Monday of the 20th week after Pentecost

Although there are many charms of delights in riches, yet there are more incentives to practice virtues. Although virtue does not require assistance and the contribution of the poor person is more commended than the generosity of the rich, yet with the authority of the heavenly saying, he condemns not those who have riches but those who do not know how to use them. The pauper is more praiseworthy who gives with eager compassion and is not restrained by the bolts of looming scarcity. He thinks that he who has enough for nature does not lack. So the rich person is the more guilty who does not give thanks to God for what he has received, but vainly hides wealth given for the common use and conceals it in buried treasures. Then the offense consists not in the wealth but in the attitude.

But although in the abundance of wealth many are the allurements to crime, yet many also are the incitements to virtue. Although virtue requires no support, and the offering of the poor man is more commendable than the liberality of the rich, still it is not those who possess riches, but those who know not how to use them, that are condemned by the authority of the heavenly sentence. For as that poor man is more praiseworthy who gives without grudging, so is the rich man more guilty, who ought to return thanks for what he has received, and not to hide without using it the sum which was given him for the common good. It is not therefore the money, but the heart of the possessor which is in fault. And though there be no heavier punishment than to be preserving with anxious fear what is to serve for the advantage of successors, yet since the covetous desires are fed by a certain pleasure of amassing, they who have had their consolation in the present life, have lost an eternal reward. We may here however understand by the rich man the Jewish people, or the heretics, or at least the Pharisees, who, rejoicing in an abundance of words, and a kind of hereditary pride of eloquence, have overstepped the simplicity of true faith, and gained to themselves useless treasures.

And mark, that Matthew by rewards called the people to virtue and faith, but Luke also frightened them from their sins and iniquities by the denunciation of future punishment.

However, woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. The fact that woe will come to the rich is better understood by contrast, where it is said that the kingdom of God belongs to the poor. Those who seek consolation here in every way alienate themselves from that kingdom, hearing from the just judge: "Children, remember that you received good things in your lifetime" (Luke 16). It should be noted here that it is not so much the riches, but the love of riches that is at fault. For not everyone who has riches, but as Ecclesiastes says: "Those who love riches will not benefit from them" (Eccl. 5), because those who do not know how to disdain temporal things or to give them to the poor, indeed delight in their use for the present, but will lack the benefit that could be obtained by giving in the future. And elsewhere we read: "Blessed is the rich person who is found without blemish, who has not gone after gold, nor hoped in money and treasures" (Eccl. 31).

After the promises of the beatitudes, He subjoins the threats of punishments. And because against good there is evil, He sets forth four threats corresponding to the four beatitudes, namely: desolation in the loss of temporal good, hunger, in the loss of spiritual good, weeping in the affliction of bodily evil, confusion in the suffering of everlasting reproach. And these are the four woes, which He threatens against four kinds of men opposed to the evangelical men previously determined, namely the covetous and the gluttonous, the wanton and the vainglorious.

Against the covetous, therefore, he threatens the woe of everlasting desolation, when he says: But woe to you who are rich! He speaks adversatively to the rich, that is, to those who love riches, because such people gape after accumulating riches: Habakkuk 2: "Woe to him who multiplies what is not his own"! that is, earthly goods, which are not ours, because they neither come with us nor depart with us; yet earthly men consider them to be their own: Revelation 8: "Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth"! Such are the covetous, against whom the Lord says, Matthew 6: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where rust and moth destroy." Since upon the abundance of these riches there must follow want, and upon consolation must follow desolation, therefore, adding the reason, he says: Who have your consolation: you have it, namely in the present, but not in the future; whence James 5: "Come now, you rich, weep, howling in your miseries which shall come upon you." Therefore this consolation is vain and false, because it brings on desolation: Zechariah 10: "The dreamers have spoken in vain, and they consoled to no purpose." Truly in vain, because "the men of riches have slept their sleep and found nothing in their hands." And therefore one must say with the Prophet David: "My soul refused to be consoled: I remembered God and was delighted"; Job 6: "Let this be my consolation, that afflicting me with pain, he spare not"; so that through the desolation of the way one may arrive at the consolation of the homeland, of which the last chapter of Isaiah says: "As a mother caresses someone, so will I comfort you." This we ought to await, not to anticipate: Judith 8: "Let us humbly await his consolation."

Having said before that poverty for God's sake is the cause of every good thing, and that hunger and weeping will not be without the reward of the saints, he goes on to denounce the opposite to these as the source of condemnation and punishment. But woe unto you rich, for ye have your consolation.

Now if any man set Luke aside, as one who did not know the truth, he will, [by so acting, ] manifestly reject that Gospel of which he claims to be a disciple. For through him we have become acquainted with very many and important parts of the Gospel; for instance, the generation of John, the history of Zacharias, the coming of the angel to Mary, the exclamation of Elisabeth, the descent of the angels to the shepherds, the words spoken by them, the testimony of Anna and of Simeon with regard to Christ, and that twelve years of age He was left behind at Jerusalem; also the baptism of John, the number of the Lord's years when He was baptized, and that this occurred in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar. And in His office of teacher this is what He has said to the rich: "Woe unto you that are rich, for ye have received your consolation; " and "Woe unto you that are full, for ye shall hunger; and ye who laugh now, for ye shall weep; "and, "Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you: for so did your fathers to the false prophets."

For this expression, woe, is always said in the Scriptures to those who cannot escape from future punishment.

But yet there are serious faults which accompany riches; and it is because of these that woes are denounced on the rich, even in the Gospel. "Ye have received," says He, "your consolation; " that is, of course, from their riches, in the pomps and vanities of the world which these purchase for them.

(Reg. fus. tract. 16-19.) Now it is plain that the rule of abstinence is necessary, because the Apostle mentions it among the fruits of the Spirit. (Gal. 5:23.) For the subjection of the body is by nothing so obtained as by abstinence, whereby, as it were a bridle, it becomes us to keep in check the fervour of youth. Abstinence then is the putting to death of sin, the extirpation of passions, the beginning of the spiritual life, blunting in itself the sting of temptations. But lest there should be any agreement with the enemies of God, we must accept every thing as the occasion requires, to show, that to the pure all things are pure (Tit. 1:15.), by coming indeed to the necessaries of life, but abstaining altogether from those which conduce to pleasure. But since it is not possible that all should keep the same hours, or the same manner, or the same proportion, still let there be one purpose, never to wait to be filled, for fulness of stomach makes the body itself also unfit for its proper functions, sleepy, and inclined to what is hurtful.

(ut sup.) Whereas the Lord reproves those who laugh now, it is plain that there will never be a house of laughter to the faithful, especially since there is so great a multitude of those who die in sin for whom we must mourn. Excessive laughter is a sign of want of moderation, and the motion of an unrestrained spirit; but ever to express the feelings of our heart with a pleasantness of countenance is not unseemly.

Woe to you who are full now, for you shall hunger (Luke 6:25). The rich man clothed in purple was full when he feasted sumptuously every day, but he endured a dire woe when he was hungry and sought a drop of water from the finger of Lazarus, whom he had despised. Another interpretation is that if those who hunger always for the works of justice are blessed, in contrast, those who are pleased with their own desires, suffering no hunger for the true and steadfast good, must be considered unfortunate, thinking themselves blessed if they are not deprived of their pleasure for the moment.

Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. And Solomon says: "Laughter will be mixed with pain, and the end of joy is sorrow" (Prov. 14). And again: "The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth" (Eccl. 7). Clearly teaching that foolishness is to be assigned to those laughing, and wisdom, as we have taught above, to those who are always weeping.

Woe to you that are full, for ye shall be hungry. That rich man clothed in purple was full, feasting sumptuously every day, but endured in hunger that dreadful "woe," when from the finger of Lazarus, whom he had despised, he begged a drop of water.

