26th Sunday after Pentecost

God's Son saw fit to become Son of man to make those of us who believe in him sons of God. He was delivered into the hands of sinful human beings to separate us from the company of sinful human beings and at the same time to free us from the power of malignant spirits. He was crucified and rose on the third day, so that he might grant us the virtue of suffering for him and the hope of rising and living with him.

The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again, &c. For on the day of the preparation at the ninth hour giving up the ghost, buried in the evening, early on the morning of the first day of the week He rose again.

One day and two nights also He lay in the sepulchre, because He joined the light of His single death to the darkness of our double death.

For he gathers wealth in vain who does not know how to use it: just like that person who, when the granaries were bursting with new harvests, was preparing receptacles for himself to collect the overflowing fruits, being ignorant of how to use them. For everything that belongs to the world remains in the world, and whatever is gathered together by heirs passes away from us; for those things are not ours, which we cannot take away with us. Only virtue is the companion of the dead, only mercy follows us, which as a leading guide of heavenly dwelling acquires eternal tabernacles through the cheap usury of money for the deceased, as the Lord's commandments testify, saying to us: Make for yourselves friends with the unjust steward, who will receive you into his eternal tabernacles.

For in vain he amasses wealth who knows not how to use it. Neither are these things ours which we cannot take away with us. Virtue alone is the companion of the dead, mercy alone follows us, which gains for the dead an everlasting habitation.

"The redemption of a man's soul is his riches." This silly fool of a man did not have that kind of riches. Obviously he was not redeeming his soul by giving relief to the poor. He was hoarding perishable crops. I repeat, he was hoarding perishable crops, while he was on the point of perishing because he had handed out nothing to the Lord before whom he was due to appear. How will he know where to look, when at that trial he starts hearing the words "I was hungry and you did not give me to eat"?9 He was planning to fill his soul with excessive and unnecessary feasting and was proudly disregarding all those empty bellies of the poor. He did not realize that the bellies of the poor were much safer storerooms than his barns. What he was stowing away in those barns was perhaps even then being stolen away by thieves. But if he stowed it away in the bellies of the poor, it would of course be digested on earth, but in heaven it would be kept all the more safely. The redemption of a man's soul is his riches.

(in Hom. de Avar.) Not indeed about to reap any good from his plenty of fruits, but that the mercy of God might the more appear, which extends its goodness even to the bad; sending down His rain upon the just and the unjust. But what are the things wherewith this man repays his Benefactor? He remembered not his fellow-creatures, nor deemed that he ought to give of his superfluities to the needy. His barns indeed bursting from the abundance of his stores, yet was his greedy mind by no means satisfied. He was unwilling to put up with his old ones because of his covetousness, and not able to undertake new ones because of the number, for his counsels were imperfect, and his care barren. Hence it follows, And he thought. His complaint is like that of the poor. Does not the man oppressed with want say, What shall I do, whence can I get food, whence clothing? Such things also the rich man utters. For his mind is distressed on account of his fruits pouring out from his storehouse, lest perchance when they have come forth they should profit the poor; like the glutton who had rather burst from eating, than give any thing of what remains to the starving.

Then he spoke a parable to them, saying: "The land of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest, and he thought to himself, saying, 'What shall I do, for I have no place to store my crops?' And he said, 'This will I do: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.' This rich man is not condemned for having cultivated the land or for having stored the fruits that came from it in barns, but for placing his entire life's trust in the very abundance of things, considering the surplus fruits that the land yielded as belonging to him and his goods, without distributing to the poor, according to the Lord's command saying, 'What is left over give as alms,' but rather making larger storehouses to reserve for his future luxury.

And he spoke a parable to them, saying, etc. Here, second, he calls back from the anxiety of avarice by a terrible example; concerning which three things are introduced, namely the occasion of vain security, the conception of vain security, and the removal of vain security.

