that he must rise again on the third day, he ought to have rejoiced, and the sadness of the passion mitigated by the glory of the resurrection. So, when this thought had seized him through fear, he spoke to all the disciples, or, according to Mark, he called the crowd with his disciples, or according to Luke, he spoke to all: "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself; and let him take up his cross, and follow me." The meaning of this exhortation is: Confession is not delicate and secure in God. Whoever believes in me should shed his own blood. Whoever shall have lost his life in this world, shall save it in the next. Believing in Christ every day, one takes up their cross and denies themselves. Whoever was impure, turns towards chastity, temperance denying luxury. Whoever was fearful and timid, assumes the strength of courage, not knowing who they were. If the unjust follow justice, they deny injustice. If foolish, confessing Christ as God's power and wisdom, they deny foolishness (1 Corinthians 1). Knowing this, we deny ourselves what we were before not only in times of persecution and the necessity of martyrdom, but in every conversation, action, thought, and speech; and we confess that we are reborn in Christ. For this reason, the Lord was crucified so that we, who believe in him and have died to sin, are crucified with him, and we say what the Apostle Paul taught: I am crucified with Christ. (Galatians 2:19). And: But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world (Galatians 6:14). And he that is crucified with Christ, shall spoil principalities and powers; and he shall triumph over them in himself. Wherefore, in the Gospel according to Matthew, Simon of Cyrene bore the cross after him, as a type of those who were to believe in him, and to be crucified with him; which cross, according to the others, he bore himself at first.

(Vers. 24 seqq.) Then Jesus said to his disciples: If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul? Whoever puts off the old man with his works (Colossians 3), denies himself, saying: Now I live, but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20): and he takes up his cross and is crucified to the world. But the one to whom the world was crucified follows the crucified Lord.

Otherwise; He takes up his cross who is crucified to the world; and he to whom the world is crucified, follows his crucified Lord.

And though he seem to have spoken but one single thing, yet His sayings are three, "Let him renounce himself," and "Let him bear his cross," and "Let him follow me;" and two of them are joined together, but the one is put by itself.

But let us see first what it can be to deny one's self. Let us learn first what it is to deny another, and then we shall know what it may be to deny one's self. What then is it to deny another? He that is denying another,-for example, either brother, or servant, or whom you will,-should he see him either beaten, or bound, or led to execution, or whatever he may suffer, stands not by him, doth not help him, is not moved, feels nothing for him, as being once for all alienated from him. Thus then He will have us disregard our own body, so that whether men scourge, or banish, or burn, or whatever they do, we may not spare it. For this is to spare it. Since fathers too then spare their offspring, when committing them to teachers, they command not to spare them.

So also Christ; He said not, "Let him not spare himself," but very strictly, "Let him renounce himself;" that is, let him have nothing to do with himself, but give himself up to all dangers and conflicts; and let him so feel, as though another were suffering it all.

And He said not, "Let him deny," but "Let him renounce;" even by this small addition intimating again, how very far it goes. For this latter is more than the former.

"And let him take up his cross." This arises out of the other. For to hinder thy supposing that words, and insults, and reproaches are to be the limits of our self-renunciation, He saith also how far one ought to renounce one's self; that is, unto death, and that a reproachful death. Therefore He said not, "Let him renounce himself unto death," but, "Let him take up his cross;" setting forth the reproachful death; and that not once, nor twice, but throughout all life one ought so to do. "Yea," saith He, "bear about this death continually, and day by day be ready for slaughter. For since many have indeed contemned riches, and pleasure, and glory, but death they despised not, but feared dangers; I," saith He, "will that my champion should wrestle even unto blood, and that the limits of his course should reach unto slaughter; so that although one must undergo death, death with reproach, the accursed death, and that upon evil surmise, we are to bear all things nobly, and rather to rejoice in being suspected."

"And let him follow me." That is, it being possible for one to suffer, yet not to follow Him, when one doth not suffer for Him (for so robbers often suffer grievously, and violators of tombs, and sorcerers); to hinder thy supposing that the mere nature of thy calamities is sufficient, He adds the occasion of these calamities.

And what is it? In order that, so doing and suffering, thou mayest follow Him; that for Him thou mayest undergo all things; that thou mayest possess the other virtues also. For this too is expressed by "Let him follow me;" so as to show forth not fortitude only, such as is exercised in our calamities, but temperance also, and moderation, and all self-restraint. This being properly "to follow," the giving heed also to the other virtues, and for His sake suffering all.

For there are who follow the devil even to the endurance of all this, and for his sake give up their own lives; but we for Christ, or rather for our own sakes: they indeed to harm themselves both here and there; but we, that we may gain both lives.

How then is it not extreme dullness, not to show forth even the same fortitude with them that perish; and this, when we are to reap from it so many crowns? Yet with us surely Christ Himself is present to be our help, but with them no one.

Then; when? When Peter said, "Be it far from Thee, this shall not be unto Thee;" and was told, "Get thee behind me, Satan." For He was by no means satisfied with the mere rebuke, but, willing also more abundantly to show both the extravagance of what Peter had said, and the benefit of His passion, He saith, "Thy word to me is, 'Be it far from Thee, this shall not be unto Thee:' but my word to thee is, 'Not only is it hurtful to thee, and destructive, to hinder me and to be displeased at my Passion, but it will be impossible for thee even to be saved, unless thou thyself too be continually prepared for death.'"