In another way. If those are happy who always hunger after the works of righteousness, they on the other hand are counted to be unhappy, who, pleasing themselves in their own desires, suffer no hunger after the true good. It follows, Woe to you who laugh, &c.

Against the gluttonous, he threatens the woe of perpetual hunger, when he adds: Woe to you who are filled! devoting yourselves, namely, to gluttony and drunkenness: Proverbs 23: "Who has woe? Whose father has woe? Who has quarrels and wounds without cause? Is it not those who linger over wine and are eager to drain their cups?" "Woe to you who are mighty at drinking wine and valiant men at mixing drunkenness"! And therefore it is added: Because you shall hunger. This satiety brings on perpetual hunger, according to that passage in Job 20: "When he shall have been filled, he shall be straitened; he shall burn, and every sorrow shall rush upon him"; and Isaiah 65: "Behold, my servants shall eat, and you shall hunger; behold, my servants shall drink, and you shall thirst." Whence concerning the wicked in the Psalm: "They ate and were filled," etc.

To the self-indulgent he threatens the woe of eternal weeping, when he says: Woe to you who laugh now! for you shall mourn and weep, that is, in this moment of time: Job 20: "The joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment"; and Proverbs 14: "Laughter shall be mingled with sorrow, and mourning takes possession of the ends of joy." It is certainly better that weeping precede laughter than the reverse; and therefore Ecclesiastes 3: "A time of weeping," namely first in time, "and a time of laughing," afterwards in eternity. But the fool does not wish now to restrain himself from laughter: Sirach 21: "A fool lifts up his voice in laughter, but a prudent man will scarcely laugh quietly"; indeed Ecclesiastes 2: "I counted laughter an error, and to joy I said: Why are you vainly deceived?" Therefore those who now laugh are fools, and those who mourn are wise, according to that passage of Ecclesiastes 7: "The heart of the wise is where sorrow is, and the heart of fools is where mirth is." On account of which it is said to the foolish and the worldly in Isaiah 65: "Behold, my servants shall praise with exultation of heart, and you shall cry out for sorrow of heart, and for grief of spirit you shall howl," namely in hell, because it is said in Matthew 13: "There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Let us therefore call back before our eyes the sins we have committed; let us consider how terrible is the judge who comes to punish these things; let us form our mind for lamentation; let our life become bitter for a time in repentance, lest it feel eternal bitterness in punishment. For through weeping we are led to eternal joys, as Truth promises when it says: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." But through joys one arrives at weeping, as this same Truth attests when it says: "Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep." If therefore we seek the joy of reward at our arrival, let us hold to the bitterness of repentance on the way.

(Hom. 6. in Matt.) But tell me, why art thou distracting and wasting thyself away with pleasures, who must stand before the awful judgment, and give account of all things done here?

He inflicts a woe also on "the full, because they shall hunger; on those too which laugh now, because they shall mourn." To these will correspond these opposites which occur, as we have seen above, in the benedictions of the Creator: "Behold, my servants shall be full, but ye shall be hungry "-even because ye have been filled; "behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed" -even ye who shall mourn, who now are laughing.

Woe when all men speak well of you. This is what the Psalmist laments, because the sinner is praised in the desires of his soul, and he who does unjust things is blessed (Psalms Hebr. X). For whom it is not the least part of the punishment that his crimes are not only not censured, but are moreover praised as well done. Hence the Lord prudently does not say: Woe, because men speak well of you, as if the fault should be followed by the punishment at some other time, but woe (he says) when all men speak well of you. Because the flattery itself is the nurse of sin; just as oil to flames, so it is usually the fuel supplied to those burning in guilt, and certainly it is the greatest punishment of sinners. For just as the hungry and weeping poor ought to be weighed down by the wickedness of evildoers, so those indulging in riches, feasts, and laughter are by the anger of a strict judge more fueled by their courtiers to greater punishment.

For such things indeed did their fathers do to the prophets. He means false prophets, who are also often called prophets in sacred scripture, because they seek the favor of the people by predicting the future, that is, by attempting to foretell it. Hence Ezekiel says: Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing. Like foxes in the deserts, your prophets were, O Israel (Ezek. XIII). Therefore the Lord on the mount sets forth the blessings only of the good, but in the plain he describes also the woes of the reprobate. Because as yet uncultivated listeners must necessarily be driven to good through threats and fears, but the perfect may be sufficiently invited by rewards.

But because flattery being the very nurse of sin, like oil to the flames, is wont to minister fuel to those who are on fire with sin, he adds, Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you.

By the false prophets are meant those, who to gain the favour of the multitude attempt to predict future events. The Lord on the mountain pronounces only the blessings of the good, but on the plain he describes also the "woe" of the wicked, because the yet uninstructed hearers must first be brought by terrors to good works, but the perfect need but be invited by rewards.

To the vainglorious, however, he threatens the woe of eternal contempt, when he adds: Woe to you, when all men shall bless you! namely by extolling with vain praises: Proverbs 27: "He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, shall be like one who curses"; because, as it is said in Isaiah 9, "those who call this people blessed are misleading them, and those who are called blessed are cast down headlong." For they are cast down headlong from vain praises into eternal reproach, while they are exalted by them, according to that passage of Job 30: "You lifted me up and, as it were, setting me upon the wind," namely of vain praise, "you dashed me down violently." And because it is difficult to avoid praises of this kind, he adds an example: For according to these things their fathers did to the prophets: to the prophets, I say, not true ones, but false; whence the Gloss: "They blessed the false prophets, who prophesied from their own heart to capture the favor of the crowd"; Jeremiah 5: "An astonishing and wonderful thing has been done in the land: the prophets prophesied falsehood, and the priests clapped their hands, and my people loved such things." In this, therefore, by showing that wicked men were praised by the prophets, he shows that popular favor is altogether to be despised: the Psalm: "God has scattered the bones of those who please men; they are confounded, because God has despised them." But this is said not of those who show good and praiseworthy examples to the people for the glorifying of God, since it is said in Matthew 5: "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven"; but of those who seek their own glory in pleasing men and in their praises: Galatians 1: "If I were still pleasing men, I would not be a servant of Christ."

Note here concerning the diversity between Matthew and Luke: because Luke sets down both promises and threatening woes, but Matthew sets down only promises. On account of which it seems either that one spoke deficiently, or the other superfluously. But certainly it can be answered, as the Gloss suggests and Augustine says, that the one sermon was different from the other. The diversity of which is gathered from the places and persons and precepts. For that one was to the disciples, this one to the crowds: that one while sitting, this one while standing: that one on the mountain, this one in a level place: that one contains more teachings than this one, because seven beatitudes, this one four: from all of which it is gathered that the one was different from the other. Nor undeservedly, because to different persons one must speak differently. For to the disciples, as to more perfect ones, the evangelical commands ought to have been explained in a more perfect manner; but the crowd cannot ascend to lofty things, and therefore the word of God is not explained to the crowds as perfectly as to the Apostles. And because the perfect are moved by love, but the imperfect not only by love but also by fear: therefore in the sermon to the Apostles, beatitudes are set down and not woes; in the sermon to the crowds, both beatitudes and woes. Again, because the perfect are made conformable to Christ through the sevenfold Spirit, who rested upon him, as is said in Isaiah eleven; therefore seven beatitudes are set down, corresponding to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Here four beatitudes are noted corresponding to the four cardinal virtues, as is held in the Gloss: Poverty, to temperance; hunger for spiritual good, to justice; weeping, to prudence; suffering of evils, to fortitude or patience, as the Gloss of Bede says.