First, therefore, as regards the occasion of vain security arising from the abundance of fruits, he says: The field of a certain rich man brought forth abundant fruits. For these are wont to be the goods of the rich from the abundance of temporal fruits: the Psalm: "Their storehouses are full, overflowing from this into that; their sheep" etc.; whence Job twenty-one: "Why do the wicked live, are raised up and strengthened with riches?" "Their houses are secure and at peace, and the rod of God is not upon them."

Accordingly he has not forbidden us to be rich in the right way, but only a wrongful and insatiable grasping of money. For "property gained unlawfully is diminished." "There are some who sow much and gain the more, and those who hoard become impoverished." Of them it is written: "He distributed, he gave to the poor, his righteousness endures for ever." For he who sows and gathers more is the man who by giving away his earthly and temporal goods has obtained a heavenly and eternal prize; the other is he who gives to no one, but vainly "lays up treasure on earth where moth and rust corrupt"; of him it is written: "In gathering motley, he has gathered it into a condemned cell." Of his land the Lord says in the gospel that it produced plentifully; then wishing to store the fruits he built larger store-houses, saying to himself in the words dramatically put into his mouth "You have many good things laid up for many years to come, eat, drink, and be merry. You fool," says the Lord, "this night your soul shall be required of you. Whose then shall be the things you have prepared?"

From Him, therefore, will proceed the parable of the rich man, who flattered himself about the increase of his fields, and to Whom God said: "Thou fool, this night shall they require thy soul of thee; then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? " It was just in the like manner that the king Hezekiah heard from Isaiah the sad doom of his kingdom, when he gloried, before the envoys of Babylon, in his treasures and the deposits of his precious things.

To which subject He also adapted the parable of the man who pondered on an enlargement of his barns for his forthcoming fruits, and on seasons of prolonged security; but that very night he dies.

Having said that a person's life does not become longer from an abundance of possessions, the Lord also brings a parable in confirmation of His words. And see how He depicts for us the insatiable thoughts of the foolish rich man. God was carrying out His intention and showed special compassion. For not in one small place, but in the entire "field of the rich man there was a good harvest"; yet he was so barren in mercy that, before he even received, he was already keeping it for himself.

Having said that the life of man is not extended by abundance of wealth, he adds a parable to induce belief in this, as it follows, And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully.

And because riches so make one secure that they render him anxious, therefore he adds: And he thought within himself saying: What shall I do, because I have no place where I may gather my fruits? Ecclesiastes four: "There is another vanity which I saw under the sun: there is one alone and he has not a second, and yet he ceases not to labor, nor are his eyes satisfied with riches," nay rather they are certainly made anxious; Ecclesiastes five: "The fullness of the rich man does not allow him to sleep."

What does the rich man do, surrounded by a great supply of many blessings beyond all numbering? In distress and anxiety, he speaks the words of poverty. He says, "What should I do?" … He does not look to the future. He does not raise his eyes to God. He does not count it worth his while to gain for the mind those treasures that are above in heaven. He does not cherish love for the poor or desire the esteem it gains. He does not sympathize with suffering. It gives him no pain nor awakens his pity. Still more irrational, he settles for himself the length of his life, as if he would also reap this from the ground. He says, "I will say to myself, 'Self, you have goods laid up for many years. Eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.' " "O rich man," one may say, 'You have storehouses for your fruits, but where will you receive your many years? By the decree of God, your life is shortened.' " "God," it tells us, "said to him, 'You fool, this night they will require of you your soul. Whose will these things be that you have prepared?' "

(Mor. 15. c. 13.) O adversity, the child of plenty. For saying, What shall I do, he surely betokens, that, oppressed by the success of his wishes, he labours as it were under a load of goods.

Look also at the rich man's pleasures. "What shall I do?" Are these not the very same words that the poor man also utters? What shall I do? I have nothing to eat, nothing to wear. Consider, if you will, the words of the rich man as well: "What shall I do? I have... nowhere... to store my" many "crops." What fine tranquility! The poor man too says: what shall I do? I do not have... And the rich man says: what shall I do? I do not have... So what do we gain from gathering so very much? We do not enjoy tranquility, and clearly, because of our cares; we only heap upon ourselves a multitude of sins.

