Saturday of the 26th week after Pentecost

He compares foxes to heretics, because they are indeed a wily animal, and, ever intent upon fraud, commit their robberies by stealth. They let nothing be safe, nothing be at rest, nothing secure, for they hunt their prey into the very abodes of men. The fox again, an animal full of craft, makes no hole for itself, yet likes to lie always concealed in a hole. So the heretics, who know not how to construct a house for themselves, circumscribe and deceive others. This animal is never tamed, nor is it of use to man. Hence the Apostle, A heretic after the first and second admonition reject. (Tit. 3:10.) But the birds of the air, which are frequently brought in to represent spiritual wickedness, build as it were their nests in the breasts of the wicked, and as long as deceit reigns over the affections, the divine principle has no opportunity to take possession. But when a man has proved his heart to be innocent, upon him Christ leans in some measure the weight of His greatness, for by a more abundant shedding of grace He is planted in the breasts of good men. So then it does not seem reasonable that we should think him faithful and simple, who is rejected by the judgment of the Lord, notwithstanding that he promised the service of unwearied attendance; but our Lord cares not for this kind of service, but only purity of affection, nor is his attendance accepted whose sense of duty is not proved. For the hospitality of faith should be given with circumspection, lest while opening the interior of our house to the unbelieving, through our imprudent credulity we fall a snare to the treachery of others. Therefore that you may be aware that God despises not attendance upon him but deceit, He who rejected the deceitful man chose the innocent. For it follows, And he said unto another, Follow me. But He says this to him, whose father He knew to be dead. Hence it follows, But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.

And Jesus said to them: Foxes have dens, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man does not have a place to lay his head. From the words of the Lord, it is shown that this man who promises service is rejected because, seeing the magnitude of the signs, he wished to follow the Savior, seeking profits from the miraculous works, desiring the same thing that Simon Magus had wished to buy from Peter. Therefore, such faith is justly condemned by the Lord's sentence, and it is said to him: Why do you desire to follow me for wealth and worldly profits when I am of such poverty that I don't even have a place to stay and do not use a roof of my own? Otherwise, it is understood that he wished to follow, moved by the Lord's miracles, for vain boasting, which the birds signify. However, the feigned service of the disciple is signified by the name of foxes. By the reclining of his head, he signified his humility, which had no place in that deceitful and proud man.

Therefore it is said to him, Why do you seek to follow Me for the riches and gain of this world, when so great is My poverty that I have not even a place of rest, and take shelter under another man's roof.

Second, regarding the detection of duplicity, it is added: And Jesus said to him: The foxes have holes, in which, namely, they hide, and the birds of the air have nests, in which they lodge by night: but the Son of man has not where to lay his head. In this, remarkably, he showed his poverty, as if to say that he did not wish to have a companion who loves earthly things; whence below, chapter 14: "Whoever does not renounce all that he possesses cannot be my disciple," that is, a perfect imitator. Whence Chrysostom: "The Lord responds to his intention, as if to say: Why do you follow me for the sake of money, you who see that I have not even as much of a lodging as the birds?"

At the same time, along with this, he also marks him for outward pretense, which is understood in the fox, according to what is said below in chapter 13 concerning Herod: "Go, tell that fox." And therefore by foxes are understood heretics, because they are crooked and crafty and have fire in their tails, as is said of the foxes of Samson in Judges 15.

He also marks him for inward pretense in the bird, which seeks the heights; such is the proud man, as is said in Obadiah 1: "Though you be exalted as the eagle, and though you set your nest among the stars, from thence will I bring you down, says the Lord." And on account of these two things, the Lord shows that his company is to be rejected, because, First Corinthians 1, "God chose the ignoble and contemptible things of the world, and things that are not, that he might destroy the things that are, so that no flesh should glory in his sight."

And therefore as an example for imitation he became a beggar, according to that passage in Second Corinthians eight: "He became poor for us, that by his poverty we might be made rich"; whence the imitators of Christ were made rich by the poverty of Christ. For he is truly rich who has as much as the King of heaven and earth. And such is he who has nothing by ownership and possesses everything by charity, like those in Second Corinthians six, "as having nothing and yet possessing all things." Blessed is he who exchanges an earthly den for an eternal hall: "blessed are the poor in spirit," etc.

