Monday of the 25th week after Pentecost

This whole place is prepared for undergoing the passion of the Lord either with contempt of death, or with hope of reward, or with the declaration of intention to endure punishment, to which no forgiveness will ever be granted. And because greed often tempts virtue, there is also a commandment and example given for the abolishment of this, as the Lord says: Who made me a judge or a divider among you? He who descended for the sake of divine things wisely avoids earthly affairs; nor does he deign to be a judge of disputes or an arbiter of possessions, having the judgment of the living and the dead and the decision of deeds. Therefore, it is not what you seek, but from whom you request that must be considered; and do not think that you must object to those who are greater with an attentive mind in the presence of those who are lesser. Hence, it is not without reason that this brother is refuted, who desired to occupy the stewardship of celestial things with corruptible things; for among brothers, it is not a judge who should divide the inheritance, but rather piety should separate it; although the inheritance of immortality, not of money, should be sought by humans.

The whole of the former passage is given to prepare us for undergoing suffering for confessing the Lord, or for contempt of death, or for the hope of reward, or for denunciation of the punishment that will await him to whom pardon will never be granted. And since covetousness is generally wont to try virtue, for destroying this also, a precept and example is added, as it is said, And one of the company said to him, Speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.

He was correct when he did not listen to the man who, in disagreement with his brother, said, "Master, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." He said, "Master, tell my brother." Tell him what? He said, "To divide the inheritance with me." The Lord said, "Speak, man." Why do you want to divide it except because you are human? Whenever someone says, "I am of Paul," but another, "I am of Apollos," are you not merely human? "Tell me, man, who has appointed me a judge of the inheritance among you? I have come to gather, not to scatter." He said, "I say to you, guard against all greed." Greed wants to divide, just as love desires to gather. What is the significance of "guard against all greed," unless it is "fill yourselves with love"? We, possessing love for our portion, inconvenience the Lord because of our brother just as that man did against his brother, but we do not use the same plea. He said, "Master, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." We say, "Master, tell my brother that he may have my inheritance."

But someone from the crowd said to him: Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. But he said to him: Man, who made me a judge or divider over you? Justly is this brother rebuked, who, while the teacher is commending the joys of heavenly peace and unity, wishes to bring in the trouble of earthly division. Justly is he noted by the term 'man'. For whereas there is among you, he says, jealousy and contention, are you not carnal, are you not men, and walking according to man? And the Lord denies that He is a divider of men, to whom he had come to bring peace both with Himself and with the angels. For God is not the author of disorder but of peace. And the multitude of believers was of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common (Acts IV). But the only divider of fraternity and author of dissension is he of whom it is said above: And he who does not gather with me scatters. And concerning his members: Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and house upon house falls (Matt. XII).

He who wills to impose the trouble of division of lands upon the Master who is commending the joys of heavenly peace, is rightly called man, according to that, whereas there is envying, strife, and divisions among you, are ye not men? (1 Cor. 3:3.)

But a certain man said to him, etc. After he has dissuaded from deceitfulness arising from human timidity and from timidity itself, in this part he dissuades from cupidity. And this part has two parts. In the first of which he calls back from the anxiety of avarice; in the second he invites to the solicitude of providence, below in the same chapter: Let your loins be girded, etc.

Now he calls back from the anxiety of avarice in four ways: first, by a rational instruction; second, by a terrifying example; third, by an irrefutable argument; fourth, by a desirable promise. Concerning the rational instruction, by which one is called back from the anxiety of avarice, three things are introduced: the first is the refutation of the avaricious petition; the second is the dissuasion from avarice; the third is the assignment of the cause.

First, therefore, as regards the refutation of the avaricious petition: And one of the crowd said to him: Master, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. Truly this man was of the crowd, because he was anxious about earthly things, according to that passage of Isaiah twenty-nine: "Your speech shall whisper from the ground," etc. He also spoke against himself when he called him Master, because Christ did not profess himself a master in teaching how to acquire and divide temporal things, but rather how to abandon them: whence to the young man asking and saying: "Good Master, what shall I do to possess eternal life?" he responded: "If you wish to be perfect, go and sell," etc. Whence Christ did not teach how money might be increased, but how poverty might be preserved.

He also speaks against himself when he wishes to be divided from his brother, to whom he ought to be joined. Now this question arose from private love, which divides things joined together: which the devil especially does, not the Lord: Hosea thirteen: "He shall divide among brothers."

A certain man drew near to Christ, the Saviour of us all, and said, "Teacher, bid my brother divide with me the inheritance. But He said unto him, Man, who set Me as judge or divider over you?" For the Son indeed, when He appeared in our likeness, was set by God the Father as "Head and King over Sion, His holy mount," according to the Psalmist's words: and the nature of His office He again Himself makes plain, "For I am come, He says, to preach the commandment of the Lord." And what is this? Our virtue-loving Master wishes us to depart far from all earthly and temporal matters; to flee from the love of the flesh, and from the vain anxiety of business, and from base lusts; to set no value on hoards, to despise wealth, and the love of gain; to be good and loving unto one another; not to lay up treasures upon earth; to be superior to strife and envy, not quarrelling with the brethren, but rather giving way to them, even though they seek to gain an advantage over us.

But of course the case must be different with Christ, for he is the Christ of the simply good and non-judicial god. "Who," says he, "made me a judge over you? " No other word of excuse was he able to find, without using that with which the wicked, man and impious brother had rejected the defender of probity and piety! In short, he approved of the excuse, although a bad one, by his use of it; and of the act, although a bad one, by his refusal to make peace between brothers.

In order to teach us how little we should care about worldly affairs and occupy ourselves with earthly things, the Lord sends away from Himself the one who asked Him to settle the division of a paternal inheritance, and therefore says: "Who made Me a judge or divider over you?" Since this man did not ask for what is profitable and necessary for salvation, but asked Him to be a divider of earthly and temporal possessions, the Lord sends him away as one who is restless and unwilling to learn anything needful; however, He does this gently, not harshly. But by this act, without doubt, He teaches all His listeners, both those of that time and those of the present, not to care about anything earthly and temporal, not to quarrel over it with their brothers, and even to yield to them if they wish to be covetous (for He says: "Of him who takes away what is yours, do not demand it back" (Lk. 6:30)), and to seek what is profitable and necessary for the salvation of the soul.

As these two brothers were contending concerning the division of their paternal inheritance, it follows, that one meant to defraud the other; but our Lord teaches us that we ought not to be set on earthly things, and rebukes him that called Him to the division of inheritance; as it follows, And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?

Well then does He avoid earthly things who had descended for the sake of divine things, and deigns not to be a judge of strifes and arbiter of laws, having the judgment of the quick and dead and the recompensing of works. You should consider then, not what you seek, but from whom you ask it; and you should not eagerly suppose that the greater are to be disturbed by the less. Therefore is this brother deservedly disappointed who desired to occupy the steward of heavenly things with corruptible, seeing that between brothers no judge should intervene, but natural affection should be the umpire to divide the patrimony, although immortality not riches should be the patrimony which men should wait for.

And since, as Bede says in the Gloss, "Christ is not the God of dissension, but of peace and unity," therefore he refutes the aforesaid petition, when he adds: But he said to him, namely Jesus: Man, who appointed me a judge or a divider over you? A judge, that is, of disputes, and a divider of possessions; the Gloss: "He disdains to be a judge of disputes or an arbiter of possessions, he who holds the judgment of the living and the dead and the arbitration of merits." It is indeed true, as it is said in the Psalm, that "he was appointed king by him over Sion, his holy mountain," and that "all things are placed under his dominion"; but because God had sent him to communicate spiritual things, therefore he refused to descend to dividing temporal things, intimating in this that passage of Second Timothy two: "No one serving as a soldier of God entangles himself in worldly affairs."

And note that Christ calls him an animal and brutish man, on account of his love for earthly things and his dispute over division. Whence First Corinthians three: "Since there is among you jealousy and contention," etc.; and the Psalm: "Sons of men, how long will you be heavy of heart?" Whence in this is intimated the refutation of the avaricious petition.

All this comes from pretending that God has spoken when He has not spoken. He will not settle the two brothers' inheritance: 'Who made Me a judge or a divider over you?' By the natural light He has shown us what means are lawful: to find out which one is efficacious He has given us brains. The rest He has left to us.

Now the Son of God, when He was made like unto us, was appointed by God the Father to be King and Prince upon his holy Mount of Sion, to make known the Divine command.

And unto another, who by the perfection of the doctrine of Christ wished to satisfy his lust for oppression, He answered, "Who hath made Me a judge and a ruler over you?" And unto another who, in His name, wished to gather together riches, and who was scheming that by the mighty deeds, and the signs, and the wonders, which he wrought by His power, he might become the owner of possessions, He said, "I am poor, and I have not where to lay my head."

And he said to them: "Take heed and beware of all covetousness, for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Just as earlier the Lord had spoken much against blasphemers and hypocrites, so here, on the occasion of this foolish petition, he strives to fortify both the crowds and his disciples against the pestilence of greed, by means of precepts and examples. And it is noteworthy that he did not say, "Beware of covetousness," but added, "of all," because some things seem to be done by men simply, but the internal judge, who sees with what intention they are done, judges. For who would consider it a crime to divide an inheritance with a brother or store the fruits grown in one's own field in granaries? But he himself is the witness and judge, as it is written.

He takes occasion from this foolish petitioner to fortify both the multitudes and His disciples alike by precept and example against the plague of covetousness. Whence it follows, He said to them, Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; and he says, of all, because some things seem to be honestly done, but the internal judge decides with what intention they are done.

Second, with respect to the dissuasion from avarice, he adds: And he said to them: Take heed and beware of all avarice. Take heed, namely, so as to be provident, and beware, so as to be cautious: Ephesians 5: "See, brethren, how you walk cautiously, not as unwise, but as wise," etc. Providence indeed causes one to beware of the dangers into which one falls through avarice; 1 Timothy, last chapter: "They who wish to become rich fall into temptation and into the snare of the devil and many useless and harmful desires, which plunge men into ruin and perdition. For the root of evils is covetousness," etc. Hence avarice itself blinds a man, which was signified in the blinding of Tobit by the dung of swallows, Tobit 2. And therefore he says: Take heed, namely of eternal things, and beware of avarice, which seeks temporal things: 2 Corinthians 4: "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." And since the desire for any transitory good, namely money, power, and honor, can be called avarice, therefore he says: Beware of all avarice: Isaiah 33: "Who shall be able to dwell with everlasting burnings?" and there follows: "He who casts away avarice gained by oppression and shakes his hands free from every bribe."

Third, with respect to the assignment of the reason and cause, he adds: For not in the abundance of anyone is his life from the things which he possesses: that is, the life of anyone is not in abundance: abundance, I say, from the things which he possesses, that is, no one on account of the abundance of riches can live longer: Psalm: "They shall leave their riches to strangers, and their sepulchres shall be their houses forever"; and Job 27: "When the rich man shall sleep, he shall take nothing with him," etc.; and Psalm: "They have slept their sleep, and all the men of riches have found nothing in their hands." Hence abundance does not prolong life, but frequently shortens it: Sirach 8: "Gold and silver have destroyed many"; and Acts 8: "Let your money be with you unto destruction." And for this reason, money itself must be lost, lest it destroy its possessor: Sirach 29: "Lose your money for the sake of a brother and friend, and do not hide it under a stone unto destruction."

But He does not leave us without instruction: for having found, so to speak, a seasonable opportunity, He frames a profitable and saving discourse; and protesting as it were against them, declares, "Take heed, and keep yourselves from all covetousness." He showed us that pitfall of the devil, covetousness, a thing hateful to God, and which the wise Paul even calls idolatry, perhaps as being suitable for those only who know not God, or as being equal in the balance with the defilement of those men who choose to serve stocks and stones. It is a snare of evil spirits, by which they drag down man's soul to the meshes of hell. For this reason He says very justly, as setting them on their guard, "Take heed and keep yourselves from all covetousness:" that is, from great and small, and from defrauding any one whoever he may be. For as I said, it is a thing hateful to God and men. For who does not flee from him who uses violence, and is rapacious and greedy, and ready for iniquity in those things to which he has no right, and who with avaricious hand gathers that which is not his? What beast of prey does not such a man surpass in savageness? Than what rocks is he not more hard? For the heart of him who is defrauded is torn, and even melted sometimes by the penetrating pain as it were by fire: but he takes pleasure therein, and is merry, and makes the pains of them that suffer a cause of rejoicing. For the wronged man is sure generally to be one without power, who can but raise his eyes to Him Who alone is able to be angry for what he has suffered. And He, because He is just and good, accepts his supplication, and pities the tears of the sufferer, and brings punishment on those who have done the wrong.