(ubi sup.) It was easy for him to say, I will open my barn, I will call together the needy, but he has no thought of want, only of amassing; for it follows, And he said, This will I do, I will pull down my barns. Thou doest well, for the storehouses of iniquity are worthy of destruction. Pull down thy barns, from which no one receives comfort. He adds, I will build greater. But thou shalt complete these, wilt thou again destroy them? What more foolish than labouring on for ever. Thy barns, if thou wilt, are the home of the poor. But thou wilt say, Whom do I wrong by keeping what is my own? For it follows also, And there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. Tell me what is thine, from whence didst thou get it and bring it into life? As he who anticipates the public games, injures those who are coming by appropriating to himself what is appointed for the common use, so likewise the rich who regard as their own the common things which they have forestalled. For if every one receiving what is sufficient for his own necessity would leave what remains to the needy, there would be no rich or poor.

(ubi sup.) But if thou confessest that those things have come to thee from God, is God then unjust in distributing to us unequally. Why dost thou abound while another begs? unless that thou shouldest gain the rewards of a good stewardship, and be honoured with the meed of patience. Art not thou then a robber, for counting as thine own what thou hast received to distribute? It is the bread of the famished which thou receivest, the garment of the naked which rots in thy possession, the money of the pennyless which thou hast buried in the earth. Wherefore then dost thou injure so many to whom thou mightest be a benefactor.

And the reason for this is that he is compelled to deliberate, and therefore he adds: And he said: This I will do: I will pull down my barns and build greater ones, and there I will gather all my crops and my goods. The Gloss: "Behold, great anxiety from avarice," because there is anxiety about destroying what has been made and building anew. For although the barns were full, cupidity, still empty, sought new receptacles: Ecclesiastes five: "The miser will not be filled with money" etc.; and Sirach fourteen: "The eye of the covetous is insatiable; in the portion of iniquity he will not be satisfied." The barn was filled, but the heart was empty: both because God alone can fill the soul, which is capable of the Trinity; and because temporal things do not enter the heart except according to a phantasmic likeness; and because they increase concupiscence; and because they do not make the soul better; and also because they are of an altogether different nature—just as an Angel and a corporeal place, so the soul and corporeal treasure; and also because the soul, since it has quantity not in mass but in power, is not filled by material quantity but by virtual quantity, such as the grace of the Holy Spirit, Wisdom one and Acts two.

Observe also in another respect the folly of his words, when he says, I will gather all my fruits, as if he thought that he had not obtained them from God, but that they were the fruits of his own labours.

The rich man then builds barns which last not, but decay, and what is still more foolish, reckons for himself upon a long life; for it follows, And I will say unto my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. But, O rich man, thou hast indeed fruits in thy barns, but as for many years whence canst thou obtain them?

(Hom. 8. in 2 ad Tim.) But in this he errs, that he thinks those things good which are indifferent. For there are some things good, some evil, some between the two. The good are chastity, and humility, and the like, which when a man chooses he becomes good. But opposed to these are the evil, which when a man chooses he becomes bad; and there are the neutral, as riches, which at one time indeed are directed to good, as to almsgiving, at other times to evil, as to covetousness. And in like manner poverty at one time leads to blasphemy, at another to wisdom, according to the disposition of the user.

And if next summer the harvest in the field is even greater, will you tear down and build again? And what need is there to tear down and build? The bellies of the poor — those are your granaries. They can hold much, and they are indestructible and imperishable, for they are heavenly and divine, since he who feeds the poor feeds God. Here is yet another madness of the rich man. "My grain and all my goods." He does not consider them a gift from God, for otherwise he would have disposed of them as a steward of God, but considers them the fruit of his own labors. Therefore, claiming them for himself, he says: "my grain and... my goods." I, he says, have no partner whatsoever; I will not share with anyone. All these goods are not God's, but mine, therefore I alone will enjoy them, and I will not admit God as a participant in their enjoyment. This is clearly madness. Let us look further.