At the same time, note also that poverty is not pleasing unless it is simple against the craftiness of the fox, and humble against the pride of the bird. Whence Isaiah sixty-six: "But to whom shall I look, except to the poor and contrite in spirit, who trembles at my words?" where he joins poverty with simplicity and humility. Whence Augustine: "What profit is it to have left riches behind, when a wretched man is made prouder by despising riches than he had been by possessing them?" For a proud pauper is hateful to God and men, according to that passage in Ecclesiasticus twenty-five: "Three kinds my soul has hated"; "A proud pauper," etc.

Likewise, Luke 9: Foxes have dens, the Gloss says: "I am of such great poverty that I have not even a lodging nor use my own roof": therefore etc.

This, I think, is signified by the utterance of the Saviour, "The foxes have holes, but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head." For on the believer alone, who is separated entirely from the rest, who by the Scripture are called wild beasts, rests the head of the universe, the kind and gentle Word, "who taketh the wise in their own craftiness. For the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain;"...

See how our Lord sets forth by his works the poverty which he taught. For him was no table spread, no lights, no house, nor any such thing.

And by the hand of that one feeble disciple, concerning whom it is written in the Gospel of our Redeemer, Jesus hath rebuked this wicked thought in all His foot-soldiers. "And one came and drew nigh and said unto Him, Master, I will follow Thee whithersoever thou goest. Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of heaven have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head." "Depart thou from me, O disciple of iniquity, for I have not that to give unto thee which thou desirest, and that which I can give thee thou dost not wish to receive. I know that which thy desire asketh, and that which thou seekest, but I will not give them unto thee, for through the love of the thought of riches thou hast been pleased to come after Me, and being in the light thou hast come forth to seek darkness, and having the true possession, to seek poverty, and having life, to seek death. That which I command every man, to forsake the world and to cleave unto Me, I desire that thou shouldst possess in thy coming unto Me. By the door through which I desire to bring thee out, by that same door thou pressest to come in unto Me, and therefore I will not receive thee. For in My outward appearance I am poor, and for this reason I have not things which are manifest to give in the world into which I have come. I am in appearance a stranger, for I have neither house nor roof, and whosoever seeketh to be My disciple must inherit poverty from Me. Why dost thou wish to inherit from Me that of the possession of which I have made thee destitute?"

That Lord walked in humility and obscurity, with no definite home: for "the Son of man," said He, "hath not where to lay His head; " unadorned in dress, for else He had not said, "Behold, they who are clad in soft raiment are in kings' houses: " in short, inglorious in countenance and aspect, just as Isaiah withal had fore-announced.

The man said, "Allow me first to go and bury my father." The Lord replied, "Let the dead bury their dead; but go and preach the kingdom of God." Another man said, "Let me first arrange my affairs at home." He rebuked him with a stern threat, saying, "No man, putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." A person who wishes to become the Lord's disciple must repudiate a human obligation, however honorable it may appear, if it slows us ever so slightly in giving the wholehearted obedience we owe to God.

But he said to another: Follow me. But he said: Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father. He did not reject discipleship, but first, with the piety of completing his father's funeral, he desired to follow him more freely, worthy in all things in whom the Son of Man may lay his head, that is, in whose humble heart divinity may rest with a certain familiar dwelling.

He did not refuse the discipleship, but his wish was, having fulfilled the filial duty of burying his father, to follow Christ more freely.

But he said to another. After the repulsion of the double-minded, here is added the calling of the simple, concerning which two things are introduced: the first is the calling of the innocent; the second is the instruction of the ignorant.

Therefore, first, as regards the calling of the innocent, it says: But he said to another: Follow me, as a son follows a father: Jeremiah three: "You shall call me Father and shall not cease to walk after me." Or as a disciple follows a master, as the Lord said to the young man seeking counsel in Matthew nineteen: "If you wish to be perfect, go, sell all that you have, and give to the poor; and come and follow me." And he called this one selectively, as he did Peter, in John last: "You, follow me."

And pointedly he says another, because he was of a different disposition: for he was simple and humble. To designate this, he adds: But he said: Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father. In this there appears purity, because he did not conceal the affection of his heart, nor did he refuse counsel. Whence Isidore says: "He did not reject being a disciple, but with the duty of his father's funeral fulfilled, he wishes to follow more freely." There appears humility, because he wished to render service to his dead father, according to Ecclesiasticus 3: "He who fears the Lord honors his parents, and as to masters he will serve those who begot him, in deed and word and all patience." Moreover, he was moved to this by obedience to the divine precept: Exodus 20, "Honor your father"; he was also moved by clemency of soul: for burying the dead is a work of mercy, for which Tobit is commended, chapter 1: "When the king was killing many of the children of Israel, Tobit buried their bodies"; he was also moved by laudable custom, according to Ecclesiasticus 38: "Over the dead bring forth tears, and as one suffering grievously, begin to weep, and according to judgment cover his body and do not despise his burial." Whence it is apparent that he did not say this out of carnality, but out of a certain piety and humility, just as Elisha said to Elijah in 3 Kings 19: "Let me kiss, I pray, my father and my mother, and so I will follow you."