Thus, lest they should think His suffering unworthy of Him, not by the former things only, but also by the events that were coming on, He teaches them the gain thereof. Thus in John first, He saith, "Except the corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit;" but here more abundantly working it out, not concerning Himself only doth He bring forward the statement that it is meet to die, but concerning them also. "For so great is the profit thereof, that in your case also unwillingness to die is grievous, but to be ready for it, good."

This however He makes clear by what follows, but for the present He works it out on one side only. And see how He also makes His discourse unexceptionable: not saying at all, "whether you will, or no, you must suffer this," but how? "If any man will come after me." "I force not, I compel not, but each one I make lord of his own choice; wherefore also I say, 'If any man will.' For to good things do I call you, not to things evil, or burdensome; not to punishment and vengeance, that I should have to compel. Nay, the nature of the thing is alone sufficient to attract you."

Now, thus saying, He drew them unto Him the more. For he indeed that uses compulsion often turns men away, but he that leaves the hearer to choose attracts him more. For soothing is a mightier thing than force. Wherefore even He Himself said, "If any man will." "For great," saith He, "are the good things which I give you, and such as for men even to run to them of their own accord. For neither if one were giving gold, and offering a treasure, would he invite with force. And if that invitation be without compulsion, much more this, to the good things in the Heavens. Since if the nature of the thing persuade thee not to run, thou art not worthy to receive it at all, nor if thou shouldest receive it, wilt thou well know what thou hast received."

Wherefore Christ compels not, but urges, sparing us. For since they seemed to be murmuring much, being secretly disturbed at the saying, He saith, "No need of disturbance or of trouble. If ye do not account what I have mentioned to be a cause of innumerable blessings, even when befalling yourselves, I use no force, nor do I compel, but if any be willing to follow, him I call."

"For do not by any means imagine that this is your following of me; I mean, what ye now do attending upon me. Ye have need of many toils, many dangers, if ye are to come after me. For thou oughtest not, O Peter, because thou hast confessed me Son of God, therefore only to expect crowns, and to suppose this enough for thy salvation, and for the future to enjoy security, as having done all. For although it be in my power, as Son of God, to hinder thee from having any trial at all of those hardships; yet such is not my will, for thy sake, that thou mayest thyself too contribute something, and be more approved."

For so, if one were a judge at the games, and had a friend in the lists, he would not wish to crown him by favor only, but also for his own toils; and for this reason especially, because he loves him. Even so Christ also; whom He most loves, those He most of all will have to approve themselves by their own means also, and not from His help alone.

But see how at the same time He makes His saying not a grievous one. For He doth by no means compass them only with His terror, but He also puts forth the doctrine generally to the world, saying, "If any one will," be it woman or man, ruler or subject, let him come this way.

And though he seem to have spoken but one single thing, yet His sayings are three, "Let him renounce himself," and "Let him bear his cross," and "Let him follow me;" and two of them are joined together, but the one is put by itself.

But let us see first what it can be to deny one's self. Let us learn first what it is to deny another, and then we shall know what it may be to deny one's self. What then is it to deny another? He that is denying another,-for example, either brother, or servant, or whom you will,-should he see him either beaten, or bound, or led to execution, or whatever he may suffer, stands not by him, doth not help him, is not moved, feels nothing for him, as being once for all alienated from him. Thus then He will have us disregard our own body, so that whether men scourge, or banish, or burn, or whatever they do, we may not spare it. For this is to spare it. Since fathers too then spare their offspring, when committing them to teachers, they command not to spare them.

So also Christ; He said not, "Let him not spare himself," but very strictly, "Let him renounce himself;" that is, let him have nothing to do with himself, but give himself up to all dangers and conflicts; and let him so feel, as though another were suffering it all.

And He said not, "Let him deny," but "Let him renounce;" even by this small addition intimating again, how very far it goes. For this latter is more than the former.

"And let him take up his cross." This arises out of the other. For to hinder thy supposing that words, and insults, and reproaches are to be the limits of our self-renunciation, He saith also how far one ought to renounce one's self; that is, unto death, and that a reproachful death. Therefore He said not, "Let him renounce himself unto death," but, "Let him take up his cross;" setting forth the reproachful death; and that not once, nor twice, but throughout all life one ought so to do. "Yea," saith He, "bear about this death continually, and day by day be ready for slaughter. For since many have indeed contemned riches, and pleasure, and glory, but death they despised not, but feared dangers; I," saith He, "will that my champion should wrestle even unto blood, and that the limits of his course should reach unto slaughter; so that although one must undergo death, death with reproach, the accursed death, and that upon evil surmise, we are to bear all things nobly, and rather to rejoice in being suspected."

"And let him follow me." That is, it being possible for one to suffer, yet not to follow Him, when one doth not suffer for Him (for so robbers often suffer grievously, and violaters of tombs, and sorcerers); to hinder thy supposing that the mere nature of thy calamities is sufficient, He adds the occasion of these calamities.

And what is it? In order that, so doing and suffering, thou mayest follow Him; that for Him thou mayest undergo all things; that thou mayest possess the other virtues also. For this too is expressed by "Let him follow me;" so as to show forth not fortitude only, such as is exercised in our calamities, but temperance also, and moderation, and all self-restraint. This being properly "to follow," the giving heed also to the other virtues, and for His sake suffering all.