(non occ.) Now if any one lives so as to die daily, seeing that our life is naturally uncertain, he will not sin, for the greater fear destroys very much pleasure, but the rich man on the contrary, promising to himself length of life, secks after pleasures, for he says, Rest, that is, from toil, eat, drink, and be merry, that is, with great luxury.

(ubi sup.) Thou art so careless with respect to the goods of the soul, that thou ascribest the meats of the body to the soul. If indeed it has virtue, if it is fruitful in good works, if it clings to God, it possesses many goods, and rejoices with a worthy joy. But because thou art altogether carnal and subject to the passions, thou speakest from thy belly, not from thy soul.

'Soul, you have many goods stored up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.' Something similar is read in Ecclesiastes: 'There is one who becomes rich by being sparing and his reward is a part of it in saying: I have found rest for myself, and now I will eat of my goods alone,' and he does not know that the time passes and he will leave everything to others" (Eccl. XI).

Secondly, as regards the conception of vain security through a foolish promise, there is added: And I will say to my soul, that is, to my animal nature; John twelve: "He who loves his soul will lose it."

Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years: Revelation three: "You say: I am rich and made wealthy and have need of nothing" etc.; and Zechariah eleven: "Blessed be the Lord, for we have become rich."

And because abundance with security begets the evil of wantonness, he therefore adds: Rest; behold, negligence: Ecclesiastes 4: "The fool folds his hands and says: Better is a handful with rest than both hands full with labor and affliction of spirit." Eat: behold, gluttony: Sirach 11: "I have found rest for myself, and now I will eat of my goods alone." Drink, with regard to drunkenness: against which Proverbs 23: "Do not be among the banquets of drunkards"; "because those who give themselves to drinking and contribute to feasts shall be consumed." Feast: behold, wantonness: James 5: "You have feasted upon the earth and nourished your hearts in luxuries." For these are customarily the vices of the wealthy: Amos 6: "Woe to you who are wealthy in Sion"; and afterward: "You who sleep on ivory beds and are wanton on your couches; who eat the lamb from the flock, drinking wine from bowls, and anointed with the finest ointment." Now the cause of this wantonness is vain security, which the soul foolishly conceives, either by promising itself a long temporal life through presumption, according to that saying of Isaiah 28: "We have struck a covenant with death and made a pact with hell: the overflowing scourge, when it passes through, shall not come upon us"; or by scorning through despair: Isaiah 22: "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die."

(Hom. 39, 8. in 1 ad Cor.) Now it behoves us not to indulge in delights which fattening the body make lean the soul, and bring a heavy burden upon it, and spread darkness over it, and a thick covering, because in pleasure our governing part which is the soul becomes the slave, but the subject part, namely the body, rules. But the body is in need not of luxuries but of food, that it may be nourished, not that it may be racked and melt away. For not to the soul alone are pleasures hurtful, but to the body itself, because from being a strong body it becomes weak, from being healthy diseased, from being active slothful, from being beautiful unshapely, and from youthful old.

The devil, even in the midst of our efforts, does not relax his schemes. At certain periods of time, we must take care of the reenergizing of our strength. The mind, concerned with the goods of the present, can rejoice in the temperate weather and the fertile fields. When the fruits are gathered into great barns, it can say to its soul, "You have many good things; eat." It may receive a kind of rebuke from the divine voice and may hear it saying, "Fool, this very night they demand your soul from you. The things you have prepared, whose will they be?"This should be the careful consideration of wise people, that since the days of this life are short and the time uncertain, death should never be unexpected for those who are to die. Those who know that they are mortal should not come to an unprepared end.