But He does not leave us without instruction: for having found, so to speak, a seasonable opportunity, He frames a profitable and saving discourse; and protesting as it were against them, declares, "Take heed, and keep yourselves from all covetousness." He showed us that pitfall of the devil, covetousness, a thing hateful to God, and which the wise Paul even calls idolatry, perhaps as being suitable for those only who know not God, or as being equal in the balance with the defilement of those men who choose to serve stocks and stones. It is a snare of evil spirits, by which they drag down man's soul to the meshes of hell. For this reason He says very justly, as setting them on their guard, "Take heed and keep yourselves from all covetousness:" that is, from great and small, and from defrauding any one whoever he may be.

And this you may learn from what He Himself says thereupon by the mouth of the holy prophets; "Therefore because you have bruised the heads of the poor, and taken from them chosen gifts, you shall build houses of carved stone, but you shall not dwell therein: and you shall plant desirable vineyards, but you shall not drink of their wine."

Or he says, of all covetousness, that is, great and little. For covetousness is unprofitable, as the Lord says, Ye shall build houses of hewn stone, and shall not dwell in them. (Amos 5:11, Isa. 5:10.) And elsewhere, Yea ten acres of vineyards shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah. But also in another way it is unprofitable, as he shows, adding, For a man's life consisteth not in the abundance, &c.

There is an article called "The Instinct that Makes People Rich." It is decorated in front with a formidable portrait of Lord Rothschild. There are many definite methods, honest and dishonest, which make people rich; the only "instinct" I know of which does it is that instinct which theological Christianity crudely describes as "the sin of avarice."

It is an English misfortune that what is called "public spirit" is so often a very private spirit; the legitimate but strictly individual ideals of this or that person who happens to have the power to carry them out. When these private principles are held by very rich people, the result is often the blackest and most repulsive kind of despotism, which is benevolent despotism. Obviously it is the public which ought to have public spirit. But in this country and at this epoch this is exactly what it has not got. We shall have a public washhouse and a public kitchen long before we have a public spirit; in fact, if we had a public spirit we might very probably do without the other things. But if England were properly and naturally governed by the English, one of the first results would probably be this: that our standard of excess or defect in property would be changed from that of the plutocrat to that of the moderately needy man. That is, that while property might be strictly respected, everything that is necessary to a clerk would be felt and considered on quite a different plane from anything which is a very great luxury to a clerk. This sane distinction of sentiment is not instinctive at present, because our standard of life is that of the governing class, which is eternally turning luxuries into necessities as fast as pork is turned into sausages; and which cannot remember the beginning of its needs and cannot get to the end of its novelties.

Take, for the sake of argument, the case of the motor. Doubtless the duke now feels it as necessary to have a motor as to have a roof, and in a little while he may feel it equally necessary to have a flying ship. But this does not prove (as the reactionary sceptics always argue) that a motor really is just as necessary as a roof. It only proves that a man can get used to an artificial life: it does not prove that there is no natural life for him to get used to. In the broad bird's-eye view of common sense there abides a huge disproportion between the need for a roof and the need for an aeroplane; and no rush of inventions can ever alter it. The only difference is that things are now judged by the abnormal needs, when they might be judged merely by the normal needs. The best aristocrat sees the situation from an aeroplane. The good citizen, in his loftiest moments, goes no further than seeing it from the roof.

It is not true that luxury is merely relative. It is not true that it is only an expensive novelty which we may afterwards come to think a necessity. Luxury has a firm philosophical meaning; and where there is a real public spirit luxury is generally allowed for, sometimes rebuked, but always recognized instantly. To the healthy soul there is something in the very nature of certain pleasures which warns us that they are exceptions, and that if they become rules they will become very tyrannical rules.

Take a harassed seamstress out of the Harrow Road and give her one lightning hour in a motorcar, and she will probably feel it as splendid, but strange, rare, and even terrible. But this is not (as the relativists say) merely because she has never been in a car before. She has never been in the middle of a Somerset cowslip meadow before; but if you put her there she does not think it terrifying or extraordinary, but merely pleasant and free and a little lonely. She does not think the motor monstrous because it is new. She thinks it monstrous because she has eyes in her head; she thinks it monstrous because it is monstrous. That is, her mothers and grandmothers, and the whole race by whose life she lives, have had, as a matter of fact, a roughly recognizable mode of living; sitting in a green field was a part of it; travelling as quick as a cannon ball was not. And we should not look down on the seamstress because she mechanically emits a short sharp scream whenever the motor begins to move. On the contrary, we ought to look up to the seamstress, and regard her cry as a kind of mystic omen or revelation of nature, as the old Goths used to consider the howls emitted by chance females when annoyed. For that ritual yell is really a mark of moral health--of swift response to the stimulations and changes of life. The seamstress is wiser than all the learned ladies, precisely because she can still feel that a motor is a different sort of thing from a meadow. By the accident of her economic imprisonment it is even possible that she may have seen more of the former than the latter. But this has not shaken her cyclopean sagacity as to which is the natural thing and which the artificial. If not for her, at least for humanity as a whole, there is little doubt about which is the more normally attainable. It is considerably cheaper to sit in a meadow and see motors go by than to sit in a motor and see meadows go by.

Therefore He also added these words: "Take heed, and beware of covetousness," urging us to avoid covetousness as if it were some diabolical pit. And to whom did He say this: "Take heed, and beware of covetousness"? To these two brothers. Since they had a dispute over an inheritance, and probably one of the two had wronged the other, He directs His discourse to them about covetousness. For it is a great evil. Therefore the apostle Paul calls it "idolatry" (Col. 3:5), perhaps because it is fitting only for those who do not know God, or, what is more accurate, because the idols of the pagans are "silver and gold" (Ps. 115:4). He who honors silver and gold is like idolaters, because both he and they worship and pay homage to the same material. So one must flee from excess. Why? Because "a man's life does not depend on the abundance of his possessions," that is, the measure of this life is not proportionate to the abundance of possessions. For if someone has much, it does not yet mean that he will also live long. Longevity does not depend on a multitude of wealth. The Lord says this in refutation of the thoughts of lovers of wealth. Lovers of wealth apparently care about wealth because they desire to live, and they gather from everywhere because they intend to live a long time. Therefore the Lord says: O wretched and poor one! Will longevity really be added to you from much possession? Why then do you clearly suffer for the sake of an uncertain rest? For it is not yet known whether you will reach the old age for which you are storing up; but what is evident is that now you are spending your life on the acquisition of possessions.

This our Lord says to rebuke the motives of the covetous, who seem to heap up riches as if they were going to live for a long time. But will wealth ever make thee long lived? Why then dost thou manifestly undergo evils for the sake of an uncertain rest? For it is doubtful whether thou oughtest to attain to an old age, for the sake of which thou art collecting treasures.

Now nothing is more likely to produce conviction in believers that God can give us all things, than the fact, that the ethereal spirit perpetuates the vital union of the soul and body in close fellowship, without our exertion, and the healthgiving use of food does not fail until the last day of death has arrived. Since then the soul is clothed with the body as with a garment, and the body is kept alive by the vigour of the soul, it is absurd to suppose that a supply of food will be wanting to us, who are in possession of the everlasting substance of life.

And he said to his disciples: Therefore I say to you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will wear. When he says, Therefore I say, he looks back to the previous, that is, I forbid the anxiety of temporal things, so that you are not convicted with the world's rich for treasuring up for yourselves. Hence, what nature gives to all, and what is common to cattle, beasts, and humans, we are completely freed from the concern for it, but we are instructed not to be anxious about what we shall eat. And because we prepare bread for ourselves by the sweat of our brow, labor is to be exercised, anxiety is to be taken away.

And he said to his disciples, etc. Here now for the third time he calls back from the anxiety of avarice by an irrefragable argument, which is taken from a threefold genus of creature: first, from the rational creature; second, from the sensible creature, at: Consider the ravens; third, from the vegetative creature, at: Consider the lilies of the field.

First, therefore, from the rational creature he takes this argument: he who gives what is greater will give what is less; but the soul is more than food, and the body more than clothing; therefore he who gave the soul and the body will give sustenance and clothing; therefore it is not necessary to be anxious about these things. In which reasoning he first sets forth the principal conclusion, then subjoins the proof.

He therefore first sets forth the principal conclusion, when he says: Therefore I say to you: Do not be anxious for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall wear, that is, do not be anxious about food and clothing, which are the things most necessary for life, much less about other things which pertain to the present life; Philippians 4: "Be anxious for nothing, but in every prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." And note that he does not prohibit the solicitude that comes from prudent forethought, but that which comes from distrust of God, as if God had no care for us: against which, 1 Peter, last chapter: "Casting all your anxiety upon him, because he has care for you"; and in the Psalm: "Cast your thought upon the Lord," etc.; and Ambrose: "It is unbecoming for a man who serves the kingdom to be concerned about food or clothing; for the king knows how to feed, nourish, and clothe his household."

Wherefore neither are we to provide for ourselves costly clothing any more than variety of food. The Lord Himself, therefore, dividing His precepts into what relates to the body, the soul, and thirdly, external things, counsels us to provide external things on account of the body; and manages the body by the soul, and disciplines the soul, saying, "Take no thought for your life what ye shall eat; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on; for the life is more than meat, and the body more than raiment."

How carefully and with what great skill he brings the lives of the holy apostles to spiritual excellence. And with them he benefits us too, because he desires all humankind to be saved and to choose the wise and more excellent life. For this reason he makes them abandon unnecessary anxiety and does not allow a careworn and frenetic diligence that would make them wish to gather what exceeds their necessities. In these matters excess adds nothing to our benefit. "Do not be anxious," therefore, he says, "about your life, what you shall eat, nor about your body, what you shall put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing." He did not simply say, "Do not be anxious," but added "about your life," that is, do not give much attention to these things, but devote your earnestness to things of far greater importance. For life indeed is of more importance than food, and the body is more important than clothing. Since, therefore, we are at risk concerning both life and body, and pain and punishment are decreed against those who will not live uprightly, let all anxiety be laid aside with regard to clothing and food.…These things, in turn, are followed immediately by a savage crowd of other desires, the result being apostasy from God.… It is our duty, therefore, to stay away from all worldly desires, and rather to take delight in those things which please God.

Now the soul is more excellent than food, and the body than clothing. Therefore He adds, The life is more than meat, &c. As if He said, "God who has implanted that which is greater, how will He not give that which is less?" Let not our attention then be stayed upon trifling things, nor our understanding serve to seek for food and raiment, but rather think on whatever saves the soul, and raises it to the kingdom of heaven.

" "I shall have no food." But "think not," says He, "about food; " and as an example of clothing we have the lilies.

Who would be unwilling that we should distress ourselves about sustenance for our life, or clothing for our body, but He who has provided these things already for man; and who, therefore, while distributing them to us, prohibits all anxiety respecting them as an outrage against his liberality?-who has adapted the nature of "life" itself to a condition "better than meat," and has fashioned the material of "the body," so as to make it "more than raiment; "whose "ravens, too, neither sow nor reap, nor gather into storehouses, and are yet fed" by Himself; whose "lilies and grass also toil not, nor spin, and yet are clothed" by Him; whose "Solomon, moreover, was transcendent in glory, and yet was not arrayed like" the humble flower.

Little by little the Lord ascends to the teaching on the highest perfection. Note the order. He taught to guard against covetousness and added the parable of the rich man as proof that he who desires very much is foolish. Extending the teaching further, He does not allow us to be anxious even about necessities. Just as the devil, beginning with small sins, plunges us into great ones as well, which is why he is called in Job (Job 4:11) "a mighty lion," so, on the contrary, the Lord, destroying his works, teaches first to flee great sins, and then points out their very beginnings. Having commanded us to guard against covetousness, He reaches its very root as well, that is, anxiety, so as to cut off the root too, and says: "therefore I say to you." Since, He says, the one who assigns himself a long life and, being deceived by this, desires more, as was the aforementioned rich man, is foolish, therefore I say to you: "do not worry for your soul, what you shall eat." He said this not because the rational soul eats, but because the soul apparently remains bound to the body only on the condition that we consume food. And in another way: the body, even when dead, is clothed, but no longer nourished. Since being nourished is characteristic of an ensouled body, He rightly attributed the consumption of food to the soul. Or: is the nutritive power not also called soul? Therefore, with the nutritive part of the irrational soul, do not worry about what you shall eat, nor with the body, about what to wear. After this He presents the reason.