In these four, however, the others are contained implicitly: whence Luke does not express the spiritual sense in these promises as Matthew does. For Matthew says: "Blessed are the poor in spirit"; here only: "Blessed are the poor"; the former: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice," etc. And again, in Matthew they are proposed universally and in the third person, because he speaks to those who understand—in Luke, particularly and in the second person, because he speaks to the sensual. From these things the reasons for the other diversities can be gathered, because according to the diversity of hearers, the manner of speech of teachers is diverse, according to that saying of the Apostle in Colossians four: "Let your speech always be in grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every one." And this that teacher of the nations did, in First Corinthians two: "When I came to you, I came not in loftiness of speech," etc., and afterward follows: "But we speak wisdom among the perfect." So did the Savior, who spoke to the crowds in parables, but apart explained all things to his disciples, as is said in Matthew thirteen, because to them it was given "to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven."

"Woe to you when all people speak well of you." Notice how by the word woe he revealed to us the extent of the punishment awaiting such people. This word woe, after all, is an exclamation of lament, so that it is as if he is lamenting their fate when he says, "Woe to you when all people speak well of you." Notice too the precision in the expression: he didn't simply say "people" but "all people." You see, it is not possible for a virtuous person who travels by the straight and narrow path and follows Christ's commands to enjoy the praise and admiration of all people—so strong is the impulse of evil and the resistance to virtue.

What is said here is not opposed to what our Lord says elsewhere, Let your light shine before men; (Matt. 5:16.) that is, that we should be eager to do good for the glory of God, not our own. For vain-glory is a baneful thing, and from hence springs iniquity, and despair, and avarice, the mother of evil. But if thou seekest to turn away from this, ever raise thy eyes to God, and be content with that glory which is from Him. For if in all things we must choose the more learned for judges, how dost thou trust to the many the decision of virtue, and not rather to Him, who before all others knoweth it, and can give and reward it, whose glory therefore if thou desirest, avoid the praise of men. For no one more excites our admiration than he who rejects glory. And if we do this, much more does the God of all. Be mindful then, that the glory of men quickly faileth, seeing in the course of time it is past into oblivion. It follows, For so did their fathers to the false prophets.

"In the like manner," says He, "did their fathers unto the prophets.

"Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets." With equal stress does the Creator, by His prophet Isaiah, censure those who seek after human flattery and praise: "O my people, they who call you happy mislead you, and disturb the paths of your feet.

Love is commanded when it is said, "Love your enemies," so that the saying which was uttered already before the church may be fulfilled: "Set in order love in me." For love is set in order when the precepts of love are formed. See how it began from the heights and cast the law undeneath the backs of the gospel's blessing. The law commands the revenge of punishment. The gospel bestows love for hostility, benevolence for hatred, prayer for curses, help for the persecuted, patience for the hungry and grace of reward. How much more perfect the athlete who does not feel injury!

Having proceeded in the enumeration of many heavenly actions, He not unwisely comes to this place last, that He might teach the people confirmed by the divine miracles to march onward in the footsteps of virtue beyond the path of the law. Lastly, among the three greatest, (hope, faith, and charity,) the greatest is charity, which is commanded in these words, Love your enemies.

We are also prohibited both from loving that world and, if we understand rightly, are commanded to love it. We are prohibited, of course, where it is said to us, "Do not love the world." But we are commanded when it is said to us, "Love your enemies." They are the world, which hates us. Therefore we are both prohibited from loving in it what the world itself loves, and we are commanded to love in it what the world hates, namely, the handiwork of God and the various comforts of his goodness. We are prohibited from loving the fault in it and are commanded to love its nature. The world loves the fault in itself and hates its nature. So we rightly love and hate it, although it perversely loves and hates itself.

Temporal goods are to be despised in favor of eternal ones, as things on the left are to be despised in favor of those on the right. This has always been the aim of the holy martyrs. A final just vengeance is looked for, that is, the last supreme judgment, only when no chance of correction remains. But now we must be on our guard, more than anything else, not to lose patience in our eagerness to be justified, for patience is to be more highly prized than anything an enemy can take from us against our will.

(in reg. brev. 176.) It is indeed the part of an enemy to injure and be treacherous. Every one then who does harm in any way to any one is called his enemy.

(ubi sup.) But because man consists of body and soul, to the soul indeed we shall do this good, by reproving and admonishing such men, and leading them by the hand to conversion; but to the body, by profiting them in the necessaries of life.

But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. Because He had said earlier what they might suffer from their enemies, now He shows in what way they themselves ought to act towards these same enemies. Many, however, think it is enough virtue not to hate enemies, but to love them is commanded as more than what human nature can bear, not seeing that Moses, Samuel, and Stephen prayed for their enemies, and David mourned his dead enemies. For the Lord does not command impossibilities, but perfection. Therefore, not faltering while there is time, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Having spoken above of what they might suffer from their enemies, He now points out how they ought to conduct themselves towards their enemies, saying, But I say to you who hear.

But that this rather pertains to actual charity seems to appear most especially from this: that when the Lord had said, "Love your enemies," he at once adds concerning works: "Do good to those who hate you" (Lk 6:27). Likewise Scripture: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he thirsts, give him drink" (Rom 12:20). And here you have what concerns act, not affection.

Concerning the promulgation of the instructions, it should be noted that for a man to be perfect, it is necessary that he be perfectly benevolent, perfectly peaceable, and perfectly beneficent. The first regards affection, the second passion, and the third operation. He gives therefore first the commandment of perfect benevolence, when he says: But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies. For this commandment is to be set before the hearers, that is, the believing and the obedient, in whom God dwells, because it is said in 1 John 4: "He who abides in charity abides in God, and God in him." And such a one hears the commandment of charity, not only with the ear of the body, but of the heart, according to that word in John 8: "He who is of God hears the words of God." This hearing was stirred up in Isaiah 55: "Hear, you who hear me, and eat what is good, and your soul shall delight in fatness. Incline your ear and come to me; hear, and your soul shall live." It shall live indeed through the commandment of love, because, as is said in 1 John 3, "he who does not love abides in death"; and before that: "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren." To this the Apostle says in Ephesians 5: "Walk in love, as Christ also loved us and delivered himself for us"; "because, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son," Romans 5. And so we ought to love our enemies. And since it does not suffice "to love in word or tongue alone, but in deed and in truth"—therefore he adds: Do good to those who hate you, so that there may be "love without dissimulation"; Proverbs 25: "If your enemy hungers, feed him; if he thirsts, give him drink"; the same is said in Romans 12.

I said in a previous chapter that chastity was the most unpopular of the Christian virtues. But I am not sure I was right. I believe there is one even more unpopular. It is laid down in the Christian rule, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as theyself.' Because in Christian morals 'thy neighbor' includes 'thy enemy', and so we come up against this terrible duty of forgiving our enemies...

We might try to understand exactly what loving your neighbor as yourself means. I have to love him as I love myself. Well, how exactly do I love myself?

Now that I come to think of it, I have no exactly got a feeling of fondness or affection for myself, and I do not even always enjoy my own society. So apparently 'Love your neighbour' does not mean 'feel fond of him' or 'find him attractive'. I ought to have seen that before, because, of course, you cannot feel fond of a person by trying. Do I think well of myself, think myself a nice chap? Well, I am afraid I sometimes do (and those are, no doubt, my worst moments) but that is not why I love myself. In fact it is the other way round: my self-love makes me think myself nice, but thinking myself nice is not why I love myself. So loving my enemies does not apparently mean thinking them nice either. That is an enormous relief. For a good many people imagine that forgiving your enemies means making out that they are really not such bad fellows after all, when it is quite plain that they are. Go a step further. In my most clear-sighted moments not only do I not think myself a nice man, but I know that I am a very nasty one. I can look at some of the things I have done with horror and loathing. So apparently I am allowed to loathe and hate some of the things my enemies do...

Does loving your enemy mean not punishing him? No, for loving myself does not mean that I ought not to subject myself to punishment - even to death. If you had committed a murder, the right Christian thing to do would be to give yourself up to the police and be hanged...

