Sunday after Elevation

You heard just now that the Lord Jesus, after rising from the dead, found two of his disciples on the road, talking to each other about all that had happened, and said to them, "What is this conversation you are having with each other, and why are you so sad?" …So what is the benefit of this reading for us? A very considerable one, if we understand it rightly. Jesus appeared. They saw him with their eyes and did not recognize him. The Master was walking with them along the way, and he himself was the way. But they weren't yet walking along the way. He found, you see, that they had wandered off the way. After all, when he had been with them before the passion, he had foretold everything: that he was going to suffer, to die and to rise again on the third day. He had foretold it all, but his death had erased it from their memories. They were so shattered when they saw him hanging on the tree that they forgot about his teaching. They did not expect him to rise, nor did they hold on to what he had promised.

And he said to them etc. After the described association of Christ with the disciples on the journey, here he describes the association in conversation, concerning the description of which four things are introduced, namely the inquiry into the matter about which the discourse; the narration of the matter about which the sorrow; the explanation of the matter about which the hesitation of mind; the declaration of Scripture through which the certitude of faith.

First, therefore, as regards the inquiry into the matter about which the discourse, he says: And he said to them: What are these words that you exchange with one another as you walk, and you are sad? For this is the ordered manner of entering into conversation, that one should listen and inquire, according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus thirty-two: "Listen in silence and at the same time inquiring."

After Nero and Domitian … persecution was raised against us sporadically among the cities as a result of insurrection among the people. In this persecution we have learned that Simon [Symeon], the son of Clopas, whom we have shown to have been the second bishop of the church at Jerusalem, gave up his life by martyrdom. The witness of this is Hegisippus, whom we have already quoted. When relating about certain heretics, he goes on to show that Symeon was accused by them at this time and was tortured in many ways for a great many days because he was clearly a Christian. He astonished to the highest degree both the judge himself and those with him, and won for himself an end similar to the passion of the Lord.

To whom he said: What things? And they said to him: Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, powerful in work and word before God and all the people. They confess him as a prophet and great, they are silent about him being the Son of God, either as not yet believing perfectly, or being anxious lest they fall into the hands of the persecuting Jews, because they did not know who it was they were speaking to, while hiding what they truly believed.

But again the Lord asks; for it follows, And he said unto them, What things? And their answer is given, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet. They confess Him to be a Prophet, but say nothing of the Son of God; either not yet perfectly believing, or fearful of falling into the hands of the persecuting Jews; either knowing not who He was, or concealing the truth which they believed. They add in praise of Him, mighty in deed and word.

Whence he adds: And he said to them: What things? Now Christ asks, not because he is in doubt, but in order to give us a model in the investigation of truth and to take occasion to instruct; whence the Psalm: "His eyelids examine the children of men"; and Matthew 16: "He asked his disciples: Whom do men say," etc.

Second, as to the narration of the matter concerning which there was grief, he adds: And they said: Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a man, a prophet, mighty in work and word before God and all the people; and through this he was praiseworthy in life, praiseworthy in doctrine: Ecclesiastes 8: "Whatever he wills, he shall do, and his word is full of power"; and this is great praise, according to that passage of Matthew 5: "Whoever shall do and teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Praiseworthy also before God and the world, according to that passage above in chapter 2: "Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and grace before God and men"; and this is great praise, according to that passage of Matthew 5: "So let your light shine before men." But that this may come about, Gregory says, "let the work be done in public, yet let the intention remain hidden, so that by good works we may show an example to our neighbors, and yet through the intention by which we seek to please God alone, we may always desire secrecy."

See then what a very limited understanding they still had of the Lord. They called Him a man, "a prophet," as one might call Elijah, Joshua the son of Nun, or Moses; "mighty in deed and word": first deed, then word. For no word of a teacher is firm if the teacher does not first show himself to be a doer of it. So be mighty in deed first, then strive to have the word as well. Then God too will assist you. For first comes action, and then contemplation and illumination. If you do not clean the mirror with labor and sweat, you will not see the desired beauty. For "blessed are the pure in heart," and this is achieved through deeds, "for they shall see God" (Matt. 5:8), and this is the end of contemplation. One must be mighty in deed and word "before God," and then before "all the people." For one must please God first, and then strive to be, as far as possible, blameless before people as well. One must neither prefer people-pleasing to pleasing God, nor live as a stumbling block to many, but care for both, as the wise man also says: have regard for good things before God and men. And Paul says the same (2 Cor. 8:21).

First comes deed, then word; for no word of teaching is approved unless first he who teaches shows himself to be a doer thereof. For acting goes before sight; for unless by thy works thou hast cleansed the glass of the understanding, the desired brightness does not appear. But still further it is added, Before God and all the people. For first of all we must please God, and then have regard as far as we can to honesty before men, that placing the honour of God first, we may live without offence to mankind.

So he began to expound the Scriptures to them to help them recognize Christ precisely in the point on which they had forsaken Christ. The reason, you see, that they had despaired of Christ was that they had seen him dead. He, however, opened the Scriptures to them, so that they would realize that if he hadn't died, he couldn't be the Christ. He taught them from Moses, he taught them from the following Scriptures, he taught them from the prophets what he himself had told them: that it was necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory. They listened, they were filled with joy, they breathed again, and, as they said themselves, their hearts burned within them. And still they didn't recognize the presence of the light.

All that we read in holy Scripture for our instruction and salvation demands an attentive ear. You have just heard how the eyes of those two disciples whom the Lord joined on their way were kept from recognizing him. He found them in despair of the redemption that was in Christ, supposing him now to have suffered and died as a man, not imagining him to live forever as the Son of God. So he opened to them the Scriptures and showed them that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and for all things to be fulfilled that were written concerning him in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms—in short, the whole of the Old Testament. Everything in those Scriptures speaks of Christ, but only to him who has ears. He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And so let us pray that he will open our own. HOMILY 2.

And He said to them: "Oh foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory?" And starting with Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. In this place, we are not obliged to interpret any Scripture, but we are doubly humbled, who are neither sufficiently taught in the Scriptures nor as intent on fulfilling what we might have learned as we ought to be. For if Moses and all the prophets spoke concerning Christ, and that He would enter into His glory through the suffering of His passion, by what reason do those who, according to the measure of their abilities, neither investigate the Scriptures as to how they pertain to Christ nor desire to attain the glory they wish to have with Christ through the sufferings of tribulations, boast themselves to be Christians?

But if Moses and the Prophets spoke of Christ, and prophesied that through His Passion He would enter into glory, how does that man boast that he is a Christian, who neither searches how these Scriptures relate to Christ, nor desires to attain by suffering to that glory which he hopes to have with Christ.

Fourth, as regards the declaration of Scripture, through which there is certitude of faith, he subjoins: And he said to them: O foolish and slow of heart to believe in all the things that the Prophets have spoken! He calls them foolish who despair on account of the Passion; whence they had descended from spirit to flesh, and this is a great foolishness, according to that passage of Galatians 3: "Have you become so foolish that, having begun with the spirit, you would now be completed by the flesh?" And he calls them slow of heart, because they did not wish to believe in Christ's glory and resurrection; whence Mark 16: "He upbraided their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen that he had risen from the dead."

We are committed to it in principle by Our Lord Himself. On that famous journey to Emmaus He found fault with the two disciples for not believing what the prophets had said. They ought to have known from their Bibles that the Anointed One, when He came, would enter his glory through suffering. He then explained, from 'Moses' (i.e., the Pentateuch) down, all the places in the Old Testament 'concerning Himself'. He clearly identified Himself with a figure often mentioned in the Scriptures; appropriated to Himself many passages where a modern scholar might see no such reference. In the predictions of His Own Passion which He had previously made to the disciples, He was obviously doing the same thing. He accepted—indeed He claimed to be—the second meaning of Scripture.

Therefore did the Lord also say to His disciples after the resurrection, "O thoughtless ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?" And again does He say to them: "These are the words which I spoke unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Me. Then opened He their understanding, that they should understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead, and that repentance for the remission of sins be preached in His name among all nations." Now this is He who was born of Mary; for He says: "The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected, and crucified, and on the third day rise again." The Gospel, therefore, knew no other son of man but Him who was of Mary, who also suffered; and no Christ who flew away from Jesus before the passion; but Him who was born it knew as Jesus Christ the Son of God, and that this same suffered and rose again, as John, the disciple of the Lord, verities, saying: "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have eternal life in His name,"—foreseeing these blasphemous systems which divide the Lord, as far as lies in their power, saying that He was formed of two different substances.

But although it behooved Christ to suffer, yet they who crucified Him are guilty of inflicting the punishment. For they were not concerned to accomplish what God purposed. Therefore their execution of it was impious, but God's purpose most wise, who converted their iniquity into a blessing upon mankind, using as it were the viper's flesh for the working of a health-giving antidote.

That very night there appeared to me a young man, who said, "Why do you frequently ask revelations in prayer? Take heed lest by asking many things you injure your flesh: be content with these revelations. Will you be able to see greater revelations than those which you have seen?" I answered and said to him, "Sir, one thing only I ask, that in regard to these three forms the revelation may be rendered complete." He answered me, "How long are ye senseless? But your doubts make you senseless, because you have not your hearts turned towards the Lord." But I answered and said to him, "From you, sir, we shall learn these things more accurately."

He pointedly reproached them: "O fools, and slow of heart in not believing that which He spake unto you." By saying this, He proves that He does not belong to the rival god, but to the same God.

Since they were thinking in human terms and suffered from great doubt, the Lord calls them "foolish and slow" to believe all that "the prophets had foretold." For it is possible to believe in part and to believe wholly. For example, whoever hopes that Christ will come for the salvation of the people, yet not for the salvation of souls, but for the restoration and deliverance of the Jewish nation, that person does not believe as much as one ought to believe. Likewise, whoever believes the words of David, "They pierced my hands and my feet" (Ps. 21:17), and the other words concerning the cross and the circumstances on the cross, as a prophecy spoken in the person of the Lord, and accepts the passages of Scripture about the suffering, but does not take into consideration the passages about the resurrection, such as, for example, these: "You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption" (Ps. 15:10), "among the dead" (Ps. 87:6), "He releases the prisoners from their bonds" (Ps. 67:7), and similar ones — that person has a faith that is not perfect, but believes only in part.

Because the above-mentioned disciples were troubled with too much doubt, the Lord reproves them, saying, O fools, (for they almost used the same words as those who stood by the cross, He saved others, himself he cannot save.) And He proceeds, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. For it is possible to believe some of these things and not all; as if a man should believe what the Prophets say of the cross of Christ, as in the Psalms, They pierced my hands and my feet; (Ps. 22:16.) but should not believe what they say of the resurrection, as, Thou shall not suffer thy Holy One to see corruption. (Ps. 16:10.) But it becomes us in all things to give faith to the Prophets, as well in the glorious things which they predicted of Christ, as the inglorious, since through the suffering of evil things is the entrance into glory.

And this is the reasoning Christ used, during forty days appearing to them. "Did not the Christ have to suffer these things before entering into His glory?"

And therefore, to establish faith in the passion and resurrection, he adds: Was it not necessary for Christ to suffer these things and to rise again, and so to enter into his glory? It was necessary, I say, that is, it was fitting and most appropriate, first on account of the remedy for sins: Romans 5: "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life"; therefore Romans 4: "He died for our offenses and rose again for our justification." — Second, on account of the example of virtues: whence 1 Peter 2: "Christ suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you should follow his steps"; and therefore Philippians 2: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus"; and afterwards: "He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death"; and therefore Acts 14: "Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God." For if it was necessary for Christ to suffer in order to enter into his own glory, how much more is it necessary for us also to suffer, that we may enter into a glory not our own? And therefore, when his cousins asked to sit at his right hand, he answered, Matthew 20: "Can you drink the cup that I am about to drink?" There Jerome says: "He knew who could imitate his passion; but he said this so that, with him asking and them answering, we might all hear that no one can reign with the Lord unless he has imitated his passion."

It was also fitting on account of the fulfillment of all the Scriptures: whence above, chapter 18: "All things that are written concerning the Son of Man through the Prophets shall be accomplished." For just as the ark was completed in a cubit, so all the words of Scripture are summed up in this Word, namely, born, having suffered, buried, and raised: on account of which, Isaiah 10: "The Lord of hosts shall bring about a consummation and an abbreviation in the midst of all the earth."

If any one, therefore, reads the Scriptures with attention, he will find in them an account of Christ, and a foreshadowing of the new calling (vocationis). For Christ is the treasure which was hid in the field, that is, in this world (for "the field is the world"); but the treasure hid in the Scriptures is Christ, since He was pointed out by means of types and parables. Hence His human nature could not be understood, prior to the consummation of those things which had been predicted, that is, the advent of Christ. And therefore it was said to Daniel the prophet: "Shut up the words, and seal the book even to the time of consummation, until many learn, and knowledge be completed. For at that time, when the dispersion shall be accomplished, they shall know all these things." But Jeremiah also says, "In the last days they shall understand these things." For every prophecy, before its fulfilment, is to men [full of] enigmas and ambiguities. But when the time has arrived, and the prediction has come to pass, then the prophecies have a clear and certain exposition. And for this reason, indeed, when at this present time the law is read to the Jews, it is like a fable; for they do not possess the explanation of all things pertaining to the advent of the Son of God, which took place in human nature; but when it is read by the Christians, it is a treasure, hid indeed in a field, but brought to light by the cross of Christ, and explained, both enriching the understanding of men, and showing forth the wisdom of God and declaring His dispensations with regard to man, and forming the kingdom of Christ beforehand, and preaching by anticipation the inheritance of the holy Jerusalem, and proclaiming beforehand that the man who loves God shall arrive at such excellency as even to see God, and hear His word, and from the hearing of His discourse be glorified to such an extent, that others cannot behold the glory of his countenance, as was said by Daniel: "Those who do understand, shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and many of the righteous as the stars for ever and ever." Thus, then, I have shown it to be, if any one read the Scriptures. For thus it was that the Lord discoursed with, the disciples after His resurrection from the dead, proving to them from the Scriptures themselves "that Christ must suffer, and enter into His glory, and that remission of sins should be preached in His name throughout all the world." And the disciple will be perfected, and [rendered] like the householder, "who bringeth forth from his treasure things new and old."

(lib. iii. Ep. 98.) But although it behoved Christ to suffer, yet they who crucified Him are guilty of inflicting the punishment. For they were not concerned to accomplish what God purposed. Therefore their execution of it was impious, but God's purpose most wise, who converted their iniquity into a blessing upon mankind, using as it were the viper's flesh for the working of a health-giving antidote.

But one must believe the prophets in all things, both regarding the state of humiliation and regarding the state of glory. For Christ had to suffer — this is the humiliation. But He also had to enter into His glory — this is the glorification. Yet you are so foolish that, hearing Isaiah speak of both states, namely: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter" and "the Lord desires to show Him light" (Isa. 53:7, 11), you accept the first but do not consider the second: you believe that He "was wounded," but that "the Lord desires to cleanse Him of His wound" (Isa. 53:5, 10), you do not even take to mind.

Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and so to enter into his glory? that is, as respects His humanity.

How hard and painful does this appear! The Lord has required that "whoever will come after him must deny himself." But what he commands is neither hard nor painful when he himself helps us in such a way so that the very thing he requires may be accomplished.… For whatever seems hard in what is enjoined, love makes easy.

Turn, rather, to these teachings, my very dear friend: take up your cross and follow the Lord. For, when I noticed that you were being slowed down in your divine purpose by your preoccupation with domestic cares, I felt that you were being carried and dragged along by your cross rather than that you were carrying it. What else does the cross mean than the mortality of this flesh? This is our very own cross which the Lord commands us to carry that we may be as well armed as possible in following him. We suffer momentarily until death is swallowed up in victory. Then this cross itself will be crucified. The cross will be nailed to the fear of God. We would hardly be able to carry it now if it forever resisted us with free and unfettered limbs. There is no other way for you to follow the Lord except by carrying it, for how can you follow him if you are not his?