What, then, was the Saviour's answer? "Leave the dead burying their dead: but go thou, preach the kingdom of God." For there were, no doubt, other guardians and relatives of his father: but as I consider dead, because they had not yet believed in Christ, nor been able to receive the new birth by holy baptism unto the life incorruptible. Let them, He says, bury their dead, because they also have within them a dead mind, nor as yet have been numbered among those who possess the life that is in Christ. From this, then, we learn, that the fear of God is to be set even above the reverence and love due to parents. For the law of Moses also, while it commanded, in the first place, that "thou shalt love the Lord God with all thy soul, and all thy might, and all thy heart:" put as second to it the honour due to parents, saying, "Honour thy father and thy mother."

For come, and let us examine the matter in dispute, and inquire what is the reason why we consider the honour and love due to parents, not a thing to be neglected, but, on the contrary, carefully to be attended to. One may say, then, that is because we have our being by their means. But the God of all brought us into being, when we absolutely did not exist. He is the Creator and Maker of all: and, so to speak, the principle and radical essence of everything. For to everything existence is His gift. The father, then, and mother, were the means by which their offspring came into existence. Ought not, therefore, the primary Author justly to be loved more than the secondary and subsequent? And will not He Who gave the more precious gifts require of us the more marked honour? Our endeavours, therefore, to please our parents must give way to our love to God, and human duties must yield precedence to those which are divine. And this the Saviour has Himself taught us, saying, "He who loveth father or mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me: and he who loveth son or daughter more than Me, is not worthy of Me." He does not say that they are condemned for simply loving, but for loving them more than Me. He permits sons and daughters, therefore, to love their parents, but not more than they do Him. When therefore any thing which concerns God's glory has to be done, let no impediment stand in the way; let thy earnestness be without pretext: thy zealous exertions ardent and irrepressible. Forthwith let father and mother and children be disregarded, and the power of natural affection towards them cease, and yield the victory to the love of Christ.

Or else, his father was borne down with years, and he thought he was doing an honourable act in proposing to pay the kind offices which were due to him, according to Exodus, Honour thy father and thy mother. (Exod. 20:12.) Hence when calling him to the ministry of the Gospel, our Lord said, Follow me, he sought for a time of respite, which should suffice for the support of his decrepit father, saying, Permit me first to go and bury my father, not that he asked to bury his deceased father, for Christ would not have hindered the wish to do this, but he said, Bury, that is, support in old age even till death. But the Lord said to him, Let the dead bury their dead. For there were other attendants also bound by the same tie of relationship, but as I consider dead, because they had not yet believed Christ. Learn from this, that our duty to God is to be preferred to our love for our parents, to whom we show reverence, because through them have we been born. But the God of all, when as yet we were not, brought us into being, our parents were made the ministers of our introduction.

And again in another place He restrained that man who wished to perform two things in one, that is, honour to his parents and discipleship to Himself, and told him that it was impossible that two things which were the opposites of each other could happen at the same time: "Teacher, suffer me to go and bury my father and my mother, and I will come after Thee," that is to say, "I will keep the first commandment which God commanded me, Honour thy parents and be obedient unto them, and then I will come after Thee and minister unto Thee." And what answer did Jesus return to this? "Leave the dead to bury their own dead; and go thou and preach the kingdom of God. It is not necessary for thee to keep the law, for it hath been kept and is dissolved, neither hast thou any need to minister unto natural parents, because I have been obedient unto parents according to the body, and I have ministered unto them on behalf of everyone. The yoke of the law and nature is henceforth lifted from off thee, and thou art left a free man unto thyself, there being no worldly power that can subdue thee, for thou art dead unto the world, and thou art dead unto it. Dead bodies have not service paid unto them, they are only wrapped in shrouds and buried; leave the dead then to bury their dead, and do thou go and preach the kingdom of God."