For there are who follow the devil even to the endurance of all this, and for his sake give up their own lives; but we for Christ, or rather for our own sakes: they indeed to harm themselves both here and there; but we, that we may gain both lives.

How then is it not extreme dullness, not to show forth even the same fortitude with them that perish; and this, when we are to reap from it so many crowns? Yet with us surely Christ Himself is present to be our help, but with them no one.

Yet the words in which Peter and those in which Satan are rebuked, are not, as is commonly thought, the same; to Peter it is said, Get thee behind me, Satan; that is, follow me, thou that art contrary to my will; to the Devil it is said, Go thy way, Satan, understanding not 'behind me,' but 'into everlasting fire.' He said therefore to Peter, Get thee behind me, as to one who through ignorance was ceasing to walk after Christ. And He called him Satan, as one, who through ignorance had somewhat contrary to God. But he is blessed to whom Christ turns, even though He turn in order to rebuke him. But why said He to Peter, Thou art an offence unto me, (Ps. 119:165.) when in the Psalm it is said, Great peace have they that love thy law, and there is no offence to them? It must be answered, that not only is Jesus not offended, but neither is any man who is perfect in the love of God; and yet he who does or speaks any thing of the nature of an offence, may be an offence even to one who is incapable of being offended. Or he may hold every disciple that sinneth as an offence, as Paul speaks, Who is offended, and I burn not?. (2 Cor. 11:29.)

But though a man may seem to keep from sin, yet if he does not believe in the cross of Christ, he cannot be said to be crucified with Christ; whence it follows, And take up his cross.

For as in that case it called to Abraham only, so in this He calleth every one He pleaseth by His Gospel, and inviteth them to go forth after Him. For in that He said, "Whosoever wisheth to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me," He shewed a universal calling to all the children of men. And instead of choosing one person, Abraham, as He did at that time, He now inviteth every man to be like unto Abraham.

Christ hath said that the man who desireth to be a perfect disciple of Him must also deny himself. If a man denieth his life according to the word of our Redeemer, then will he be a disciple, but without this there is no means of a man arriving at perfection. And how can a man who denieth not himself the possessions of the world, and who despiseth not all the riches which are seen, and bodily pleasures, arrive at that perfection which Jesus delivered? And I do not speak these things of myself, but I follow after the desire of the Holy Books, and I take my stand upon the law which hath been ordained by the King.

Not only to natural parents should they not be obedient and keep in subjection unto them, but also they should not be persuaded by their own will, neither by their own wants and pleasures in any thing, but they should deny themselves, even as it was said by the Redeemer, "Whosoever denieth not himself cannot be My disciple."

When he wisheth to eat everything, and not to restrain himself by forbearance from any meat, he beginneth to repeat that which was written by our Lord, "It is not that which goeth into a man which defileth him;" for his ear is only pierced to hear such things as can be thought to support his lust, and in the face of the hearing of other things he shutteth the door of his attention. For he is not willing to hearken unto the other verse which saith, "Whosoever wisheth to be My disciple, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me;" nor unto the other which saith, "Whosoever wisheth to make his life to live shall destroy it," nor that which He spake unto His disciples, saying, "In the world ye shall have tribulations;" nor the words, "When the Bridegroom shall be taken from the children of the bridechamber, then shall ye fast."

Now therefore for this reason those who desire perfection strip themselves of their riches, in order that they may be able to do their own labours, and that, being free from everything in the world, they may wage war with the lusts of the body. Therefore whosoever wisheth to draw nigh unto this rule of life must be destitute of riches, and having been born again, he may enter therein, according to the testimony of Christ: "If thou wishest to be perfect, go and sell thy possessions, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and take up thy cross, and follow Me." Observe, then, how perfect is the doctrine of Christ, for not even when a man hath stripped himself of everything that he hath, hath he yet begun to walk in the way of His doctrine, for poverty is the end of the path of the righteousness which can be wrought in this world; but the words, "Take thy cross, and follow Me," are the beginning of the path of the spiritual life.

If you wish to be the Lord's disciple, it is necessary you "take your cross, and follow the Lord: " your cross; that is, your own straits and tortures, or your body only, which is after the manner of a cross.

Observe, then, the difference between a heathen and a Christian in their death: if you have to lay down your life for God, as the Comforter counsels, it is not in gentle fevers and on soft beds, but in the sharp pains of martyrdom: you must take up the cross and bear it after your Master, as He has Himself instructed you. The sole key to unlock Paradise is your own life's blood.

Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man desireth to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. "Then" - when? When He had rebuked Peter. Wishing to show that Peter erred in hindering Him from suffering, He said, "You are hindering Me, but I say to you that not only is My not suffering harmful to you [since without it you cannot be saved], but neither can you be saved unless you yourself also die, nor can anyone else, whether man or woman, rich or poor. He says "desireth" to show that virtue hinges on free will and not coercion. He who follows behind Jesus is not he who only confesses Him to be the Son of God, but rather it is he who also undergoes all tribulations and endures them. Christ's words, "Let him deny himself," indicate utter denial. That is to say, let him not be kindly disposed towards his own body, let him look down on it, just as we have the expression "So and so denied so and so." Therefore no one should have any friendship towards the body, so that he can take up his cross, that is, choose death and even eagerly desire the most ignominious death, for this is what the cross meant to the ancients. But He also said, "Let him follow Me, for many robbers and thieves are crucified but they are not My disciples." So "let him follow," that is, let him also show forth every other virtue. The one who yesterday was dissolute denies himself and today he is temperate. Such was Paul who had denied himself when he said, "I live yet it is no longer I, but Christ that liveth in me" (Gal. 2:20). He that has mortified and crucified himself to the world is he that takes up his cross.