I imagine somebody will say, 'Well, if one is allowed to condemn the enemy's acts, and punish him, and kill him, what difference is left between Christian morality and the ordinary view?' All the difference in the world. Remember, we Christians think man lives for ever. Therefore, what really matters is those little marks or twists on the central, inside part of the soul which are going to turn it, in the long run, into a heavenly or hellish creature. We may kill if necessary, but we must not hate and enjoy hating. We may punish if necessary, but we must not enjoy it. In other words, something insude us, the feeling of resentment, the feeling that wants to get one own's back, must be simply killed... Even while we kill and punish we must try to feel about the enemy as we feel about ourselves - to wish that he were not bad, to hope that he may, in this world or another, be cured: in fact, to wish his good. That is what is meant in the Bible by loving him: wishing his good, not feeling fond of him nor saying he is nice when he is not.

I admit that this means loving people who have nothing lovable about them. But then, has oneself anything lovable about it? You love it simply because it is yourself. God intends us to love all selves in the same way and for the same reason: but He has given us the sum ready worked out in our own case to show us how it works. We have then to go on and apply the rule to all the other selves. Perhaps it makes it easier if we remember that that is how He loves us. Not for any nice, attractive qualities we think we have, but just because we are the things called selves.

Wisdom pronounces anger a wretched thing, because "it will destroy the wise." And now He bids us "love our enemies, bless them that curse us, and pray for them that despitefully use us." And He says: "If any one strike thee on the one cheek, turn to him the other also; and if any one take away thy coat, hinder him not from taking thy cloak also."

How will you love your enemies and pray for your adversaries and persecutors? We see what happened in the case of Stephen. When he was being killed by the violence and stones of the Jews, he did not ask for vengeance but forgiveness for his murderers, saying: "O Lord, do not lay this sin against them." So it was most fitting that the first martyr for Christ who, in preceding by his glorious death the martyrs that were to come, was not only a preacher of the Lord's suffering but also an imitator of his most patient gentleness.

A hermit was asked, 'What is humility?' He said, 'It is if you forgive a brother who has wronged you before he is sorry.'

There are two ways, one of life and one of death; but a great difference between the two ways. The way of life, then, is this: First, thou shalt love God who made thee; second, thy neighbour as thyself; and all things whatsoever thou wouldst should not occur to thee, thou also to another do not do. And of these sayings the teaching is this: Bless them that curse you, and pray for your enemies, and fast for them that persecute you. For what thank is there, if ye love them that love you? Do not also the Gentiles do the same? But do ye love them that hate you; and ye shall not have an enemy. Abstain thou from fleshly and worldly lusts. If one give thee a blow upon thy right cheek, turn to him the other also; and thou shalt be perfect. If one impress thee for one mile, go with him two. If one take away thy cloak, give him also thy coat. If one take from thee thine own, ask it not back for indeed thou art not able. Give to every one that asketh thee, and ask it not back; for the Father willeth that to all should be given of our own blessings (free gifts).

(Hom. 18. in Matt.) But He says not, Do not hate, but love; nor did He merely command to love, but also to do good, as it follows, Do good to them which hate you.

For, whenever they hear from us that God says, "No thank have ye, if you love them which love you, but you have thank, if you love your enemies and them which hate you" — whenever they hear these words, they marvel at the surpassing measure of their goodness; but when they see, that not only do we not love those who hate, but that we love not even those who love, they laugh us to scorn, and the name is blasphemed.

He bids us, therefore, show a kindly disposition to such a man. "Love your enemies," says He, "pray for them that curse you," lest such a man in any transaction of business be irritated by any unjust conduct of yours, and "deliver thee to the judge" of his own (nation ), and you be thrown into prison, and be detained in its close and narrow cell until you have liquidated all your debt against him.

"But I say unto you which hear" (displaying here that old injunction, of the Creator: "Speak to the ears of those who lend them to you" ), "Love your enemies, and bless those which hate you, and pray for them which calumniate you.

To love friends is the custom for all people, but to love enemies is customary only for Christians.

What Christ said in word, he proved also by example. Indeed, when he was on the cross, he said in reference to his persecutors who were slandering him, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing," so that he might pray for his slanderers, although he could have forgiven them himself.

But if any one curse thee, do thou bless him. For it is written in the book of Numbers: "He that blesseth thee is blessed, and he that curseth thee is cursed." In the same manner it is written inn the Gospel: "Bless them that curse you." Being injured, do not avenge yourselves, but bear it with patience; for the Scripture speaks thus: "Say not thou, I will avenge myself on my enemy for what injuries he has offered me; but acquiesce under them, that the Lord may right thee, and bring vengeance upon him who injures thee." For so says He again in the Gospel: "Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you; and ye shall be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to shine on the evil and on the good, and raineth on the just and unjust." Let us therefore, beloved, attend to these commandments, that we may be found to be the children of light by doing them. Bear, therefore, with one another, ye servants and sons of God.

(in Esai. 1, 23. in App.) But we almost all of us offend against this command, and especially the powerful and rulers, not only if they have suffered insult, but if respect is not paid them, accounting all those their enemies who treat them with less consideration than they think they deserve. But it is a great dishonour in a prince to be ready to take revenge. For how shall he teach another, to return to no man evil for evil (Rom. 12:17.), if he is eager to retaliate on him who injures him.

Bless those who curse you, pray for those who slander you. And the Apostle testifies that he and his like have done this, saying: We are reviled, and we bless. We are persecuted, and we endure it (I Cor. IV). But here the question arises, how this command of the Lord is not opposed to the fact that many imprecations against enemies, which are considered curses, are found in the prophets, such as: Let their table become a snare before them, and other things said there. The apostle John says: If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin not leading to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death, I do not say that he should pray about that. First, it must be seen that the prophets, by way of imprecation, sang what was to come, not by the will of the one wishing, but by the spirit of foreseeing, who are accustomed to predict future things in the figure of one who is imprecating, just as often they sang of things to come in the figure of past time. Second, it must be understood from the words of the Apostle that there are certain brothers for whom we are not commanded to pray, since the Lord also commands us to pray even for our persecutors. This question cannot be resolved unless we admit that there are some sins among the brothers graver than the persecution by enemies. That brothers, however, signifies Christians can be proven by many teachings of the divine Scriptures. Therefore, I believe the sin of a brother leading to death is when, after the knowledge of God by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, someone opposes the brotherhood, and against the very grace by which he was reconciled to God, he is agitated with the flames of envy. However, the sin not leading to death is if someone has not alienated love from a brother but has not exhibited the duties of brotherhood due to some weakness of mind. Wherefore the Lord also said on the cross: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do (Luke XXIII). For they had not yet become partakers of the grace of the Holy Spirit, nor had they entered the fellowship of holy brotherhood. And blessed Stephen prays for those who were stoning him, because they had not yet believed in Christ, nor were they fighting against that common grace. And for this reason, I believe, the apostle Paul does not pray for Alexander because he was already a brother, and had sinned to death, i.e., oppressing the brotherhood with envy. But for those who had not broken off love but had succumbed out of fear, he prays that they be forgiven. So he says: Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works; you too must beware of him, for he has greatly withstood our words (II Tim. IV). Then he adds, for whom he prays, saying: At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them (Ibid.). This is the distinction of sins, separating Judas who betrayed from Peter who denied.

But the question is fairly raised, how it is that in the prophets are to be found many curses against their enemies. Upon which we must observe, that the prophets in the imprecations they uttered foretold the future, and that not with the feelings of one who wishes, but in the spirit of one who foresees.