Do you hesitate about arts, and trades, and about professions likewise, for the sake of children and parents? Even there was it demonstrated to us, that both "dear pledges," and handicrafts, and trades, are to be quite left behind for the Lord's sake; while James and John, called by the Lord, do leave quite behind both father and ship; while Matthew is roused up from the toll-booth; while even burying a father was too tardy a business for faith. None of them whom the Lord chose to Him said, "I have no means to live.

When, however, He answers the man, who alleged as an excuse his father's burial, "Let the dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the kingdom of God," He gave a clear confirmation to those two laws of the Creator-that in Leviticus, which concerns the sacerdotal office, and forbids the priests to be present at the funerals even of their parents.

If that was wanting to the apostles, I know not in the faith of what things it was, that, roused by one word of the Lord, one left the toll-booth behind for ever; another deserted father and ship, and the craft by which he gained his living; a third, who disdained his father's obsequies, fulfilled, before he heard it, that highest precept of the Lord, "He who prefers father or mother to me, is not worthy of me.

Us, moreover, Jesus, the Father's Highest and Great Priest, clothing us from His own store -inasmuch as they "who are baptized in Christ have put on Christ"-has made "priests to God His Father," according to John. For the reason why He recalls that young man who was hastening to his father's obsequies, is that He may show that we are called priests by Him; (priests) whom the Law used to forbid to be present at the sepulture of parents: "Over every dead soul," it says, "the priest shall not enter, and over his own father and over his own mother he shall not be contaminated.

But the Lord calls those upon whom He has compassion. Hence it follows, And Jesus said, Let the dead bury their dead. Since we have received as a religious duty the burial of the human body, how is it thus that the burial even of a father's dead body is forbidden, unless you are to understand that human things are to be postponed to divine? It is a good employment, but the hindrance is greater, for he who divides his pursuits, draws down his affections; he who divides his care, delays his advances. We must first set about the things which are most important. For the Apostles also, that they might not be occupied in the office of distributing alms, ordained ministers for the poor.

The performance of a father's burial is not then prohibited, but the observance of religious duty is preferred to the ties of relationship. The one is left to those in like condition, the other is commanded to those who are left. But how can the dead bury the dead? unless you here understand a twofold death, one a natural death, the other the death of sin. (Rom. 9:11.) There is also a third death, by which we die unto sin, live unto God.

Or because the throat of the ungodly is an open sepulchre, their memory is ordered to be forgotten whose services die together with their bodies. Nor is the son recalled from his duty to his father, but the faithful is separated from the communion of the unbelieving; there is no prohibition of duty, but a mystery of religion, that is, that we should have no fellowship with the dead Gentiles.

And Jesus said to him: Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. It must be noted in this sentence that sometimes in our actions, lesser goods should be omitted for the sake of greater goods. For who does not know the merit of good work is to bury the dead? And yet, he who asked to be allowed to bury his father was told: Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. For the duty of this service was to be postponed for the duty of preaching. For with that, he would bury the dead in flesh in the earth, but with this, he would raise the dead in soul to life. But how can the dead bury their dead unless you understand a double death? One of nature, the other of guilt; one by which the soul is separated from the body, the other by which God is separated from the soul. Or he says the dead, meaning unbelievers. But their dead, who likewise without faith depart from the body.

If parents should wish, say, or command something that is against the advancement of our salvation, piety is not to be shown to them in such matters. The Lord wills that on account of paternal affection a man should not cease to do what pertains to his salvation. And this is what the Lord says: Let the dead bury their dead; but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God. And Jerome says: 'If your father should lie across the threshold, if your mother should bare the breasts with which she nursed you, trample over your father, trample over your mother, and fly to the standard of the cross. For the only kind of piety in this matter is to be cruel.'

Secondly, with respect to the instruction of the ignorant, there follows: And Jesus said to him: Let the dead bury their dead. In this he first instructs him to avoid the company of sinners: for the dead here are called sinners and unbelievers — whence Ephesians 2: "You, when you were dead in your offenses and sins, in which you once walked." The company of such persons must be abandoned by a holy man, according to Ecclesiasticus 13: "What fellowship has a holy man with a dog?" — that is, with a sinner and unbeliever. Whence however closely he may be joined to them, they must nevertheless be abandoned, especially when they impede the good. Whence Deuteronomy 33: "He who said to his father and his mother: I do not know you; and to his brothers: I know them not — these are they who kept your judgments, O Jacob, and your law, O Israel."