He assigns himself a long life, as if longevity too he received from the land he cultivates. Is this really your product as well? Is this really your good as well? How fine are the goods of the soul! To eat and drink is a good of the irrational soul. However, since you yourself also have such a soul, you rightly offer it such goods. But the good of the rational soul consists in understanding, reasoning, and delighting in the Law of God and in good contemplations. Is it not enough for you, fool, to eat and drink — you offer your soul also the shameful and sordid pleasure that follows? For it is obvious that the Lord by the word "be merry" indicated the passion of debauchery, which usually follows after surfeit of food and drink (Phil. 3:19; Eph. 5:18).

(Hom. in loc.) But he was permitted to deliberate in every thing, and to manifest his purpose, that he might receive a sentence such as his inclinations deserved. But while he speaks in secret, his words are weighed in heaven, from whence the answers come to him. For it follows, But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall they require of thee. Hear the name of folly, which most properly belongs to thee which not man has imposed, but God Himself.

But God said to him: Fool, this night they will demand your soul from you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be? You who promised many delights for yourself foolishly in life, snatched away by death this very night, will leave what you have gathered to others. This is what it means for God to speak to a man, to restrain his wicked schemes with sudden reproof. Alternatively: The soul is taken away in the night, which is in the darkness of the heart, and wretched. It is taken away in the night, which did not wish to have the light of reflection, to foresee what it could endure. Hence well does the Apostle Paul say to the disciples considering the future: But you, brothers, are not in darkness, that that day might overtake you like a thief. For all of you are children of light and children of the day. We are not of the night, nor of the darkness (1 Thess. V). For the day of departure catches like a thief in the night, when it casts out the souls of the foolish who do not meditate on the future.

For such a one is a fool, and will be taken off in the night.

Third, with regard to the removal of vain security through the equity of the divine sentence, it is added: But God said to him. The Gloss: "For God to speak to a man is to restrain his wicked schemes by sudden punishment."

On account of which he adds the sentence: Fool, this night they shall require your soul of you: 1 Thessalonians 5: "When they shall say: Peace and security, then sudden destruction shall come upon them." He calls him a fool on account of his earthly wisdom, because, 1 Corinthians 1, "God has made foolish the wisdom of this world." A fool is one who does not foresee future dangers: Ecclesiastes 2: "The eyes of the wise man are in his head; the fool walks in darkness"; because, uncertain of the future, he sleeps securely: against which Proverbs 27: "Do not boast of tomorrow, not knowing what the coming day may bring forth"; and James 4: "What is our life? A vapor appearing for a little while."

And because, when life is lost, these temporal goods are lost, he therefore adds: But the things you have prepared, whose shall they be? Ambrose: "Those goods are not a man's which he cannot take with him; mercy alone is the companion of the dead"; whence 1 Timothy, the last chapter: "We brought nothing into this world, and without doubt we can carry nothing out"; and Job 20: "When he has obtained what he desired, he shall not be able to possess it; when he is satisfied, he shall be straitened, and all sorrow shall rush upon him."

It is not of anything else that the assertion is made, but of profligacy, and love of women, and love of glory, and ambition, and similar passions. 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?"

He teaches us that riches are not only to be contemned, but that they are also full of peril; that in them is the root of seducing evils, that deceive the blindness of the human mind by a hidden deception. Whence also God rebukes the rich fool, who thinks of his earthly wealth, and boasts himself in the abundance of his overflowing harvests, saying, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? " The fool who was to die that very night was rejoicing in his stores, and he to whom life already was failing, was thinking of the abundance of his food. But, on the other hand, the Lord tells us that he becomes perfect and complete who sells all his goods, and distributes them for the use of the poor, and so lays up for himself treasure in heaven. He says that that man is able to follow Him, and to imitate the glory of the Lord's passion, who, free from hindrance, and with his loins girded, is involved in no entanglements of worldly estate, but, at large and free himself, accompanies his possessions, which before have been sent to God. For which result, that every one of us may be able to prepare himself, let him thus learn to pray, and know, from the character of the prayer, what he ought to be.