(de Quaest. Ev. lib. ii. q. 12.) Or else in these words He typically sets forth the boldness of preaching, that no one should, through fear of fleshly ills, conceal the light of knowledge. For under the names of vessel and bed, he represents the flesh, but of that of lantern, the word, which whosoever keeps hid through fear of the troubles of the flesh, sets the flesh itself before the manifestation of the truth, and by it he as it were covers the word, who fears to preach it. But he places a candle upon a candlestick who so submits his body to the service of God, that the preaching of the truth stands highest in his estimation, the service of the body lowest.

No one, after lighting a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed; instead, they put it on a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. Because he had previously said to the apostles, "To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to others in parables," he now shows that through them the same mystery would eventually be revealed to others as well, and the hearts of all those who would enter the house of God would be illuminated by the flames of faith. Through these words, he also symbolically teaches the confidence to preach, so that no one would hide the light of knowledge they know out of fear of worldly hardships. For by the name of vessel and bed, he designates the flesh; but by the name of lamp, he designates the word. Whoever conceals it out of fear of worldly hardships, as I have said, indeed places the flesh ahead of the manifestation of truth and thus covers the word which they are hesitant to preach. He puts the lamp on the lampstand, who subjects his body to the service of God, so that the preaching of truth is above and the service of the body is below, and through the very service of the body, the doctrine shines more excellently, which is insinuated in good works through bodily offices, that is, through the voice and tongue and other bodily movements. Therefore, he puts the lamp on the lampstand when the Apostle says: "Thus I do not fight like one beating the air, but I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified" (1 Cor. IX).

Having before said to His Apostles, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to others in parables; He now shows that by them at length must the same mystery be revealed also to others, saying, No man when he hath lighted a candle covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it tender a bed.

No one lighting a lamp etc. After the Apostles have been instructed for the understanding of the parable, here secondly they are invited to the communication of doctrine, to which the Apostles are invited in four ways: first, by the fittingness of a general example; second, by the necessity of the supernal judgment, there: For nothing is hidden etc.; third, by the usefulness of one's own merit, there: Take heed how you hear etc.; fourth, by the immutability of the divine good pleasure, there: And they came to him etc.

Concerning the fittingness of the general example, two things are to be noted: the first is the dissonance in the opposite, the second is the congruence in what is proposed.

First, therefore, as regards the dissonance in the opposite, it is said: No one lighting a lamp. The lamp is the word of God, according to that text of Proverbs 6: "The commandment is a lamp, and the law is light, and the way of life is the reproof of discipline"; and in the Psalm: "Your word is a lamp to my feet." Now the lamp is lit when the understanding of the divine word is granted to the human heart. Whence concerning John, John 5: "He was a burning and shining lamp." — Covers it with a vessel. This lamp is not to be covered with a vessel of carnal uncleanness: Hosea 8: "Israel has become among the nations as an unclean vessel." But Paul is not such a vessel, of whom Acts 9: "He is a vessel of election to me, to carry my name before the nations and kings and the sons of Israel." This was an open vessel, which illuminated the world: Sirach 43: "The sun in its appearance announcing at its rising, a wondrous vessel, the work of the Most High." — Or places it under a bed. Now in the bed, sloth is signified: Proverbs 26: "As a door turns on its hinge, so the sluggard on his bed." Hence it is that "that servant is reproved who hid his master's money," Matthew 25, against that text of Sirach 29: "Do not hide it under a stone to be lost." He wishes therefore to say that just as it is unfitting to hide a lit lamp under a vessel or a bed, so it is unfitting to conceal divine understanding. And this is what is said in Sirach 20: "Hidden wisdom and unseen treasure, what profit is there in either?" and after: "Better is the man who hides his foolishness than he who hides his wisdom." This, however, is understood when one has the proper time and place. For in the Psalm it is said: "In my heart I have hidden your words, that I may not sin against you"; and again: "I set a guard over my mouth, when the sinner stood against me: I was silent and was humbled."

Second, indeed, as to the fittingness in the matter at hand, he adds: But he places it upon a lampstand, as to the perfection of virtue: so that those who enter may see the light, through the disclosure of truth, according to that text of Matthew 5: "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, who is in heaven"; Philippians 2: "Among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life." But that light is not seen except by those who enter through faith, because Isaiah 7 according to the Septuagint: "Unless you believe, you will not understand." And concerning this entrance of faith it is said in John 10: "If anyone enters through me, he will be saved"; enters, through faith, because "he who believes will be saved." These ones entering through faith, by means of the teaching of the Saints, arrive at the understanding of the mysteries, according to that text of the Psalm: "You wondrously illuminate from the eternal mountains." "For those who instruct many unto justice shall be as stars for perpetual eternities," Daniel 12.

And therefore the Lord said to his disciples, Matthew 10: "What I say to you in darkness, speak in the light, and what you hear in the ear, preach upon the housetops."