And having called the crowd with his disciples, he said to them, "If anyone wishes to follow me, let him deny himself, etc." After showing his disciples the mystery of his passion and resurrection, he urges them together with the crowd to follow the example of his passion. And to all who suffer tribulation for his sake, he promises future salvation of their souls, but not to all, rather to the more perfect: how much he was to suffer, and that he would rise from the dead, he revealed. Here he established the form of teaching for the ministers of the word, so that, considering the capacity of their listeners, they might remember to instruct each one according to their ability, and not entrust deeper mysteries than they can comprehend to weak listeners. "If anyone wishes" (he says) "to follow me, let him deny himself." Now we deny ourselves when we avoid what we were through our former way of life and strive for that to which we are called through renewal. Let us consider how Paul had denied himself, who said, "And the life I now live, I live not by my own power" (Galatians 2). For that fierce persecutor had died and the pious preacher had begun to live. For if it were he, he would certainly not be pious. But let him who denies living by his own power, say whence it comes that he proclaims sacred words through the teaching of truth. Immediately he adds, "But Christ lives in me" (Ibid.). As if to say openly: Indeed, I am dead to myself, for I do not live carnally; yet I am not essentially dead, for I live spiritually in Christ. Let, therefore, Truth say, let it say, "If anyone wishes to follow me, let him deny himself." For unless someone withdraws from himself, he does not approach the one who is above him. Nor can he grasp what is beyond himself if he does not know how to mortify what is within him. But now, he who denies himself from vices must seek virtues in which he may grow. For when it is said, "If anyone wishes to follow me, let him deny himself," it immediately adds:

And let him take up his cross and follow me. For indeed, the cross is taken up in two ways: either through the affliction of the body by abstinence, or through the affliction of the soul by compassion for one's neighbor. Let us consider how Paul bore his cross in both ways, who said: "I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified" (I Cor. IX). Behold, in the affliction of the body we heard the cross of the flesh; now, in the compassion for one's neighbor, let us hear the cross of the mind. He says: "Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn?" (II Cor. XI) Indeed, a perfect preacher, to give an example of abstinence, carried the cross in the body. And because he bore the sufferings of others in himself, he carried the cross in his heart.

After showing to His disciples the mystery of His passion and resurrection, He exhorts them, as well as the multitude, to follow the example of His passion. Wherefore it goes on; And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself.

(ubi sup.) For we deny ourselves, when we avoid what we were of old, and strive to reach that point, whither we are newly called. And the cross is taken up by us, when either our body is pained by abstinence, or our soul afflicted by fellow-feeling for our neighbour.

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

[Responding to the question "Which of the religions of the world gives to its followers the greatest happiness?"]

While it lasts, the religion of worshiping oneself is the best. I have an elderly acquaintance of about eighty, who has lived a life of unbroken selfishness and self-admiration from the earliest years, and is, more or less, I regret to say, one of the happiest men I know. From the moral point of view it is very difficult! I am not approaching the question from that angle. As you perhaps know, I haven't always been a Christian. I didn't go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don't recommend Christianity. I am certain there must be a patent American article on the market which will suit you far better, but I can't give any advice on it.

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

It is impossible, in this context, not to inquire what our own civilization has been putting first for the last thirty years. And the answer is plain. It has been putting itself first. To preserve civilization has been the great aim; the collapse of civilization, the great bugbear. Peace, a high standard of life, hygiene, transport, science and amusement — all these, which are what we usually mean by civilization, have been our ends. It will be replied that our concern for civilization is very natural and very necessary at a time when civilization is so imperilled. But how if the shoe is on the other foot? — how if civilization has been imperilled precisely by the fact that we have all made civilization our summum bonum? Perhaps it can't be preserved in that way. Perhaps civilization will never be safe until we care for something else more than we care for it.

The hypothesis has certain facts to support it. As far as peace (which is one ingredient in our idea of civilization) is concerned, I think many would now agree that a foreign policy dominated by desire for peace is one of the many roads that lead to war. And was civilization ever seriously endangered until civilization became the exclusive aim of human activity?

The thing you long for summons you away from the self. Even the desire for the thing lives only if you abandon it. This is the ultimate law--the seed dies to live, the bread must be cast upon the waters, he that loses his soul will save it. But the life of the seed, the finding of the bread, the recovery of the soul, are as real as the preliminary sacrifice.

What he commands is not difficult, since he helps to effect what he commands.… Just as we are lost through loving ourselves, so we are found by denying ourselves. Love of self was the ruin of the first man. If he had not loved himself in the wrong order, he would have been willing to be subject to God, preferring God to self.

What does this mean, "take up a cross"? It means he will bear with whatever is troublesome, and in this very act he will be following me. When he has begun to follow me according to my teaching and precepts, he will find many people contradicting him and standing in his way, many who not only deride but even persecute him. Moreover, this is true, not only of pagans who are outside the church, but also of those who seem to be in it visibly, but are outside of it because of the perversity of their deeds. Although these glory in merely the title of Christian, they continually persecute faithful Christians. Such belong to the members of the church in the same way that bad blood is in the body. Therefore, if you wish to follow Christ, do not delay in carrying his cross; tolerate sinners, but do not yield to them. Do not let the false happiness of the wicked corrupt you. You do well to despise all things for the sake of Christ, in order that you may be fit for his companionship.

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

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

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

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

(Hom. in Matt. 55) As if He would say to Peter, Thou indeed dost rebuke Me, who am willing to undergo My passion, but I tell thee, that not only is it wrong to prevent Me from suffering, but neither canst thou be saved unless thou thyself diest. Again He says, Whosoever wishes to come after me; as if He said, I call you to those good things which a man should wish for, I do not force you to evil and burdensome things; for he who does violence to his hearer, often stands in his way; but he who leaves him free, rather draws him to himself. And a man denies himself when he cares not for his body, so that whether it be scourged, or whatever of like nature it may suffer, he bears it patiently.

(ubi sup.) But He says not, a man should not spare himself, but what is more, that he should deny himself, as if he had nothing in common with himself, but face danger, and look upon such things as if another were suffering; and this is really to spare himself; for parents then most truly act kindly to their children, when they give them up to their masters, with an injunction not to spare them. Again, He shows the degree to which a man should deny himself, when He says, And take up his cross, by which He means, even to the most shameful death.

Or else, as a skilful pilot, foreseeing a storm in a calm, wishes his sailors to be prepared; so also the Lord says, If any one will follow me, &c.

"Your cross" means your own anxieties and your sufferings in your own body, which itself is shaped in a way already like a cross.

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

Since Peter was opposing Christ, Who desired to give Himself over to Crucifixion, Christ calls the people and speaks aloud, directing His words primarily against Peter: You do not approve of My taking the Cross, but I say to you that neither you nor anyone else will be saved unless you die for virtue and truth. Note that the Lord did not say: let him die even if he does not wish to die, but "whoever wishes." I, He says, compel no one. I call not to evil but to good, and therefore whoever does not wish it is not worthy of it. What does it mean to deny oneself? We will understand this when we learn what it means to deny someone else. Whoever denies another person — whether father, brother, or any member of the household — even if he watches him being beaten or killed, pays no attention and feels no sympathy, having become estranged from him. In the same way the Lord commands us also to despise our own body for His sake and not to spare it, even if we are beaten or reviled. "Take up your cross," it says, that is, a shameful death, for the cross was then regarded as an instrument of shameful execution. And since many robbers were also crucified, He adds that along with crucifixion one must also have other virtues, for this is what the words "follow Me" mean.

For a man who denies another, be it brother or father, does not sympathize with him, nor grieve at his fate, though he be wounded and die; thus we ought to despise our body, so that if it should be wounded or hurt in any way, we should not mind its suffering.

For at that time the cross appeared shameful, because malefactors were fixed to it.

But because after the cross we must have a new strength, He adds, and follow me.

This precept by which we are enjoined to lose our life does not mean that a person should kill himself, which would be an unforgivable crime, but it does mean that one should kill that in oneself which is unduly attached to the earthly, which makes one take inordinate pleasure in this present life to the neglect of the life to come. This is the meaning of "shall hate his life" and "shall lose it." Embedded in the same admonition, he speaks most openly of the profit of gaining one's life when he says: "He that loses his life in this world shall find it unto life eternal."

For whoever wants to save their soul will lose it. But whoever loses their soul for my sake and the gospel will save it. Thus it is said to the faithful: Whoever wants to save their soul will lose it. But whoever loses their soul for my sake and the gospel will save it. As if it were said to a farmer: If you save the grain, you lose it; if you sow it, you renew it. For who does not know that when grain is sown, it disappears from sight, perishing in the ground? But from where it rots in the dust, it springs forth in renewal. Because the holy Church has different times of persecution and peace, our Redeemer designated those times in his teachings. For in times of persecution, the soul is to be laid down. But in times of peace, earthly desires, which can dominate more, are to be broken. Hence now it is said:

(in Marc. 2, 36) Or else He says this, because in time of persecution, our life is to be laid aside, but in time of peace, our earthly desires are to be broken, which He implies when He says, For what shall it profit a man, &c.

When the Lord tells us in the Gospel that anyone who wants to be his follower must renounce himself, the injunction seems harsh; we think he is imposing a burden on us. But an order is no burden when it is given by one who helps in carrying it out. To what place are we to follow Christ if not where he has already gone? We know that he has risen and ascended into heaven; there, then, we must follow him. There is no cause for despair—by ourselves we can do nothing, but we have Christ's promise.…One who claims to abide in Christ ought to walk as he walked. Would you follow Christ? Then be humble as he was humble. Do not scorn his lowliness if you want to reach his exaltation. Human sin made the road rough. Christ's resurrection leveled it. By passing over it himself, he transformed the narrowest of tracks into a royal highway. Two feet are needed to run along this highway; they are humility and charity. Everyone wants to get to the top—well, the first step to take is humility. Why take strides that are too big for you—do you want to fall instead of going up? Begin with the first step, humility, and you will already be climbing.

Let us follow for a moment the clue of the martyr and the suicide; and take the case of courage. No quality has ever so much addled the brains and tangled the definitions of merely rational sages. Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of a readiness to die. "He that will lose his life, the same shall save it," is not a piece of mysticism for saints and heroes. It is a piece of everyday advice for sailors or mountaineers. It might be printed in an Alpine guide or a drill book. This paradox is the whole principle of courage; even of quite earthly or quite brutal courage. A man cut off by the sea may save his life if he will risk it on the precipice. He can only get away from death by continually stepping within an inch of it. A soldier surrounded by enemies, if he is to cut his way out, needs to combine a strong desire for living with a strange carelessness about dying. He must not merely cling to life, for then he will be a coward, and will not escape. He must not merely wait for death, for then he will be a suicide, and will not escape. He must seek his life in a spirit of furious indifference to it; he must desire life like water and yet drink death like wine. No philosopher, I fancy, has ever expressed this romantic riddle with adequate lucidity, and I certainly have not done so. But Christianity has done more: it has marked the limits of it in the awful graves of the suicide and the hero, showing the distance between him who dies for the sake of living and him who dies for the sake of dying. And it has held up ever since above the European lances the banner of the mystery of chivalry: the Christian courage, which is a disdain of death; not the Chinese courage, which is a disdain of life.

For he that will save his life shall lose it; and he that shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's shall save it. Thus it is said to the faithful: He that will save his life shall lose it; and he that shall lose his life for my sake shall save it. As if it were said to the farmer: If you keep your grain, you lose it; if you sow it, you renew it. For who does not know that when grain is cast as seed, it perishes from sight, it fails in the earth? But from where it rots in the dust, from there it springs up green in renewal. Because indeed the holy Church has one time of persecution and another of peace, our Redeemer distinguishes these very times in his precepts. For in time of persecution life must be laid down, but in time of peace those earthly desires that can more readily dominate must be broken.

(ubi sup.) And this He says, because it may happen that a man may suffer and yet not follow Christ, that is, when he does not suffer for Christ's sake; for he follows Christ, who walks after Him, and conforms himself to His death, despising those principalities and powers under whose power, before the coming of Christ, he committed sin. Then there follows, For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospel's, the same shall save it. I give you these commands, as it were to spare you; for whosoever spares his son, brings him to destruction, but whosoever does not spare him, saves him. It is therefore right to be always prepared for death; for if in the battles of this world, he who is prepared for death fights better than others, though none can restore him to life after death, much more is this the case in spiritual battle, when so great a hope of resurrection is set before him, since he who gives up his soul unto death saves it.

And life is to be taken in this place for the present life, and not for the substance itself of the soul.

Since the command to give oneself over to death would seem harsh and cruel, the Lord says that on the contrary it is most merciful; for whoever loses his soul, but for My sake — and not as a robber being executed or a suicide (for in that case the death would not be for My sake) — he, He says, will find his soul, while the one who thinks to save his soul will lose it, if during the time of torment he does not stand firm.

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? When persecution from adversaries is absent, the heart must be guarded much more vigilantly. For in times of peace, since it is allowed to live, it is also allowed to desire. Often, however, we overcome avarice, but there remains an obstacle because we guard the ways of righteousness with less custody, to perfection. For often we despise having everything, but yet we are still hindered by the use of human respect, so that we cannot yet express in voice the righteousness which we keep in mind. And we neglect the face of God for the defense of justice as much as we fear human faces against justice. But the fitting remedy is also added to this wound when the Lord says:

While there is much in the world to love, it is best loved in relation to the One who made it. The world is beautiful, but much fairer is the One who fashioned it. The world is glorious, but more delightful is the One by whom the world was established. Therefore, let us labor as much as we can, beloved, that love of the world as such may not overwhelm us, and that we may not love the creature more than the creator. God has given us earthly possessions in order that we may love him with our whole heart and soul. But sometimes we provoke God's displeasure against us when we love his gifts more than God himself. The same thing happens in human relationships. Suppose someone gives a special gift to his protégé. But the protégé then begins to despise the giver, and loves the gift more than the one who gave. Suppose he comes to think of the giver no longer as friend but enemy. Just so it is with our relationship with God. We love more those who love us for ourselves rather than our gifts. So God is known to love those who love him more than the earthly gifts he gives.

For so He says, "Fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee; and whose shall those things be which thou hast prepared?" And the commandment is expressed in these very words, "Take heed, therefore, of covetousness. For a man's life does not consist in the abundance of those things which he possesses. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" "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? Therefore Christ, who trains the soul, reckons one rich, not by his gifts, but by his choice.

Those who neglect good works may fail to grasp just how much the good work of God has benefited them. Hence they are less capable of praying fittingly so as to receive good things from God. And even if they receive them, they will likely be unaware of what has been given them. And even if they enjoy them, they will not enjoy worthily what they have not understood. For from their lack of knowledge they will not grasp how to use the good things given them. And from their impulsiveness they will remain ignorant of how to avail themselves of the divine gifts offered.