He also instructs him that lesser goods must be set aside for greater ones: whence Ambrose teaches that "lesser goods must be passed over for the benefit of greater ones. For it is greater to raise the souls of the dead by preaching than to hide the body of a dead man in the earth."

And therefore he adds: But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God: as if to say: set aside a lesser good for a greater one, according to what is said in First Timothy four: "Exercise yourself unto godliness. For bodily exercise is profitable for a little" etc. From this it is clear that works of spiritual piety, according to the judgment of both the Apostle and the Lord, are altogether to be preferred to corporal works. For although it is a great work of piety to bury the dead, and especially one's own father, nevertheless Christ wills that it be set aside for the office of preaching. On account of which the Apostles said in Acts six: "It is not fitting that we should leave the word of God and serve tables." For as much as the soul is better than the body, so much better is it to feed the soul by preaching than to minister food to the body; especially because there are more persons suited to providing burial than to giving doctrine. Whence the Apostles said in Acts six: "Look for men of good repute, whom we may appoint over this work. But we will be devoted to prayer and to the ministry of the word"; because it is said below in chapter ten: "Mary has chosen the best part"; and therefore in Daniel twelve: "Those who instruct many unto justice shall be as stars" etc. - And note that he says: Proclaim the kingdom of God, namely to those willing to repent: according to what Christ said in Matthew four: "Do penance: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Therefore, just as it is a great sin when a rich man does not give alms to one in need, so it is a greater sin when one who has knowledge does not share doctrine: whence Proverbs eleven: "He who hides grain shall be cursed among the peoples." Therefore he says: Proclaim, do not hide.

On that passage in Luke 9: Let the dead bury their dead; the Gloss says: "The Lord teaches that lesser goods are to be passed over for the advantage of greater ones; for it is greater to raise the souls of the dead by preaching than to lay a dead body in the earth." If therefore to bury the dead, and especially one's father, is a work of the greatest natural and corporeal piety, and the Lord teaches that this is to be set aside, and those devoted to preaching are not bound to this: therefore such persons are not bound to manual works, however needy they may be.

If they quote the Lord's words to Philip, "Let dead bury their dead, but do thou follow me," they ought to consider that Philip's flesh is also formed in the same way; body is not a polluted corpse. How then could he have a body of flesh which is not a corpse? Because he rose from the tomb when the Lord killed his passions, and he began to live unto Christ.

He sees and follows who puts into practice the good that he understands. But he sees and does not follow who indeed understands the good, but disdains to do good works. If therefore, dearest brothers, we now recognize the blindness of our pilgrimage, if by believing in the mystery of our Redeemer we sit by the wayside, if by praying daily we seek light from our Creator, if having been illuminated after our blindness we now see that same light through understanding, let us follow in our works the Jesus whom we perceive in our mind. Let us observe where he walks, and by imitating hold to his footsteps. For he follows Jesus who imitates him. For this reason he says: "Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead." For "follow" means "imitate." Again he admonishes on this point, saying: "If anyone serves me, let him follow me." Let us therefore consider where he walks, that we may deserve to follow. Behold, though he is Lord and Creator of the angels, about to take up our nature which he created, he came into the womb of the Virgin. Yet he did not wish to be born in this world through the wealthy; he chose poor parents. Hence even a lamb to be offered for him was lacking; his mother found young doves and a pair of turtledoves for the sacrifice. He did not wish to prosper in the world; he endured reproaches and mockeries; he bore spitting, scourging, blows, a crown of thorns, and the cross; and because we fell from inner joy through delight in bodily things, he showed with what bitterness one returns there. What therefore ought man to suffer for himself, if God endured such things for men? He therefore who has now believed in Christ, but still pursues the gains of avarice, is lifted up in the pride of honor, burns with the torches of envy, pollutes himself with the filth of lust, desires the prosperous things that are in the world—he disdains to follow the Jesus in whom he has believed. For he walks by a different path, if he seeks joys and pleasures, when his guide showed him the way of bitterness.

And they teach that He pointed out the three kinds of men as follows: the material, when He said to him that asked Him, "Shall I follow Thee?" "The Son of man hath not where to lay His head;"-the animal, when He said to him that declared, "I will follow Thee, but suffer me first to bid them farewell that are in my house," "No man, putting his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of heaven" (for this man they declare to be of the intermediate class, even as they do that other who, though he professed to have wrought a large amount of righteousness, yet refused to follow Him, and was so overcome by [the love of] riches, as never to reach perfection)-this one it pleases them to place in the animal class;-the spiritual, again, when He said, "Let the dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the kingdom of God," and when He said to Zaccheus the publican, "Make haste, and come down, for to-day I must abide in thine house"-for these they declared to have belonged to the spiritual class.