Wherefore do you applaud yourself in those vain and silly conceits, as if you were withheld from good works by fear and solicitude for the future? Why do you lay out before you certain shadows and omens of a vain excuse? Yea, confess what is the truth; and since you cannot deceive those who know, utter forth the secret and hidden things of your mind. The gloom of barrenness has besieged your mind; and while the light of truth has departed thence, the deep and profound darkness of avarice has blinded your carnal heart. You are the captive and slave of your money; you are bound with the chains and bonds of covetousness; and you whom Christ had once loosed, are once more in chains. You keep your money, which, when kept, does not keep you. You heap up a patrimony which burdens your with its weight; and you do not remember what God answered to the rich man, who boasted with a foolish exultation of the abundance of his exuberant harvest: "Thou fool," said He, "this night thy soul is required of thee; then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? " Why do you watch in loneliness over your riches? why for your punishment do you heap up the burden of your patrimony, that, in proportion as you are rich in this world, you may become poor to God? Divide your returns with the Lord your God; share your gains with Christ; make Christ a partner with you in your earthly possessions, that He also may make you a fellow-heir with Him in His heavenly kingdom.

That the lust of possessing, and money, are not to be sought for. In Solomon, in Ecclesiasticus: "He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver." Also in Proverbs: "He who holdeth back the corn is cursed among the people; but blessing is on the head of him that communicateth it." Also in Isaiah: "Woe unto them who join house to house, and lay field to field, that they may take away something from their neighbour. Will ye dwell alone upon the earth? Also in Zephaniah: "They shall build houses, and shall not dwell in them; and they shall appoint vineyards, and shall not drink the wine of them, because the day of the Lord is near." Also in the Gospel according to Luke: "For what does it profit a man to make a gain of the whole world, but that he should lose himself? " And again: "But the Lord said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul is required of thee. Whose, then, shall those things be which thou hast provided? " And again: "Remember that thou hast received thy good things in this life. and likewise Lazarus evil things. But now he is besought, and thou grievest." And in the Acts of the Apostles: "But Peter said unto him, Silver and gold indeed I have not; but what I have I give unto you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And, taking hold of his right hand, he lifted him up." Also in the first to Timothy: "We brought nothing into this world, but neither can we take anything away. Therefore, having maintenance and clothing, let us with these be content. But they who will become rich fall into temptation and a snare, and many and hurtful lusts, which drown man in perdition and destruction. For the root of all evils is covetousness, which some coveting, have made shipwreck from the faith, and have plunged themselves in many sorrows."

There will be a new great Religion, the Religion of Methuselahism: with pomps and priests and altars. Its devout crusaders will vow themselves in thousands with a great vow to live long. But there is one comfort: they won't.

(22. Mor. c. 2.) The same night he was taken away, who had expected many years, that he indeed who had in gathering stores for himself looked a long time forward, should not see even the next day.

(ubi sup.) But in the night the soul was taken away which had gone forth in the darkness of its heart, being unwilling to have the light of consideration, so as to foresee what it might suffer. But He adds, Then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?

(Concio. 2. de Lazar.) They shall require of thee, for perhaps certain dread powers were sent to require it, since if when going from city to city we want a guide, much more will the soul when released from the body, and passing to a future life, need direction. On this account many times the soul rises and sinks into the deep again, when it ought to depart from the body. For the consciousness of our sins is ever pricking us, but most of all when we are going to be dragged before the awful tribunal. For when the whole accumulation of crimes is brought up again, and placed before the eyes, it astounds the mind. And as prisoners are always indeed sorrowful, but particularly at the time when they are going to be brought before the judge; so also the soul at this time is greatly tormented by sin and afflicted, but much more after it has been removed.