And because "a word is better than a gift," and speech declares the disposition, he adds: Bless those who curse you, in public speech; and pray for those who calumniate you, in private speech. Bless, in open speech. To this the Apostle in Romans 12: "Bless those who curse you, bless and do not curse"; and 1 Peter 3: "Rendering to no one evil for evil, nor curse for curse, but on the contrary, blessing." Pray, also in secret speech. By the example of him of whom Isaiah 53 says: "He prayed for transgressors"; and by the example of that protomartyr, Acts 7: "And kneeling down, he cried out with a loud voice: Lord, do not hold this sin against them." But this seems to be contradicted by the fact that Elisha, in 4 Kings 2, was angered at the mocking boys, and Elijah at the captain of fifty, in 4 Kings 1, and Paul at the high priest, in Acts 23. To this Bede responds that these "are not the wishes of those desiring, but predictions of future events"; or they were not angered against nature, but against vice. For as Augustine says: "Men are to be loved in such a way that nevertheless their errors are not loved." Thus he gives the commandment of perfect benevolence, which consists not only in the heart, but also in deed and speech. Whence Gregory: "Concerning the love of the Creator, let tongue, mind, and hand be required."

Concerning this commandment of benevolence, it should be noted in summary that as regards affection it binds all universally; as regards the sign it binds the perfect; as regards the effect, in the moment of necessity it binds all, but short of necessity it does not bind the imperfect, except insofar as the obligation of some precept requires. The perfect however by the state of prelacy it binds insofar as the obligation of the office assumed requires; the perfect by the state of perfection, insofar as the obligation of good example requires; the perfect however by the perfection of virtue, insofar as the intensity of charity requires.

For they who pierce their own souls deserve tears and weeping, not curses. For nothing is more hateful than a cursing heart, or more foul than a tongue which utters curses. O man, spit not forth the poison of asps, nor be turned into a beast. Thy mouth was given thee not to bite with, but to heal the wounds of others. But he commands us to count our enemies in the rank of our friends, not only in a general way, but as our particular friends for whom we are accustomed to pray; as it follows, Pray for them which persecute you. But many on the contrary falling down, and striking their faces upon the ground, and stretching forth their hands, pray God not for their sins, but against their enemies, which is nothing else but piercing their own selves. When thou prayest to Him that He would hear thee cursing thy enemies, who has forbidden thee to pray against thy enemies, how is it possible for thee to be heard, since thou art calling Him to hear thee by striking an enemy in the king's presence, not with the hand indeed, but with thy words. What art thou doing, O man? thou standest to obtain pardon of your sins, and thou fillest thy mouth with bitterness. It is a time of forgiveness, prayer, and mourning, not of rage.

(Hom. 18. in Matt.) For physicians also, when they are attacked by madmen, have then most compassion on them, and exert themselves to restore them. Have thou also a like consideration towards thy persecutors; for it is they who are under the greatest infirmity. And let us not cease until they have exhausted all their bitterness, they will then overpower thee with thanks, and God Himself will give thee a crown, because thou hast delivered thy brother from the worst disease.

And of our love to all, He taught thus: "If ye love them that love you, what new thing do ye? for even fornicators do this. But I say unto you, Pray for your enemies, and love them that hate you, and bless them that curse you, and pray for them that despitefully use you."

He forbids cursing again, and cursing much more of course; and yet he heaps his woe upon the Pharisees and doctors of the law. Who so closely resembles my God as: His own Christ? We have often already laid it down for certain, that He could not have been branded as the destroyer of the law if He had promulged another god.

"If any one gives thee a stroke on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." Not that revenge is evil, but that patience is more honourable. For David says, "If I have made returns to them that repaid me evil." "If any one compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain." And, "He that will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also."

(de Ser. Dom. lib. 1. c. 19.) He says this of garments, houses, farms, beasts of burdens, and generally of all property. But a Christian ought not to possess a slave as he does a horse or money. If a slave is more honourably governed by thee than by him who desires to take him from thee, I know not whether any one would dare to say, that he ought to be despised, as a garment (ut vestimentum.)

If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also. He does not say, do not strike the one who strikes you, although this is also a great commandment, but he says: prepare yourself to be struck again. This pertains to mercy, as understood especially by those who serve like fathers, or those who serve those dearest to them, such as sick ones, little ones, or the mentally disturbed, from whom they often suffer many things. And if their health requires it, they even offer themselves to suffer more, until the weakness of age or illness passes. Therefore, the Lord, the physician of souls, instructed those who would heal others, what else could he teach them but to bear with the infirmities of those whose health they wish to care for with a calm mind? For all wickedness comes from weakness of spirit, because nothing is more innocent than one who is perfect in virtue. Many know how to offer the other cheek, but do not know how to love the one who strikes them. But the Lord himself, who certainly first fulfilled the precepts he taught, did not offer the other cheek to the servant of the priest who struck him, but moreover said: If I have spoken wrongly, bear witness to the wrong; but if rightly, why do you strike me? (John XVIII). Yet he was not unprepared in heart, not only to be struck on the other cheek for the salvation of all, but even to be crucified with his whole body.

And from one who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. What has been said about the cloak and tunic is not just about these, but should apply to all things which we say are temporarily ours by some right. For if this has been commanded about necessities, how much more fitting it is to disdain superfluities.

Second, he gives the commandment concerning perfect patience, when he adds: And whoever strikes you on one cheek, that is, inflicting injury upon the person: and he puts cheek for the nobler part of the body, which when struck, the greatest injury is inflicted: whence Job 16: "They have opened their mouths against me; reproaching, they struck my cheek." For such and so great an injury, vengeance is not to be exacted, but patience is to be shown: whence he adds: Offer also the other, namely the cheek, that is, be prepared to endure another blow, by the example of the Master, of whom Lamentations 3 says: "He will give his cheek to the one who strikes him; he will be filled with reproaches"; he will give indeed, not by inviting the blow, but by not putting up a defense, according to that in Romans 12: "Do not defend yourselves, beloved, but give place to wrath."

Hence in this commandment what is prohibited is lustful defensiveness, not charitable correction, since it is said in Matthew eighteen: "If your brother sins against you, go and correct him," etc. And the example of this is in Christ, in John eighteen: "One of the officers standing by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand"; and it is added: "Jesus answered him: If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why do you strike me"? Hence Augustine in a certain sermon on the Words of the Lord: "If you suffer an injury and remain silent and do not correct your neighbor, you sin more by your negligence than he does by his affliction." By this commandment also, lay persons are not barred from the defense of themselves or of others: hence Paul, in Acts twenty-three, requested soldiers so that he might be kept unharmed. Hence Augustine in the first book of the City of God, expounding that precept of Exodus twenty: Thou shalt not kill, says that "those who waged wars by the authority of God and punished criminals according to the laws did not act against this precept." Hence the canon: "The fortitude which protects the fatherland from barbarians, or defends the weak at home, or companions from robbers, is full justice." Hence Augustine to Marcellinus: "These precepts of patience are to be retained in the preparation of the heart: for that very benevolence, that evil not be rendered for evil, must always be fulfilled in the will of the heart. Yet many things must be done even with those unwilling, who are to be chastised with a certain kind severity, whose welfare rather than whose will must be consulted." Thus therefore the commandment concerning showing patience to the one who injures one's own person is to be understood.

Patience must also be shown to the one who injures in regard to a possessed thing, on account of which he adds: And from him who takes away your garment, namely the outer garment, through injury, like those of whom Job twenty-four says: "They send men away naked, taking away their garments"; and Micah two: "You have taken away the cloak from over the tunic." To such a one injuring thus, patience must be shown: hence he adds: Do not withhold even the tunic, namely by quarreling or contradicting, following the example of the Savior, of whom it is said in the Psalm: "They divided my garments among them," etc., that is, without resistance and contradiction. In this commandment likewise it is to be understood that contention or the desire for revenge is prohibited. Hence Augustine to Marcellinus: "One must beware lest through the desire for revenge patience itself be lost, which must be valued more highly than everything which an enemy can take away against one's will." In sum, what must be held here concerning the precept of patience is that the correction of one's neighbor is not prohibited here, nor the impediment or prohibition of evil, nor the punishment of a crime perpetrated by one who can and ought to do so, such as the minister of the law: but what is prohibited and restrained here is the desire for revenge, both with respect to the hand and with respect to outward sign and with respect to the mind. And in this the Evangelist adds above the Law, which he perfects and consummates according to its spiritual understanding.