As if He said, As a lantern is lighted that it should give light, not that it should be covered under a bushel or a bed, so also the secrets of the kingdom of heaven when uttered in parables, although hid from those who are strangers to the faith, will not however to all men appear obscure.

(Hom. 15. in Matt.) By these words he leads them to diligence of life, teaching them to be strong as exposed to the view of all men, and fighting in the world as on a stage. As if he said, Think not that we dwell in a small part of the world, for ye will be known of all men, since it cannot be that so great virtue should lie hid.

(Quæst. in Script. 63.) Or perhaps the Lord calls Himself a light shining to all who inhabit the house, that is, the world, since He is by nature God, but by the dispensation made flesh. And so like the light of the lamp He abides in the vessel of the flesh by means of the soul as the light in the vessel of the lamp by means of the flame. But by the candlestick he describes the Church over which the divine word shines, illuminating the house as it were by the rays of truth. But under the similitude of a vessel or bed he referred to the observance of the law, under which the word will not be contained.

Scripture does not say this about a tangible lamp but about a comprehensible one. One does not "light" the lamp and conceal it "with a vessel" or put it "under a bed, but on the lamp stand" within himself. The vessels of the house are the powers of the soul. The bed is the body. "Those who go in" are those who hear the teacher.…He calls the holy church a "lamp stand." By its proclamation, the Word of God gives light to all who are in this world and illuminates those in the house with the rays of the truth, filling the minds of all with divine knowledge.

But he who would adapt his lantern to the more perfect disciples of Christ, must persuade us by those things which were spoken of John, for he was a burning and a shining light. (John 5:35.) It becomes not him then who lights the light of reason in his soul to hide it under a bed where men sleep, nor under any vessel, for he who does this provides not for those who enter the house for whom the candle is prepared, but they must set it upon a candlestick, that is, the whole Church.

Now, for whatever reason He threatens the "deprivation," it will not be the work of a god who knows not how to threaten, because incapable of anger. I am, moreover, astonished when he says that "a candle is not usually hidden," who had hidden himself-a greater and more needful light-during so long a time; and when he promises that "everything shall be brought out of its secrecy and made manifest," who hitherto has kept his god in obscurity, waiting (I suppose) until Marcion be born.

For what purpose, except that malice may have no access at all to you, or that you may be an example and testimony to the evil? Else, what is (that): "Let your works shine? " Why, moreover, does the Lord call us the light of the world; why has He compared us to a city built upon a mountain; if we do not shine in (the midst of) darkness, and stand eminent amid them who are sunk down? If you hide your lamp beneath a bushel, you must necessarily be left quite in darkness, and be run against by many.

For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing concealed that will not be known and come to light. Do not (he says) be ashamed of the Gospel of God, but among the darkness of persecutors, lift the light of the word above the lampstand of your body, retaining with a steadfast mind that day of final retribution, when God will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will reveal the thoughts of hearts (1 Cor. IV). Then also you will receive praise from God, and punishment awaits the adversary of truth for eternity.

For nothing is hidden. Here secondly he invites them to the sharing of doctrine by the necessity of the heavenly judgment in two ways: both on account of the future manifestation of all good, and on account of the future revelation of all evil.

First, therefore, as to the future manifestation of all good, it is said: For nothing is hidden, namely good, that shall not be made manifest, namely through the future judgment; whence 2 Corinthians 5: "For we must all be made manifest before the tribunal of Christ, that each one may receive according to what he has done in the body." But this will be at the judgment, concerning which 1 Corinthians 4 says that "he will illuminate the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of hearts, and then there will be praise for each one"; and this, because light has the property of making manifest, according to that text of Ephesians 5: "Whatever is reproved by the light is made manifest"; whence the good truth of faith and morals, as a light, seeks to be made manifest, not to be hidden, according to that text of John 3: "He who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be made manifest, because they have been done in God." Which will especially come to pass when that light will be made manifest in the judgment; on account of which in the Psalm: "You who sit upon the Cherubim, show yourself"; and again in the Psalm: "God shall come manifestly, and he shall not be silent."

Second, with regard to the future revelation of all evil, it is said: Nor hidden, namely sin or evil, which man willingly hides, according to that passage in Job thirty-one: "If I have hidden my sin as a man"; which will not be known and come into the open, that is, at the judgment, according to that passage in Proverbs twenty-six: "He who covers hatred deceitfully, his malice will be revealed in the assembly." Whence Ecclesiasticus one: "Be not a hypocrite in the sight of men, lest God reveal your hidden things and cast you down in the midst of the synagogue"; because, as is said in Wisdom one, "the ear of jealousy hears all things, and the tumult of murmurings shall not be hidden." "For he it is who reveals the deep and hidden things and knows what is established in darkness," etc. Since therefore all things must be made manifest, it is foolish to hide them for a time; and consequently it is necessary to disclose the doctrine received to others.

And if one say that it is written, "There is nothing secret which shall not be revealed, nor hidden which shall not be disclosed," let him also hear from us, that to him who hears secretly, even what is secret shall be manifested. This is what was predicted by this oracle. And to him who is able secretly to observe what is delivered to him, that which is veiled shall be disclosed as truth; and what is hidden to the many, shall appear manifest to the few. For why do not all know the truth? why is not righteousness loved, if righteousness belongs to all? But the mysteries are delivered mystically, that what is spoken may be in the mouth of the speaker; rather not in his voice, but in his understanding.

