Sermon 96

SERMO 96

On the Words of the Gospel Mark 8:34
"If anyone wishes to follow me, let him deny himself," and so forth
Concerning the words of 1 John 2:15:
"WHO LOVES THE WORLD, THE LOVE OF THE FATHER IS NOT IN HIM".

Precepts become light through love.

It seems hard and severe what the Lord commanded, that if anyone wishes to follow Him, they must deny themselves. But it is neither hard nor severe what He commands, who helps to accomplish what He commands. For it is also true what is said to Him in the Psalms: "For the words of Your lips I have kept hard ways." And it is also true what He Himself said: "My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." For whatever is hard in the commandments, charity makes it easy. We know how much love itself accomplishes. Often even love itself is disapproved of and lascivious: how many hard things have people endured, how many unworthy and intolerable things have they borne, to reach what they loved; whether it is a lover of money, who is called avaricious; or a lover of honor, who is called ambitious; or a lover of beautiful bodies, who is called lascivious? And who could enumerate all loves? Yet consider how much all lovers toil, nor do they feel that they toil: and they labor more when they are prohibited from labor. Since therefore many people are of such kinds, as many kinds as there are of loves, and nothing else should matter but how one lives, except to choose what is to be loved; why are you surprised, if he who loves Christ, and wishes to follow Christ, denies himself by loving? For if a man perishes by loving himself, surely he is found by denying himself.

Love of self, the first destruction of man.

The first destruction of man was self-love. For if he did not love himself, and placed God before himself, he would always wish to be subject to God: but he turned to neglect God's will and to do his own will. For this is to love oneself, to wish to do one's own will. Put God's will before these: learn to love yourself, by not loving yourself. For to show that loving oneself is a vice, the Apostle says: For men will be lovers of themselves. And does one who loves himself trust in himself? For he begins to love himself, deserting God, and is driven by love for things outside of himself away from himself. To such an extent that when the same Apostle said: Men will be lovers of themselves, he immediately added, lovers of money. Now you see that you are outside yourself. You began to love yourself: stand in yourself, if you can. Why are you going outside? Are you made rich by money, a lover of money? You started to love what is outside of yourself, you lost yourself. Therefore, when a man's love proceeds even from himself to things that are outside, he begins to vanish with vanities and, in a way, waste his own strength prodigally. He becomes empty, poured out, rendered poor, feeds pigs: and suffering in the occupation of feeding pigs, he sometimes remembers and says: How many hired servants of my father have bread enough and to spare, and I perish here with hunger? But when he says this, what is narrated about that prodigal son, who squandered everything with harlots, who wanted to have in his own power what was well-preserved for him with his father? He wanted to have those things at his own discretion; he squandered them, he became poor. What is said of him? And he came to himself. If he returned to himself, he had gone out from himself. Because he had fallen away from himself and had gone out from himself, he first returns to himself, in order to return to the one from whom he had fallen away. For just as by falling away from himself, he remained in himself: so by returning to himself, he should not remain in himself, lest he may go out from himself again. Returned to himself, so that he might not remain in himself, what did he say? I will arise and go to my father. Lo, from where he had fallen from himself, he had fallen from his father: he had fallen from himself and went out to those things which are outside himself. He returns to himself and goes to his father, where he may most safely keep himself. Therefore, if he had gone out from himself and from the one from whom he had gone out; returning to himself, so that he may go to the father, he should deny himself. What does it mean to deny himself? Not to presume on himself, to feel himself a man, and to regard the prophetic saying: Cursed is everyone who places his hope in man. He should withdraw himself from himself, but not downward. He should withdraw himself from himself, so as to cling to God. Whatever good he has, he should attribute to Him who made him: whatever evil he has, he made for himself. God did not make what is evil in him: let him lose what he made, who sinned from there. He says, deny yourself, and take up your cross, and follow me.

Where Christ is to be followed and by what path.