But this way of life was well adapted to the holy teachers who were about to preach throughout the earth the word of salvation, and if it had been their will to take vengeance upon their persecutors, had failed to call them to the knowledge of salvation.

Now the old law commanded us not to injure one another; or if we are first injured, not to extend our wrath beyond the measure of the injurer, but the fulfilling of the law is in Christ and in His commands. Hence it follows, And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek, offer also the other.

But the Lord would moreover have us to be despisers of property. As it follows, And him that taketh away thy cloak, forbid not to take thy coat also. For this is the soul's virtue, which is altogether alien from feeling the pleasure of wealth. For it becomes him who is merciful even to forget his misfortunes, that we may confer the same benefits upon our persecutors, whereby we assist our dear friends.

"An eye for an eye" is the perfection of justice. "Whoever strikes you on the cheek, turn the other to him" is the consummation of grace. While both continually have their criteria, he proposed them to us through the two successive Testaments. The first Testament had the killing of animals for compensation, because justice did not permit that one should die in place of another. The second Testament was established through the blood of a man, who through his grace gave himself on behalf of all. One therefore was the beginning, and the other the completion. He in whom are both the end and the beginning is perfect. In the case of those who do not understand, the beginning and end are estranged one from the other. In the study of them, however, they are one.Therefore this principle of a blow for a blow has indeed been transformed. If you strive for perfection, whoever strikes you, turn to him the other [cheek].

For the law, since it was laid down for those in bondage, used to instruct the soul by means of those corporeal objects which were of an external nature, drawing it, as by a bond, to obey its commandments, that man might learn to serve God. But the Word set free the soul, and taught that through it the body should be willingly purified. Which having been accomplished, it followed as of course, that the bonds of slavery should be removed, to which man had now become accustomed, and that he should follow God without fetters: moreover, that the laws of liberty should be extended, and subjection to the king increased, so that no one who is convened should appear unworthy to Him who set him free, but that the piety and obedience due to the Master of the household should be equally rendered both by servants and children; while the children possess greater confidence [than the servants], inasmuch as the working of liberty is greater and more glorious than that obedience which is rendered in [a state of] slavery.

And for this reason did the Lord, instead of that [commandment], "Thou shalt not commit adultery," forbid even concupiscence; and instead of that which runs thus, "Thou shalt not kill," He prohibited anger; and instead of the law enjoining the giving of tithes, [He told us] to share all our possessions with the poor; and not to love our neighbours only, but even our enemies; and not merely to be liberal givers and bestowers, but even that we should present a gratuitous gift to those who take away our goods. For "to him that taketh away thy coat," He says, "give to him thy cloak also; and from him that taketh away thy goods, ask them not again; and as ye would that men should do unto you, do ye unto them: " so that we may not grieve as those who are unwilling to be defrauded, but may rejoice as those who have given willingly, and as rather conferring a favour upon our neighbours than yielding to necessity. "And if any one," He says, "shall compel thee [to go] a mile, go with him twain; " so that thou mayest not follow him as a slave, but may as a free man go before him, showing thyself in all things kindly disposed and useful to thy neighbour, not regarding their evil intentions, but performing thy kind offices, assimilating thyself to the Father, "who maketh His sun to rise upon the evil and the good, and sendeth rain upon the just and unjust." Now all these [precepts], as I have already observed, were not [the injunctions] of one doing away with the law, but of one fulfilling, extending, and widening it among us; just as if one should say, that the more extensive operation of liberty implies that a more complete subjection and affection towards our Liberator had been implanted within us. For He did not set us free for this purpose, that we should depart from Him (no one, indeed, while placed out of reach of the Lord's benefits, has power to procure for himself the means of salvation), but that the more we receive His grace, the more we should love Him. Now the more we have loved Him, the more glory shall we receive from Him, when we are continually in the presence of the Father.

(ubi sup.) Now He said not, Bear humbly the rule of thy persecutor, but, Go on wisely, and prepare thyself to suffer what he desires thee to do; overcoming his insolence by thy great prudence, that he may depart with shame at thy excellent endurance. But some one will say, How can this be? When thou hast seen God made man, and suffering so many things for thee, dost thou still ask and doubt how it is possible to pardon the iniquities of thy fellow servants? Who has suffered what thy God has, when He was bound, scourged, enduring to be spat upon, suffering death?

And concerning our being patient of injuries, and ready to serve all, and free from anger, this is what He said: "To him that smiteth thee on the one cheek, offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak or coat, forbid not. And whosoever shall be angry, is in danger of the fire. And every one that compelleth thee to go with him a mile, follow him two. And let your good works shine before men, that they, seeing them, may glorify your Father which is in heaven." For we ought not to strive; neither has He desired us to be imitators of wicked men, but He has exhorted us to lead all men, by patience and gentleness, from shame and the love of evil. And this indeed is proved in the case of many who once were of your way of thinking, but have changed their violent and tyrannical disposition, being overcome either by the constancy which they have witnessed in their neighbours' lives, or by the extraordinary forbearance they have observed in their fellow-travellers when defrauded, or by the honesty of those with whom they have transacted business.

On saying this, he took an instance, and set before us the doctrine of philanthropy, which you had explained to him, which rather appeared to me to be very unjust, and I shall tell you how. He alleged that it was right to present to him who strikes you on the one cheek the other also, and to give to him who takes away your cloak your tunic also, and to go two miles with him who compels you to go one, and such like.

Well, but Christ plainly teaches a new kind of patience, when He actually prohibits the reprisals which the Creator permitted in requiring "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," and bids us, on the contrary, "to him who smiteth us on the one cheek, to offer the other also, and to give up our coat to him that taketh away our cloak." No doubt these are supplementary additions by Christ, but they are quite in keeping with the teaching of the Creator.

Else how will one, when he has two coats, give the one of them to the naked, unless he be a man likewise to offer to one who takes away his coat his cloak as well? How shall we fashion to us friends from mammon, if we love it so much as not to put up with its loss? We shall perish together with the lost mammon.

For it is our duty to do good to all men, not fondly preferring one or another, whoever they be. For the Lord says: "Give to every one that asketh of thee." It is evident that it is meant of every one that is really in want, whether he be friend or foe, whether he be a kinsman or a stranger, whether he be single or married.

"And from him that taketh thy goods, require them not again." "Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee do not shut thy hand." For "the righteous man is pitiful, and lendeth." For your Father would have you give to all, who Himself "maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth His rain on the just and on the unjust." It is therefore reasonable to give to all out of thine own labours; for says He, "Honour the Lord out of thy righteous labours," but so that the saints be preferred.

(de Serm. Dom. lib. 1. c. 20.) He says not, To him that seeketh give all things, but give what you justly and honestly can, that is, what as far as man can know or believe, neither hurts you, nor another: and if thou hast justly refused any one, the justice must be declared to him, (so as not to send him away empty,) sometimes thou wilt confer even a greater boon when thou hast corrected him who seeks what he ought not.

To everyone who asks of you, give. He says, to everyone who asks, not to everyone requesting everything, but to give that which you can give honorably and justly. For what if he asks for money to oppress the innocent? What if in the end, he asks for a disgraceful act? But without going into many details, which are innumerable, certainly that should be given which neither harms you nor another, as far as can be known or believed by man. And to whom you have justly denied what he asks for, the justice itself should be indicated, so that you do not send him away empty-handed. Thus, you will grant to everyone who asks of you, though not always that which is requested, you will grant. And sometimes you will grant something better, when you correct one asking for unjust things.