The Lord carries us onward by degrees to a more perfect teaching. For He taught us above to beware of covetousness, and He added the parable of the rich man, intimating thereby that the fool is he who desires more than is enough. Then as His discourse goes on, He forbids us to be anxious even about necessary things, plucking out the very root of covetousness; whence he says, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought. As if He said, Since he is a fool, who awards to himself a longer measure of life, and is thereby rendered more covetous; be not ye careful for your soul, what ye shall eat, not that the intellectual soul eats, but because there seems no other way for the soul to dwell united to the body except by being nourished. Or because it is a part of the animate body to receive nourishment, he fitly ascribes nourishment to the soul. For the soul is called also a nutritive power, as it is so understood. Be not then anxious for the nourishing part of the soul, what ye shall eat. But a dead body may also be clothed, therefore he adds, Nor for your body, what ye shall put on.

The soul is more than food, and the body more than clothing. It reminds us to remember that God has given us much more in creating and composing us from soul and body than food and clothing, so that you understand that he who gave the soul will much more easily give food. Likewise, he who gave the body will much more easily give clothing. In this place, it is usually asked whether this food reaches the soul, since the soul is incorporeal, but this food is corporeal. But we should know that in this place the soul is put for this life, for which this corporeal food is the support. According to this meaning, it was also said: Whoever loves his soul will lose it (Matthew 10). If we do not understand this as referring to this life, which must be lost for the sake of the kingdom of God, which the martyrs have shown to be possible, this command will be contrary to the statement where it was said: What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul (Matthew 16)?

Then he adds the proof, when he says: The life is more than food, and the body more than clothing: from which it follows: he who gave what is greater will also supply what is less. Ambrose: "It is absurd that we should think an abundance of sustenance will be lacking to us, who obtain from God the enduring substance of living." For the soul and the body are the constitutive parts of man, on whose account the other creatures were made, according to that passage in Genesis 1: "Let us make man in our image and likeness, and let him have dominion over the birds of the air," etc. Hence Chrysostom: "God made all things for man, but man for himself; God made all things in wisdom, but man not only in wisdom, but also according to his wisdom." Hence Wisdom 6: "He himself made the small and the great, and he has equal care for all." And Augustine in On the Christian Combat: "God cares for rational souls and Angels through himself, but governs all other things through them."

And note that he rightly compares the soul and sets it above food, and the body above clothing, because the soul gives vigor to the body by animating it, and the body is as it were the garment of the soul, which appears outwardly. If therefore God provides the bodily vigor of the animating soul, much more so the sufficiency of sustaining nourishment. Again, if he provides the soul with the garment of the body, much more so the covering of exterior clothing.

We who carry about our very soul, our very body, exposed in this world to injury from all, and exhibit patience under that injury; shall we be hurt at the loss of less important things? Far from a servant of Christ be such a defilement as that the patience which has been prepared for greater temptations should forsake him in frivolous ones.

He Who gave the greater thing, namely the soul, will He not also give food? He Who gave the body, will He not also give clothing? Then He proves this by the example of the ravens.

But it is a great thing to follow up this example in faith. For to the birds of the air who have no labour of tilling, no produce from the fruitfulness of crops, Divine Providence grants an unfailing sustenance. It is true then that the cause of our poverty seems to be covetousness. For they have for this reason a toilless and abundant use of food, because they think not of claiming to themselves by any special right fruits given for common food. We have lost what things were common by claiming them as our own. For neither is any thing a man's own, where nothing is perpetual, nor is supply certain when the end is uncertain.

Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap. They have neither storehouse nor barn, but God feeds them. If the birds, without care and toil, are fed by God's providence, which are here today and will not be tomorrow, whose soul is mortal, and when they cease to exist, will never be again, how much more so humans, to whom eternity is promised, are governed by God's rule!

How much more valuable are you than they! That is, you are worth more. For just as a rational animal like man is more highly ordered in the nature of things than irrational beings like birds.

That is, ye are more precious, because a rational animal like man is of a higher order in the nature of things than irrational things, as the birds are.

Consider the ravens. Here he takes his argument from a sentient creature: and first he sets forth the example, then he draws out the argument.

He therefore sets forth an example to be considered, when he says: Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap: behold, they have no exercise of labor; who have no storehouse, as regards storing wine; nor barn, as regards storing grain: behold, they have no repository. And God feeds them: behold, they suffer no want; the Psalm: "Who gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that call upon him."

And note that he sets forth the example of ravens rather than of other birds, and this both because they are of the greatest voracity—whence in Genesis eight it is said that "Noah sent forth a raven through the window of the ark, which went forth and did not return"; and the reason for this is that it settled upon a carcass—and also because this is said to be the nature of the raven, that it does not feed its young at the beginning, because it does not think them to be its own until it sees that they are black; Job thirty-eight: "Who prepares for the raven its food, when its young cry to God, wandering about because they have no food." Whence by ravens the other birds can rightly be understood; Matthew six: "Look at the birds of the air, for they do not sow," etc.

Then he draws out the argument, when he adds: How much more are you of greater value than they? The Gloss: "On account of reason and the immortality which is promised to you, you are of greater worth"; First Corinthians nine: "Does God have care for oxen? For they were written for our sake."

But because someone could argue against this, that solicitude is more fitting for us than for ravens on account of the excellence of reason, he shows that this amounts to nothing. For if the growth of the body does not come about through human thought but through divine disposition, by equal reasoning neither does nourishment.

Again, Luke 12: Consider the ravens etc.; The Gloss: "The saints are rightly compared to birds, who, doing nothing in the world nor laboring, desire only eternal things, already like the angels"; but the more one relinquishes these things, the more one is made like the angels: therefore etc.

Luke twelve: Consider the birds of the sky; the Gloss: "The saints are rightly compared to birds, who, having nothing in this world and not laboring, seek eternal things by contemplation alone, already like the Angels." But if those having nothing were bound to labor universally, such persons would already be transgressors: therefore if this is false, not all able-bodied poor are bound.

And He adds a plain example of instruction: "Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them." "Are ye not better than the fowls?" Thus far as to food.

But perhaps you will reply to this, "Who then will give us the necessities of life?" Our answer to this is as follows: The Lord is worthy to be trusted, and he clearly promises it to you and through little things gives you full assurance that he will be true also in that which is great. "Consider," he says, "the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them." … Through the birds and the flowers of the field, he produces in you a firm and unwavering faith. Nor does he permit us at all to doubt, but rather he gives us the certainty that he will grant us his mercy and stretch out his comforting hand, that we may have sufficiency in all things. It is, moreover, a very wicked thing that while those who are placed under the yoke of bodily slavery depend on their masters as sufficient to supply them with food and clothing, we will not consent to put our trust in almighty God, when he promises us the necessities of life.

As before in raising our minds to spiritual boldness, He assured us by the example of the birds, which are counted of little worth, saying, Ye are of more value than many sparrows; so now also from the instance of birds, He conveys to us a firm and undoubting trust, saying, Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which neither have storehouse nor barn, and God feedeth them; how much more are ye better than fowls?

Now whereas our Lord might have taken an example from the men who have cared least about earthly things, such as Elias, Moses, and John, and the like, He made mention of the birds, following the Old Testament, which sends us to the bee and the ant, and others of the same kind, in whom the Creator has implanted certain natural dispositions.

By the ravens also he signifies something else, for the birds which pick up seeds have a ready source of food, but those that feed on flesh as the ravens do have more difficulty in getting it. Yet birds of this kind suffer from no lack of food, because the providence of God extends every where; but he brings to the same purpose also a third argument, saying, And which of you by taking thought can add to his stature?

Who would be unwilling that we should distress ourselves about sustenance for our life, or clothing for our body, but He who has provided these things already for man; and who, therefore, while distributing them to us, prohibits all anxiety respecting them as an outrage against his liberality?-who has adapted the nature of "life" itself to a condition "better than meat," and has fashioned the material of "the body," so as to make it "more than raiment; "whose "ravens, too, neither sow nor reap, nor gather into storehouses, and are yet fed" by Himself; whose "lilies and grass also toil not, nor spin, and yet are clothed" by Him; whose "Solomon, moreover, was transcendent in glory, and yet was not arrayed like" the humble flower. Besides, nothing can be more abrupt than that one God should be distributing His bounty, while the other should bid us take no thought about (so kindly a) distribution-and that, too, with the intention of derogating (from his liberality).

He points to the birds in order to shame us all the more. He could have brought forward as an example the holy prophets, such as Elijah and Moses, but for greater reproach He points to the birds. Then He presents yet another reason.

Now the reason that he omits mention of the other birds, and speaks only of the ravens, is, that the young of the ravens are by an especial providence fed by God. For the ravens produce indeed, but do not feed, but neglect their young, to whom in a marvellous manner from the air their food comes, brought as it were by the wind, which they receive having their mouths open, and so are nourished. Perhaps also such things were spoken by synecdoche, i. e. the whole signified by a part. Hence in Matthew our Lord refers to the birds of the air, (Matt. 6:26.) but here more particularly to the ravens, as being more greedy and ravenous than others.

Indeed, it is a bonus and moral discourse, which contributes to the faith of divine mercy, either literally, because it relates to the stature of our body, or spiritually, because without God's favor, we can add nothing beyond the measure of our stature.

(de Qu. Ev. l. ii. qu. 28.) But in speaking concerning increasing the stature of the body, He refers to that which is least, that is, to God, to make bodies.

Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? If you then cannot do even that which is least, why are you anxious about the rest? That is, by whose power and dominion was it done that your body was brought to this stature, by his providence also can it be clothed. It can be understood that it was not done by your own care that your body came to this stature from this: if you try and wish to add one cubit to this stature, you cannot. Therefore, also entrust the care of clothing the body to him, by whose care you see it was done that you have a body of such stature. Therefore, he says, if you then cannot do even that which is least, for this is minimal, but to God it is to make bodies. Moreover, an example had to be given also for clothing, just as it was given for nourishment. Hence, it follows, and he says:

To Him then leave the care of directing the body, by whose aid you see it to come to pass that you have a body of such a stature.

For which reason he adds: And which of you by thinking can add to his stature one cubit? As if to say: no one, because this is not the work of man thinking but the work of God producing; whence in Second Maccabees seven it is said: "I know not how you appeared in my womb; nor did I give you life, nor did I myself fashion the members of each of you"; and First Corinthians fifteen: "God gives it a body as he wills, and to each of the seeds its own body." Whence also the Philosopher says that "of all things existing by nature there is a limit and proportion of magnitude and growth." If therefore these least things are established not in human but in divine providence, much less are the others.

If no one has by his own skill contrived a bodily stature for himself, but can not add even the shortest delay to the prefixed limit of his time of life, why should we be vainly anxious about the necessaries of life?

Tell me, pray, what profit do you gain from worrying? Do you add to your stature even the smallest measure? No, on the contrary, you even exhaust your body, for worry withers it.

Therefore he adds: If therefore you cannot do even the least thing, why are you anxious about the rest? As if to say: in vain and foolishly. Bede: "Leave the clothing of the body to him who made it reach this measure."

Nevertheless, this argument does not seem to hold, because, although it is not necessary to be anxious about growth, we can nevertheless, and ought to be, anxious about nourishment. For although the augmentative power is not subject to the will and reason, nothing however prevents the nutritive power from needing governance and provision.

Nevertheless, to this the response is that the argument is sound: because if those things which have been entrusted to the providence of nature need not be governed and cared for by man, by equal reasoning neither should those things which have been entrusted to supernatural providence.

Again, just as man cannot increase the body, so neither can he extend the limit of life which the Lord has predetermined.

Finally, if one ought not to be anxious about the measure of the body itself, but man is content with that which the Lord has given: why not likewise concerning external nourishment?

And if you cannot add even the least thing, why do you worry about the rest? It is obvious that just as God grants growth in stature, so too will He provide the rest.

It must also be noted that lilies are not generated in the roughness of mountains and in the untamedness of forests, but in the pleasantness of gardens. For there are certain gardens of various fruitful virtues, according to what is written: A closed garden, my sister, my bride, a closed garden, a sealed fountain; because where there is integrity, where there is chastity, where there is piety, where there is faithful secrecy of secrets, where there is the brightness of angels, there the violets of confessors, the lilies of virgins, the roses of martyrs are. And it is not incongruous for anyone to compare angels to lilies, since Christ himself has mentioned the lily, saying: I am the flower of the field and the lily of the valley. And it is fitting that Christ is compared to a lily; for where there is the blood of martyrs, there is Christ, who is a sublime, immaculate, harmless flower; in him, the roughness of thorns does not offend, but the surrounding grace shines forth. For the thorns are like the roses, because they are the torments of the martyrs. Unoffended divinity has no thorns, which it has not felt the torments.

The discourse of the Lord, using the comparison of flowers and grass, is especially persuasive. For what could be more moral for persuasion than to see that even irrational things are adorned by God's providence, so that they have no need for usefulness or ornamentation? Much more so, you should believe that a rational person, if he puts all his use in God and never desires to change his faith, will never be in need; precisely because he presumes on divine favor.