(Hom. 27. in Matt.) But what more necessary than the burial of his father, what more easy, seeing that there would not be much time given to it? We are then hereby taught that it becomes us not to spend even the slightest portion of our time in vain, although we have a thousand things to compel us, nay to prefer spiritual things to even our greatest necessities. For the devil watchfully presses close upon us, wishing to find any opening, and if he causes a slight negligence, he ends in producing a great weakness.

(ubi sup.) By thus saying, their dead, he shows that this man's father was not his dead, for I suppose that the deceased was of the number of the unbelieving.

Behold also we learn from this testimony that the man who becometh a disciple of Jesus hath not even power to minister unto his natural parents, because he hath a true Father, Who by His grace hath enrolled him for Himself as a son, and Who hath set him apart for the ministration of His will. And unto the man who sought to honour his parents according to the body, so long as they were alive, and after their death to become His disciple, He said, "Let the dead bury their dead."

(Nilus Monac.) For the frequent looking upon the things which we have forsaken, through the force of habit draws us back to our past way of life. For practice has great power to retain to itself. Is not habit generated of use, and nature of habit? But to get rid of or change nature is difficult; for although when compelled it for a while turns aside, it very rapidly returns to itself.

And Jesus said to him: No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. To put one's hand to the plow, is as if with a kind of instrument of compunction, with wood and iron to grind down the hardness of one's heart in the passion of the Lord, and open it to bring forth the fruits of good works. If anyone, having begun to cultivate this, in delight looks back at the vices he left behind with Lot's wife, he is deprived of the gift of the future kingdom.

To put one's hand to the plough, is also, (as it were by a certain sharp instrument,) by the wood and iron of our Lord's passion, to wear away the hardness of our heart, and to open it to bring forth the fruits of good works. But if any one, having begun to exercise this, delights to look back with Lot's wife to the things which he had left, he is deprived of the gift of the kingdom to come.

Concerning entrance into religious life, some say that one shoe does not fit all feet; but religious life imposes one rule upon all. If you say this, you are calling Christ and the apostles foolish. He also says: 'No one, putting his hand to the plow of God and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.' Anyone can shape himself to the rule of religious life, because it is applied differently to the young, differently to the old, differently to the strong, differently to the weak.

Second, with regard to the rebuke of inconstancy, he adds: Jesus said to him: No one putting his hand to the plow, etc., that is, to the exercise of divine perfection and preaching, which is rightly designated by the plow on account of its cultivation and fruit, according to that passage in Hosea 10: "Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his furrows."

No one, I say, being such, and looking back, that is, toward the world, is fit for the kingdom of God, that is, for possessing the kingdom of God: because, according to that passage in Second Timothy 2, "no one serving as a soldier for God entangles himself in worldly affairs, that he may please him to whom he has proven himself."

A figure of this preceded in the wife of Lot, who, looking back behind her, was turned into a pillar of salt; because such a man is rendered useless and barren. And therefore it is said below in chapter 17: "He who is in the field, let him not turn back. Remember the wife of Lot."

Such a man is not fit for the kingdom, but rather for reproach; whence Second Peter 2: "It is better not to have known the way of truth than, after having known it, to turn back from the holy commandment that had been delivered to them. For that saying of the true proverb has happened to them: The dog returned to his own vomit," etc.; which can rightly be understood of those who relapse and apostatize. And therefore, on the contrary, Ecclesiasticus 5 urges: "Be firm in the way of the Lord." Such was the Apostle, as it is said in Philippians 3: "Forgetting what is behind and stretching myself forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal, toward the prize of the heavenly calling."

And therefore he himself exhorted in Ephesians 3: "Rooted and grounded in charity, that you may be able to comprehend," etc. For he knew that it had been said by the Lord in Matthew 10: "He who perseveres to the end, he shall be saved." Scripture invites us to this most especially: whence throughout the entire Law and Prophets it forbids the children of Israel to return to Egypt, that is, lest a man turn from divine service to the world. Whence also on account of that transgression nearly all the children of Israel were slain by the Lord in the desert.