And from him who takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. He speaks of clothing, house, estate, beast of burden, and generally of all money. However, whether this should apply to slaves is a great question. For a Christian ought not to possess a slave in the same manner as a horse or silver. Although it may happen that a horse is worth more than a slave, and something golden or silver far more. But if that slave is being educated or governed more correctly, honorably, and in a manner more fitting to God's worship by you the master, than by the one who desires to take him away, I do not know whether anyone would dare say that he should be disregarded like a garment. For a man ought to love his fellow man as himself, upon whom the Lord of all commands also to love even enemies.

Third, he gives a commandment concerning perfect beneficence, when he adds: But give to everyone who asks of you. This is a general commandment with respect to every person and every gift, whether of service, or of loan, or of another present. And to one's neighbor must be given the gift of outward relief, according to that passage of Deuteronomy 15: "I command you to open your hand to your needy and poor brother"; and Exodus 23: "If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under a burden, you shall not pass by, but shall lift it up with him." And of inward compassion: Isaiah 58: "When you pour out your soul to the hungry" etc.; and Colossians 3: "Put on, as the elect of God, bowels of mercy, bearing with one another and forgiving one another" etc. And also the gift of sweet speech: Ecclesiasticus 18: "Will not the dew cool the heat? So also a word is better than a gift." To the two following all are obligated; but to the first are obligated especially the rich, or those who have the means to relieve another's need: 1 Timothy, the last chapter: "Command the rich of this world not to be high-minded, but to do good, to be rich in good works, to give readily, to share, to lay up for themselves a good foundation for the future, that they may lay hold on true life."

It also obliges with respect to every person, considering nature and necessity, but not weighing vice; whence it does not contradict what is said in Ecclesiasticus 12: "Give to the good, and do not receive the sinner; do good to the humble, and do not give to the ungodly"; it says this: because he is a sinner or ungodly. Whence one should not give to actors by reason of their profession, because, as Jerome says, "to give to mimes and actors is nothing other than to sacrifice to demons." If, however, they are placed in necessity, one must give to them, because they are created in the image of God and because they are our brothers; whence 1 John 3: "He who sees his brother having need, and shuts his bowels from him, how does the love of God abide in him?"

And because this commandment of beneficence extends to all without exception, he therefore specifies even concerning those who do injury, when he adds: And from him who takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. The Gloss: "With litigation or contention," which comes from cupidity. Isaiah fifty-eight: "Behold, in the day of your fast your own will is found, and you demand payment from all your debtors. Behold, you fast unto strife and contention." Ecclesiasticus thirty-one: "Do not speak words of reproach to your neighbor, and do not press him in demanding repayment." This however occurs when one brings a case before a foreign or unbelieving judge; on account of which, First Corinthians six: "Brother contends against brother in judgment, and this before unbelievers? Why do you not rather suffer fraud?" He does not say this, however, because it is in no case permitted to demand back, but to show that we ought to love our neighbor and his salvation more than a temporal thing. Whence Gregory: "When peace of heart with one's neighbor is broken for the sake of an earthly thing, it is apparent that the thing is loved more than the neighbor."

Whence note that demanding back happens in three ways, namely from cupidity, from zeal for justice, and from fear of ruin. The first belongs to the wicked, not to the just who possess charity, according to that saying of First Corinthians thirteen: "Charity does not seek the things that are its own"; the Gloss: "It does not demand back what has been taken away," namely from a love of cupidity for the thing. There is again demanding back from zeal for justice: and in this way it is permitted to the perfect who hold property in common, in the name of the community; but to the perfect who have property neither in common nor individually, it is not permitted to them to demand back, but only to those who have ownership of those things of which they themselves have the use. He demands back from zeal for justice who intends to look after the salvation of the one who seizes, and the restraint of another's cupidity, and the peace of the universal Church. Whence Gregory: "There ought to be concern not only lest they take away what is ours, but lest those seizing what is not theirs destroy themselves." He also demands back from zeal for justice who intends to defend his own right, or that of a person, or of the Church, or of some associated community, especially when he is bound by reason to defend it. Third, there is demanding back from fear of ruin, namely lest on account of poverty and want they fall into sin; and thus this pertains to the weak. Whence the Wise Man prayed in the person of such people, Proverbs thirty: "Give me neither riches nor poverty; grant only what is necessary for my sustenance, lest perhaps being sated I be enticed to deny and say: Who is the Lord? or being driven by want I steal and perjure the name of my God." He wishes therefore in this commandment to say that a man should be prepared to do good to all, not only to his benefactors, but even to those who plunder him.

See then, first, that He has not commanded you to be solicited or to wait to be importuned, but yourself to seek those who are to be benefited and are worthy disciples of the Saviour. Excellent, accordingly, also is the apostle's saying, "For the Lord loveth a cheerful giver;" who delights in giving, and spares not, sowing so that he may also thus reap, without murmuring, and disputing, and regret, and communicating, which is pure beneficence. But better than this is the saying spoken by the Lord in another place, "Give to every one that asketh thee." For truly such is God's delight in giving. And this saying is above all divinity, -not to wait to be asked, but to inquire oneself who deserves to receive kindness.

And in another place: "Of him that taketh away thy goods, ask them not again."

When a man overcomes justice by mercy, he is crowned, though not with crowns awarded under the law to the righteous, but with the crowns of the mature who are under the gospel. The ancient law also dictates that a man must give to the poor from his own means, and clothe the naked, and love his neighbor as himself. It forbids injustice and lying. But the perfection of the gospel's dispensation commands the following: "Give to every man that asks of you, and of him that takes away your goods ask them not again." And further, a man must not merely with joy suffer injustice as regards his possessions and the rest of the external things that come upon him, but he must also lay down his life for his brother. This is the merciful man.

Here it follows, But to every one who seeks, give.

Herein however we do not lightly err, when not only we give not to those who seek, but also blame them? Why (you say) does he not work, why is the idle man fed? Tell me, dost thou then possess by labour? but still if thou workest, dost thou work for this, that thou shouldest blame another? For a single loaf and coat dost thou call a man covetous? Thou givest nothing, make then no reproaches. Why dost thou neither take pity thyself, and dissuadest those who would? If we spend upon all indifferently, we shall always have compassion: for because Abraham entertains all, he also entertains angels. For if a man is a homicide and a robber, does he not, thinkest thou, deserve to have bread? Let us not then be severe censors of others, lest we too be strictly judged. It follows, And of him that taketh away thy goods, ask them not again.

(Hom. 10. in 1 Cor.) Every thing we have we receive from God. But when we speak of "mine and thine," they are only bare words. For if you assert a house to be yours, you have uttered an expression which wants the substance of reality. For both the air, the soil, and the moisture, are the Creator's. Thou again art he who has built the house; but although the use is thine, it is doubtful, not only because of death, but also on account of the issues of things. Thy soul is not thy own possession, and will be reckoned to thee in like manner as all thy goods. God wishes those things to be thine which are entrusted to thee for thy brethren, and they will be thine if thou hast dispensed them for others. But if thou hast spent richly upon thyself what things are thine, they are now become another's. But through a wicked desire of wealth men strive together in a state contrary to Christ's words, And of him that taketh away thy goods, ask them not again.

And that we should communicate to the needy, and do nothing for glory, He said, "Give to him that asketh, and from him that would borrow turn not away; for if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what new thing do ye? even the publicans do this. Lay not up for yourselves treasure upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where robbers break through; but lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for it? Lay up treasure, therefore, in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt."

This, however, is (the principle) of your good and simply beneficent god-to do a wrong to patience, to open the door to violence, to leave the righteous undefended, and the wicked unrestrained! "Give to every one that asketh of thee" -to the indigent of course, or rather to the indigent more especially, although to the affluent likewise.

But they whose office it is, know that baptism is not rashly to be administered. "Give to every one who beggeth thee," has a reference of its own, appertaining especially to almsgiving.