It is said thus: "But God said to him" not because God actually conversed with the rich man, but these words have the meaning that when the rich man was thinking so proudly within himself, then "God said to him" (for this is what the parable implies). God calls the rich man a fool because he laid plans in his soul that were most foolish, as we have shown. For every such person is foolish and vain, as David also says: man "bustles about," and the reason for this is that he "heaps up and does not know who will gather it" (Ps. 39:6). For how is he not foolish who does not know that the measure of life is in the hands of God alone and that no one can determine the length of his own life? Pay attention also to the word: "they will require." The fearsome Angels, like cruel tax collectors, "will require of you... your soul" against your will, since out of love of living you appropriated the goods of this world for yourself. From the righteous man the soul is not taken by force, but he surrenders it to God and the Father of spirits with joy and gladness and feels no distress at the laying aside of the body, for he bears the body as though it were a light burden. But the sinner, having made the soul fleshly, having turned it into body and earth, makes the separation of it exceedingly difficult. Therefore it is said that the soul will be "required" from him, as from some obstinate debtor handed over to cruel collectors. Note this also. The Lord did not say: I will require your soul from you, but "they will require." For "the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God" (Wis. 3:1). And truly from such a one "in the night" they will require the soul, for he does not have the illuminating light of the knowledge of God, but is in the night of love of riches, and being darkened by it he is seized by death.

Thus it is for the one who treasures up for himself and is not rich toward God. If he who treasures up for himself and is not rich toward God is a fool and to be taken away in the night, then he who wishes to be rich toward God should not treasure up for himself, but distribute his possessions to the poor. Thus he will rightfully be considered wise and a son of the light. Hence the Psalmist rightly prefaces, concerning any greedy rich man: But in vain does he become troubled; he treasures up and does not know for whom he gathers (Ps. XXXVIII), then at once reveals the treasury of his heart, saying: And now, what is my expectation? Is it not the Lord? And my substance is with you (ibid.).

He then who wishes to be rich toward God, will not lay up treasures for himself, but distribute his possessions to the poor.

And because this sentiment is common to all the avaricious, he therefore adds: So is everyone, who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. He stores up treasure for himself who multiplies treasures for himself on earth; Psalm: "He stores up treasure and knows not for whom he shall gather it"; but is rich toward God who abounds in merits and works of piety: First Corinthians 1: "In all things you have been made rich in him, so that you lack nothing in any grace." Therefore it is said in Matthew 6: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where rust and moth destroy." "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither rust nor moth destroys, and where thieves do not dig through nor steal."

Moreover, hope, which we have in him, makes us rich toward God, according to that passage in First Peter 1: "He has regenerated us unto a living hope, unto an incorruptible inheritance, preserved in heaven." But this hope is rooted in poverty: hence Second Corinthians 6: "As needy, yet enriching many; as having nothing, yet possessing all things." Such was Paul: hence Philippians last chapter: "I have all things and abound." Christ made us such: hence Second Corinthians 8: "He became poor for your sake, so that by his poverty you might be rich." Therefore to such he says: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

It is true that a person's life is not from one's possessions or because of having an overabundance. He who is rich toward God is very blessed and has glorious hope. Who is he? Evidently, one who does not love wealth but rather loves virtue, and to whom few things are sufficient. It is one whose hand is open to the needs of the poor, comforting the sorrows of those in poverty according to his means and the utmost of his power. He gathers in the storehouses that are above and lays up treasures in heaven. Such a one shall find the interest of his virtue and the reward of his right and blameless life.

(Hom. 23. in Gen.) For here shalt thou leave those things, and not only reap no advantage from them, but carry a load of sins upon thy own shoulders. And these things which thou hast laid up will for the most part come into the hands of enemies, but of thee shall an account of them be required. It follows, So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Thus, "whoever lays up treasure for himself" is justly called a fool and does not manage to carry out his intentions, but at the very time of making plans is utterly snatched from the midst of the living. But if he had been gathering for the poor and for God, he would not have been treated this way. Therefore let us strive to "be rich toward God," that is, to place our hope in Him, to consider Him our wealth and the storehouse of wealth. Let us not say: "my" goods, but God's goods. And if they are God's goods, then let us not alienate God from His own goods. To be rich toward God means to believe that even if I give away and exhaust all that I have, I will still lack nothing that is necessary. For the treasury of my goods is God: I open it and take what I need.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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