From some-ah, misery!-all these things have fallen away, and have passed from memory. They indeed did not wait to be apprehended ere they ascended, or to be interrogated ere they denied. Many were conquered before the battle, prostrated before the attack. Nor did they even leave it to be said for them, that they seemed to sacrifice to idols unwillingly. They ran to the market-place of their own accord; freely they hastened to death, as if they had formerly wished it, as if they would embrace an opportunity now given which they had always desired. How many were put off by the magistrates at that time, when evening was coming on; how many even asked that their destruction might not be delayed! What violence can such a one plead as an excuse? How can he purge his crime, when it was he himself who rather used force to bring about his own ruin? When they came voluntarily to the Capitol,-when they freely approached to the obedience of the terrible wickedness,-did not their tread falter? Did not their sight darken, their heart tremble, their arms fall helplessly down? Did not their senses fail, their tongue cleave to their mouth, their speech grow weak? Could the servant of God stand there, and speak and renounce Christ, when he had already renounced the devil and the world? Was not that altar, whither he drew near to perish, to him a funeral pile? Ought he not to shudder at and flee from the devil's altar, which he had seen to smoke, and to be redolent of a foul rector, as if it were the funeral and sepulchre of his life? Why bring with you, O wretched man, a sacrifice? why immolate a victim? You yourself have come to the altar an offering; you yourself have come a victim: there you have immolated your salvation, your hope; there you have burnt up your faith in those deadly fires.

On the outside of a book I saw written in large letters, "Get On or Get Out." The title of the book recalled to me with a sudden revolt and reaction all that does seem unquestionably new and nasty; it reminded me that there was in the world of to-day that utterly idiotic thing, a worship of success; a thing that only means surpassing anybody in anything; a thing that may mean being the most successful person in running away from a battle; a thing that may mean being the most successfully sleepy of the whole row of sleeping men.

Unfortunately, however, Midas could fail; he did. His path did not lead unerringly upward. He starved because whenever he touched a biscuit or a ham sandwich it turned to gold. That was the whole point of the story, though the writer has to suppress it delicately, writing so near to a portrait of Lord Rothschild. The old fables of mankind are, indeed, unfathomably wise; but we must not have them expurgated in the interests of Mr. Vanderbilt. We must not have King Midas represented as an example of success; he was a failure of an unusually painful kind.

Hence it is now said: For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his own soul? When persecution from adversaries is absent, the heart must be guarded all the more vigilantly. For in time of peace, because it is permitted to live, it is also pleasing to pursue ambition. This greed is indeed well restrained if the very condition of the one pursuing is carefully considered. For why should he press on to gather, when the one who gathers cannot himself remain? Let each one therefore consider his course, and he will recognize that the little he has can suffice for him. But perhaps he fears that provisions will fail on this journey of life. The short way rebukes our long desires; much is carried in vain when the destination is near.

(ubi sup.) As therefore He had said, For who so ever will save his life shall lose it, lest any one should suppose this loss to be equivalent to that salvation, He adds, For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul, &c. As if He said, Think not that he has saved his soul, who has shunned the perils of the cross; for when a man, at the cost of his soul, that is, his life, gains the whole world, what has he besides, now that his soul is perishing? Has he another soul to give for his soul? For a man can give the price of his house in exchange for the house, but in losing his soul, he has not another soul to give. And it is with a purpose that He says, Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? for God, in exchange for our salvation, has given the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

This world talks of adultery and corruption and love of money and deceit, but that world says farewell to these things. We cannot, then, be friends equally of both, but we must say farewell to this to possess the other. We think that it is better to despise the things below, for they are small and passing and perishable, and to love the things which are truly there, things good and imperishable.

Do not tell Me that this latter person will preserve his life, for even if he were to gain the whole world, it is all useless. Salvation cannot be purchased with any wealth.

Otherwise, he who gained the whole world but lost his soul would give it all away when he is burning in the flames, and would thus ransom himself. But such a ransom is impossible there. Here the mouths of those who, following Origen, say that the condition of souls will change for the better after they have been punished in proportion to their sins are also stopped. Let them hear that there it is in no way possible to give a ransom for the soul, and to suffer only to the degree supposedly needed to make satisfaction for sins.

"For whoever confesses Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also confess him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels." But behold now men say to themselves: "We no longer are ashamed of the Lord and His words, because we openly confess Him with our voice." To which I reply that in this Christian populace there are some who confess Christ because they observe that all are Christians. Therefore, the voice of profession is not sufficient proof of faith, which is defended from shame by the profession of generality. And yet, let each person examine himself, so that he may truly prove himself in the confession of Christ, if he does not already feel ashamed of His name, if he has fully subdued human shame to the virtue of the mind. Indeed, in times of persecution, the faithful could feel ashamed to be stripped of their possessions, to be deposed from their dignities, to be afflicted with scourges. But in times of peace, since these things are absent from our persecutions, there is another way to show ourselves. We often fear being despised by neighbors, we disdain to tolerate verbal injuries. If perhaps a quarrel happens with a neighbor, we feel ashamed to be the first to make amends. For the carnal heart, while seeking the glory of this life, rejects humility.

But we are often hindered by a habit of shamefacedness, from expressing with our voice the rectitude which we preserve in our hearts; and therefore it is added, For whosoever shall confess me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, him also shall the Son of man confess, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

But the discipline of all religion and truth is overturned, unless what is spiritually prescribed be faithfully observed; unless indeed any one should fear in the morning sacrifices, lest by the taste of wine he should be redolent of the blood of Christ. Therefore thus the brotherhood is beginning even to be kept back from the passion of Christ in persecutions, by learning in the offerings to be disturbed concerning His blood and His blood-shedding. Moreover, however, the Lord says in the Gospel, "Whosoever shall be ashamed of me, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed." And the apostle also speaks, saying, "If I pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." But how can we shed our blood for Christ, who blush to drink the blood of Christ?

Moreover, how much are they both greater in faith and better in their fear, who, although bound by no crime of sacrifice to idols or of certificate, yet, since they have even thought of such things, with grief and simplicity confess this very thing to God's priests, and make the conscientious avowal, put off from them the load of their minds, and seek out the salutary medicine even for slight and moderate wounds, knowing that it is written, "God is not mocked." God cannot be mocked, nor deceived, nor deluded by any deceptive cunning. Yea, he sins the more, who, thinking that God is like man, believes that he evades the penalty of his crime if he has not openly admitted his crime. Christ says in His precepts, "Whosoever shall be ashamed of me, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed." And does he think that he is a Christian, who is either ashamed or afraid to be a Christian? How can he be one with Christ, who either blushes or fears to belong to Christ? He will certainly have sinned less, by not seeing the idols, and not profaning the sanctity of the faith under the eyes of a people standing round and insulting, and not polluting his hands by the deadly sacrifices, nor defiling his lips with the wicked food. This is advantageous to this extent, that the fault is less, not that the conscience is guiltless. He can more easily attain to pardon of his crime, yet he is not free from crime; and let him not cease to carry out his repentance, and to entreat the Lord's mercy, lest what seems to be less in the quality of his fault, should be increased by his neglect of atonement.

He who as God was beyond suffering, suffered in his own flesh as a human being. When he became flesh, being God, he did not in any way cease to be God. Precisely as he entered into the created order, he remained above creation. He remained as giver of the law when he came to serve "under the law." He retained the inviolable divine dignity precisely when he took on "the form of a slave." It was precisely as only begotten Son that he became "the firstborn among many brothers," while still remaining the only begotten. So why should it seem so strange that he should suffer in the flesh according to his humanity, even while transcending suffering according to his divinity? Thus the ever astute Paul says that the Word himself who is "in the form of God" and equal to God the Father "became obedient even unto death, death of the cross."

The Son does not divide the glory with the Father, but receives the glory of the Father in its entirety, even as the Father receives all the glory of the Son.

Often moreover we overcome greed, but there still remains this obstacle: that we hold to the ways of righteousness with too little guardianship of perfection. For often we despise all things that are passing away, yet we are still hindered by the custom of human respect, so that we are not yet able to express in voice the righteousness we preserve in mind; and we neglect the face of God in defense of justice as much as we fear human faces against justice. But to this wound also an appropriate remedy is added when the Lord says: He who shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed when he shall come in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

But behold, now people say to themselves: We no longer are ashamed of the Lord and His words, because we profess Him with open voice. To these I respond that in this Christian people there are some who confess Christ for the reason that they see everyone else is Christian. For if the name of Christ were not in such great glory today, the holy Church would not have so many who profess Christ. Therefore the voice of profession is not sufficient as proof of faith, when the profession of the generality defends it from shame. Yet there is a way for each person to examine himself, to prove himself truly in the confession of Christ: whether he is no longer ashamed of His name, whether with full strength of mind he has subdued human shame. Certainly in a time of persecution the faithful could be ashamed of being stripped of their possessions, cast down from positions of dignity, afflicted with beatings. But in a time of peace, because these things are absent from our persecutions, there is another way in which we are shown to ourselves. We often fear being despised by our neighbors, we disdain to tolerate verbal injuries; if perhaps a quarrel arises with a neighbor, we are ashamed to make satisfaction first. For the carnal heart, while it seeks the glory of this life, rejects humility. And very often the very person who is angry desires to be reconciled with the one who disagrees with him, but is ashamed to go first to make satisfaction. Let us consider the deeds of the Truth, that we may see where the actions of our depravity lie. For if we are members of the supreme Head, we ought to imitate Him to whom we are joined. For what does Paul, that outstanding preacher, say as an example for our instruction? We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were exhorting through us; we beseech you for Christ's sake, be reconciled to God. Behold, by sinning we have created discord between ourselves and God, and yet God first sent His ambassadors to us, so that we ourselves who sinned might come to peace with God when asked. Therefore let human pride be ashamed, let anyone be confounded who does not first make satisfaction to his neighbor, when after our fault, so that we might be reconciled to Him, God Himself who was offended beseeches us through intervening ambassadors.

(Hom. 32. in Evang.) There are however some, who confess Christ, because they see that all men are Christians; for if the name of Christ were not at this day in such great glory, the Holy Church would not have so many professors. The voice of profession therefore is not sufficient for a trial of faith whilst the profession of the generality defends it from shame. In the time of peace therefore there is another way, by which we may be known to ourselves. We are ever fearful of being despised by our neighbours, we think it shame to bear injurious words; if perchance we have quarrelled with our neighbour, we blush to be the first to give satisfaction; for our carnal heart, in seeking the glory of this life, disdains humility.

(Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) He then who has learned this, is bound zealously to confess Christ without shame. And this generation is called adulterous, because it has left God the true Bridegroom of the soul, and has refused to follow the doctrine of Christ, but has prostrated itself to the devil and taken up the seeds of impiety, for which reason also it is called sinful. Whosoever therefore amongst them has denied the kingdom of Christ, and the words of God revealed in the Gospel, shall receive a reward befitting His impiety, when He hears in the second advent, I know you not. (Matt. 7:23)

At all events, whether in the latter or the former way, you are guilty of being "ashamed of God." But "whosoever shall be ashamed of Me in the presence of men, of him will I too be ashamed," says He, "in the presence of my Father who is in the heavens."

Whatsoever is unworthy of God, is of gain to me. I am safe, if I am not ashamed of my Lord. "Whosoever," says He, "shall be ashamed of me, of him will I also be ashamed." Other matters for shame find I none which can prove me to be shameless in a good sense, and foolish in a happy one, by my own contempt of shame. The Son of God was crucified; I am not ashamed because men must needs be ashamed of it. And the Son of God died; it is by all means to be believed, because it is absurd. And He was buried, and rose again; the fact is certain, because it is impossible.

"Him who will confess Me, I also will confess before My Father." How will he confess, fleeing? How flee, confessing? "Of him who shall be ashamed of Me, will I also be ashamed before My Father." If I avoid suffering, I am ashamed to confess. "Happy they who suffer persecution for My name's sake." Unhappy, therefore, they who, by running away, will not suffer according to the divine command. "He who shall endure to the end shall be saved." How then, when you bid me flee, do you wish me to endure to the end?

It is not enough to have inner faith alone: a confession of the lips is also required. For since man is twofold, his sanctification must also be twofold, that is, the sanctification of the soul through faith and the sanctification of the body through confession. Therefore, whoever "is ashamed" to confess the Crucified One as his God, him He also "will be ashamed of," recognizing him as an unworthy servant of His, when He "comes" no longer in a humble appearance, not in the abasement in which He appeared here before and for which some are ashamed of Him, but "in glory" and with an Angelic host.

For that faith which only remains in the mind is not sufficient, but the Lord requires also the confession of the mouth; for when the soul is sanctified by faith, the body ought also to be sanctified by confession.

Him then who shall have confessed that his God was crucified, Christ Himself also shall confess, not here, where He is esteemed poor and wretched, but in His glory and with a multitude of Angels.

And he said to them: Truly I say to you, that there are some standing here who will not taste death until, etc. The Kingdom of God in this place is called the present Church. And because some of the disciples were going to live in the body to the extent that they would see the Church of God constructed and raised up against the glory of this world, it is now said as a comforting promise: There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God coming in power. But since the Lord was issuing commands about enduring the death so great, what was necessary that he suddenly came to this promise? If we attentively consider this, we shall recognize how great a dispensation of piety takes place. For something needed to be promised even to the unlearned disciples regarding the present life, so that they might be more strongly established for the future. Thus the Israelite people, being freed from the land of Egypt, are promised the land of promise, so that while they were to be called to heavenly gifts, they might be persuaded by earthly promises. Hence it is rightly said through the Psalmist: He gave them the regions of the Gentiles, and they possessed the labors of the peoples, so that they might keep his statutes and seek his law (Psalm 105). Thus, in this place, Truth speaking to the unlearned disciples promises that they will see the kingdom of God on earth, so that it might be more faithfully presumed by them in heaven. But if we wish to receive the Kingdom of God by this saying as the future beatitude in heaven, certain ones of those standing there saw it not many days later on the mountain. This indeed was done by pious foresight so that by the contemplation of the always enduring joy, even if grasped quickly and briefly, they might more strongly endure the present adversities of the passing world. With very fitting language, the saints are testified to taste death, for indeed the death of the body is tasted by them as if by sipping, while truly the life of the soul is possessed by holding.

(in Marc. 3. 36) Truly it was done with a loving foresight, in order that they, having tasted for a brief moment the contemplation of everlasting joy, might with the greater strength bear up under adversity.

(ubi sup.) Or else the present Church is called the kingdom of God; and some of the disciples were to live in the body until they should see the Church built up, and raised against the glory of the world; for it was right to make some promises concerning this life to the disciples who were uninstructed, that they might be built up with greater strength for the time to come.

And he said to them: "Amen I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God coming in power." The kingdom of God, dearest brothers, is not always called the coming kingdom in sacred Scripture, but sometimes the present Church is so called. Hence it is written: "The Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of scandal." In that kingdom, indeed, there will be no scandals, where certainly the reprobate are not admitted. By this example it is understood that in this passage the kingdom of God refers to the present Church. And because some of the disciples were going to live in the body long enough to see the Church of God built and raised up against the glory of this world, it is now said as a consoling promise: "There are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God." But when the Lord was giving such great precepts about the death that must be undergone, what need was there to come suddenly to this promise? If we consider carefully, we recognize with what great dispensation of love this is done. For to the inexperienced disciples something had to be promised even about the present life, so that they could be strengthened more firmly for the future. Thus to the Israelite people, about to be freed from the land of Egypt, the promised land was promised, and when they were to be called to heavenly gifts, they were persuaded by earthly promises. Why was this? So that while there was something they could receive nearby, they might then more faithfully believe what they could hear about from afar. For a carnal people, if they did not receive small things, would not believe in great things. Therefore Almighty God, by granting earthly things, persuades toward heavenly things, so that by receiving what they could see, they might learn to hope for what they could not see at all; and they would become all the more firm regarding invisible things, inasmuch as visible promises supported them toward certainty of hope.

(Hom. in Matt. 56) And He did not declare the names of those who were about to go up, lest the other disciples should feel some touch of human frailty, and He tells it to them beforehand, that they might come with minds better prepared to be taught all that concerned that vision.

(Orig. in Matt. tom. xii. 33, 35) But in a mystical sense, Christ is life, and the devil is death, and he tastes of death, who dwells in sin; even now every one, according as he has good or evil doctrines, tastes the bread either of life or of death. And indeed, it is a less evil to see death, a greater to taste of it, still worse to follow it, worst of all to be subject to it.