"But Paul too was, in fact, `speedily' baptized: "for Simon, his host, speedily recognized him to be "an appointed vessel of election." God's approbation sends sure premonitory tokens before it; every "petition " may both deceive and be deceived.

Why does the innocent period of life hasten to the "remission of sins? "More caution will be exercised in worldly matters: so that one who is not trusted with earthly substance is trusted with divine! Let them know how to "ask" for salvation, that you may seem (at least) to have given "to him that asketh." For no less cause must the unwedded also be deferred-in whom the ground of temptation is prepared, alike in such as never were wedded by means of their maturity, and in the widowed by means of their freedom-until they either marry, or else be more fully strengthened for continence.

Grant, now, that you marry "in the Lord," in accordance with the law and the apostle-if, notwithstanding, you care even about this-with what face do you request (the solemnizing of) a matrimony which is unlawful to those of whom you request it; of a monogamist bishop, of presbyters and deacons bound by the same solemn engagement, of widows whose Order you have in your own person refused? And they, plainly, will give husbands and wives as they would morsels of bread; for this is their rendering of "To every one who asketh thee thou shalt give!" And they will join you together in a virgin church, the one betrothed of the one Christ! And you will pray for your husbands, the new and the old.

The Lord said to them that a prophet is without honor in his own country, because he was to be despised in Judea until the final fate of the cross. And since God's power is only with those who are faithful, he abstained from all works of divine power while he was there, because of their unbelief.

Further, He makes this answer, that a Prophet is without honour in his own country, because it was in Judæa that He was to be condemned to the sentence of the cross; and forasmuch as the power of God is for the faithful alone, He here abstained from works of divine power because of their unbelief; whence it follows, And he did not there many mighty works because of their unbelief.

(Verse 57.) But Jesus said to them: A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country and in his own house. It is almost natural for citizens to envy each other. For they do not consider a man's present deeds, but they remember his fragile infancy, as if they themselves had not also passed through the same stages of age to mature adulthood.

For it is almost natural for citizens to be jealous towards one another; for they do not look to the present works of the man, but remember the frailties of his childhood; as if they themselves had not passed through the very same stages of age to their maturity.

What then saith Christ unto them? "A prophet," saith He, "is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own house: and He did not," it is said, "many mighty works, because of their unbelief." But Luke saith, "And He did not there many miracles." And yet it was to be expected He should have done them. For if the feeling of wonder towards Him was gaining ground (for indeed even there He was marvelled at), wherefore did He not do them? Because He looked not to the display of Himself, but to their profit. Therefore when this succeeded not, He overlooked what concerned Himself, in order not to aggravate their punishment.

And yet see after how long a time He came to them, and after how great a display of miracles: but not even so did they endure it, but were inflamed again with envy.

Wherefore then did He yet do a few miracles? That they might not say, "Physician, heal thyself." That they might not say, "He is a foe and an enemy to us, and overlooks His own;" that they might not say, "If miracles had been wrought, we also should have believed." Therefore He both wrought them, and stayed: the one, that He might fulfill His own part; the other, that He might not condemn them the more.

And consider thou the power of His words, herein at least, that possessed as they were by envy, they did yet admire. And as with regard to His works, they do not find fault with what is done, but feign causes which have no existence, saying, "In Beelzebub He casteth out the devils;" even so here too, they find no fault with the teaching, but take refuge in the meanness of His race.

But mark thou, I pray thee, the Master's gentleness, how He reviles them not, but with great mildness saith, "A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country." And neither here did He stop, but added, "And in his own house." To me it appears, that with covert reference to His very own brethren, He made this addition.

But in Luke He puts examples also of this, saying, that neither did Elias come unto His own, but to the stranger widow; neither by Eliseus was any other leper healed, but the stranger Naaman; and Israelites neither received benefit, nor conferred benefit, but the foreigners. And these things He saith, signifying in every instance their evil disposition, and that in His case nothing new is taking place.

Observe Christ's mercifulness; He is evil spoken of, yet He answers with mildness; Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and in his own house.

We must inquire whether the expression has the same force when applied universally to every prophet. Does it mean that every one of the prophets was dishonored only in his own country? Or does it mean that every one who was dishonored was dishonored in his country? Or does it mean that because of the expression being singular, these things were said about only one? If these words are spoken about only one, then these things that have been said make sense insofar as they refer to what is written about the Savior. But if the point is generalized to indicate all prophets, then it is harder to defend historically. For Elijah did not suffer dishonor in Tishbeth of Gilead, nor Elisha in Abetmeholah, nor Samuel in Ramathaim, nor Jeremiah in Anathoth. But, figuratively interpreted, this saying is absolutely true. For we must think of Judea as their country and that famous Israel as their kindred, and perhaps of the body as the house. All suffered dishonor in Judea from the Israel that is according to the flesh while they were yet in the body. As it is written in the Acts of the Apostles, "Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute, who declared beforehand the coming of the righteous One?" And Paul says similar things in the first epistle to the Thessalonians: "For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus which are in Judea; for you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all people."

He calls Himself a Prophet, as Moses also declares, when he says, A Prophet shall God raise up unto you of your brethren. (Deut. 18:18.) And it should be known, that not Christ only, who is the Head of all the Prophets, but Jeremiah, Daniel, and the other lesser Prophets, had more honour and regard among strangers than among their own citizens.

See how Christ did not insult them, but said meekly, "A prophet is not without honour." For it is our human habit to despise those who are familiar, and to give a friendly welcome strangers. He added "and in his own house" because even His brothers who were of the same house bore Him ill-will. "He did not many mighty works there" because of their unbelief, sparing them further punishment lest they remain unbelieving even after the miracles which He might have done there. "He did not many mighty works," but He did perform a few, that they might not have excuse to say later, "If He had done something, we would have believed." You, O reader, understand this: to this day Jesus is without honor in His own country, that is, among the Jews. But we who are foreigners give Him honor.

The Nazarenes also took offense at Jesus, perhaps themselves saying that He was casting out demons by Beelzebub.

But it should be noted that wonder sometimes has its proper effect, namely, the glorification of God, as above at 3:5, but sometimes it has the effect of scandal: hence he says, and they were scandalized in him. But what is the reason that wonder sometimes brings forth glory, sometimes scandal? The reason is that some interpret what they hear in a worse sense, and therefore such persons are necessarily scandalized. In the Epistle of Jude, 10: whatever things they do not know, they blaspheme. But some who are well disposed always interpret in a better sense. Of the first kind were these; therefore he rebukes them; and first by word; secondly, by deed, when he says: but Jesus said to them: a prophet is not without honor except in his own country. The Lord calls himself a prophet: and no wonder, because Moses also called him a prophet, Deut 18:15: the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet of your nation and of your brethren, etc. And it can be said that a prophet is one who says something that is above human understanding through revelation; and thus Jesus is called a prophet, because his mind was illuminated by the angels and by God. Or one can be called a prophet from the word meaning "from afar," and phanos, which means illumination: and thus Jesus cannot be called a prophet: if there be among you a prophet of the Lord, I will appear to him in a vision, etc. So the text has it. But if there be a prophet, let him speak in riddles: thus Christ was not a prophet, because he said what he truly knew; Sir 34:9: he who has learned many things will declare understanding. Among the prophets of the Old Testament we do not find any who was honored by his own people, but rather by strangers, as we read of Jeremiah, who was captured by his own, but when the city was taken, was freed by strangers: so also was it with Christ, who was honored by strangers and despised by his own. And what is the reason why no one is honored in his own country? One reason is that when he is in his own country, many who know his weaknesses always bring his weaknesses to mind: for this comes from the malice of men, that they think more of weaknesses than of perfections. Another can be assigned, because the Philosopher says that the populace is often led astray in reasoning, because they believe that those who are equal in some respect are equal in all respects. Hence when someone is in his own country, since they see him equal to themselves in some respect, whether in family or in other things, they believe that he cannot be greater; therefore he rightly says a prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.