Nor does it seem of light moment, that a flower is either compared to man, or even almost more than to man is preferred to Solomon, to make us conceive the glory expressed, from the brightness of the colour to be that of the heavenly angels; who are truly the flowers of the other world, since by their brightness the world is adorned, and they breathe forth the pure odour of sanctification, who shackled by no cares, employed in no toilsome task, cherish the grace of the Divine bounty towards them, and the gifts of their heavenly nature. Therefore well also is Solomon hero described to be clothed in his own glory, and in another place to he veiled, because the frailty of his bodily nature be clothed as it were by the powers of his mind to the glory of his works. But the Angels, whose diviner nature remains free from bodily injury, are rightly preferred, although he be the greatest man. We should not however despair of God's mercy to us, to whom by the grace of His resurrection He promises the likeness of angels.

Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither labor nor spin. But these examples should not be discussed as allegories, so that we might seek what the ravens or the lilies signify; for they were set forth so that from lesser things greater could be persuaded.

But I say to you, not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these. And truly, what silk, what royal purple, what tapestry of weavers, can be compared to flowers? What blushes like the rose? What glows as the lily? The purple of violets truly surpasses any murex dye, more evident to the eyes than to words.

Consider the lilies etc. Here now thirdly he takes an argument from plant life. And first he sets forth a sensible likeness, then he adds the application.

He sets forth, therefore, the likeness when he says: Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither labor nor spin. Ambrose: "The comparison is clear; lilies do not, like other plants, require any cultivation from farmers"; whence they grow not by human effort, but by divine command, which was given from the very beginning of the world; Genesis 1: "Let the earth bring forth green plants" etc. And because the work of the supreme Artificer is more excellent than every work of human art, he therefore adds: But I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these: and yet Solomon was most fastidious concerning the adornment of garments, possessing at once the will, the industry, and the means to adorn himself. Whence it is said of him in 3 Kings 10: "The Queen of Sheba, seeing all the wisdom of Solomon and the dwellings of his servants and the ranks of his ministers and their garments, had no more spirit in her"; and this, because he had arranged all things most skillfully according to human industry; but nevertheless he could not be made equal to the works and industry of nature, which is the work of God. Whence Bede: "What purple of kings, what tapestry of weavers can be compared to flowers?"

Sometimes, Lord, one is tempted to say that if you wanted us to behave like the lilies of the field you might have given us an organization more like theirs. But that, I suppose, is just your grand experiment. Or no; not an experiment, for you have no need to find things out. Rather your grand enterprise. To make an organism which is also a spirit; to make that terrible oxymoron, a "spiritual animal". To take a poor primate, a beast with nerve-endings all over it, a creature with a stomach that wants to be filled, a breeding animal that wants its mate, and say, "Now get on with it. Become a god."

Similarly He enjoins with respect to clothing, which belongs to the third division, that of things external, saying, "Consider the lilies, how they spin not, nor weave. But I say unto you, that not even Solomon was arrayed as one of these." And Solomon the king plumed himself exceedingly on his riches.

But if a man wishes to be adorned with precious raiment, let him observe closely how even down to the flowers which spring from the earth God extends His manifold wisdom, adorning them with divers colours, so adapting to the delicate membranes of the flowers dyes far superior to gold and purple, that under no luxurious king, not even Solomon himself, who was renowned among the ancients for his riches as for his wisdom and pleasures, has so exquisite a work been devised; and hence it follows, But I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Some have obtained dominion and honors and riches by praying for them, how then do you forbid; us to seek such things in prayer? And indeed that all these things belong to the Divine counsel is plain to every one, yet are they conferred by God upon those that seek them, in order that by learning that God listens to our lower petitions, we may be raised to the desire of higher things, just as we see in children, who as soon as they are born cling to their mother's breasts, but when the child grows up it despises the milk, and seeks after a necklace or some such thing with which the eye is delighted; and again when the mind has advanced together with the body, giving up all childish desires, he seeks from his parents those things which are adapted to a perfect life. For to be careful about visible things is the part of those who possess no hope of a future life, no fear of judgment to come.

Or do you think that every believer is entitled to originate and establish a law, if only it be such as is agreeable to God, as is helpful to discipline, as promotes salvation, when the Lord says, "But why do you not even of your own selves judge what is right? " And not merely in regard to a judicial sentence, but in regard to every decision in matters we are called on to consider, the apostle also says, "If of anything you are ignorant, God shall reveal it unto you; " he himself, too, being accustomed to afford counsel though he had not the command of the Lord, and to dictate of himself as possessing the Spirit of God who guides into all truth.

And the Lord put forth the example of the lilies for our greater instruction. For if God so clothes the lilies that the glory of Solomon could never compare with any one of them, and this when beauty is not necessary for the lilies, will He not much more clothe us—His most honored creation—when moreover clothing is necessary for our body? What then — they will say — do You command us not to cultivate the land? I did not say: do not cultivate the land, but do not be anxious. I do not forbid working, but I forbid worrying, that is, placing hope in yourselves. And whoever works and places his hope in God, that person lives without anxiety. It is clear that He uproots anxiety because it draws one away from God.

Therefore, if lilies or angels are clothed with glory surpassing that of humans, we must not despair of God's mercy in us, to whom the Lord promises a similar appearance of angels through the grace of resurrection. In this passage, it also seems to address that question, which even the Apostle did not overlook; for the peoples of this world inquire how the dead rise again and with what kind of body they come.

If then God so clothes the grass in the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more you, O you of little faith? In the Scriptures, tomorrow is understood as a future time, as Jacob says: And tomorrow my righteousness will answer for me (Gen. XXX). And in the vision of Samuel, the witch speaks to Saul: Tomorrow you shall be with me (1 Sam. XXVIII).

Then after the similitude he adds the adaptation and draws the conclusion: But if the grass, which is today in the field and tomorrow is cast into the oven, that is, quickly withers: Psalm: "Let them be as the grass of the housetops, which, before it is plucked up, has withered"; and James 1: "The sun rose with its burning heat and dried up the grass, and its flower fell, and the beauty of its countenance perished"; God so clothes, namely with beautiful ornament and comeliness: "Color itself is called the garment of the flower." How much more you, O you of little faith: that is, how much more will he clothe you, even if you have but little faith, because you surpass them both by reason of nature and by reason of faith. Whence to Peter, doubting concerning omnipotence in the storm, it is said in Matthew 14: "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" He has little faith concerning the governance of paternal providence who fears dying of hunger daily: Psalm: "They did not believe in God, nor did they hope in his salvation"; and it follows: "And he commanded the clouds from above and opened the doors of heaven and rained down manna upon them to eat," etc. If anyone therefore is of true faith, believing that all things are governed by divine providence; since the providence of God bears and ought to bear greater care for things more precious, more worthy, and more enduring, for rational creatures rather than for irrational or vegetative ones: and for these it exercises such providence that nothing is lacking to them: much less therefore should one doubt concerning those things which pertain to the governance of man, as being more precious, better, and more worthy among the other creatures, because he is rational and made in the image of God. This reasoning is therefore irrefragable, because if anyone should say the contrary of this, he destroys the governance of divine providence and the order of the universe. And therefore such a one is not only of little faith, but also of perverse judgment.

What, I ask, more graceful, more gay-coloured, than flowers? What, I say, more delightful than lilies or roses? "And if God so clothe the grass, which is to-day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O ye of little faith!"

But "think not," says He, "about food; " and as an example of clothing we have the lilies. "My work was my subsistence.

Whether, indeed, it is as depreciating the Creator that he does not wish such trifles to be thought of, concerning which neither the crows nor the lilies labour, because, forsooth, they come spontaneously to hand by reason of their very worthlessness, will appear a little further on. Meanwhile, how is it that He chides them as being "of little faith? " What faith? Does He mean that faith which they were as yet unable to manifest perfectly in a god who has hardly yet revealed, and whom they were in process of learning as well as they could; or that faith which they for this express reason owed to the Creator, because they believed that He was of His own will supplying these wants of the human race, and therefore took no thought about them? Now, when He adds, "For all these things do the nations of the world seek after," even by their not believing in God as the Creator and Giver of all things, since He was unwilling that they should be like these nations, He therefore upbraided them as being defective of faith in the same God, in whom He remarked that the Gentiles were quite wanting in faith.

(de Qu Ev. l. ii. qu. 29.) Now having forbidden all thought about food, he next goes on to warn men not to be puffed up, saying, Neither be ye lifted up, (nolite in sublime tolli μὴ μετεωρίζισθε.) for man first seeks these things to satisfy his wants, but when he is filled, he begins to be puffed up concerning them. This is just as if a wounded man should boast that he had many plasters in his house, whereas it were well for him that he had no wounds, and needed not even one plaster.

And you, do not seek what you shall eat, or what you shall drink. Note that he did not say, Do not seek or be anxious about food, or drink, or clothing, but more expressively, He said, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink. And above, neither for the body, what you shall clothe yourselves with. Where it seems to me those are censured who, having despised common food or clothing, seek more luxurious or more austere food or clothing than those with whom they live their lives.

And do not be lifted up. He, having prohibited anxiety about food, consequently admonished that they should not be exalted. For at first, man seeks these things to fulfill a necessity. But when these things have become abundant, he begins also to take pride in them. This is like someone wounded boasting because he has many bandages in his house, although it would be good for him not to have wounds and not to need even one bandage.

It must however be observed, that He says not, Do not seek or take thought about meat, or drink, or raiment, but what ye shall eat or drink, in which He seems to me to reprove those who, despising the common food and clothing, seek for themselves either more delicate or coarser food and clothing than theirs with whom they live.

And do not you seek what you shall eat. Here fourthly he recalls from the solicitude of avarice through a desirable promise, concerning which three things are introduced: for he dissuades the solicitude of avarice and cupidity by promising sufficiency of provision, superexcellence of reward, and superabundance of treasure.

First therefore he dissuades the solicitude of avarice and cupidity by promising sufficiency of provision, when he says: And do not you seek what you shall eat or what you shall drink, namely as the covetous and the curious seek, that they may abound and be proud.

Therefore he adds: And do not be lifted up on high, for the acquisition of earthly things; 1 Timothy 6: "Command the rich of this world not to be high-minded, nor to hope in the uncertainty of riches." For to seek earthly things in this way is not of heavenly men, but of earthly ones.

For it is sufficient to the prudent for the sake of necessity only, to have a suitable garment, and moderate food, not exceeding what is enough. To the saints it is sufficient even to have those spiritual delights which are in Christ, and the glory that comes after.

it were strange for the disciples, who ought to set before others the rule and pattern of life, to fall into those things, which it was their duty to advise men to renounce; and therefore our Lord adds, And seek not what, ye shall eat, &c. Herein also our Lord strongly recommends the study of holy preaching, bidding His disciples to cast away all human cares.

Moreover, He Justly added, "Give us this day," seeing He had previously said, "Take no careful thought about the morrow, what ye are to eat." To which subject He also adapted the parable of the man who pondered on an enlargement of his barns for his forthcoming fruits, and on seasons of prolonged security; but that very night he dies.

"Seek not what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind." By doubtful mind (in Church Slavonic, "lifting up") He means, without a doubt, nothing other than distraction and the unstable direction of the mind, which thinks now of one thing, now of another, leaping from one thing to the next and always dreaming of something loftier. Is this not chasing after meteors?

Or by being lifted up he means nothing else but an unsteady motion of the mind, meditating first one thing, then another, and jumping from this to that, and imagining lofty things.

And that you may understand an elation of this kind, remember the vanity of your own youth; if at any time while by yourself you have thought about life and promotions, passing rapidly from one dignity to another, have grasped riches, have built palaces, benefitted friends, been revenged upon enemies. Now such abstraction is sin, for to have our delights fixed upon useless things, leads away from the truth. Hence He goes on to add, For all these things do the nations of the world seek after, &c.

But with respect to the necessaries of life, He adds, And your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.

For all these things the nations of the world seek. But your Father knows that you need them. Nevertheless, seek the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you. Here he most evidently shows that these are not to be sought as our ultimate goods, for the sake of which we should do good if we do anything, but that they are necessary. For what is the difference between a good which ought to be sought, and a necessity which ought to be used, he declared by this saying, when he said: Nevertheless, seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you. Therefore, the kingdom of God is our good and it is to be sought, and therein we should establish our end, for which purpose we should do all things whatever we do. But because in this life we struggle, that we may be able to reach that kingdom, which life cannot be lived without these necessities, He says, These things shall be added unto you, but you seek the kingdom of God. For he did not say, They shall be given, but they shall be added, surely indicating that there is another thing which is primarily given, another thing which is superadded. Because eternity should be in our intention, and temporality in our use, and that is given, and this is unquestionably superadded from abundance.