On the other hand, he whose "heart" was habitually found "lifted up" rather than fattened up, who in forty days and as many nights maintained a fast above the power of human nature, while spiritual faith subministered strength (to his body), both saw with his eyes God's glory, and heard with his ears God's voice, and understood with his heart God's law: while He taught him even then (by experience) that man liveth not upon bread alone, but upon every word of God; in that the People, though fatter than he, could not constantly contemplate even Moses himself, fed as he had been upon God, nor his leanness, sated as it had been with His glory! Deservedly, therefore, even while in the flesh, did the Lord show Himself to him, the colleague of His own fasts, no less than to Elijah. For Elijah withal had, by this fact primarily, that he had imprecated a famine, already sufficiently devoted himself to fasts: "The Lord liveth," he said, "before whom I am standing in His sight, if there shall be dew in these years, and rain-shower.

Having spoken of His glory and wishing to teach that He does not mention it in vain, the Lord then says that "there are some of those standing here," that is, Peter, James, and John, who will not die until I show them in My Transfiguration that with which glory I shall appear at the time of My coming. For the Transfiguration is nothing other than a foreshadowing of the Second Coming. So shall He Himself shine at that time; so too shall the righteous shine.

But because He had spoken of His glory, in order to show that His promises were not vain, He subjoins, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here who shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. As if He said, Some, that is, Peter, James, and John, shall not taste of death, until I show them, in my transfiguration, with what glory I am to come in my second advent; for the transfiguration was nothing else, but an announcement of the second coming of Christ, in which also Christ Himself and the Saints will shine.

The man who is the landowner is actually the Creator and Lord of all. The Word compares the time the landowner spends away from home in the parable to either the ascension of Christ into heaven or at any rate to the unseen and invisible character of the divine nature. Now one must conceive of the property of God as those in each country and city who believe in him. He calls his servants those who according to the times Christ crowns with the glory of the priesthood. For the holy Paul writes, "No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God." He hands over [his property] to those who are under him, to each giving a spiritual gift so that he might have character and aptitude. We think that this distribution of the talents is not supplied to the household servants in equal measure because each is quite different from the other in their understanding. Immediately they head out for their labors, he says, directly indicating to us here that apart from the procrastination of one they are fit to carry out the work of God. Surely those who are bound by fear and laziness will end up in the worst evils. For he buried, Jesus says, the talent given to him in the earth. He kept the gift hidden, making it unprofitable for others and useless for himself. For that very reason the talent is taken away from him and will be given to the one who is already rich. The Spirit has departed from such as these and the gift of the divine gifts. But to those who are industrious an even more lavish gift will be presented.

(non occ.) In the foregoing parable is set forth the condemnation of such as have not prepared sufficient oil for themselves, whether by oil is meant the brightness of good works, or inward joy of conscience, or alms paid in money.

Who then is this man who goes on a journey, if not our Redeemer, who departed into heaven in the flesh which he had assumed? For the proper place of flesh is earth, which is led as if to foreign lands when it is placed in heaven through our Redeemer. But this man going abroad handed over his goods to his servants, because he granted spiritual gifts to his faithful ones.

(Hom. in Ev. ix, l.) The man travelling into a far country is our Redeemer, who ascended into heaven in that flesh which He had taken upon Him. For the proper home of the flesh is the earth, and it, as it were, travels into a foreign country, when it is placed by the Redeemer in heaven.

(v. 14, 15) For just as a man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted to them his goods. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, each according to his ability. Then he went away. This man, the head of the household, undoubtedly is Christ, who after his resurrection victoriously ascended to the Father and, calling the apostles, handed down the gospel teaching, not giving more to one and less to another based on generosity and stinginess, but according to the abilities of the recipients: just as the Apostle says that he fed those who could not receive solid food with milk (I Cor. IV). And finally, he who had made five talents also gained ten, and he who had made two gained four, receiving the same joyful reward; not considering the magnitude of the gain, but the willingness to strive. Let us understand the various gifts that have been given to each, whether it be five, two, or one talent. In the first, let us consider all the senses examined: In the second, understanding and actions: In the third, reason, which separates humans from animals.

Calling together the Apostles, He gave them the Gospel doctrine, to one more, to another less, not as of His own bounty or scanting, but as meeting the capacity of the receivers, as the Apostle says (1 Cor. 3:2.), that he fed with milk those that were unable to take solid food. In the five, two, and one talent, we recognise the diversity of gifts wherewith we have been entrusted.

And wherefore can it be that this parable brings forward a king, but that a bridegroom? That thou mightest learn how close Christ is joined unto the virgins that strip themselves of their possessions; for this indeed is virginity. Wherefore Paul also makes this as a definition of the thing. "The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord;" such are his words: and, "For that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction. These things we advise," he saith.

And if in Luke the parable of the talents is otherwise put, this is to be said, that the one is really different from the other. For in that, from the one capital different degrees of increase were made, for from one pound one brought five, another ten; wherefore neither did they obtain the same recompense; but here, it is the contrary, and the crown is accordingly equal. For he that received two gave two, and he that had received the five again in like manner; but there since from the same beginning one made the greater, one the less, increase; as might be expected, in the rewards also, they do not enjoy the same.

This parable was spoken with respect to mercy in alms; but the one that comes after this, to them that neither in money, nor in word, nor in protection, nor in any other things whatever, are willing to assist their neighbors, but withhold all.

And wherefore can it be that this parable brings forward a king, but that a bridegroom? That thou mightest learn how close Christ is joined unto the virgins that strip themselves of their possessions; for this indeed is virginity. Wherefore Paul also makes this as a definition of the thing. "The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord;" such are his words: and, "For that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction. These things we advise," he saith.

And if in Luke the parable of the talents is otherwise put, this is to be said, that the one is really different from the other. For in that, from the one capital different degrees of increase were made, for from one pound one brought five, another ten; wherefore neither did they obtain the same recompense; but here, it is the contrary, and the crown is accordingly equal. For he that received two gave two, and he that had received the five again in like manner; but there since from the same beginning one made the greater, one the less, increase; as might be expected, in the rewards also, they do not enjoy the same.

But see Him everywhere, not requiring it again immediately. For in the case of the vineyard, He let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country; and here He committed to them the talents, and took His journey, that thou mightest learn His long-suffering. And to me He seems to say these things, to intimate the resurrection. But here it is no more a vineyard and husbandmen, but all servants. For not to rulers only, nor to Jews, but to all, doth He address His discourse. And they who bring a return unto Him confess frankly, both what is their own, and what their Master's. And the one saith, Lord, "Thou gavest me five talents;" and the other saith, "two," indicating that from Him they received the source of their gain, and they are very thankful, and reckon all to Him.

What then saith the Master? "Well done, thou good" (for this is goodness to look to one's neighbor) "and faithful servant; thou wast faithful over few things, I will set thee over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord," meaning by this expression all blessedness.

But not so that other one, but how? "I knew that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou sowedst not, and gathering where thou strawedst not: and I was afraid, and hid thy talent: lo, there thou hast that is thine." What then the Master? "Thou oughtest to have put my money to the exchangers," that is, "thou oughtest to have spoken, to have admonished, to have advised." But are they disobedient? Yet this is nought to thee.

What could be more gentle than this? For men indeed do not so, but him that hath put out the money at usury, even him do they make also responsible to require it again. But He not so; but, Thou oughtest, He saith, to have put it out, and to have committed the requiring of it again to me. And I should have required it with increase; by increase upon the hearing, meaning the showing forth of the works. Thou oughtest to have done that which is easier, and to have left to me what is more difficult. Forasmuch then as he did not this, "Take," saith He, "the talent from him, and give it to him that hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath." What then is this? He that hath a gift of word and teaching to profit thereby, and useth it not, will lose the gift also; but he that giveth diligence, will gain to himself the gift in more abundance; even as the other loseth what he had received. But not to this is the penalty limited for him that is slothful, but even intolerable is the punishment, and with the punishment the sentence, which is full of a heavy accusation. For "cast ye," saith He, "the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Seest thou how not only the spoiler, and the covetous, nor only the doer of evil things, but also he that doeth not good things, is punished with extreme punishment.

Let us hearken then to these words. As we have opportunity, let us help on our salvation, let us get oil for our lamps, let us labor to add to our talent. For if we be backward, and spend our time in sloth here, no one will pity us any more hereafter, though we should wail ten thousand times. He also that had on the filthy garments condemned himself, and profited nothing. He also that had the one talent restored that which was committed to his charge, and yet was condemned. The virgins again entreated, and came unto Him and knocked, and all in vain, and without effect.

Knowing then these things, let us contribute alike wealth, and diligence, and protection, and all things for our neighbor's advantage. For the talents here are each person's ability, whether in the way of protection, or in money, or in teaching, or in what thing soever of the kind. Let no man say, I have but one talent, and can do nothing; for thou canst even by one approve thyself. For thou art not poorer than that widow; thou art not more uninstructed than Peter and John, who were both "unlearned and ignorant men;" but nevertheless, since they showed forth a zeal, and did all things for the common good, they attained to Heaven. For nothing is so pleasing to God, as to live for the common advantage.

He travels, not according to His divine nature, but according to the dispensation of the flesh which He took upon Him. For He who says to His disciples, Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world, (Mat. 28:20.) is the Only-Begotten God, who is not circumscribed by bodily form. By saying this, we do not disunite Jesus, but attribute its proper qualities to each constituent substance. We may also explain thus, that the Lord travels in a far country with all those who walk by faith and not by sight. And when we are absent from the body with the Lord, then will He also be with us. Observe that the turn of expression is not thus, I am like, or The Son of Man is like, a man travelling into a far country, because He is represented in the parable as travelling, not as the Son of God, but as man.

Having said above, "You do not know the day when the Lord will come," He adds this parable as well, showing that He will come suddenly. For like a man about to travel into a far country, so too the Lord has called His own servants and distributed His property among them, some to one, some to another. Christ, Who became man for our sake, is the "man travelling into a far country," in reference either to His ascent into the heavens or to the length of time that He is long-suffering and does not summarily demand works from us, but waits. His servants are those who have been entrusted with the ministry of the Word, such as bishops, priests, and deacons, and who have received spiritual gifts, some greater, some lesser, each one according to his own strength, that is, according to the measure of his faith and purity. For into the vessel which I will offer to God, He places His gift to me. If it is a small vessel, a small gift; if it is a large vessel, a large gift.

Above the Lord presented a parable concerning the judgment, in which someone is condemned because he does not preserve the spiritual good received interiorly; here he presents a parable in which someone does not multiply the goods received. Hence it is divided. Because first he treats of the distribution of gifts; secondly, of their use; thirdly, of the judgment on those who use them. The second is at and he that had received the five talents went, etc.; the third is at and after a long time, etc. Regarding the first he does three things. First, he presents the necessity of distributing; secondly, the distribution; thirdly, the departure of the one distributing. He shows the necessity in that he says for even as a man going into a far country called his servants and delivered to them his goods. Here you should note that this man is Christ. And we can say that he was going into a far country in a threefold way: because he was going to a place which, although it is his own by his divinity, namely heaven, nevertheless he was a stranger there according to the flesh, because no flesh had ascended there. Hence John 3:13: no man has ascended into heaven, but he that descended from heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven. Likewise he was setting out for heaven, because while he was a stranger in the world, he was journeying to heaven; Jeremiah 14:8: why will you be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man turning in to lodge? Likewise it can be understood spiritually: for now he is away from us as a stranger, since we are strangers from him; 2 Corinthians 5:6: while we are in the body we are absent from the Lord. But when we shall see him, then we shall not be as strangers, but as citizens and members of God's household. And it should be noted that, as Origen says, where even as is used, something ought to be joined to it, unless it is placed in a similitude, as is had above at 24:27: for as lightning comes out of the east, so shall the coming of the Son of God be. But here it is not placed in a similitude, and nothing is added afterward; on this account it should be read thus: a certain man going into a far country as a man, because Christ is both God and man. Hence insofar as he is God, he does not go on a journey, because all things are naked and open to his eyes, Hebrews 4:13. But he goes into a far country as a man; John 1:14: we saw him as the only-begotten of the Father, i.e., as the only-begotten from the Father. And this was necessary since he was going on a journey, that he should commit the care of his own to others; and this he does when he says he called his servants and delivered to them his goods. And first the liberality of the giver is touched on; secondly, the diversity of gifts; likewise, the discretion in giving. The liberality of the giver is touched on in two respects: in that he anticipated those to whom he gave, and in that he gave abundantly. In that he anticipated them, because he who waits to give diminishes his liberality; but not so the Lord; Psalm 20:4: Lord, you have anticipated him with blessings of sweetness. Hence he called his servants, not they him; hence John 15:16: you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you; Romans 8:29: whom he foreknew, he also predestinated. Likewise his liberality is touched on because he gave from his own: he delivered his goods, not another's. Some indeed are liberal with another's goods, but not with their own; but this one gave from his own. Hence concerning him can be understood what is said in Psalm 67:19: you have ascended on high, you have led captivity captive; you have given gifts to men.

(ord.) And straightway took his journey, not changing his place, but leaving them to their own freewill and choice of action.

And to one indeed he entrusted five talents, to another two, and to another one. For there are five senses of the body, namely sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. By five talents, therefore, is expressed the gift of the five senses, that is, knowledge of external things. By two is designated understanding and action. By the term of one talent is designated understanding alone.

(ubi sup.) Otherwise; The five talents denote the gift of the five senses, that is, the knowledge of things without; the two signify understanding and action, the one talent understanding only.

(ubi sup.) This lesson from this Gospel warns us to consider whether those, who seem to have received more in this world than others, shall not be more severely judged by the Author of the world; the greater the gifts, the greater the reckoning for them. Therefore should every one be humble concerning his talents in proportion as he sees himself tied up with a greater responsibility.

But see Him everywhere, not requiring it again immediately. For in the case of the vineyard, He let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country; and here He committed to them the talents, and took His journey, that thou mightest learn His long-suffering. And to me He seems to say these things, to intimate the resurrection. But here it is no more a vineyard and husbandmen, but all servants. For not to rulers only, nor to Jews, but to all, doth He address His discourse.

Whenever you see of those who have received from Christ a dispensation of the oracles of God that some have more and some less; that some have not in comparison of the better sort half an understanding of things; that others have still less; you will perceive the difference of those who have all of them received from Christ oracles of God. They to whom five talents were given, and they to whom two, and they to whom one, have divers degrees of capacity, and one could not hold the measure of another; he who received but one having received no mean endowment, for one talent of such a master is a great thing. His proper servants are three, as there are three sorts of those that bear fruit. He that received five talents, is he that is able to raise all the meanings of the Scriptures to their more divine significations; he that has two is he that has been taught carnal doctrine, (for two seems to be a carnal number,) and to the less strong the Master of the household has given one talent.