Now, it is a very great thing to abandon opinion, by taking one's stand between accurate knowledge and the rash wisdom of opinion, and to know that he who hopes for everlasting rest knows also that the entrance to it is toilsome "and strait." And let him who has once received the Gospel, even in the very hour in which he has come to the knowledge of salvation, "not turn back, like Lot's wife," as is said; and let him not go back either to his former life, which adheres to the things of sense, or to heresies. For they form the character, not knowing the true God. "For he that loveth father or mother more than Me," the Father and Teacher of the truth, who regenerates and creates anew, and nourishes the elect soul, "is not worthy of Me"-He means, to be a son of God and a disciple of God, and at the same time also to be a friend, and of kindred nature. "For no man who looks back, and puts his hand to the plough, is fit for the kingdom of God."

It was my duty not to conceal these special matters, nor to hide them alone in my own consciousness,-matters by which each one of us may be both instructed and guided. And do not you for your part keep this letter concealed among yourselves, but let the brethren have it to mad. For it is the part of one who desires that his brother should not be warned and instructed, to intercept those words with which the Lord condescends to admonish and instruct us. Let them know that we are proved by our Lord, and let them never fail of that faith whereby we have once believed in Him, under the conflict of this present affliction. Let each one, acknowledging his own sins, even now put off the conversation of the old man. "For no man who looks back as he putteth his hand to the plough is fit for the kingdom of God." And, finally, Lot's wife, who, when she was delivered, looked back in defiance of the commandment, lost the benefit of her escape. Let us look not to things which are behind, whither the devil calls us back, but to things which are before, whither Christ calls us. Let us lift up our eyes to heaven, lest the earth with its delights and enticements deceive us. Let each one of us pray God not for himself only, but for all the brethren, even as the Lord has taught us to pray, when He bids to each one, not private prayer, but enjoined them, when they prayed, to pray for all in common prayer and concordant supplication. If the Lord shall behold us humble and peaceable; if He shall see us joined one with another; if He shall see us fearful concerning His anger; if corrected and amended by the present tribulation, He will maintain us safe from the disturbances of the enemy. Discipline hath preceded; pardon also shall follow.

That those who are snatched from the jaws of the devil, and delivered from the snares of this world, ought not again to return to the world, lest they should lose the advantage of their withdrawal therefrom. In Exodus the Jewish people, prefigured as a shadow and image of us, when, with God for their guardian and avenger, they had escaped the most severe slavery of Pharaoh and of Egypt-that is, of the devil and the world-faithless and ungrateful in respect of God, murmur against Moses, looking back to the discomforts of the desert and of their labour; and, not understanding the divine benefits of liberty and salvation, they seek to return to the slavery of Egypt-that is, of the world whence they had been drawn forth-when they ought rather to have trusted and believed on God, since He who delivers His people from the devil and the world, protects them also when delivered. "Wherefore hast thou thus done with us," say they, "in casting us forth out of Egypt? It is better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in this wilderness. And Moses said unto the people, Trust, and stand fast, and see the salvation which is from the Lord, which He shall do to you to-day. The Lord Himself shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace." The Lord, admonishing us of this in His Gospel, and teaching that we should not return again to the devil and to the world, which we have renounced, and whence we have escaped, says: "No man looking back, land putting his hand to the plough, is fit for the kingdom of God." And again: "And let him that is in the field not return back. Remember Lot's wife." And lest any one should be retarded by any covetousness of wealth or attraction of his own people from following Christ, He adds, and says: "He that forsaketh not all that he hath, cannot be my disciple."