Therefore he adds: For all these things the nations of the world seek, because they have worldly wisdom: Baruch 3: "The sons of Agar, who sought out the prudence that is of the earth, the merchants of Merrha and Theman." But heavenly men ought not to be intent upon these things, because they are of the household of the supreme Father.

Whence he adds: But your Father knows that you need these things; and there is no doubt that he can provide; Romans 10: "The same Lord of all, rich unto all who call upon him." Nor is there any doubt that he wills to: Isaiah 49: "Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb?" etc. And therefore those who wish to journey toward the homeland will not be abandoned on the way for want of food.

"Wherefore I say, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for your body, what ye shall put on. For your life is more than meat, and your body than raiment." And again, "For your Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things." "But seek first the kingdom of heaven, and its righteousness," for these are the great things, and the things which are small and appertain to this life "shall be added to you." Does He not plainly then exhort us to follow the gnostic life, and enjoin us to seek the truth in word and deed?

(ubi sup.) For to be careful about visible things is the part of those who possess no hope of a future life, no fear of judgment to come.

Meanwhile, how is it that He chides them as being "of little faith? " What faith? Does He mean that faith which they were as yet unable to manifest perfectly in a god who has hardly yet revealed, and whom they were in process of learning as well as they could; or that faith which they for this express reason owed to the Creator, because they believed that He was of His own will supplying these wants of the human race, and therefore took no thought about them? Now, when He adds, "For all these things do the nations of the world seek after," even by their not believing in God as the Creator and Giver of all things, since He was unwilling that they should be like these nations, He therefore upbraided them as being defective of faith in the same God, in whom He remarked that the Gentiles were quite wanting in faith.

Meanwhile, how is it that He chides them as being "of little faith? " What faith? Does He mean that faith which they were as yet unable to manifest perfectly in a god who has hardly yet revealed, and whom they were in process of learning as well as they could; or that faith which they for this express reason owed to the Creator, because they believed that He was of His own will supplying these wants of the human race, and therefore took no thought about them? Now, when He adds, "For all these things do the nations of the world seek after," even by their not believing in God as the Creator and Giver of all things, since He was unwilling that they should be like these nations, He therefore upbraided them as being defective of faith in the same God, in whom He remarked that the Gentiles were quite wanting in faith. When He further adds, "But your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things," I would first ask, what Father Christ would have to be here understood? If He points to their own Creator, He also affirms Him to be good, who knows what His children have need of; but if He refers to that other god, how does he know that food and raiment are necessary to man, seeing that he has made no such provision for him? For if he had known the want, he would have made the provision.

Such anxiety, as drawing us away from God, or rather such frivolity, the Lord forbids, saying that "all these things do the people of this world seek after." For anxiety does not stop at what is necessary, but always seeks something higher, which is why it is called a lifting upward. For example, we have no bread. We first concern ourselves with where to obtain it, but we do not stop there; rather, we desire to obtain bread made from the finest wheat; then we desire wine as well, and indeed one that is fragrant and aromatic; then we desire roasted meat too, and indeed of grouse or pheasants. Do you see what anxiety and frivolity are like? Therefore the Lord decisively cuts it short, for these are the things the pagans seek. Then He presents another reason as well, namely: that our Father knows what we have need of, and He presents not one, but many reasons. He says: He is "Father," and if He is Father, how will He not give? Moreover, He "knows," for He is not unaware. And you "have need," for this is not superfluous, but necessary. Therefore, if He is Father, and you have need, and He knows, then how will He not give?

For when he says, Seek the kingdom of God: and all these things shall be added unto you; he shows that grace will not be lacking to the faithful, neither in the present nor in the future, if only those who desire divine things do not seek after earthly things. For it is inappropriate for men to be concerned with food, who are soldiers for the kingdom. The king knows how to provide for, nourish, and clothe his household; and therefore he said: Cast your care upon God, and he himself will nourish you.

But He goes on to show, that neither at the present time, nor hereafter, will grace be lacking to the faithful, if only they who desire heavenly things seek not earthly; for it is unworthy for men to care for meats, who fight for a kingdom. The king knoweth wherewithal he shall support and clothe his own family. Therefore it follows, But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you.

For He declares that there is one thing which is primarily given, another which is superadded; that we ought to make eternity our aim, the present life our business.

On account of which he adds: But seek first the kingdom of God, as the principal object of intention; and all these things shall be added unto you, as provisions for the journey, because he who is prepared to give the kingdom will without doubt not deny food; he who is prepared to give eternal things will not deny temporal things. Whence Augustine: "The Lord shows that temporal things are not to be sought as our goods, even if they are necessary. But the kingdom of God is to be sought, and in it our end is to be placed, for the sake of which we do all things." Therefore our solicitude ought not to be for acquiring food, but for acquiring the eternal kingdom; Romans 14: "The kingdom of God is not food and drink, but justice and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." Chrysostom: "The kingdom of God is the retribution: justice is the way by which we come to the kingdom." Therefore Matthew 6: "Seek first the kingdom of God and his justice" etc.

And note that this promise is quite fitting, because he who seeks the kingdom and his justice is a servant of God, a friend of God, and a son of God; Romans 8: "Those who are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God"; but that God should fail his servant, his friend, and his son, so as not to provide for him what is necessary: this is a most perverse thing to think. For such a one possesses God, such a one is possessed by God, and therefore possesses consequently what God possesses: whence the Apostle, First Corinthians 3: "All things are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's."

(in Orat. Dom. Serm. 1.) Some have obtained dominion and honours and riches by praying for them, how then dost thou forbid us to seek such things in prayer? And indeed that all these things belong to the Divine counsel is plain to every one, yet are they conferred by God upon those that seek them, in order that by learning that God listens to our lower petitions, we may be raised to the desire of higher things; just as we see in children, who as soon as they are born cling to their mother's breasts, but when the child grows up it despises the milk, and seeks after a necklace or some such thing with which the eye is delighted; and again when the mind has advanced together with the body, giving up all childish desires, he seeks from his parents those things which are adapted to a perfect life.

Behold, we see, dearest brothers, how many of you have gathered for the feast of the martyr: you bend your knees, you beat your breasts, you utter words of prayer and confession, you wet your faces with tears. But consider, I ask, your petitions; see whether you are asking in the name of Jesus, that is, whether you are seeking the joys of eternal salvation. For in the house of Jesus you do not seek Jesus, if in the temple of eternity you pray inappropriately for temporal things. Behold, one person in prayer seeks a wife, another asks for an estate, another requests clothing, another begs that food be given to him. And indeed when these things are lacking, they should be sought from almighty God. But we ought to remember continually what we have received from the command of our same Redeemer: "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." And so to ask these things from Jesus is not to err, provided they are not sought excessively.

And your own gospel likewise has it in this wise: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and these things shall be added unto you." But to Esau the blessing promised is an earthly one, which he supplements with a heavenly, after the fatness of the earth, saying, "Thy dwelling shall be also of the dew of heaven.

Again, if it is another god who has foreseen man's wants, and is supplying them, how is it that Marcion's Christ himself promises them? Is he liberal with another's property? "Seek ye," says he, "the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you"-by himself, of course.

Therefore, above all, "seek the Kingdom of God," and reject the concern for worldly things, as it distances you from Him, and then all these things shall be added unto you. Do you see what God is like? If you seek what is small, you do what is displeasing to Him, for you insult His great generosity; if you seek what is great, you will receive it, and what is small will be added unto you. For if He sees that you are occupied with seeking His Kingdom, then He will most assuredly provide for you in your needs. Do not even we act the same way in our own affairs? We too care more for those who have entirely entrusted themselves to our care, and we are so attentive to them as though they themselves do not even look after themselves. How much more so will the Lord do likewise? Thus, the Lord cuts off concern for worldly things in order to persuade us to seek His Kingdom, for amid worldly cares this is impossible.

(cont. Maximin. ii. 12.) For if He has aught less in His power than the Father has, then all that the Father has, are not His; for by begetting Him the Father gave power to the Son, as by begetting Him He gave all things which He has in His substance to Him whom He begot of His substance.

(De Trin. i. 8.) And because their substance is inseparable, it is enough sometimes to name the Father, sometimes the Son, nor is it possible to separate from either His Spirit, who is especially called the Spirit of truth.

(De Trin. vii. 3.) The Father is revealed by the Son, that is, by His Word. For if the temporal and transitory word which we utter both shows itself, and what we wish to convey, how much more the Word of God by which all things were made, which so shows the Father as He is Father, because itself is the same and in the same manner as the Father.

(Quæst. Ev. i. 1.) When He said, None knoweth the Son but the Father, He did not add, And he to whom the Father will reveal the Son. But when He said, None knoweth the Father but the Son, He added, And he to whom the Son will reveal him. But this must not be so understood as though the Son could be known by none but by the Father only; while the Father may be known not only by the Son, but also by those to whom the Son shall reveal Him. But it is rather expressed thus, that we may understand that both the Father and the Son Himself are revealed by the Son, inasmuch as He is the light of our mind; and what is afterwards added, And he to whom the Son will reveal, is to be understood as spoken of the Son as well as the Father, and to refer to the whole of what had been said. For the Father declares Himself by His Word, but the Word declares not only that which is intended to be declared by it, but in declaring this declares itself.

A beginning should be made from the center, that is, from Christ. For He Himself is the "Mediator between God and men," holding the central position in all things. Hence it is necessary to start from Him if a man wants to reach Christian wisdom, as it is proved in Matthew: for "no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and him to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him."

In this manner it is possible to find in the illumination of mechanical art, whose entire intention is directed toward the production of artifacts. In which we can perceive these three things, namely the generation and incarnation of the Word, the order of living, and the covenant of God and the soul. And this, if we consider the origin, the effect, and the fruit; or thus: the art of working, the quality of the artifact produced, and the usefulness of the fruit derived.

If we consider the origin, we shall see that the artificial product proceeds from the artisan by means of a likeness existing in his mind, through which the artisan conceives before he produces, and then produces as he has planned. Moreover, the artisan produces an exterior work conformed to the interior exemplar as closely as he can; and if he could produce such a product that would love and know him, he would certainly do so; and if that product were to know its maker, this would be by means of the likeness according to which it proceeded from the artisan; and if it had darkened eyes of knowledge, so that it could not raise itself above itself, it would be necessary, in order that it might be led to knowledge of its maker, that the likeness through which the product had been produced should condescend to that nature which could be grasped and known by it.

By this manner understand that from the supreme Artisan no creature proceeded except through the eternal Word, "in whom He disposed all things," and through whom He produced not only creatures having the nature of a vestige, but also of an image, so that they might be assimilated to Him through knowledge and love. And since through sin the rational creature had the eye of contemplation clouded over, it was most fitting that the eternal and invisible should become visible and assume flesh, in order to lead us back to the Father. And this is what is said in John fourteen: No one comes to the Father except through me; and Matthew eleven: No one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. And therefore it is said the Word was made flesh. Considering therefore the illumination of mechanical art with respect to the production of the work, we shall behold therein the Word begotten and incarnate, that is, the Divinity and the humanity and the integrity of the whole faith.

But "no one is good," except His Father. It is this same Father of His, then who being one is manifested by many powers. And this was the import of the utterance, "No man knew the Father," who was Himself everything before the coming of the Son. So that it is veritably clear that the God of all is only one good, just Creator, and the Son in the Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen.

The one who sees the Son, who has the image of the Father in himself, sees the Father himself.… These things are to be understood in a manner befitting to God. He said, "Everything has been handed down to me" so that he might not seem to be a member of a different species or inferior to the Father. Jesus added this in order to show that his nature is ineffable and inconceivable, like the Father's. For only the divine nature of the Trinity comprehends itself. Only the Father knows his own Son, the fruit of his own substance. Only the divine Son recognizes the One by whom he has been begotten. Only the Holy Spirit knows the deep things of God, the thought of the Father and the Son.

So that it might not be supposed that anything in him is less than what is in God, Jesus said that everything was entrusted to him by his Father, that he alone was known to his Father and that his Father was known to him alone or to one to whom he himself had wished to reveal his Father. By this revelation Jesus showed that the same essence of both Father and Son existed in their knowledge of each other. One who could know the Son would also know the Father in his Son, because everything was handed down to him from the Father. Moreover, nothing else was handed down than what was known to the Father in the Son alone, but the things that belonged to the Father were known to be revealed in the Son alone. Thus in this mystery of mutual knowledge it is understood that nothing else existed in the Son than what was known to be in the Father.

Or that we may not think that there is any thing less in Him than in God, therefore He says this.