Consequently the diversity of gifts is presented: and to one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one. He divides all of these into three, into the thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and hundredfold fruit; because every multitude is divided into the highest, the lowest, and the middle. These talents are the diverse gifts of graces: for just as a talent is called a weight of metal, so grace is a weight that inclines the soul itself; hence love is the weight of the soul. The Apostle in 1 Corinthians 12:4: there are diversities of graces. Hence these gifts are divided so that they are not given equally to all; Ephesians 4:7: to every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the giving of Christ. And this is what he says: to one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one. And what is the reason for this number? We can say that someone so superabounds that he has a double measure; and someone so much that it is beyond the double. Hence he who receives two stands to him who received one as a double proportion: but he who received five stands beyond the double proportion. Hence he means to say that the one who receives five receives according to an incomparable measure. We can also say that these gifts are the words of God, the words of wisdom: for frequently wisdom is compared to riches; Isaiah 33:6: the riches of salvation are wisdom. What does it mean when he says that to one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one? Origen says that he gave five talents to the one who refers everything said in Scripture to a spiritual understanding; hence it was said above: just as there are five bodily senses, so there are five spiritual ones. Thus the Lord gave to the apostles. In Luke 24:45 it is said that he opened their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures. And in Daniel 1:17 it is said that God gave the boys understanding in all Scripture. But who are those who receive two? According to Origen, duality is the number of matter, hence every number is composed of the binary and unity; hence matter is attributed to the binary, form to unity. Hence those are said to receive two who receive less, because they do not know how to govern themselves in all things; but they have something in which they are skilled, because they are good builders, or the like. Hence according to Origen, he who receives one receives more than he who receives two. According to Gregory and Jerome it is the reverse, because by five talents the five senses are understood: hence that one receives five talents who receives grace from God concerning temporal things, around which the operation of the senses is exercised. By two talents, however, sense and intellect are understood. By one, only the intellect is designated. Hence the one who receives one receives the grace of understanding, not the grace of working. According to Hilary, that one receives five who finds Christ in the five books of Moses; but the one who receives two is he who venerates the grace of the new and old testament, who venerates in Christ the divine and human nature; but the one who receives one is the Jew, who glories in the legal precepts alone. Then the reason follows: to every one according to his proper ability. If this is referred to the fact that the talents are the words of God, the exposition is plain, because they ought to be given according to the greater capacity; John 16:12: I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. And the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 3:2: as unto little ones in Christ, I gave you milk to drink, not meat. Therefore to the more subtle he gave more subtle things. But if we refer it to the goods of graces, it should be known that some have said that he gave gratuitous goods according to natural goods. Hence according as a man has more natural goods, he also has more gratuitous ones: and this was true in the angels, but not in men. And what is the reason? Because in angels there is one spiritual nature; therefore they are moved totally to that to which they are moved, according to the totality of their power. Therefore their capacity equals their effort. But man is composed of two contrary natures, one of which is held back by the other from its body: hence no more is given to him than what a man with this natural good has of effort. Likewise there was another error, which held that the beginning of grace was from us. And against this Augustine objects through the word of the Apostle in 2 Corinthians 3:5, who says that we are not sufficient to think anything of ourselves, as of ourselves. But what is prior to thought? And if thought is not from us, then neither is action. Hence he who strives more has more grace; but that he strives more requires a higher cause; Lamentations 5:21: convert us to you, and we shall be converted. But if you ask why one has more grace than another, I say that there is a proximate cause and a first cause for this: the proximate cause is the greater effort of this one than of that one; the first cause is the divine election; Sirach 33:7: why does one day excel another, and one light another, and one year another year, and one sun another sun? By the knowledge of the Lord they were distinguished. And what is the reason for this? Observe that it is otherwise with a universal agent and a particular one. A particular agent presupposes something for itself, and accordingly operates in diverse ways, as an artisan gives one form to one matter and another to another. But if he could make the matter, it would be said that such a one made such matter in order to induce a form according to his will. Thus the Lord, since he is the creator of all, created this one so as to make him thus. Hence it is understood that the capacity of nature is to be understood together with effort. Then the departure of the giver is presented when he says and immediately he went on his journey. And this can be understood that he was going on his journey, because when he had said to the apostles: receive the Holy Spirit, John 20:22, and had said to Peter, John 21:17: feed my sheep, immediately he departed. Hence he was saying, John 13:33: little children, yet a little while I am with you, and immediately he ascended. Or it can be said that he departed, not by withdrawing, but because he left them to their own free will, since he does not compel them to use the gifts given.

But he who had received five talents gained another five, because there are some who, although they do not know how to penetrate internal and mystical things, nevertheless for the sake of their intention toward the heavenly homeland teach right things to those they can from those very external things they have received; and while they guard themselves from the wantonness of the flesh and from the pursuit of earthly things and from the pleasure of visible things, they also restrain others from these by admonishing them. Moreover, it is rightly reported that another five or another two came as profit, because when preaching is expended on both sexes, the talents received are, as it were, doubled.

(ubi sup.) There are also some who though they cannot pierce to things inward and mystical, yet for their measure of view of their heavenly country they teach rightly such things as they can, what they have gathered from things without, and while they keep themselves from wantonness of the flesh, and from ambition of earthly things, and from the delights of the things that are seen, they restrain others also from the same by their admonitions.

(Verse 16) And he who had received the five talents went and worked with them, and gained five more talents. With the earthly senses, he doubled his knowledge of heavenly things: understanding the Creator through His creation, the incorporeal through the corporeal, the invisible through the visible, the temporal through the eternal.

He that had received five talents, that is, having received his bodily senses, he doubled his knowledge of heavenly things, from the creature understanding the Creator, from earthly unearthly, from temporal the eternal.

Or, They that have their senses exercised by healthy conversation, both raising themselves to higher knowledge and zealous in teaching others, these have gained other five; because no one can easily have increase of any virtues that are not his own, and without he teaches others what he himself knows, and no more.

Immediately he who had received the five talents went and traded with them. See the speed with which he acts, not in the least bit negligent, but immediately trading and doubling what he had received. For whether a man be gifted with speech, wealth, the authority of kingship, or any other power or skill, if he desires to benefit not only himself but others as well, he doubles what has been given to him. But he who buries the talent is he who cares only for his own benefit and not for that of others, and he is condemned. But if you should see an intelligent and skilled man misusing his intelligence in various pursuits, in deceitfulness, and in earthly affairs, you may say that such a man has buried his talent in the earth, that is, in earthly matters.

And he that had received the five talents went, etc. Here the use of the gifts is presented, and this with regard to three servants. And first with regard to the first; secondly, with regard to the second; thirdly, with regard to the third. Hence he says and he that had received the five talents went. Here progress in virtue is indicated; Psalm 83:8: they shall go from virtue to virtue. And this is had in Genesis 26:13: he went on growing and increasing. For virtue progresses through the exercise of action; for unless it is exercised, it fails. And therefore he says he traded. Hence it is said in Proverbs 13:4: the soul of those that work shall be made fat. And he gained other five. And how? One progresses in two ways: in one way in himself, in another way in another. In himself, if he has understanding of the Scriptures, so as to advance; if charity, so as to benefit others. He has advanced in order to profit in another, so that what he has received he communicates; 1 Peter 4:10: as every man has received grace, ministering the same one to another. Hence if you communicate what you receive, you gain as many more. Hence he says that he gained other five; because it is scarcely possible that anyone confers on another what he himself does not have. 1 Corinthians 11:23: for I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you. Moreover, in that which he has, in that he profits. The Apostle says: his grace in me has not been void. According to Hilary, that one gains five who profits in the five books of Moses, so as to gain Christ.

And there are some who, as if enriched with two talents, receive understanding and action, understand subtle things about internal matters, work wonders in external things; and when by both understanding and working they preach to others, they bring back, as it were, a doubled profit from their business. Moreover, it is rightly reported that another five or another two came as profit, because when preaching is expended on both sexes, the talents received are, as it were, doubled.

(ubi sup.) Again, there are some who by their understanding and their actions preach to others, and thence gain as it were a twofold profit in such merchandize. This their preaching bestowed upon both sexes is thus a talent doubled.

(Verse 17) Likewise, the one who received two, gained two more. And this person, according to their abilities, doubled whatever they had learned in the Law in the Gospel: whether knowledge and works of the present life or understanding the types of future blessedness.

Or, gained other two, that is, carnal instruction, and another yet a little higher.

In like manner he that had received the two, namely, he who profits in understanding and in action, gained other two, i.e., a reward for each. Or two, because he profits by preaching not only to men but also to women, according to Gregory. According to Origen, what he had received according to the measure of natural endowments he referred to the understanding.

But he who had received one talent went away, dug in the earth, and hid his lord's money. To hide the talent in the earth is to involve the received ability in earthly activities, not to seek spiritual profit, never to lift the heart from earthly thoughts. For there are some who have received the gift of understanding, but nevertheless think only of the things of the flesh. Of whom it is said through the prophet: They are wise to do evil, but they do not know how to do good.

(ubi sup.) To hide one's talent in the earth is to devote the ability we have received to worldly business.

Or, This servant who has received one talent and hid it in the earth is the people that continue in the Law, who through jealousy of the salvation of the Gentiles hide the talent they have received in the earth. For to hide a talent in the earth is to hide the glory of the new preaching through offence at the Passion of His Body. His coming to reckon with them is the assize of the day of judgment.

(Verse 18.) But the one who had received one went away and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. The wicked servant, through earthly works and worldly pleasure, neglected and defiled God's commandments: although it is written by another evangelist that he bound it in a burial cloth (Luke 19), meaning that he weakened the teaching of the master of the house by living softly and delicately.

Or otherwise; When you see one who has the power of teaching, and of benefitting souls, hiding this power, though he may have a certain religiousness of life, doubt not of such an one that he has received one talent and hides it in the earth.

But he that had received the one, going, dug into the earth, etc. But what does it mean to dig into the earth? It is expounded in three ways according to Gregory. That one hides his treasure who hides the gift received in sins of the flesh, or in temporal things: hence he who can profit in temporal things and turns himself to earthly things hides the money of his lord in the earth. Concerning such it is said in Psalm 16:11: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth. According to Origen, someone has the gift of understanding and yet wishes to live religiously and for himself alone, when he could profit many; this one hides it in the earth; Tobit 12:7: it is honorable to reveal and confess the works of God. For such money is meant to be multiplied, not hidden. Hilary says: who are those who receive one? The Jews, who receive the bare letter. These hide the money in the earth, i.e., in the flesh of Christ, who because of the flesh cannot believe him to be God. Hence the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 1:23: but we preach Christ Jesus, unto the Jews indeed a stumbling block, and unto the Gentiles foolishness.

But the Lord who conferred the talents returns to settle accounts, because he who now piously grants spiritual gifts strictly examines merits in judgment, considers what each one received, and weighs what profit one brings back from what was received.

(Verse 19, 20.) After a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.' It is a great time between the ascension of the Savior and his second coming. But if the apostles are going to give an account and be judged with fear, what should we do?

After a long time, because there is a long interval between the Saviour's ascension and His second coming.

Notice too that the servants did not go to the master so they might be judged and receive their just deserts. Rather, "the master came to them" in due course. "After a long time" he came and "settled accounts with them" on everything they had done, compensating them for the gains of their good works and the losses of their sins. Settling "accounts" and scrutinizing everything, he dealt with each one individually. It behooves us, then, as those who by sinning have done evil and by doing good reaped a profit, to keep a guard on our hearts. In this way, when our Master comes to settle accounts with us, we may not be found to have done evil, even through idle words.

And note here that the servants do not come to the Lord to be judged, but the Lord shall come to them when the time shall be accomplished. After a long time, that is, when He has sent forth such as are fitted to bring about the salvation of souls, and perhaps for this reason it is not easy to find one who is quite fit to pass forthwith out of this life, as is manifest from this, that even the Apostles lived to old age; for example, it was said to Peter, When thou shalt be old, thou shall stretch forth thy hand; (John 21:18.) and Paul says to Philemon, Now as Paul the aged.

But after a long time he who bestowed the silver talent returns. The silver talent may be in the form of a silver tongue, the gift of eloquence, for the eloquence of God is as silver that is tried by fire. Or, the silver talent may be any gift that makes one brilliant and glorious. He comes and demands a reckoning from those who received.

And after a long time the lord of those servants came. Here the judgment is treated. And first the reason for the coming of the judge is presented; secondly, the judgment, at and he reckoned with them. It should be noted that we must render an account to God of our works and gifts; above at 12:36: of every word that men shall speak, they must render an account. And above at 18:23: the kingdom of heaven is likened to a man who would take an account of his servants. And first it is presented in particular: and he reckoned with them, because everyone is bound to render an account, first at his death, secondly on the day of judgment, when we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. When therefore he says and after a long time the lord came, it can be referred to either. For if to the day of judgment, it is given to be understood that the interval between the coming of Christ and the day of judgment is long; against what some believed in the time of the Apostle; hence 2 Thessalonians 2:2: be not terrified as if the day of the Lord were at hand. But if to the day of death, Origen says: consider that scarcely anyone has been useful in the Church who lived only a short time. And he proves this from Peter, to whom the Lord said, John 21:18: when you are old, you shall stretch forth your hands, and another shall bind you. Likewise from Paul, who was young at his conversion and afterwards became old; hence in Philemon v. 9: as Paul an old man, etc. Hence when it says and after a long time, it is given to be understood that the Lord gives a long space for doing well: and from this is understood what is said in Proverbs 3:2: length of days and years of life and peace shall they add to you.

Or, That servant who received five talents is the people of believers under the Law, who beginning with that, doubled their merit by the right obedience of an evangelic faith.

And they who bring a return unto Him confess frankly, both what is their own, and what their Master's. And the one saith, Lord, "Thou gavest me five talents;" and the other saith, "two," indicating that from Him they received the source of their gain, and they are very thankful, and reckon all to Him.

What then saith the Master? "Well done, thou good" (for this is goodness to look to one's neighbor) "and faithful servant; thou wast faithful over few things, I will set thee over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord," meaning by this expression all blessedness.

We earnestly believe that we are incapable of explaining such things, unlike those who infer from the perceptible events of the Scriptures more inspired meanings. These are spiritual meanings that Solomon calls "divine" and which Jeremiah calls "faculties of the heart" and which Paul in his epistle to the Hebrews calls "faculties trained by practice to distinguish good from evil." The persons in the first group are those who in addition to the "five talents" gained five more, trading with them and capitalizing on their ability. Successfully negotiating and zealously teaching, they traded and acquired five more talents. Indeed, no one readily benefits from another's ability unless he has that ability to begin with. A wise man grows in wisdom, a trustworthy man in trust."He brought five talents more." Note this: What each man knows, he can teach to another, up to the level of as much as he knows. This he can teach to another and no more. Therefore whatever someone has in himself, by teaching this to another, he gains it in the other, making that person have what he too has. Consequently he who had received the "five talents" is said not to have gained more than the five which he had and "he who had received the two talents" not more than the two which he had.

The first servant stepped forward in confidence, because he had gone to work and made a profit. That confidence now made him bold, for he was the first one to approach the master and declare to him, "Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more." The master replied in words favorable to us all, even as our master will reply when he settles with us: "Well done, good and faithful servant." These words run counter to what he said to the third man: "You wicked and slothful servant."

He who had received five talents comes first with boldness before his Lord.

Both of those who had worked and traded with the talents given to them are praised equally by the master, each one hearing, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." "Good" we understand here to mean "loving all mankind" and "without spite," he who imparts his own goodness to his neighbors. Those who have shown themselves to be faithful over a few things are made rulers over many things. But even if we are deemed worthy of gifts in this life, that is nothing in comparison to the good things that are to come. "The joy of the Lord" is the unending gladness which God has, rejoicing in His works, as David says (Ps. 103:31). With such a joy do the saints also rejoice in their works, just as the sinners grieve over their own deeds and regret them. The saints have the Lord as their wealth and they rejoice in Him. See that he who received the five talents and he who received two were deemed worthy of the same good things. Though a man may have received but a few things, if he is a good steward even of his small gift, he will enjoy the same honor as he who was deemed worthy of, and accomplished, great things. For each one, according to what he has received, is seen to be perfect to the degree that he accomplishes what he has been given to do.