That he who has attained to trust, having put off the former man, ought to regard only celestial and spiritual things, and to give no heed to the world which he has already renounced. In Isaiah: "Seek ye the Lord; and when ye have found Him, call upon Him. But when He hath come near unto you, let the wicked forsake his ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him be turned unto the Lord, and he shall obtain mercy, because He will plentifully pardon your sins." Of this same thing in Solomon: "I have seen all the works which are done under the sun; and, lo, all are vanity." Of this same thing in Exodus: "But thus shall ye eat it; your loins girt, and your shoes on your feet, and your staves in your hands: and ye shall eat it in haste, for it is the Lord's passover." Of this same thing in the Gospel according to Matthew: "Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewith shall we be clothed? for these things the nations seek after. But your Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Likewise in the same place: "Think not for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for itself. Sufficient unto the day is its own evil." Likewise in the same place: "No one looking back, and putting his hands to the plough, is fit for the kingdom of God." Also in the same place: "Behold the fowls of the heaven: for they sow not, nor reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of more value than they? " Concerning this same thing, according to Luke: "Let your loins be girded, and your lamps burning; and ye like unto men that wait for their lord, when he cometh from the wedding; that, when he cometh and knocketh, they may open to him. Blessed are those servants, whom their lord, when he cometh, shall find watching." Of this same thing in Matthew: "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have nests; but the Son of man hath not where He may lay His head." Also in the same place: "Whoso forsaketh not all that he hath, cannot be my disciple." Of this same thing in the first to the Corinthians: "Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a great price. Glorify and bear God in your body." Also in the same place: "The time is limited. It remaineth, therefore, that both they who have wives be as though they have them not, and they who lament as they that lament not, and they that rejoice as they that rejoice not, and they who buy as they that buy not, and they who possess as they who possess not, and they who use this world as they that use it not; for the fashion of this world passeth away." Also in the same place: "The first man is of the clay of the earth, the second man from heaven. As he is of the clay, such also are they who are of the clay; and as is the heavenly, such also are the heavenly. Even as we have borne the image of him who is of the clay, let us bear His image also who is from heaven." Of this same matter to the Philippians: "All seek their own, and not those things which are Christ's; whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and their glory is to their confusion, who mind earthly things. For our conversation is in heaven, whence also we expect the Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall transform the body of our humiliation conformed to the body of His glory." Of this very matter to Galatians: "But be it far from me to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Concerning this same thing to Timothy: "No man that warreth for God bindeth himself with worldly annoyances, that he may please Him to whom he hath approved himself. But and if a man should contend, he will not be crowned unless he fight lawfully." Of this same thing to the Colossians: "If ye be dead with Christ from I the elements of the world, why still, as if living in the world, do ye follow vain things? " Also concerning this same thing: "If ye have risen together with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting on the right hand of God. Give heed to the things that are above, not to those things which are on the earth; for ye are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. But when Christ your life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory." Of this same thing to the Ephesians: Put off the old man of the former conversation, who is corrupted, according to the lusts of deceit. But be ye renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, him who according to God is ordained in righteousness, and holiness, and truth." Of this same thing in the Epistle of Peter: "As strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; but having a good conversation among the Gentiles, that while they detract from you as if from evildoers, yet, beholding your good works, they may magnify God." Of this same thing in the Epistle of John: "He who saith he abideth in Christ, ought himself also to walk even as He walked." Also in the same place: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loveth the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Because everything which is in the world is lust of the flesh, and lust of the eyes, and the ambition of this world, which is not of the Father, but of the lust of this world. And the world shall pass away with its lust. But he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever, even as God abideth for ever." Also in the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: "Purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new dough, as ye are unleavened. For also Christ our passover is sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not in the old leaven, nor in the leaven of malice and wickedness, but in the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

"No man, having put his hand upon the ploughshare, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God," that is to say, "Whosoever fulfilleth this work in nature, and who guideth the plough with oxen according to the custom of man, and who suffereth himself to look behind him instead of in front — now in this manner the work would never be completed — is not able to advance, nor are his furrows cut straight, and the oxen also do not travel forwards; and although this work be visible, and one which can be seen, and it taketh place in the very earth itself, yet if the ploughman look behind him, his labour is spoiled. Now as concerning My own discipleship, one labour differeth from another, even as world differeth from world, and life from life, and immortal from mortal beings, and God from the children of men; if then thou takest the yoke of My discipleship upon thy soul and body, thou must perform the service of My commandments, and thou must turn thyself back to the world, and it must not be a care to thee to make peace with thy kinsfolk, and thou must not be anxious to pay unto them the obligation of honour according to the body, and to fulfil unto them the law of the fulness of the world, and then to come after Me. For if thou wouldest pay the obligations of the world, those which are due unto Me cannot be paid; and if thou art anxious not to offend the world in anything, why then shouldst thou set thyself to provoke Me? Let there be no peace between thee and the world, in order that thou thyself mayest have peace with Me."

"But provision must be made for children and posterity." "None, putting his hand on the plough, and looking back, is fit" for work. "But I was under contract.

Yet I must necessarily prescribe you a law, not to stretch out your hand after the old things, not to look backwards: for "the old things are passed away," according to Isaiah; and "a renewing hath been renewed," according to Jeremiah; and "forgetful of former things, we are reaching forward," according to the apostle; and "the law and the prophets (were) until John," according to the Lord.

(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.