Hence he adds, For nothing is secret that shall not be made manifest, neither any thing hid that shall not be known, and come abroad. As if He said, Though many things are spoken in parables, that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand, because of their unbelief, yet the whole matter shall be revealed.

There are three broad classes of the special things in which human wisdom does permit privacy. The first is the case I have mentioned—that of hide-and-seek, or the police novel, in which it permits privacy only in order to explode and smash privacy. The author makes first a fastidious secret of how the Bishop was murdered, only in order that he may at last declare, as from a high tower, to the whole democracy the great glad news that he was murdered by the governess. In that case, ignorance is only valued because being ignorant is the best and purest preparation for receiving the horrible revelations of high life. Somewhat in the same way being an agnostic is the best and purest preparation for receiving the happy revelations of St. John.

This first sort of secrecy we may dismiss, for its whole ultimate object is not to keep the secret, but to tell it.

I should like it to be a fixed thing that the name of the proprietor as well as the editor should be printed upon every paper. If the paper is owned by shareholders, let there be a list of shareholders. If (as is far more common in this singularly undemocratic age) it is owned by one man, let that one man's name be printed on the paper, if possible in large red letters. Then, if there are any obvious interests being served, we shall know that they are being served.

I am, moreover, astonished when he says that "a candle is not usually hidden," who had hidden himself-a greater and more needful light-during so long a time; and when he promises that "everything shall be brought out of its secrecy and made manifest," who hitherto has kept his god in obscurity, waiting (I suppose) until Marcion be born.

For who will grant to you, a man of so faithless repentance, one single sprinkling of any water whatever? To approach it by stealth, indeed, and to get the minister appointed over this business misled by your asseverations, is easy; but God takes foresight for His own treasure, and suffers not the unworthy to steal a march upon it. What, in fact, does He say? "Nothing hid which shall not be revealed." Draw whatever (veil of) darkness you please over your deeds, "God is light.

Therefore, see how you hear. He earnestly teaches us to listen to the word so that we may continuously ponder it in our own hearts and be able to give out to others as well.

For to him who has, it will be given. And whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him. With full intention (he says), pay attention to the word that you hear. Because whoever has a love for the word, it will be given to him and the understanding of what he loves. But whoever does not have a love for hearing the word, even if he thinks himself clever by natural talent or literary exercise, will not enjoy the sweetness of true wisdom. And even if it seems to be said particularly about the apostles, to whom, endowed with love and faith, it was given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, and about the faithless Jews, who seeing did not see, and hearing did not understand, that is, they would lose the letter of the law in which they gloried, it can nevertheless be understood generally, because often an ingenious reader, through neglect, deprives himself of wisdom, which a simple but diligent person tastes by striving for it. Therefore, often a lazy person receives talent, so that he may be punished more justly for his neglect, because he despises knowing what he could have obtained without labor. And sometimes a diligent person is burdened with slowness of understanding, so that he finds greater rewards in return, the more he labors in the effort of discovery.

But the Lord ceases not to teach us to hearken to His word, that we may be able both to constantly meditate on it in our own minds, and to bring it forth for the instruction of others. Hence it follows, Take heed therefore how ye hear; for whosoever hath, to him shall be given. As if he says, Give heed with all your mind to the word which ye hear, for to him who has a love of the word, shall be given also the sense of understanding what he loves; but whoso hath no love of hearing the word, though he deems himself skilful either from natural genius, or the exercise of learning, will have no delight in the sweetness of wisdom; for oftentimes the slothful man is gifted with capacities, that if he neglect them he may be the more justly punished for his negligence, since that which he can obtain without labour he disdains to know, and sometimes the studious man is oppressed with slowness of apprehension, in order that the more he labours in his inquiries, the greater may be the recompense of his reward.

Take heed therefore how you hear, etc. Here, third, the Apostles are invited to the same by the advantage of their own merit, and this because its possession makes one rich, while its privation indeed renders one poor. — The divine doctrine must therefore be preached, first, because the possession of teaching leads to abundance: on account of which he says: Take heed therefore how you hear: Bede: "That you may receive it in your heart and continually ruminate upon it and be able to pour it forth for the hearing of others"; as if to say: do not hear the words of divine instruction negligently, so as not to care, but diligently, so that you may abound and bestow upon others. Whence he also adds: For whoever has, it shall be given to him: for whoever has the desire and the will to advance, God will give him understanding and the ability to teach. Whence Wisdom seven: "I wished, and understanding was given to me; and I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came upon me"; and afterward: "All good things came to me together with her." Whence if anyone wishes that it be given to him abundantly, he ought himself also to give freely from what he has: above, chapter six: "Give, and it shall be given to you," namely the gift of wisdom, according to that passage in James one: "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all abundantly," etc. Whence the gift of wisdom is given to no one unless he has the desire: Isaiah fifty-five: "All you who thirst, come to the waters, and you who have no money, make haste," etc.