And he that had received the five talents came and brought other five, etc. Here three servants are treated. And first the first; secondly, the second; thirdly, the third. Regarding the first he does two things. First, the account rendered is presented; secondly, the due reward, at his lord said to him, etc. On the part of this servant, first his confidence, faithfulness, humility, and diligence or solicitude are presented. His confidence is touched on, because he did not wait for the lord to summon him but presented himself; hence he says coming. Paul had this confidence through the blood of Christ; Hebrews 10:19: having confidence in the entering into the holies by the blood of Christ; 2 Corinthians 3:12: having such hope, we use much confidence. Likewise his faithfulness is noted, because he also brought other five. He would indeed be unfaithful who would attribute to himself something of his lord's goods: hence this one offered everything to the lord. If therefore you have done some good, if you have converted someone, and you attribute it to yourself and not to God, you are not faithful; 1 Chronicles 29:14: all things are yours, and the things that we have received of your hand, we have given to you. Likewise his humility in confessing the gift is noted, because he acknowledged that he had received it from him; 1 Corinthians 4:7: what have you that you have not received? Hence this one confesses the gift, saying: Lord, you delivered to me five talents, etc. Likewise his diligence or solicitude is touched on: behold I have gained other five over and above. Hence he rightly said with the Apostle: his grace in me has not been void.

(de Trin. i. 8.) This will be our perfect joy, than which is none greater, to have fruition of that Divine Trinity in whose image we were made.

If honor and riches: God shall set His good and faithful servants over many things, indeed sons of God and gods they shall be called and shall be, and where His Son shall be, there shall they be also, heirs indeed of God, and co-heirs with Christ. If true security: surely they shall be as certain that these things, or rather this good, shall never and in no way be lacking to them, as they shall be certain that they shall not lose it of their own accord, nor that God who loves them shall take it from His lovers against their will, nor that anything more powerful than God shall separate God and them against their will.

I pray, O God, that I may know you, love you, that I may rejoice in you: and if I cannot do so fully in this life, may I at least advance from day to day, until that fullness shall come. Meanwhile let my mind meditate upon this, let my tongue speak of it, let my heart love it, let my mouth discourse upon it, let my soul hunger for it, let my flesh thirst for it, let my whole substance desire it, until I enter into the joy of my Lord, who is the triune and one God blessed for ever and ever. Amen.

I do _not_ think that the life of Heaven bears any analogy to play or dance in respect of frivolity. I do think that while we are in this "valley of tears", cursed with labour, hemmed round with necessities, tripped up with frustrations, doomed to perpetual plannings, puzzlings, and anxieties, certain qualities that must belong to the celestial condition have no chance to get through, can project no image of themselves, except in activities which, for us here and now, are frivolous. For surely we must suppose the life of the blessed to be an end in itself, indeed The End: to be utterly spontaneous; to be the complete reconciliation of boundless freedom with order—with the most delicately adjusted, supple, intricate, and beautiful order? How can you find any image of this in the "serious" activities either of our natural or of our (present) spiritual life?—either in our precarious and heart-broken affections or in the Way which is always, in some degree, a _via crucis_? No, Malcolm. It is only in our "hours-off", only in our moments of permitted festivity, that we find an analogy. Dance and game _are_ frivolous, unimportant down here; for "down here" is not their natural place. Here, they are a moment's rest from the life we were placed here to live. But in this world everything is upside down. That which, if it could be prolonged here, would be a truancy, is likest that which in a better country is the End of ends. Joy is the serious business of Heaven.

When I began to look into this matter I was shocked to find such different Christians as Milton, Johnson and Thomas Aquinas taking heavenly glory quite frankly in the sense of fame or good report. But not fame conferred by our fellow creatures—fame with God, approval or (I might say) "appreciation" by God. And then, when I had thought it over, I saw that this view was scriptural; nothing can eliminate from the parable the divine _accolade_, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." With that, a good deal of what I had been thinking all my life fell down like a house of cards. I suddenly remembered that no one can enter heaven except as a child; and nothing is so obvious in a child—not in a conceited child, but in a good child—as its great and undisguised pleasure in being praised. Apparently what I had mistaken for humility had, all these years, prevented me from understanding what is in fact the humblest, the most childlike, the most creaturely of pleasures—nay, the specific pleasure of the inferior: the pleasure of a beast before men, a child before its father, a pupil before his teacher, a creature before its Creator. And that is enough to raise our thoughts to what may happen when the redeemed soul, beyond all hope and nearly beyond belief, learns at last that she has pleased Him whom she was created to please. To please God . . . to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness . . . to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a father in a son—it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain. But so it is.

Pleasure in being praised is not Pride. The child who is patted on the back for doing a lesson well, the woman whose beauty is praised by her lover, the saved soul to whom Christ says "Well done," are pleased and ought to be. For here the pleasure lies not in what you are but in the fact that you have pleased someone you wanted (and rightly wanted) to please. The trouble begins when you pass from thinking, "I have pleased him; all is well," to thinking, "What a fine person I must be to have done it." The more you delight in yourself and the less you delight in the praise, the worse you are becoming. When you delight wholly in yourself and do not care about the praise at all, you have reached the bottom.

(non occ.) Faithful, because he appropriated to himself none of those things which were his lord's.

The servant who returned the doubled talents is praised by the master and led to eternal reward, when it is said to him by the Lord's voice: "Well done, good and faithful servant; because you have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things; enter into the joy of your lord." For all the goods of the present life are few things, however many they may seem, in comparison with the eternal reward. But then the faithful servant is set over many things when, having overcome all the trouble of corruption, he is glorified in that heavenly seat with eternal joys. Then he is perfectly admitted into the joy of his lord, when, taken up into that eternal homeland and mingled with the company of angels, he so rejoices inwardly at the gift that there is no longer anything to grieve him outwardly from corruption.

(Hom. in Ev. ix. 2.) And bringing his talents doubled, he is commended by his Lord, and is sent into eternal happiness.

(ubi sup.) The faithful servant is set over many things, when having overcome the afflictions of corruption, he joys with eternal joy in that heavenly seat. He is then fully admitted to the joy of his Lord, when taken in to that abiding country, and numbered among the companies of Angels, he has such inward joy for this gift, that there is no room for outward sorrow at his corruption.

(Verse 21-23) His master said to him: Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master. And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.' I keep reminding both those who had made five talents and those who had made ten, and likewise the same speech flatters the master of the household who had made four from two. And it should be noted that all the things we have at present, though they may seem great and numerous, are small and few in comparison to what is to come. 'Enter into the joy of your master,' he says, 'and receive what neither eye has seen nor ear heard nor has it entered the heart of man.' (I Cor. II) But what greater gift can be given to a faithful servant than to be with the Lord and see the joy of his Master?

He says, Thou wast faithful in a few things, because all that we have at present though they seem great and many, yet in comparison of the things to come are little and few.

What greater thing can be given to a faithful servant than to be with his Lord, and to see his Lord's joy?

The servant who of five talents had made ten, and he who of two had made four, are received with equal favour by the Master of the household, who looks not to the largeness of their profit, but to the disposition of their will.

That He says of both these servants that they came, we must understand of their passing out of this world to Him. And observe that the same was said to them both; he that had less capacity, but that which he had, he exercised after such manner as he ought, shall have no whit less with God than he who has a greater capacity; for all that is required is that whatever a man has from God, he should use it all to the glory of God.

Well done is an interjection of joy; the Lord showing us therein the joy with which He invites the servant who labours well to eternal bliss; of which the Prophet speaks, In thy presence is fulness of joy.

There follows the due reward: and in it he does four things. Because first a congratulation is presented; secondly, a commendation of merits; thirdly, the equality of judgment; fourthly, the greatness of the reward. The congratulation is touched on when he says his lord said to him: well done, good and faithful servant, etc. Hence it is said in Isaiah 62:5: behold the bridegroom shall rejoice over the bride, and your Lord shall rejoice over you. Hence with an exulting spirit he receives him, when he says well done. Well done is an expression of exultation. There follows the commendation. And first he commends him for humility, when he says servant, because he recognized himself to be his servant; Luke 17:10: when you have done all things well, say: we are unprofitable servants. Likewise he commends him for goodness by the fact that he says good; because properly the good is diffusive of itself; hence the good one multiplied goodness. Likewise for faithfulness, because he did not retain for himself but offered to his lord; hence it is said and faithful; 1 Corinthians 4:2: here now it is required among the dispensers that a man be found faithful. And above at 24:45: who, think you, is a faithful and wise servant? Hence he approves him, saying faithful. For not he that commends himself is approved, but he whom God commends, 2 Corinthians 10:18. Then he presents the equality, to show the equity of the judgment, saying: because you have been faithful over a few things, I will place you over many things. These few things are all the things that are in this life, because they are as nothing in comparison to heavenly things. Hence he means to say: because you have been faithful in regard to goods which belong to the present life, I will place you over many things, i.e., I will give you spiritual things which are above all these goods; Luke 16:10: he that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in that which is greater. There follows the greatness of the reward: enter into the joy of your lord. For joy is the reward; John 16:22: I will see you, and your heart shall rejoice. And someone might say: is not the vision the reward, or some other good? I say that if some other thing is called the reward, nevertheless joy is the final reward. Just as I could say that the end of heavy things is the lower place; likewise to rest in that place, and that is more principal. Thus joy is nothing other than the repose of the soul in the good attained; hence by reason of its finality, joy is called the reward. And why does he say enter into joy, not "receive"? It must be said that there is a twofold joy: of exterior goods and of interior goods. He who rejoices in exterior goods does not enter into joy, but joy enters into him; but he who rejoices in spiritual goods enters into joy. Song of Songs 1:5: the king brought me into his storerooms. Or otherwise: that which is in something is contained by it, and the container is greater. When therefore joy is about something which is less than your heart, then joy enters into your heart. But God is greater than the heart; therefore he who rejoices in God enters into joy. Likewise he enters into the joy of the lord, i.e., concerning the lord, because the lord is truth. Hence beatitude is nothing other than joy in the truth. Or thus: enter into the joy of your lord, i.e., rejoice in that in which he rejoices, and concerning which your lord rejoices, namely, in the enjoyment of himself. Then therefore a man rejoices as lord when he enjoys as lord; hence the Lord says to the apostles: I have appointed you that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, i.e., that you may be blessed in that in which I am blessed.

Or, the servant to whom two talents were committed is the people of the Gentiles justified by the faith and confession of the Son and of the Father, confessing our Lord Jesus Christ, to be both God and Man, both Spirit and Flesh. These are the two talents committed to this servant. But as the Jewish people doubled by its belief in the Gospel every Sacrament which it had learned in the Law, (i. e. its five talents,) so this people by its use of its two talents merited understanding and working.

Concerning the two talents, those who did not stay with the original sum given but sought to excel—though unable to surpass the measure of two talents—are those who had imbibed worldly know-how. Two seems to be an average or mundane number. Having received the two talents from the one who knew their ability, he gained two talents more. This can be viewed either with respect to worldly knowledge or to a higher knowledge.

And he also that had received the two talents came: above the judgment with regard to the first servant, who had received five talents, was treated; here the judgment with regard to the second servant, who had received two talents, is treated. As to the letter it differs in nothing from the first, nor is there anything to be said beyond what was said of the first; and therefore it is not necessary to repeat, because this one also received the same commendation and the same reward as the one who had received five talents.

Well done is an interjection of joy; the Lord showing us therein the joy with which He invites the servant who labours well to eternal bliss; of which the Prophet speaks, In thy presence is fulness of joy.

In this it is given to be understood, according to Origen, that he who receives a small gift from God and uses it well according to his ability receives and merits as much as he who receives a great one. For this alone the Lord requires of every man, that he serve him with his whole heart, as is had in Deuteronomy 6:5. But this can raise a difficulty. Suppose that someone has a great measure of goods, and another a small one; if this one works according to the little charity he has received, then he will merit as much as the one who received more: which seems impossible, because then he who has less charity would merit as much or more than he who has more. And therefore a distinction must be made, because there are certain goods that perfect and elicit the act of the will and incline it; and others that do not. The gift that inclines the will and elicits the act is charity. Therefore it cannot be that he who has more charity does not strive with greater effort and act better. But there are other gifts which one can use according to greater or lesser charity, as knowledge and the like: in such things, he who uses them with greater effort merits more as to the reward; hence it is said in Luke 21:3-4 that the poor widow put more into the treasury than those who put in more, because she used what she had according to her whole ability.

I believe that the most lawless and inordinate loves are less contrary to God's will than a self-invited and self-protective lovelessness. It is like hiding the talent in a napkin and for much the same reason. "I knew thee that thou wert a hard man." Christ did not teach and suffer that we might become, even in the natural loves, more careful of our own happiness.

The servant, however, who refused to work with his talent, returns to his master with words of excuse, saying: "Lord, I know that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter; and being afraid, I went away and hid your talent in the ground; behold, you have what is yours." It should be noted that the useless servant calls his master hard, yet pretends not to serve him for gain, and says he was afraid to spend the talent for profit, when he should have feared only this: that he might return it to his master without profit. For there are many within the holy Church, whose image this servant represents, who fear to undertake the ways of a better life, and yet do not fear to lie in the sloth of their torpor; and when they consider themselves sinners, they tremble to seize upon the ways of holiness, yet do not dread remaining in their iniquities. Peter, while still placed in weakness, well represents the likeness of these when, upon seeing the miracle of the fish, he said: "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." On the contrary, if you consider yourself a sinner, you ought not to repel the Lord from yourself. But those who refuse to grasp the ways of a better habit and the citadel of a more upright life because they perceive themselves to be weak, as it were both confess themselves sinners and repel the Lord, and flee from Him whom they ought to have sanctified in themselves; and as if having no counsel in their confusion, they die while fearing life.

(Hom. in Ev. ix. 3.) The servant who would not trade with his talent returns to his Lord with words of excuse.

(ubi sup.) But there are many within the Church of whom this servant is a type, who fear to set out on the path of a better life, and yet are not afraid to continue in carnal indolence; they esteem themselves sinners, and therefore tremble to take up the paths of holiness, but fearlessly remain in their own iniquities.

Or, By this servant is understood the Jewish people which continues in the Law, and says I was afraid of thee, as through fear of the old commandments abstaining from the exercise of evangelical liberty; and it says, Lo, there is that is thine, as though it had continued in those things which the Lord commanded, when yet it knew that the fruits of righteousness should be reaped there, where the Law had not been sown, and that there should be gathered from among the Gentiles some who were not scattered of the seed of Abraham.

(Verse 24, 25.) But he who had received one talent came forward and said: Lord, I know that you are a hard man; you reap where you did not sow, and gather where you did not scatter seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours. Truly it is written: To make excuses for sins (Ps. 140:4), even to this servant, the crime of sloth and negligence was added, along with the sin of pride. For he who should simply confess his laziness and beg the head of the family, on the contrary, accuses and says that he acted wisely, so that while seeking monetary gains, he would not even endanger his own fate.

For truly that which is written, To offer excuses excusing sins (Ps. 141:4.) happened to this servant, so that to slothfulness and idleness was added also the sin of pride. For he who ought to have honestly acknowledged his fault, and to have entreated the Master of the household, on the contrary cavils against him, and avers that he did it with provident design, lest while he sought to make profit he should hazard the capital.

Also, by this which this servant dared to say, Thou, reapest where thou sowedst not, we understand that the Lord accepts the good life of the Gentiles and of the Philosophers.

But not so that other one, but how? "I knew that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou sowedst not, and gathering where thou strawedst not: and I was afraid, and hid thy talent: lo, there thou hast that is thine." What then the Master? "Thou oughtest to have put my money to the exchangers," that is, "thou oughtest to have spoken, to have admonished, to have advised." But are they disobedient? Yet this is nought to thee.

What could be more gentle than this? For men indeed do not so, but him that hath put out the money at usury, even him do they make also responsible to require it again. But He not so; but, Thou oughtest, He saith, to have put it out, and to have committed the requiring of it again to me. And I should have required it with increase; by increase upon the hearing, meaning the showing forth of the works. Thou oughtest to have done that which is easier, and to have left to me what is more difficult.