And also in the mutual knowledge between the Father and the Son, He teaches us that there is nothing in the Son beyond what was in the Father, for it follows, And none knoweth the Son but the Father, nor does any man know the Father but the Son.

For this mutual knowledge proclaims that they are of one substance, since He that should know the Son, should know the Father also in the Son, since all things were delivered to Him by the Father.

The Father entrusts. The Son receives. What is entrusted? All things have been entrusted to the Son, but this does not mean cosmically heaven and earth and the elements and the rest of nature which God himself made and established. Rather, it refers personally to the people who have access to the Father through the Son and who were formerly rebellious but afterward began to know God.

(Verse 27.) Everything has been handed over to me by my Father. And understand mystically the One who hands over the Father and the One who receives the Son. Otherwise, if we want to feel according to our weakness, when the one receiving starts to have, the one giving will start to not have. However, everything that has been handed over to Him does not mean the heavens and the earth, and the elements, and the rest that He Himself made and created: but those who, through the Son, have access to the Father, and who previously were rebellious, began to feel God afterwards.

And no one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal. Let Eunomius be ashamed of claiming to have such knowledge of the Father and the Son as they have of each other. But if he persists in this and consoles himself in his madness because it follows, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal. It is one thing to know by the equality of nature what you know, and another by the dignity of the revealer.

For if we conceive of this thing according to our weakness, when he who receives begins to have, he who gives begins to be without. Or when He says, All things are committed to him, He may mean, not the heaven and earth and the elements, and the rest of the things which He created and made, but those who through the Son have access to the Father.

Let the heretic Eunomius therefore blush hereat who claims to himself such a knowledge of the Father and the Son, as they have one of anothera. But if he argues from what follows, and props up his madness by that, And he to whom the Son will reveal him, it is one thing to know what you know by equality with God, another to know it by His vouchsafing to reveal it.

For since He had said, "I thank Thee, because Thou hast hid them, and hast revealed them unto babes;" to hinder thy supposing that as being Himself deprived of this power, and unable to effect it, so He offers thanks, He saith, "All things are delivered unto me of my Father." And to them that are rejoicing, because the devils obey them, "Nay, why marvel," saith He. "that devils yield to you? All things are mine; All things are delivered unto me."

But when thou hearest, "they are delivered," do not surmise anything human. For He uses this expression, to prevent thine imagining two unoriginate Gods. Since, that He was at the same time both begotten, and Lord of all, He declares in many ways, and in other places also.

Then He saith what is even greater than this, lifting up thy mind; "And no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, but the Son." Which seems indeed to the ignorant unconnected with what went before, but hath full accordance therewith. As thus: having said, "All things are delivered unto me of my Father," He adds, "And what marvel," so He speaks, "if I be Lord of all? I who have also another greater privilege, the knowing the Father, and being of the same substance." Yea, for this too He covertly signifies by His being the only one who so knew Him. For this is His meaning, when He saith, "No man knoweth the Father but the Son."

And see at what time He saith this. When they by His works had received the certain proof of His might, not only seeing Him work miracles, but endowed also in His name with so great powers. Then, since He had said, "Thou hast revealed them unto babes," He signifies this also to pertain to Himself; for "neither knoweth any man the Father," saith He, "save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son is willing to reveal Him;" not "to whomsoever He may be enjoined," "to whomsoever He may be commanded." But if He reveals Him, then Himself too. This however He let pass as acknowledged, but the other He hath set down. And everywhere He affirms this; as when He saith, "No man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

And thereby he establishes another point also, His being in harmony and of one mind with Him. "Why," saith He, "I am so far from fighting and warring with Him, that no one can even come to Him but by me." For because this most offended them, His seeming to be a rival God, He by all means doth away with this; and interested Himself about this not less earnestly, but even more so, than about His miracles.

But when He saith, "Neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son," He means not this, that all men were ignorant of Him, but that with the knowledge wherewith He knows Him, no man is acquainted with Him; which may be said of the Son too. For it was not of some God unknown, and revealed to no man, that He was so speaking, as Marcion saith; but it is the perfection of knowledge that He is here intimating, since neither do we know the Son as He should be known; and this very thing, to add no more, Paul was declaring, when he said, "We know in part, and we prophesy in part."

Since the Lord Jesus Christ sent the apostles to preach, (our rule is) that no others ought to be received as preachers than those whom Christ appointed; for "no man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him." Nor does the Son seem to have revealed Him to any other than the apostles, whom He sent forth to preach-that, of course, which He revealed to them.

With regard, however, to the Father, the very gospel which is common to us will testify that He was never visible, according to the word of Christ: "No man knoweth the Father, save the Son." For even in the Old Testament He had declared, "No man shall see me, and live.

With us, however, the Son alone knows the Father, and has Himself unfolded "the Father's bosom.

Wherefore? Because "I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world" and, "I am the way: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me; " and, "No man can come to me, except the Father draw him; " and, "All things are delivered unto me by the Father; " and, "As the Father quickeneth (the dead), so also doth the Son; " and again, "If ye had known me, ye would have known the Father also.

He exults in spirit when He says to the Father, "I thank Thee, O Father, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent." He, moreover, affirms also that to no man is the Father known, but to His Son; and promises that, as the Son of the Father, He will confess those who confess Him, and deny those who deny Him, before His Father.

In His preceding words, He said to the Father, "Father, Thou hast revealed." Lest you think that He Himself does nothing and that everything is of the Father, He says, "All things have been given to Me and both the Father and I have the same authority." And when you hear "given" do not think that means given as to a servant or a subordinate, but rather as bestowed upon a son. It is because He was begotten of the Father that those things were given to Him. For if He were not begotten and yet were of the same essence as the Father, those things need not have been given to Him because He would have already possessed them. See what He says: all things have been given, not by a master, but by My Father. As, for example, when a handsome child is born of a handsome father, the child says, "I have been given, that is, I have inherited, my father's beauty." He says something great, "There is nothing marvelous in My being the Master of all things since I possess something even greater, that is, to know the Father, and knowing Him, to reveal Him to others." Consider, then: He said, above, that the Father has revealed the mysteries to babes, and here, that the Son reveals the Father. You see, then, the single power of the Father and the Son, since both the Father and the Son reveal.

All things have been delivered to me by my Father. He had given thanks to the Father, because he revealed his secrets to little ones. But someone might suppose that he himself could not reveal; hence he excludes this: first, he touches on the greatness of his own power; secondly, he invites people to himself, as though saying, "I am powerful" (v. 28).

First, he does two things: first, he states that he is equal to the Father; secondly, he applies it spiritually to what he said (v. 27b).

He says, therefore: Someone could ask whether he can do all things. He answers that all things have been delivered to me by my Father. But note the equality, although the origin is from the Father, which is against Sabellius. But what is meant by all things? This can be explained in three ways:

All things, i.e., above every creature, as below (28:18): "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." Or all things, i.e., the elect and predestined, who have been given in a special way: "Yours they were and you have given them to me" (Jn 17:6). Likewise, all things, namely, intrinsic, i.e., every perfection of the godhead: "As the Father has life in himself, so he has given to the Son to have life in himself" (Jn 5:26). And we should not understand this in a bodily sense, because if he gave, he also kept it for himself. This explanation is Augustine's and Hilary's.

But someone could ask: How did he give? Therefore, he tells how, when he says, from my Father. Hence he received this by generation. And no one knows the Son except the Father. Now he adapts his statement in a specific way to his proposition not only that he is equal to the Father but also consubstantial. From the substance of the Father exceeds all understanding, since the very essence of the Father is said to be unknowable, as is the essence of the Son. Hence there the equality is noted and Arius answered, who said that the Father is invisible but the Son visible. And no one knows the Son except the Father. But what is this? Did not the saints know? It must be said that they knew him by attaining their goal or by faith, but not by comprehending. But does not the Holy Spirit know? Yes. But it should be noted that limiting statements are sometimes added to the essential divine names and sometimes to the personal names. And when they are added to the personal names, they do not exclude that which is the same by nature; hence terms added to the Father do not exclude the Son. Hence where it says, "honor and glory to the immortal King, the invisible and only God" (1 Tim 1:17), the others of the same nature are not excluded. Similarly, when he says, no one knows..., the Holy Spirit is not excluded, for he is the same in nature. But when he says, no one knows, it means no man except the Son. And thus it is shown that the Father knows the Son. But this is contrary to Origen. For the Son knows by comprehension. Therefore, because he knows perfectly and is knowable, he has the power to reveal, as the Father has; hence he says, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. For manifestation is by means of a word: "Father, I have manifested your name to men..." (Jn 17:6) and (1:18): "No one has ever seen God." But he knew him; therefore, he could manifest him. Consequently, what he had said of the Father he attributed to himself. For he had said, You have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them to little ones. The Son also can do this, in as much as he has the same power.

Whence do we all thus labour, but that we are mortal men, bearing vessels of clay which cause us much difficulty. But if the vessels of flesh are straitened, the regions of love will be enlarged. To what end then does He say, Come unto me, all ye that labour, but that ye should not labour?

As to the other one, about the burden of our sins being intolerable, it might be clearer if we said 'unbearable', because that still has two meanings: you say 'I cannot bear it,' when you mean it gives you great pain, but you also say 'That bridge will not bear that truck' — not meaning 'That bridge will feel pain,' but 'If that truck goes on to it, it will break and not be a bridge any longer, but a mass of rubble.' I wonder if that is what the Prayer Book means; that, whether we feel miserable or not, and however we feel, there is on each of us a load which, if nothing is done about it, will in fact break us, will send us from this world to whatever happens afterwards, not as souls but as broken souls.

It would be a bold and silly creature that came before its Creator with the boast "I'm no beggar. I love you disinterestedly". Those who come nearest to a Gift-love for God will next moment, even at the very same moment, be beating their breasts with the publican and laying their indigence before the only real Giver. And God will have it so. He addresses our Need-love: "Come unto me all ye that travail and are heavy-laden," or, in the Old Testament, "Open your mouth wide and I will fill it."

Stand apart from the inclination to love sin and to love the flesh. Turn to deeds worthy of praise. Draw near to me, so that you may become sharers of the divine nature and partakers of the Holy Spirit. Jesus called everyone, not only the people of Israel. As the Maker and Lord of all, he spoke to the weary Jews who did not have the strength to bear the yoke of the law. He spoke to idolaters heavy laden and oppressed by the devil and weighed down by the multitude of their sins. To Jews he said, "Obtain the profit of my coming to you. Bow down to the truth. Acknowledge your Advocate and Lord. I set you free from bondage under the law, bondage in which you endured a great deal of toil and hardship, unable to accomplish it easily and accumulating for yourselves a very great burden of sins."

(Mor. xxx. 15.) For a cruel yoke and hard weight of servitude it is to be subject to the things of time, to be ambitious of the things of earth, to cling to falling things, to seek to stand in things that stand not, to desire things that pass away, but to be unwilling to pass away with them. For while all things fly away against our wish, those things which had first harassed the mind in desire of gaining them, now oppress it with fear of losing them.

He calls to Him those that were labouring under the hardships of the Law, and those who are burdened with the sins of this world.

(Verse 28, 29.) Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. The weight of sin is heavy, and the prophet Zacharias testifies, saying, iniquity sits upon a talent of lead (Zacch. 5). And the Psalmist laments: My iniquities have overwhelmed me (Psalm 38:4). Certainly, it invites those who were oppressed under the heavy yoke of the Law to the grace of the Gospel.

That the burden of sin is heavy the Prophet Zachariah bears witness, saying, that wickedness sitteth upon a talent of lead. (Zech. 5:7.) And the Psalmist fills it up, Thy iniquities are grown heavy upon me. (Ps. 38:4)

Next, having brought them by His words to an earnest desire, and having signified His unspeakable power, He after that invites them, saying. "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Not this or that person, but all that are in anxiety, in sorrows, in sins. Come, not that I may call you to account, but that I may do away your sins; come, not that I want your honor, but that I want your salvation. "For I," saith He, "will give you rest." He said not, "I will save you," only; but what was much more, "I will place you in all security."

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Thus, "be not afraid," saith He, "hearing of a yoke, for it is easy: fear not, because I said, 'a burden,' for it is light."

And how said He before, "The gate is narrow and the way strait?" Whilst thou art careless, whilst thou art supine; whereas, if thou duly perform His words, the burden will be light; wherefore also He hath now called it so.

But how are they duly performed? If thou art become lowly, and meek, and gentle. For this virtue is the mother of all strictness of life. Wherefore also, when beginning those divine laws, with this He began. And here again He doeth the very same, and exceeding great is the reward He appoints. "For not to another only dost thou become serviceable; but thyself also above all thou refreshest," saith He. "For ye shall find rest unto your souls."