Second, by the contrary, because its privation leads to want, he adds: And whoever does not have, namely the affection for divine teaching in the heart, even what he thinks he has, through the swelling of pride, will be taken from him, namely through the rigor of the divine sentence: below in the nineteenth chapter: "Take the mina from him and give it to the one who has ten minas"; and Matthew twenty-one: "The kingdom shall be taken from you," namely of Sacred Scripture, "and given to a nation producing its fruits." From this it is gathered that no one can attain the fullness of divine wisdom unless he has the readiness to communicate doctrine: whence Wisdom six: "What wisdom is and how she came to be, I will relate, and I will not hide from you the mysteries of God." "Nor will I travel with consuming envy: for such a man will not be a partaker of the wisdom" of God.

And so, perhaps, with God. I have gradually been coming to feel that the door is no longer shut and bolted. Was it my own frantic need that slammed it in my face? The time when there is nothing at all in your soul except a cry for help may be just the time when God can't give it: you are like the drowning man who can't be helped because he clutches and grabs. Perhaps your own reiterated cries deafen you to the voice you hoped to hear.

On the other hand, "Knock and it shall be opened." But does knocking mean hammering and kicking the door like a maniac? And there's also "To him that hath shall be given." After all, you must have a capacity to receive, or even omnipotence can't give. Perhaps your own passion temporarily destroys the capacity.

"To the one who has, it will be given, and from him who has not, even what he has will be taken from him." This is like, "Let the one who has ears listen." This is for those who have spiritual ears within the bodily ears, so that they may listen to his spiritual words. He was increasing his teaching over and above what they already possessed.

"And do not say He acted impiously towards the wise in hiding these things from them. Far be such a supposition from us. For He did not act impiously; but since they hid the knowledge of the kingdom, and neither themselves entered nor allowed those who wished to enter, on this account, and justly, inasmuch as they hid the ways from those who wished, were in like manner the secrets hidden from them, in order that they themselves might experience what they had done to others, and with what measure they had measured, an equal measure might be meted out to them. For to him who is worthy to know, is due that which he does not know; but from him who is not worthy, even should he seem to have any thing it is taken away, even if he be wise in other matters; and it is given to the worthy, even should they be babes as far as the times of their discipleship are concerned."

Now, if from the very first "the natural man, not receiving the things of the Spirit of God," has deemed God's law to be foolishness, and has therefore neglected to observe it; and as a further consequence, by his not having faith, "even that which he seemeth to have hath been taken from him" -such as the grace of paradise and the friendship of God, by means of which he might have known all things of God, if he had continued in his obedience-what wonder is it, if he, reduced to his material nature, and banished to the toil of tilling the ground, has in his very labour, downcast and earth-gravitating as it was, handed on that earth-derived spirit of the world to his entire race, wholly natural and heretical as it is, and not receiving the things which belong to God? Or who will hesitate to declare the great sin of Adam to have been heresy, when he committed it by the choice of his own will rather than of God's? Except that Adam never said to his fig-tree, Why hast thou made me thus? He confessed that he was led astray; and he did not conceal the seducer.

He, however, was teaching them that it was the ears of the heart which were necessary; and with these the Creator had said that they would not hear. Therefore it is that He adds by His Christ, "Take heed how ye hear," and hear not,-meaning, of course, with the hearing of the heart, not of the ear.

This is proved even by the sentence which immediately follows: "Whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have." What shall be given? The increase of faith, or understanding, or even salvation.

The parable also of the (ten) servants, who received their several recompenses according to the manner in which they had increased their lord's money by trading proves Him to be a God of judgment-even a God who, in strict account, not only bestows honour, but also takes away what a man seems to have. Else, if it is the Creator whom He has here delineated as the "austere man," who "takes up what he laid not down, and reaps what he did not sow," my instructor even here is He, (whoever He may be, ) to whom belongs the money He teaches me fruitfully to expend.

Why, a shepherd like this will be tuned off from the farm; the wages to have been given him at the time of his discharge will be kept from him as compensation; nay, even from his former savings a restoration of the master's loss will be required; for "to him who hath shall be given, but from him who hath not shall be taken away even that which he seemeth to have. Thus Zechariah threatens: "Arise, O sword, against the shepherds, and pluck ye out the sheep; and I will turn my hand against the shepherds.

The moral teacher who gives himself an example to others, when about to enjoin upon others, that he who has not left father and mother, is not worthy of the Son of God, first submits Himself to this precept, not that He denies the claims of filial piety, (for it is His own sentence, He that knoweth not his father and mother shall die the death,) but because He knows that He is more bound to obey His Father's mysteries than the feelings of His mother. Nor however are His parents harshly rejected, but the bonds of the mind are shown to be more sacred than those of the body. Therefore in this place He does not disown His mother, (as some heretics say, eagerly catching at His speech,) since she is also acknowledged from the cross; but the law of heavenly ordinances is preferred to earthly affection.

Intimacy with the Lord is not explained in terms of kinship according to the flesh, but it is achieved by cheerful willingness in doing the will of God.

He answered and said to them: My mother and my brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it. The whole perfection of heavenly life is comprised in these two things, namely, to hear the word of God and to do it. Hence the Lord above, expounding the parable of the sower, said that they who receive the word only by hearing are the bad ground; but the good ground are those who with a good and excellent heart retain the word which they hear and bring forth fruit with patience. Those who are called the mother of the Lord, because they daily give birth to Him either by example or by word in the minds of others, are also his brothers when they also do the will of His Father who is in heaven.