They exemplify the very words of the servant who answers and says, "I knew you to be a hard man" and one who was able to reap "where you did not sow and gather where you did not winnow."The master answered him and reproached him as a wicked and lazy servant. Note that he did not call himself a hard man. But he agreed with the servant when he went on to say, "You knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not winnow." How are we to understand the phrase that our Lord truly reaps where he did not sow and gathers where he did not winnow? In this way, it seems to me: The righteous man "sows in the Spirit," from which he will also "reap eternal life." Everything that is sown and reaped for eternal life by the righteous man, God reaps. The righteous man belongs to God, who reaps where not he but the righteous man has sown. So we may say that the righteous man has "scattered and given to the poor." The Lord, however, gathers to himself whatever the righteous man has "scattered and given to the poor." Reaping what he has not sown and gathering where he has not winnowed, he counts as having been done to himself whatever the faithful have sown or winnowed for the poor. He says to those who have done good to their neighbors: "Come you, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom which was prepared for you. I was hungry and you gave me to eat ..."30 And since he wishes to reap where he did not sow and to gather where he did not winnow, when he does not find anything, he says to those who failed to reap and gather: "Depart from me, you wicked, into everlasting fire, which my Father has prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you did not give me to eat."

Such are the good servants; but the wicked and slothful servant justifies himself differently, in a manner befitting to him. For he calls his master "hard," as many today call their teachers "hard" or "exacting." It is indeed exacting to look for obedience from men, for God did not create obedience within man, nor did He sow in him an obedient disposition, [but instead God gave man free will]. This is what the unprofitable servant means when he says, "You reap where you have not sown," that is, You require an obedient disposition from all men, although You have implanted in no man an obedient disposition.

And he also that had received the one talent came and said. Here the judgment of the wicked servant is determined. And first the account is presented; secondly, the condemnation which he received, at and his lord answering said to him. He proposed a remarkable argument. For first he proposed a blasphemy; from this he assumed negligence; thirdly, he concluded innocence. And thus his syllogism could not hold. The blasphemy, when he says Lord, I know that you are a hard man. The negligence, when he says I went and hid your talent, etc. The innocence, when he says behold here you have what is yours. And let us consider that it says he came forward. It was said above concerning the one who had received five talents that he came forward, i.e., he had confidence; but this one came forward not with confidence, but under compulsion. Or otherwise, because some in those things which they do badly, it seems to them that they have done well. Proverbs 26:16: the sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that speak sentences. Hence it seemed to him that he had done well. According to Origen, the estimation about God appears to some as about a hard man, from whom one withdraws on account of hardness. Sirach 9:18: keep far from the man that has power to kill. And therefore just as he who knows a hard man does not wish to serve him, so some think about God that he is a hard man. And according to this, this servant had three evil opinions about God. First, that God was not merciful; secondly, that something accrued to him from our goods; thirdly, that not all things were from God; and all these opinions proceeded from one evil root, because he thought that God was like a mere man. And this is signified when he says: I know that you are a hard man, i.e., I consider you to be a man; which is not true, as is had in Numbers 23:19: God is not as a man; Isaiah 55:9: as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are my ways exalted above your ways. And he says hard, because a hard man is not bent. And concerning such a one it is said in Job 41:15: his heart shall be as hard as the anvil of a smith. But not so is the Lord, because the Lord is a merciful God and gracious, Psalm 110:4. Hardness tends to arise from avarice; Proverbs 29:4: a just king sets up the land; a covetous man shall destroy it; therefore he considers him to be hard, and so avaricious; and therefore he attributes to him the qualities of the avaricious: you reap where you have not sown, and gather where you have not scattered, i.e., you are so hard that you do not cease to seize the goods of others; which nevertheless is false; Job 35:7: moreover if you do justly, what shall you give him, or what shall he receive of your hand? And in Psalm 15:2: you have no need of my goods. Hence in this he imputed to him that he needed our goods. The third was that there would be some good that was not from God; as there are some who do not say that what they have from patrimony or from study is from God: and this is what he says, where you have not sown; against that saying in James 1:17: every best gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights. Likewise, some considering him to be hard withdraw themselves from his service. Hence some who can greatly profit say: if I were to hear confessions and preach, perhaps things would go badly for me: such consider God hard. Likewise some say: if I were to enter religious life, perhaps I would sin and be worse off; these consider God hard, who believe that if they cling to God something will fail them. Such are like those who despair of God's mercy. This servant alleged these things. And yet these things are true and have support from authority. For he is hard with sinners and kind to those who return to him; Wisdom 11:11: for you did prove them as a father admonishing them, but these you did examine as a severe king condemning them; Lamentations 3:25: the Lord is good to the soul that seeks him; 2 Chronicles 30:18: the good Lord will show mercy to all them that seek the Lord God of their fathers with their whole heart. Therefore he is hard with sinners and merciful to the good. And there is no doubt that he must be feared lest he be despised; hence Hebrews 10:31: it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But insofar as he is merciful, we ought to hope that if one gives himself to his service, he will not fall; and if he should fall, he will rise again. Likewise, as to what he says, you reap where you have not sown, although it is false, yet in a certain sense it can be true; because he does not require for his own sake, but for our benefit; because he reaps his own glory which he did not sow. Likewise, you gather where you have not scattered. For he who reaps receives in abundance; but he who gathers receives from many; thus the Lord wills that his glory increase from diverse men. Hence the Apostle in 2 Corinthians 1:14: we are your glory, as you also are ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Similarly, what he says, you reap where you have not sown, has truth in a certain respect, because man sows and God gathers; John 4:37: one is he that sows, and another is he that reaps. I have sent you to reap that in which you did not labor. For man sows his works, and God reaps unto his own glory; Galatians 6:8: what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap. And the Lord says, John 14:3: I will come and will take you to myself. For if you give alms, you sow, and the Lord reaps, because he perhaps reckons it to himself. Hence he himself says, below in this chapter: as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me. Likewise, as was said above: the seed is the word of God; hence sometimes God gathers the fruits of good work where preaching has not been sown; Romans 2:14: men who have not the law are a law to themselves. In a third way, certain evils are done by man, such as evils of the flesh, from which evil ought to be reaped. Concerning which Galatians 6:8: he that sows in the flesh, of the flesh shall reap corruption. Yet God makes something good come of it, such as the good of justice, of humility, or the like.

Then there was another servant who showed less ability. Because of it, the master of the household gave him "one talent" as though to the servant less capable. "Receiving" it, the servant went away and "hid the talent in the earth." Instead he should have entrusted the money to the bankers.

Hence this servant was first blasphemous. Then his negligence is touched on: being afraid, I went; Psalm 13:5: they trembled for fear, where there was no fear. It is true that God is to be feared so that sin may be avoided, according to what is had in Job 31:23: for I always feared God as waves swelling over me. Hence that man should not sin, he should do this from love, not from fear. Therefore there follows: I hid your talent in the earth, because out of fear, since servile fear causes many evils. Then he concludes: behold, here you have what is yours. Hence he preserved his knowledge but did not multiply it. And this does not suffice, because one must multiply; 1 Corinthians 9:16: if I do not preach the Gospel, there is no glory for me.

Hence this servant is immediately answered: "Wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter; therefore you ought to have given my money to the bankers, and upon my coming I would have received what is mine with interest." The servant is bound by his own words when the master says: "I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter." As if he were openly saying: If according to your judgment I even demand what I did not give, how much more do I demand from you what I gave to be distributed; therefore you ought to have given my money to the bankers, and upon my coming I would have received what is mine with interest. To give money to the bankers is to impart the knowledge of preaching to those who are able to exercise it.

But just as you see our peril if we withhold the Lord's money, so carefully consider your own peril, dearest brothers, because what you hear is demanded back from you with interest. For in usury, money is received back even though it was not given. For when that which was received is returned, something additional is paid beyond what was received. Consider therefore, dearest brothers, that you will pay interest on this money of the word you have received, and take care that from what you hear you also strive to understand other things which you do not hear, so that by gathering some things from others, you may also learn to do from yourselves those things which you have not yet learned from the mouth of the preacher.

(Hom. in Ev. ix. 4.) So then we see as well the peril of the teachers if they withhold the Lord's money, as that of the hearers from whom is exacted with usury that they have heard, namely, that from what they have heard they should strive to understand that they have not heard.

(Verse 26-28) But his master answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' The lazy person, because he did not want to double the talent, was condemned in one part to pride, in the other part to negligence. 'If,' he said, 'you had known that I am harsh and cruel, and pursue what is not mine, and reap where I have not sown, why did not such a thought instill fear in you, so that you would know that I would diligently seek what is mine, and give my money, or rather silver, to the moneylenders? For both ἀργύριον, as the Greek word signifies. The words, he said, of the Lord are chaste words, silver tested in the fire, proven to the earth, purified sevenfold (Ps. 11:7).' Therefore, money and silver are the proclamation of the Gospel and a divine message, which should be given to money changers and bankers, that is, to other teachers (which the apostles did, appointing elders and bishops in each province), or to all believers who can double money and return it with interest, so that they may fulfill whatever they have learned in word with actions. However, the talent is taken away and given to the one who had made ten talents, so that we may understand that even though the Lord's joy is equal in both labors, that is, in the one who had doubled five to ten and the one who had doubled two to four, a greater reward is owed to the one who has worked more with the Lord's money. Where the Apostle says: Honor the elders who are truly elders, especially those who labor in the word of God (I Tim. V, 17). From the fact that the wicked servant dared to say: You reap where you did not sow, and gather where you did not scatter, we understand that even the good life of the Gentiles and philosophers receives the Lord, and that those who act justly are different from those who act unjustly, and that those who neglect the written law are condemned in comparison to those who serve the natural law.

But what he thought would be his excuse is turned into his condemnation. He calls him wicked servant, because he cavilled against his Lord; and slothful, because he would not double his talent; condemning his pride in the one, and his idleness in the other. If you knew me to be hard and austere, and to seek after other men's goods, you should also have known that I exact with the more rigour that is mine own, and should have given my money to the bankers; for the Greek word here (ἀζγύριον) means money. The words of the Lord are pure words, silver tried in the fire. (Ps. 12:6.) The money, or silver, then are the preaching of the Gospel and the heavenly word; which ought to be given to the bankers, that is, either to the other doctors, which the Apostles did when they ordained Priests and Bishops throughout the cities; or to all the believers, who can double the sum and restore it with usury by fulfilling in act what they have learned in word.

Or, it is given to him who had gained five talents, that we may understand that though the Lord's joy over the labour of each be equal, of him who doubled the five as of him who doubled the two, yet is a greater reward due to him who laboured more in the Lord's money.

The Lord did not allow that He was a hard man as the servant supposed, but He assented to all his other words. But He is indeed hard to those who abuse the mercy of God to suffer themselves to become remiss, and use it not to be converted.

When the servant says that the master is hard, he condemns himself. For the servant ought all the more to have been diligent knowing that his master was hard and severe. For if the master required this of others, so too would the master require this of him.

And his lord answering said to him. Here the condemnation of the servant is presented. And just as in the case of the other servants he first commended them, then set forth the equity of the judgment, and afterwards the reward; so in this case, first he rebukes him; secondly, he sets forth the equity of the judgment; thirdly, the punishment. The second is at you knew that I reap where I sow not, etc.; the third is at take therefore the talent from him. He says therefore: wicked and slothful servant. He calls him a servant because he gave up out of fear, and it is characteristic of servants to fear servilely. And therefore Romans 8:15: you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear. Likewise he calls him wicked because he spoke evil of his lord; above at 12:35: an evil man out of an evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil things. Likewise he calls him slothful because he refused to work; Proverbs 20:4: because of the cold the sluggard would not plow, because of the cold, namely, of fear. You knew that I reap where I sow not, etc. Now he argues against him from his fault. And first he sets forth what he knew; secondly, what he ought to have done; thirdly, what would have followed from it. He says therefore you knew that I reap where I sow not, and yet you did not work; whereas Luke 12:47 has: the servant knowing the will of his lord and not doing, shall be beaten with many stripes. Likewise he had said that he was hard and that he gathered where he did not sow. The Lord indeed acknowledges that he reaps where he does not sow; but he does not acknowledge that he is hard, because what he requires of man he does not do out of hardness, but out of mercy, so that his good may be multiplied.

And you, O unprofitable servant, ought also to have multiplied what you had received and made disciples from whom I, the Master, could demand what is due. Christ calls disciples "bankers," for both exactly account for that which has been delivered to them. What is the increase which He requires of the disciples? The showing of works transacted. For the disciple who receives the word from the teacher, must keep the word and give it back in its entirety; but the disciple also adds to it the interest, which is the doing of good.

You ought therefore to have committed my money to the bankers. And it follows: just as you say that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter. But because I do these things, much more do I will that my money be multiplied. And he speaks according to the likeness of those who deliver money for increase. This money is the words of God: hence in Greek it has argireon: for by silver, which is sonorous, the word of God is signified; Psalm 11:7: the words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried by the fire. Bankers can be understood in two ways, on account of a twofold office, because they have the office of testing whether money is good, and also of making a profit from the money deposited. According to the first, bankers are hearers who ought to test what they hear; Job 12:11: does not the ear discern words? Likewise those who multiply, as the apostles, who gave to others the gift of the Holy Spirit, by establishing bishops, etc. Titus 1:5: for this cause I left you in Crete, that you should ordain priests in every city, etc. And at my coming I should have received my own. Hence this good would have followed. And what is that good? It is threefold. When the Lord gives you understanding and you strive to act, you multiply; James 1:22: be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Likewise, when the Lord gives virtue, and you strive to use it well; 1 Peter 2:2: as newborn babes, desire the rational milk without guile, that thereby you may grow unto salvation. Likewise, that what you have in yourself you should strive to impart to others.

But let us hear with what sentence he strikes the lazy servant: Take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.

It seemed very fitting that when the one talent is taken from the wicked servant, it should be given rather to the one who had received two talents than to the one who had received five. For it ought to have been given to the one who had less rather than to the one who had more. But, as we said above, by the five talents is signified knowledge of external things, that is, the five senses; while by the two talents are expressed understanding and action. Therefore the one who had received two talents had more than the one who had received five, because he who through the five talents merited the administration of external things was still empty of understanding of internal things. Therefore the one talent, which we said signifies understanding, ought to have been given to the one who had well administered the external things he had received. This we see daily in the holy Church, because many, while they well administer the external things they receive, are led through added grace also to mystical understanding, so that those who faithfully administer external things also excel in internal understanding.

(ubi sup.) Let us hear now the sentence by which the Lord condemns the slothful servant, Take away from him the talent, and give it to him that hath ten talents.

(Hom. in Ev. ix. 5.) It might seem more seasonable to have given it rather to him who had two, than to him who had five. But as the five talents denote the knowledge of things without, the two understanding and action, he who had the two had more than he who had the five talents; this man with his five talents merited the administration of things without, but was yet without any understanding of things eternal. The one talent therefore, which we say signifies the intellect, ought to be given to him who had administered well the things without which he had received; the same we see happen every day in the Holy Church, that they who administer faithfully things without, are also mighty in the in ward understanding.

Forasmuch then as he did not this, "Take," saith He, "the talent from him, and give it to him that hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath." What then is this? He that hath a gift of word and teaching to profit thereby, and useth it not, will lose the gift also; but he that giveth diligence, will gain to himself the gift in more abundance; even as the other loseth what he had received.