Even before the things to come, He gives thee here thy recompense, and bestows the prize already, making the saying acceptable, both hereby, and by setting Himself forward as an example. For, "Of what art thou afraid?" saith He, "lest thou shouldest be a loser by thy low estate? Look to me, and to all that is mine; learn of me, and then shalt thou know distinctly how great thy blessing." Seest thou how in all ways He is leading them to humility? By His own doings: "Learn of me, for I am meek." By what themselves are to gain; for, "Ye shall find," saith He, "rest unto your souls." By what He bestows on them; for, "I too will refresh you," saith He. By rendering it light; "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." So likewise doth Paul, saying, "For the present light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

And how, some one may say, is the burden light, when He saith, "Except one hate father and mother;" and, "Whosoever taketh not up his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me:" and, "Whosoever forsaketh not all that he hath, cannot be my disciple:" when He commands even to give up our very life? Let Paul teach thee, saying, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" And that, "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us." Let those teach thee, who return from the council of the Jews after plenty of stripes, and "rejoice that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Christ." And if thou art still afraid and tremblest at hearing of the yoke and the burden, the fear comes not of the nature of the thing, but of thy remissness; since if thou art prepared, and in earnest, all will be easy to thee and light. Since for this cause Christ also, to signify that we too must needs labor ourselves, did not mention the gracious things only, and then hold His peace, nor the painful things only, but set down both. Thus He both spake of "a yoke," and called it "easy;" both named a burden, and added that it was "light;" that thou shouldest neither flee from them as toilsome, nor despise them as over easy.

But if even after all this, virtue seem to thee an irksome thing, consider that vice is more irksome. And this very thing He was intimating, in that He said not first, "Take my yoke upon you," but before that, "Come, ye that labor and are heavy laden;" implying that sin too hath labor, and a burden that is heavy and hard to bear. For He said not only, "Ye that labor," but also, "that are heavy laden." This the prophet too was speaking of, when in that description of her nature, "As an heavy burden they weighed heavy upon me." And Zacharias too, describing her, saith she is "A talent of lead."

And this moreover experience itself proves. For nothing so weighs upon the soul, and presses it down, as consciousness of sin; nothing so much gives it wings, and raises it on high, as the attainment of righteousness and virtue.

And mark it: what is more grievous, I pray thee, than to have no possessions? to turn the cheek, and when smitten not to smite again? to die by a violent death? Yet nevertheless, if we practise self-command, all these things are light and easy, and pleasurable.

But whatever I may say, my speech will present no such proof as the actual trial. Wherefore I would there were present here with us some one of those who have attained unto that summit of self-restraint, and then you would know assuredly the delight thereof; and that none of those that are enamored of voluntary poverty would accept wealth, though ten thousand were to offer it.

But would these, say you, ever consent to become poor, and to cast away the anxieties which they have? And what of that? This is but a proof of their madness and grievous disease, not of anything very pleasurable in the thing. And this even themselves would testify to us, who are daily lamenting over these their anxieties, and accounting their life to be not worth living. But not so those others; rather they laugh, leap for joy, and the wearers of the diadem do not so glory, as they do in their poverty.

Again, to turn the cheek is, to him that gives heed, a less grievous thing than to smite another; for from this the contest hath beginning, in that termination: and whereas by the former thou hast kindled the other's pile too, by the latter thou hast quenched even thine own flames. But that not to be burnt is a pleasanter thing than to be burnt, surely plain to every man. And if this hold in regard of bodies, much more in a soul.

And whether is lighter, to contend, or to be crowned? to fight, or to have the prize? and to endure waves, or to run into harbor? Therefore also, to die is better than to live. For the one withdraws us from waves and dangers, while the other adds unto them, and makes a man subject to numberless plots and distresses, which have made life not worth living in thine account.

And if thou disbelievest our sayings, hearken to them that have seen the countenances of the martyrs in the time of their conflicts, how when scourged and flayed, they were exceeding joyful and glad, and when exposed upon hot irons, rejoiced, and were glad of heart, more than such as lie upon a bed of roses. Wherefore Paul also said, when he was at the point of departing hence, and closing his life by a violent death, "joy, and rejoice with you all; for the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me." Seest thou with what exceeding strength of language he invites the whole world to partake in his gladness? So great a good did he know his departure hence to be, so desirable, and lovely, and worthy of prayer, that formidable thing, death.

But that virtue's yoke is sweet and light, is manifest many other ways also; but to conclude, if you please, let us look also at the burdens of sin. Let us then bring forward the covetous, the retailers and second-hand dealers in shameless bargains. What now could be a heavier burden than such transactions? how many sorrows, how many anxieties, how many disappointments, how many dangers, how many plots and wars, daily spring up from these gains? how many troubles and disturbances? For as one can never see the sea without waves, so neither such a soul without anxiety, and despondency, and fear, and disturbance; yea, the second overtakes the first, and again others come up, and when these are not yet ceased, others come to a head.

Or wouldest thou see the souls of the revilers, and of the passionate? Why, what is worse than this torture? what, than the wounds they have within? what, than the furnace that is continually burning, and the flame that is never quenched?

Or of the sensual, and of such as cleave unto this present life? Why, what more grievous than this bondage? They live the life of Cain, dwelling in continual trembling and fear at every death that happens; the kinsmen of the dead mourn not so much, as these do for their own end.

What again fuller of turmoil, and more frantic, than such as are puffed up with pride? "For learn," saith He, "of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Because long-suffering is the mother of all good things.

Fear thou not therefore, neither start away from the yoke that lightens thee of all these things, but put thyself under it with all forwardness, and then thou shalt know well the pleasure thereof. For it doth not at all bruise thy neck, but is put on thee for good order's sake only, and to persuade thee to walk seemly, and to lead thee unto the royal road, and to deliver thee from the precipices on either side, and to make thee walk with ease in the narrow way.

Since then so great are its benefits, so great its security, so great its gladness, let us with all our soul, with all our diligence, draw this yoke; that we may both here "find rest unto our souls," and attain unto the good things to come, by the grace and love towards man of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and might, now and ever, and world without end. Amen.

Now poverty is a light thing to those who possess it, and if a man were to call the poverty which is for the sake of God "riches," he would call it rightly, and even as it is. Therefore our Lord also lifted a heavy yoke from His disciples in that He made them destitute of the riches of the world, saying, "Come unto Me, all ye that are weary and are laden with heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." And who are these, unless it be those who are wearied by the superfluities of riches, and who bear the heavy yoke of the cares and anxieties of the world? And what weariness is so oppressive as this? For when thou hast come to enjoy thyself, thou art the more tired. The care for human riches is a path which hath no ending in this life, for however far a man may travel along it, it lengtheneth out before his footsteps, and there is nothing which breaketh it except death. And when a man hath gathered together riches and mammon that he may enjoy himself, and live daintily and luxuriously, his enjoyment is weariness, and if the enjoyment of the world be weariness, what shall weariness itself be called? And if the enjoyments and luxuries are heavy labours, what shall labour itself be called? For the world is heavy in all its conversation, but because of the love thereof they who carry its burdens perceive them not, and they stumble therein like blind men, but discern it not, and though they carry heavy burdens, they are light unto them, and they weary and exert themselves painfully after the merchandise of loss, but know not that it is loss. And because our Lord saw them in this empty labour, He cried unto them, saying, "Come unto Me, and I will give you rest, for in your weariness there is no rest. But your weariness begetteth weariness, and your labour bringeth forth labour, and your riches gather together poverty, and your rest is tribulation, and your enjoyment is affliction, and your refreshing is toil; for the path of the desire of riches which ye have trodden of your own freewill hath no end; but if ye will come to Me by My road it will come to an end."

(non occ.) I will not only take from you your burden, but will satisfy you with inward refreshment.

Come, He says, not with the feet, but with the life, not in the body, but in faith. For that is a spiritual approach by which any man approaches God; and therefore it follows, Take my yoke upon you.

We are naturally obliged to state our opinion clearly to such people, and to reply: O, you! Why do you reason to your own perdition rather than your salvation? And why do you pick out for yourselves the obscure passages of inspired Scripture and then tear them out of context and twist them in order to accomplish your own destruction? Do you not hear the Savior crying out every day: "As I live … I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live" [Ezekiel 33:11]? Do you not hear Him Who says: "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" [Matthew 3:2]; and again: "Just so, I tell you, there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents" (Luke 15:7, adapted)? Did He ever say to some: "Do not repent for I will not accept you," while to others who were predestined: "But you, repent! because I knew you beforehand"? Of course not! Instead, throughout the world and in every church He shouts: "Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). Come, He says, all you who are burdened with many sins, to the One Who takes away the sin of the world; come all who thirst to the fountain which flows and never dies. - "Second Ethical Discourse"

He calls all mankind, not only the Jews, but also the Gentiles. By those "that labour" understand the Jews, who follow the strict observances of the law and labor in the occupation of fulfilling the commandments of the law. Those who are "heavy laden" are the Gentiles, who are oppressed by the burden of sins. To all these does Christ give rest. For to believe, to confess, and to be baptized, what labor is it? Is it not, rather, rest? For here in this life you are unburdened of the things which you did before your baptism, and there in the next life rest awaits you.

Come to me, all you... Come to my blessings. First, the invitation; secondly, the need for the invitation; thirdly, its utility. He says, therefore: Come to me. This is also the word of Wisdom: "Come to me, you who desire me, and eat your fill of my produce" (Sir 24:19). Hence, draw near to me, you untaught, because I want to communicate myself. But what is the need? Because without me men labor too much: all you who labor. In a special way this can be applied to the Jews, because they labored under the yoke of the Law and commandments, as it says in Acts (15:10): "This is a burden which neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear." Likewise, in general, to all who labor on account of human frailty: "I am poor and acquainted with labors from my youth" (Ps 88:15). And are heavy laden, namely, with sins: "My iniquities weigh like a burden too heavy for me" (Ps 38:4).

And what shall we get, if we come to you? I will give you rest [refresh you]. "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink" (Jn 7:37). Then he explains the invitation: first, he explains; secondly, he assigns the reason (v. 30). Having presented the invitation and its purpose, he now wants to explain what that invitation is, when he says, take my yoke upon you. But what is this? You say that you want to refresh us and lift our labor from us, and in the same breath you tell us to carry a yoke? We believed that it would not involve a yoke. Yes, without the yoke of sin: "For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken" (Is 9:4). Not that you are without God's law, but without the yoke of sin: "Let us cast off from us their yoke" (Ps 2:3); "Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled, because of your iniquity" (Hos 14:1); "Freed from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness" (Rom 6:18).

You are to "take my yoke upon you, and learn from me." You are not learning from me how to refashion the fabric of the world, nor to create all things visible and invisible, nor to work miracles and raise the dead. Rather, you are simply learning of me: "that I am meek and lowly in heart." If you wish to reach high, then begin at the lowest level. If you are trying to construct some mighty edifice in height, you will begin with the lowest foundation. This is humility. However great the mass of the building you may wish to design or erect, the taller the building is to be, the deeper you will dig the foundation. The building in the course of its erection rises up high, but he who digs its foundation must first go down very low. So then, you see even a building is low before it is high and the tower is raised only after humiliation.

Not to create a world, or to do miracles in that world; but that I am meek and lowly in heart. Wouldest thou be great? Begin with the least. Wouldest thou build up a mighty fabric of greatness? First think of the foundation of humility; for the mightier building any seeks to raise, the deeper let him dig for his foundation. Whither is the summit of our building to rise? To the sight of God.

When grace, justice, and wisdom have been perfectly attained, one ascends to the summit of evangelical perfection, which Christ Jesus taught by word and example, who specially professed himself the master of humility, in Matthew 11: Learn from me, etc. For humility is the gateway of wisdom, the foundation of justice, and the dwelling place of grace.

Yet (and this is the strange, significant thing) even His enemies, when they read the Gospels, do not usually get the impression of silliness and conceit. Still less do unprejudiced readers. Christ says that He is 'humble and meek' and we believe Him; not noticing that, if He were merely a man, humility and meekness are the very last characteristics we could attribute to some of His sayings.

He holds forth the inducements of a pleasant yoke, and a light burden, that to them that believe He may afford the knowledge of that good which He alone knoweth in the Father.

And what is more pleasant than that yoke, what lighter than that burden? To be made better, to abstain from wickedness, to choose the good, and refuse the evil, to love all men, to hate none, to gain eternal things, not to be taken with things present, to be unwilling to do that to another which yourself would be pained to suffer.