They then who hear the word of God and do it, are called the mother of our Lord, because they daily in their actions or words bring Him forth as it were in their inmost hearts; they also are His brethren where they do the will of His Father, Who is in heaven.

Second, regarding the preferring of disciples, it is added: Who answering said to them: My mother and my brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it. In which he shows, that he valued the instruction of disciples more than the affection of parents, and that he valued disciples more than kinsmen, and that he valued the affection of teachers toward disciples more than that of parents toward children. — And note that on account of the affection, need, and request of parents, the teacher ought not to interrupt the instruction of doctrine: in which he invites more by deed than he had invited above by word.

And note that he calls his hearers mothers, insofar as through instruction they beget others, according to that passage in Galatians 4: "My little children, whom I bring forth again in labor, until Christ be formed in you." — He calls them brothers, insofar as through the word they are begotten and become sons of God, according to that passage of the Psalm: "I will declare your name to my brothers"; and Hebrews 2: "He is not ashamed to call them brothers." For those who receive the word of God are grafted in as to the root stock, and consequently are watered by the moisture of the Holy Spirit, and therefore are made sons of the living God, according to that passage in Galatians 4: "Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying out," etc. And therefore, as much as spirit surpasses flesh, and grace surpasses nature, and divine things surpass human things, and eternal things surpass perishable things, so much is spiritual generation, which is through the word of life, preferred to carnal generation: and therefore it is to be preferred to it. For on account of this, the true preacher is more moved toward children begotten through preaching than toward carnal parents. This is evident, because the Apostles poured out their own blood to confirm them, just as Christ himself had done, who is the master of masters.

And since those alone rightly receive the seed of the word who carry out what they have heard, therefore he rightly adds: Who hear the word of God and do it: because, in Romans 2, "not the hearers of the Law are just before God, but the doers shall be justified before God"; and James 1: "Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." For Christ prefers such people to his own parental kinship, below in chapter 11: "Blessed is the womb that bore you." "Rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it." He says this, however, not because he despises his Mother, since he loved her above all, but to show by example what he commands below in chapter 14: "Whoever does not leave father and mother and wife, children, brothers, and sisters, cannot be my disciple."

The present lesson teaches us that obedience and listening to God are the causes of every blessing. Some entered and spoke respectfully about Christ's holy mother and his brothers. He answered in these words, "My mother and my brothers are they who hear the word of God and do it."Now do not let any one imagine that Christ scorned the honor due to his mother or contemptuously disregarded the love owed to his brothers. He spoke the law by Moses and clearly said, "Honor your father and your mother, that it may be well with you." How, I ask, could he have rejected the love due to brothers, who even commanded us to love not merely our brothers but also those who are enemies to us? He says, "Love your enemies." What does Christ want to teach? His object is to exalt highly his love toward those who are willing to bow the neck to his commands. I will explain the way he does this. The greatest honors and the most complete affection are what we all owe to our mothers and brothers. If he says that they who hear his word and do it are his mother and brothers, is it not plain to every one that he bestows on those who follow him a love thorough and worthy of their acceptance? He would make them readily embrace the desire of yielding themselves to his words and of submitting their mind to his yoke, by means of a complete obedience.

But since he who does the will of the Father is called sister and brother of the Lord, on account of both sexes who are gathered to the faith, this is not surprising; yet it is greatly to be wondered how one is also called mother. For he deigned to call his faithful disciples brothers, saying: Go, announce to my brothers. Therefore, he who could become a brother of the Lord by coming to faith—it must be asked how he can also be a mother? But we should know that one who is a brother and sister of Christ by believing becomes a mother by preaching. For one gives birth to the Lord, as it were, when one has poured him into the heart of the hearer. And one becomes his mother if through one's voice the love of the Lord is begotten in the mind of one's neighbor.

To confirm this matter fittingly for us, blessed Felicity is present, whose birthday we celebrate today, who by believing became a handmaid of Christ, and by preaching was made a mother of Christ. For she feared to leave her seven sons, as is read in the more accurate accounts of her deeds, alive in the flesh after her, just as carnal parents usually fear to send their dead children before them. For when she was seized in the labor of persecution, she strengthened the hearts of her sons by preaching the love of the heavenly fatherland, and she brought forth in spirit those whom she had borne in the flesh, so that by preaching she might bear to God those whom she had borne in the flesh to the world.

(Hom. 44. in Matt.) Think what it was, when the whole people stood by, and were hanging upon His mouth, (for His teaching had already begun,) to withdraw Him away from them. Our Lord accordingly answers as it were rebuking them, as it follows, And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are they which hear the word of God, and do it, &c.

(Hom. 41. in Matt.) Now He does not say this by way of reproof to His mother, but to greatly assist her, for if He was anxious for others to beget in them a just opinion of Himself, much more was He for His mother. And He had not raised her to such a height if she were always to expect to be honoured by Him as a son, and never to consider Him as her Lord.

'" Now He had in precisely similar terms rejected His mother or His brethren, whilst preferring those who heard and obeyed God. His mother, however, was not here present with Him.

And He therefore knowing their hearts gave them this answer, that meanness of birth harms not, but if a man, though of low birth, hear the word of God, He reckons him as His kinsman. Because however hearing only saves no one, but rather condemns, He adds, and doeth it; for it becomes us both to hear and to do. But by the word of God He means His own teaching, for all the words which He Himself spake were from His Father.