Note that the talent is taken away from the wicked and slothful servant and is given "to him who has ten talents." It is not easy to explain how what has been given to a person can be taken away and given to another who does good, so he may have it in addition to what he gained. It is possible, however, since God, who invariably makes good sense in the teaching of truth, by his divinity can take away the corresponding amount from him who made poor use of it and give it to him who multiplied his own."For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away." Furthermore, whatever someone has from natural creation, when he has exercised it, he receives that very thing also from the grace of God. In this way he may have abundance and be stronger in what he has. Concerning not only wisdom but also every good quality, we should reflect on the words of Solomon: "And if there is anyone perfect among the children of men, if your wisdom is taken away from him, he will be counted as nothing."

If someone should wish to peruse Scripture elsewhere to hear from his Master the word faithful, I believe Abraham is a good instance: "Abraham believed God; and he reckoned it to him as righteousness." Then there is the man who heard from his master the words "faithful servant." Without doubt his faith was reckoned as righteousness to him, like the faith of him who was faithful in little things, so that every mystery of the resurrection and the administration of godly affairs may be entrusted to him. Everything in this life, by the way, consists of little things.Let us note also where that good and faithful servant is going who was faithful in the little things of this life. "Enter into the joy of your master," he is told. Every delight and every joy will be there when those who weep here below will be merry hereafter and those who righteously mourn will receive a worthy consolation. He says this in effect both to the one "who had received the five talents" and to the one "who had received the two." He says, "Enter." Know what it is to approach me and to pass from this world to the next. Notice also that the master said to the second servant what he said to the first: "Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much." I wonder also, since the same words were said to both servants, whether by chance the one who had less ability and exercised it fully would be regarded less by God than the one who had more ability. I wonder if this is in fulfillment of what was said elsewhere: "He that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack." Such is indicated also concerning the commandment of love for God or for one's neighbor, according to the words "You shall love the Lord your God with all your whole heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." Without doubt, when someone has loved God with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, he has the same reward of love as the person with a bigger heart or with a more gifted soul or with greater ability. This alone is required: At whatever level one has received a gift from God, one should use it for God's glory. It seems to me that "he who had received the one talent" was indeed among the believers, even though he was not among those who acted boldly in faith. He is among those who scatter their energies in trying to do everything but have nothing to show for it. Perhaps their behavior in other respects is not blameworthy. What they received they guard carefully, but they do not add to it, nor do they trade or faithfully transact with it. For that reason, the word does not bear any fruit in them, nor did anyone else gain from it. They even seem to be the type of people who fear God. They often see God as harsh and hard and implacable.

The master had three servants. After they believed and became his servants, they were given a task to do. They received money from their master. One of them "traded" with it and "gained." The second one "gained," but not as much. And the third, out of fear and being insufficiently faithful, "went away and hid" his master's money. From his defensiveness it appears that he feared the master. He was in awe of the master even as the other had "zeal for God but not according to knowledge." Diffidently, he "hid" his talent in the ground. Such are those who neither exert themselves nor question what has been said nor extend themselves to benefit souls, but they scatter their energies on what they have received and have been entrusted with.

The Lord is able by the might of His divinity to take away his ability from the man who is slack to use it, and to give it to him who has improved his own.

So God takes the gift away from that wicked and slothful servant. He who has received a gift by which to benefit others, and does not so use it, forfeits the gift itself.

Consequently he sets forth the punishment, and regarding this he does two things. First, he presents the punishment of loss; secondly, of sense. Regarding the first, he first presents the punishment of loss; secondly, a general maxim, at for to everyone that has shall be given, and he shall abound. He says therefore: take therefore the talent from him, and give it to him that has ten talents. As Gregory says, the one who had received five talents is the one who has knowledge of earthly things, which are subject to the five senses; but the one who received one is the one who has understanding without work. It happens, therefore, that the one who has understanding exercises himself in it; Psalm 118:104: by your commandments I have had understanding; therefore have I hated every way of iniquity. Sometimes the reverse happens, that someone has the gift of understanding and occupies himself with earthly things, and loses everything; Apocalypse 3:11: hold fast that which you have, that no man take your crown. Or it can be said that the one who receives five talents received more: and according as he labored more, he received more. Hence one received the talent of the other, because the holy man will not only rejoice in his own goods, but in all things that were done by anyone whatsoever, and thus he will receive the crown of this one, and so his talent.

A general statement is also immediately added, in which it is said: "For to everyone who has, it shall be given, and he shall abound; but from him who has not, even what he seems to have shall be taken away from him." For to him who has it shall be given, and he shall abound, because whoever has charity also receives other gifts. Whoever does not have charity loses even the gifts he seemed to have received. Therefore it is necessary, my brothers, that in everything you do, you watch over the keeping of charity. True charity is to love a friend in God, and to love an enemy for the sake of God. Whoever does not have this loses every good thing he has, is deprived of the talent he had received, and according to the Lord's sentence is cast into the outer darkness.

(Hom. in Ev. ix. 6.) Then follows a general sentence, For to every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance, but from him that hath not, even that which he seemeth to have shall be taken away. For whosoever has charity receives the other gifts also; but whosoever has not charity loses even the gifts which he seemed to have had.

(ubi sup.) Or, Whoso has not charity, loses even those things which he seems to have received.

And on those who have the privilege of the Gospels, the honour of the Law is also conferred, but from him who has not the faith of Christ is taken away even that honour which seemed to be his through the Law.

[Daniel 2:21] "And it is He who changes times and seasons, who transfers kingdoms and establishes kingdoms." Let us not marvel, therefore, whenever we see kings and empires succeed one another, for it is by the will of God that they are governed, altered, and terminated. And the cases of individuals are well known to Him who founded all things. He often permits wicked kings to arise in order that they may in their wickedness punish the wicked. At the same time by indirect suggestion and general discussion he prepares the reader for the fact that the dream Nebuchadnezzar saw was concerned with the change and succession of empires. "He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who acquire learning." This accords with the scripture: "The wise man will hear and increase his wisdom" (Proverbs 1:5). "For he who has, to him it shall be given" (Matthew 25:29). A soul which cherishes an ardent love of wisdom is freely infilled by the Spirit of God. But wisdom will never penetrate a perverse soul (Wisdom 3:1-13).

(Verse 29) For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who doesn't have, even that which he seems to have will be taken away. Many, though naturally wise and possessing sharp intellect, if they are negligent and laziness corrupts the good of their nature, in comparison to the one who is slightly slower but has compensated for what he lacked through effort and industry, they lose the good of their nature and the reward that had been promised to them, and see it pass to others. It can also be understood thus: to him who indeed has faith and a good will in the Lord, even if he may have something lacking in his works as a man, it will be given by the good judge. But to him who does not have faith, even the other virtues that he seemed to naturally possess, he will lose. And elegantly also, as it appears, he says, what he seems to have will be taken away from him. For whatever is without the faith of Christ, it should not be imputed to him who has wrongly abused it, but to him who even attributes good to the evil servant of nature.

Many also who are naturally clever and have sharp wit, if they become neglectful, and by disuse spoil that good they have by nature, these do, in comparison of him who being somewhat dull by nature compensates by industry and painstaking his backwardness, lose their natural gift, and see the reward promised them pass away to others. But it may also be understood thus; To him who has faith, and a right will in the Lord, even if he come in aught short in deed as being man, shall be given by the merciful Judge; but he who has not faith, shall lose even the other virtues which he seems to have naturally. And He says carefully, From him that hath not, shall be taken away even that which he seemeth to have, for whatsoever is without faith in Christ ought not to be imputed to him who uses it amiss, but to Him who gives the goods of nature even to a wicked servant.

Do you see that he who applies the greater diligence draws to himself the greater gift? To him who has the greater diligence, more grace will be given and in abundance. But from him who is not diligent, even the gift which he thinks he has will be taken away. For he who is not diligent and does not work and trade with what he has received, does not have the gift, but only appears to have it. For he has blotted it out by his neglect.

Consequently the general maxim is presented: for to everyone that has shall be given, and he shall abound. This can be expounded in four ways. First, thus, according to Gregory: from him who does not have, nothing could be taken away; but it happens that someone has gratuitous gifts and does not have charity; hence all things will be taken from him, because he does not have them for his own benefit; 1 Corinthians 13:1: if I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. Hence if a man has charity, many goods are given to him, because he will receive the good of another, since he will rejoice in the good of another as in his own. Chrysostom expounds it of doctrine: he who has the grace of teaching and does not exercise it loses it. Another, who does not have it and exercises himself, acquires it, so as to become a doctor. Jerome expounds it thus: someone has talent and gives himself to idleness, and becomes crude and dull; but someone does not have talent and exercises himself, and acquires talent. And so to him who has diligence, knowledge and talent are given; and from him who does not have, even that which he has, namely talent, will be taken from him. Likewise, according to Jerome, it is expounded of faith, because to him who has faith, grace will be given; Ephesians 2:8: by grace you are saved through faith. Hence he who would not have faith, even if he had other things, without faith they would avail nothing. Hilary, however, expounds it of the people of the Jews and the Gentiles, because the Jews seemed to have the law of God and refused to obey, hence they became alienated; but the people of the Gentiles received what they did not have and entered into the blessing of the olive.

For through punishment he falls into the outer darkness who through his own fault willingly fell into inner darkness; and there he suffers unwillingly the darkness of vengeance, who here willingly endured the darkness of pleasure.

It must be known that no lazy person is secure from this receiving of the talent. For there is no one who can truly say: "I have received no talent at all, there is nothing for which I can be compelled to give account." For by the name of talent, even this very thing will be reckoned to any poor person—that he received even the least thing. For one person received understanding; he owes the ministry of preaching from his talent. Another received earthly substance; he owes the distribution of his talent from his possessions. Another received neither understanding of interior things nor abundance of possessions, but nevertheless learned an art by which he is fed; that very art is reckoned to him as the receiving of a talent. Another has attained none of these things, but nevertheless has perhaps earned a place of familiarity with a rich person; he has certainly received the talent of familiarity. If therefore he says nothing to him on behalf of the needy, he is condemned for retaining his talent. Therefore let him who has understanding take care by all means not to be silent; let him who has abundance of possessions watch lest he grow sluggish in the generosity of mercy; let him who has an art by which he is governed strive greatly to share its use and benefit with his neighbor; let him who has a place of speaking with a rich person fear condemnation for the retained talent if, when he is able, he does not intercede with him on behalf of the poor. For the coming Judge will require from each one of us as much as He gave. Therefore, that each person may be secure concerning the accounts of his talent when the Lord returns, let him consider daily with trembling what he has received. For behold, He who departed on a journey is now near to returning. For He went as if on a journey when He departed far from this earth on which He was born; but He certainly returns to settle accounts for the talents, because if we grow sluggish from good action, He judges us more strictly concerning those very gifts which He bestowed. Let us therefore consider what we have received, and let us be vigilant in their distribution. Let no earthly care impede us from spiritual work, lest if the talent is hidden in the earth, the lord of the talent be provoked to anger. For the lazy servant lifts the talent from the earth when the Judge is now examining his faults, because there are many who only withdraw themselves from earthly desires or works when they are already being dragged to eternal punishment by the judgment of the Judge. Let us therefore be vigilant beforehand concerning the account to be rendered for our talent, so that when the Judge now looms to strike, the profit we have made may excuse us.

(ubi sup.) And thus for punishment he shall be cast into outer darkness who has of his own free will fallen into inward darkness.

(Hom. in Ev. ix. 7.) Let him then who has understanding look that he hold not his peace; let him who has affluence not be dead to mercy; let him who has the art of guiding life communicate its use with his neighbour; and him who has the faculty of eloquence intercede with the rich for the poor. For the very least endowment will be reckoned as a talent entrusted for use.

(Verse 30) And cast out the useless servant into outer darkness: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The Lord is the light; whoever is sent out from Him is truly without light. But what we mean by weeping and gnashing of teeth, we have already explained above.

What is weeping and gnashing of teeth we have said above.

But not to this is the penalty limited for him that is slothful, but even intolerable is the punishment, and with the punishment the sentence, which is full of a heavy accusation. For "cast ye," saith He, "the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Seest thou how not only the spoiler, and the covetous, nor only the doer of evil things, but also he that doeth not good things, is punished with extreme punishment.

Let us hearken then to these words. As we have opportunity, let us help on our salvation, let us get oil for our lamps, let us labor to add to our talent. For if we be backward, and spend our time in sloth here, no one will pity us any more hereafter, though we should wail ten thousand times. He also that had on the filthy garments condemned himself, and profited nothing. He also that had the one talent restored that which was committed to his charge, and yet was condemned. The virgins again entreated, and came unto Him and knocked, and all in vain, and without effect.

Knowing then these things, let us contribute alike wealth, and diligence, and protection, and all things for our neighbor's advantage. For the talents here are each person's ability, whether in the way of protection, or in money, or in teaching, or in what thing soever of the kind. Let no man say, I have but one talent, and can do nothing; for thou canst even by one approve thyself. For thou art not poorer than that widow; thou art not more uninstructed than Peter and John, who were both "unlearned and ignorant men;" but nevertheless, since they showed forth a zeal, and did all things for the common good, they attained to Heaven. For nothing is so pleasing to God, as to live for the common advantage.

Into outer darkness, where is no light, perhaps not even physical light; and where God is not seen, but those who are condemned thereto are condemned as unworthy the contemplation of God. We have also read some one before us expounding this of the darkness of that abyss which is outside the world, as though unworthy of the world, they were cast out into that abyss, where is darkness with none to lighten it.

If you are offended at this we have said, namely that a man shall be judged if he does not teach others, call to mind the Apostle's words, Woe is unto me if I preach not the Gospel. (1 Cor. 9:16.)

He affirms, lastly, that "the very hairs of our head are all numbered," and in the affirmation He of course includes the promise of their safety; for if they were to be lost, where would be the use of having taken such a numerical care of them? Surely the only use lies (in this truth): "That of all which the Father hath given to me, I should lose none," -not even a hair, as also not an eye nor a tooth. And yet whence shall come that "weeping and gnashing of teeth," if not from eyes and teeth?-even at that time when the body shall be slain in hell, and thrust out into that outer darkness which shall be the suitable torment of the eyes.

"Outer darkness" is that which is furthest from the light of God and for that reason renders the punishment more harsh. There is another reason that could be mentioned, and that is that the sinner is in darkness even in this life, as he has fallen away from the Sun of Righteousness, but as there is still hope of conversion, this is not yet the "outer" darkness. But when he has died and an examination has been made of the things he has done, then the outer darkness in its turn receives him. For there is no longer any hope of conversion, but he undergoes a complete deprivation of the good things of God. While he is here in this life he enjoys to some degree the good things of God, I mean, the tangible things of creation, and he believes that he is in some manner a servant of God, living out his life in God's house, which is this creation, being fed by Him and provided with the necessities of life. But then he will be altogether cut off from God, having no share at all in the good things of God. This is that darkness which is called "outer" by comparison to the darkness here, which is not "outer" because the sinner is not yet completely cut off from this time onward.

Consequently he treats of the punishment of sense. Now there are two senses, namely, sight and touch. Therefore he presents first the punishment of sight; secondly, of touch, when he says and the unprofitable servant cast into the exterior darkness. And note that he is not punished for the evil he has done, but for the good he has omitted; hence above at 7:19: every tree that does not yield good fruit shall be cut down. And elsewhere, John 15:2: every branch in me that bears not fruit he will take away. And he is called an unprofitable servant because the good that he has, he does not spend for the benefit of others: as if he had understanding and did not spend it in good use by teaching others; if money, and did not exercise the work of mercy. Cast him into the exterior darkness. Origen says that certain ones before him said that the damned would be cast out from the whole world. Hence they say that Hell is outside the entire world. And they relied on what Job 18:18 says: God shall remove him out of the world. But he himself expounds it thus: into darkness, because they are ignorant; Psalm 81:5: they have not known nor understood; they walk on in darkness. And there follows the punishment of touch: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. This was expounded above in chapter 24.