[Daniel 4:10] "'I saw, and behold there was a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was very great...'" It was not only of Nebuchadnezzar, King of the Chaldeans, but also of all impious men that the prophet says: "I beheld the impious man highly exalted and lifted up like the cedars of Lebanon" (Psalm 37:35). Such men are lifted up, not by the greatness of their virtues, but by their own pride; and for that reason they are cut down and fall into ruin. Therefore it is good to follow the teaching of our Lord in the Gospel: "Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart" (Matthew 11:29). But as for the fact that, according to Theodotion, he mentions his kutos or height - or else his kureia, as he himself later renders it, that is to say, his dominion (a word we have translated as "his appearance") - those same detractors of the historicity of this passage slanderously assert that Nebuchadnezzar's dominion never possessed the entire world. He did not rule over the Greeks or barbarians, or over all of the nations in the north and west, but only over the provinces of the East; that is to say, over Asia, not over Europe or Libya. Consequently all these slanders require to be understood as attributable to the devil, for actually we ourselves should accept all this as spoken by way of hyperbole, having in view the arrogance of the impious king, who in Isaiah (chap. 14) makes as great a boast as this, claiming that he possesses the very heaven itself, and the whole earth besides, as if it were a nest full of birds' eggs.

Such a spirit as this let us too acquire, and whatever we may suffer we shall bear it easily, and before the Kingdom, we shall reap here the gain accruing from lowliness of mind. Thus "learn," saith He, "of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Therefore in order that we may enjoy rest both here and hereafter, let us with great diligence implant in our souls the mother of all things that are good, I mean humility. For thus we shall be enabled both to pass over the sea of this life without waves, and to end our voyage in that calm harbor; by the grace and love towards man of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and might for ever and ever. Amen.

Seest thou how everywhere practice is required, and the proof by works? "For by their fruits," saith He, "ye shall know them." And what commends our own life? Is it indeed a display of miracles, or the perfection of an excellent conversation? Very evidently it is the second; but as to the miracles, they both have their origin from hence, and terminate herein. For both He that shows forth an excellent life, draws to Himself this gift, and he that receives the gift, receives it for this end, that he may amend other men's lives. Since even Christ for this end wrought those miracles, that having made Himself thereby credible, and drawn men unto Him, He might bring virtue into our life. Wherefore also He lays more stress of the two on this. For He is not at all satisfied with the signs only, but He also threatens hell, and promises a kingdom, and lays down those startling laws, and all things He orders to this end, that He may make us equal to the angels.

And why say I, that Christ doth all for this object? Why, even thou, should one give thee thy choice, to raise dead men by His name, or to die for His name; which I pray thee, of the two wouldest thou rather accept? Is it not quite plain, the latter? and yet the one is a miracle, the other but a work. And what, if one offered thee to make grass gold, or to be able to despise all wealth as grass, wouldest thou not rather accept this latter? and very reasonably. For mankind would be attracted by this more than any way. For if they saw the grass changed into gold, they would covet themselves also to acquire that power, as Simon did, and the love of money would be increased in them; but if they saw us all contemning and neglecting gold, as though it were grass, they would long ago have been delivered from this disease.

Seest thou that our practice has more power to do good? By practice I mean, not thy fasting, nor yet thy strewing sackcloth and ashes under thee, but if thou despise wealth, as it ought to be despised; if thou be kindly affectioned, if thou give thy bread to the hungry, if thou control anger, if thou cast out vainglory, if thou put away envy. So He Himself used to teach: for, "Learn of me," saith He, "for I am meek and lowly in heart." He did not say, "for I fasted," although surely He might have spoken of the forty days, yet He saith not this; but, "I am meek and lowly in heart." And again, when sending them out, He said not, "Fast," but, "Eat of all that is set before you." With regard to wealth, however, He required of them great strictness, saying, "Provide not gold, or silver, or brass, in your purses."

And all this I say, not to depreciate fasting, God forbid, but rather highly to commend it. But I grieve when other duties being neglected, ye think it enough for salvation, having but the last place in the choir of virtue. For the greatest thing is charity, and moderation, and almsgiving; which hits a higher mark even than virginity.

The yoke of Christ is Christ's Gospel, which joins and yokes together Jews and Gentiles in the unity of the faith. This we are commanded to take upon us, that is, to have in honour; lest perchance setting it beneath us, that is wrongly despising it, we should trample upon it with the miry feet of unholiness; wherefore He adds, Learn of me.

We must learn then from our Saviour to be meek in temper, and lowly in mind; let us hurt none, let us despise none, and the virtues which we have shown in deed let us retain in our heart.

The yoke of Christ is humility and meekness. For he who humbles himself before all men has rest and remains untroubled; but he who is vainglorious and arrogant is ever encompassed by troubles as he does not wish to be less than anyone but is always thinking how to be esteemed more highly and how to defeat his enemies. Therefore the yoke of Christ, which is humility, is light, for it is easier for our lowly nature to be humbled than to be exalted. But all the commandments of Christ are also called a yoke, and they are light because of the reward to come, even though for a time they appear heavy.

Take, therefore, my yoke, namely, the gospel lessons. And he says, yoke, because just as a yoke fastens and joins the necks of oxen, so the doctrine of the gospel fastens the people to its yoke. And what is that? Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart. The whole Law consists in two things: meekness and humility. By meekness a man is rightly ordered to his neighbor; hence Psalm 132 (v. 1): "Remember, O Lord, David and all his meekness." By humility he is rightly ordered to himself and to God: "Upon whom will my spirit rest except on the calm and meek" (Is 66:2)? Hence humility makes a man capable of God. He had also said, "and I will refresh you." What is this refreshment? You will find rest for your souls. For the body is not refreshed, as long as it is afflicted, and when it is not afflicted any more, it is said to be refreshed. And just as hunger is to the body, so desire is to the mind; hence the achievement of desires is refreshing: "Who satisfies your desire with good" (Ps 103:5). And this rest is a rest of the soul: "I have labored little and found for myself much rest" (Sir 51:27). The meek are not at rest this way in the world; hence they will find eternal rest, namely, the fulfillment of desires.

If the yoke is easy and the burden light, why did he call "the way" "narrow"? It is narrow to the careless, for to the zealous the Lord's tasks are light. For even if they involve bodily suffering for a little while, yet the one who is now nourished with good hopes is the devout one who easily bears these pains.

So then they who with unfearing neck have submitted to the yoke of the Lord endure such hardships and dangers, that they seem to be called not from labour to rest, but from rest to labour. But the Holy Spirit was there who, as the outward man decayed, renewed the inward man day by day, and giving a foretaste of spiritual rest in the rich pleasures of God in the hope of blessedness to come, smoothed all that seemed rough, lightened all that was heavy. Men suffer amputations and burnings, that at the price of sharper pain they may be delivered from torments less but more lasting, as boils or swellings. What storms and dangers will not merchants undergo that they may acquire perishing riches? Even those who love not riches endure the same hardships; but those that love them endure the same, but to them they are not hardships. For love makes right easy, and almost nought all things however dreadful and monstrous. How much more easily then does love do that for true happiness, which avarice does for misery as far as it can?

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.

Joseph asked Poemen, 'How should we fast?' Poemen said, 'I suggest that everyone should eat a little less than he wants, every day.' Joseph said to him, 'When you were a young man, didn't you fast for two days on end?' He said to him, 'That's right, I used to fast three days on end, even for a week. But the great hermits have tested all these things, and they found that it is good to eat something every day, but on some days a little less. They have shown us that this is the king's highway, for it is easy and light.'

Therefore let everyone who wants life and desires to see good days put down the yoke of iniquity and malice. The prophet says, "Let us burst their bonds and thrust their yoke from us." For unless one throws behind the yoke of iniquity, that is, the spark of all vices, one cannot take up the agreeable and light yoke of Christ. But if the yoke of Christ is so agreeable and light, how is it that divine religion seems so harsh and bitter to some people? It is bitter to some because the heart that has been tainted by earthly desires cannot love heavenly things. It has not yet come to Christ, so that it can take up his yoke and learn that he is gentle and humble of heart. Hence we observe, my dearest friends, from the teaching of our Lord, that unless a person is gentle and humble of heart, he or she cannot bear the yoke of Christ.

(Mor. iv. 33.) What burden is it to put upon the neck of our mind that He bids us shun all desire that disturbs, and turn from the toilsome paths of this world?

(Verse 30.) For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. How is the Gospel lighter than the Law, when in the Law murder is condemned, but in the Gospel anger is condemned? In what way is the grace of the Gospel easier, when in the Law adultery is punished, but in the Gospel lust is punished? In the Law there are many precepts, which the Apostle teaches cannot be fully fulfilled (Acts 15). In the Law, works are required, and whoever does them shall live. In the Gospel, the will is sought, and even if it does not have the desired effect, it does not lose the reward. The Gospel commands what we are able to do: that we do not desire, namely, this is within our power. When the law does not punish the will, it punishes the effect, so that you do not commit adultery. Imagine a virgin prostitute in persecution. This virgin is accepted according to the Gospel, since she does not sin by her own will, but she is rejected in the Law as if corrupted.

And how is the Gospel lighter than the Law, seeing in the Law murder and adultery, but under the Gospel anger and concupiscence also, are punished? Because by the Law many things are commanded which the Apostle fully teaches us cannot be fulfilled; by the Law works are required, by the Gospel the will is sought for, which even if it goes not into act, yet does not lose its reward. The Gospel commands what we can do, as that we lust not; this is in our own power; the Law punishes not the will but the act, as adultery. Suppose a virgin to have been violated in time of persecution; as here was not the will she is held as a virgin under the Gospel; under the Law she is cast out as defiled.

But how is Christ's yoke pleasant, seeing it was said above, Narrow is the way which leadeth unto life? (Mat. 7:14.) That which is entered upon by a narrow entrance is in process of time made broad by the unspeakable sweetness of love.

And so they upbraid the discipline of monogamy with being a heresy; nor is there any other cause whence they find themselves compelled to deny the Paraclete more than the fact that they esteem Him to be the institutor of a novel discipline, and a discipline which they find most harsh: so that this is already the first ground on which we must join issue in a general handling (of the subject), whether there is room for maintaining that the Paraclete has taught any such thing as can either be charged with novelty, in opposition to catholic tradition, or with burdensomeness, in opposition to the "light burden" of the Lord.

How is it then that he himself demands a high degree of strictness? He answers, "You have not yet had experience of things that are mine, and for this reason you think this way. But if you would take up my yoke and would believe in those things I give, you would find the greatest difference between the things that are from me and those that are from Moses. From me there is great, patient endurance and kindness. Seeing such a weight of sins—murders and self-love and things more unnamable than these—I am longsuffering and bear with those who do these things, not despising them but waiting for them to repent. If ever they should repent and change their ways, I immediately forgive them, not remembering their former acts. But the law of Moses is not like this. When you sin, it immediately punishes the sinner. It knows no repentance. It promises no remission. When I make demands about the covenant, I am not so much preoccupied with investigating the things that happened. For me, it is enough that a soul choose what is good with a genuine resolution. But the law goes overboard, both adding more punishments to the smaller ones and cursing the transgressors. Therefore my yoke is good on account of forgiveness, and my burden is light because it is not a collection of customs and various observances but decisions of the soul."

But do not wonder if I invite you to a yoke, because my yoke is not a burden. Why? For my yoke is easy and delightful: "How sweet are your words to my taste!" (Ps 119:103). And my burden is light. And these can be referred to two things: by the yoke the oxen are held, but the burden is carried; hence the yoke is referred to the negative precepts, the burden to the affirmative.

But this seems to be false, because the burden of the New Law seems very heavy, as was said above (5:21): "You have heard that it was said of old: You shall not kill. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to the judgment." So it seems that it is a heavier burden: "Narrow is the way, which leads to life." Likewise the Apostle in 2 Corinthians (11:23): "In many labors." Hence the yoke seems most burdensome. Therefore, three things must be considered: the effect of the teaching, the act and the circumstances. And in all three it is light.

The doctrine of Christ is light in its effect, because it changes the heart, in as much as it makes us love not temporal but spiritual things. For the person who loves temporal things finds it more a burden to lose a little than a person who loves spiritual things to lose much. The Old Law did not forbid those temporal things; therefore it was painful to lose them. But now, even though it is burdensome in the beginning, after a while it is light: "I will lead you in the paths of uprightness. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered" (Pr 4:11). Likewise, in regard to its act, the Law imposed a burden of external acts. But our law is solely in the will; hence Romans (14:17): "the kingdom of God is not food and drink." Again, the law of Christ brings joy; hence Romans (14:17): "Justice and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." Likewise, in regard to circumstances there are many adversities; hence "All who desire to lead a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution" (2 Tim 3:12). But they are not burdensome, because they are seasoned with the condiment of love; for when a person loves someone, it is not a burden to suffer anything for him. Hence love makes easy all difficult and impossible things. Therefore, if one loves Christ properly, nothing is difficult for him; consequently, the New Law does not impose a burden.