Where is the Lord to be followed? We know where He went: we celebrated that same solemnity a few days ago. For He rose and ascended into heaven: He is to be followed there. Clearly, there is no need to despair since He promised, not because man can achieve anything. Heaven was far from us before our head went into heaven. Why should we despair, then, if we are members of that head? Therefore, He is to be followed there. And who would not want to follow Him to such a seat? Especially since the earth is marked by many fears and pains. Who would not want to follow Christ there, where there is the greatest happiness, the greatest peace, perpetual security? It is good to follow Him there, but one must see how. For the Lord Jesus did not speak these words when He had already risen from the dead. He had not yet suffered, was to come to the cross, to dishonor, to insults, to scourging, to thorns, to wounds, to humiliations, to reproaches, to death. The way seems rough: it makes you lazy: you do not want to follow. Follow. The path was made rough by man, but it is trampled by Christ returning. For who would not wish to go to exaltation? Everyone delights in highness, but humility is the step. Why do you stretch your foot beyond yourself? You want to fall, not ascend. Begin with the step, and you have ascended. That step of humility those two disciples did not want to consider, those who said: Lord, command that one of us sit at your right hand and the other at your left hand in your kingdom. They sought elevation, but did not see the step. But the Lord showed the step. For what did He reply? Can you drink the cup that I am about to drink? You who seek the peak of elevation, can you drink the cup of humility? Therefore He did not simply say: Deny yourself, and follow me; but He added: Take up your cross, and follow me.

The cross must be borne and the world despised.

What does it mean: Take up his cross? Bear whatever is troublesome: thus follow me. For when he begins to follow me in morals and my precepts, he will have many contradictors, many obstructers, many dissuaders, and this among those who are almost companions of Christ. They walked with Christ, who forbade the blind to cry out. Therefore, whether threats, or blandishments, or any prohibitions whatsoever, if you wish to follow, turn to the cross; tolerate, bear, do not succumb. By these words of the Lord, martyrdoms seem to be encouraged. If there is persecution, should not everything be despised for Christ? The world is loved: but let him be preferred by whom the world was made. The world is great: but greater is he by whom the world was made. The world is beautiful: but more beautiful is he by whom the world was made. The world is charming: but more delightful is he by whom the world was made. The world is evil: and good is he by whom the world was made. How can I discharge and explain what I said? May God help. For what did I say? What did you praise? Behold, there is a question, and yet you have already praised. How is the world evil, if good is he by whom the world was made? Did not God make all things, and behold, they are very good? Does not Scripture testify of each thing that God made it good, saying: And God saw that it was good? And in the end, he thus concluded all things as God made them, and behold, they are very good.

How an evil world, made by a good God.

How then is the world evil, and good is he by whom the world was made? How? Because the world was made through him, and the world did not know him. The world was made through him, heaven and earth, and all things in them: the world did not know him, lovers of the world; lovers of the world, and despisers of God: this world did not know him. Thus, the world is evil, because those are evil who prefer the world to God. And he who made the world, heaven and earth and sea, and those who love the world, is good. Only what they love the world and do not love God, in them he did not make. But they themselves, regarding their nature, he made: regarding their fault, he did not make. This is what I said a little earlier: Let man erase what he made, and it will please him who made him.

A good world made from evil.

For there is also a good world among men themselves; but it was made from evil. For indeed the whole world, if you consider men the world, except what we say is the world of heaven and earth, and all things that are in them; if you call men the world, the whole world made evil, the one who first sinned. The whole mass is tainted at the root. God made man good: thus the Scripture holds: God made man upright, and they themselves have sought out many inventions. Run from the many to the one, gather the scattered into one: flow together, be strengthened, remain with the one; do not go into the many. There is happiness. But we have flowed away, we have gone into perdition: we are all born with sin, and to that which we are born, we have added ourselves by living badly, and the whole world has become evil. But Christ came, and He chose what He made, not what He found: for He found all men evil, and by His grace made them good. And another world was made: and the world persecutes the world.

The world persecuting the world.

Who is the world that persecutes? Concerning which it is said to us: Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world passes away, and its lust. But he who does the will of God remains forever, just as God remains forever. Behold, I have spoken of both worlds, the persecuting and the persecuted. Who is the persecuting world? All that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world; and the world passes away. Behold, this is the persecuting world. Who is the world that is persecuted? Whoever does the will of God remains forever, just as God remains forever.

The world in the Scriptures is twofold: redeemed and damned.

But behold, that which persecutes is called the world: let us test if that which suffers persecution is also called the world. Or are you deaf to the voice of Christ saying, or rather the sacred Scripture testifying: God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself? If the world hates you, he says, know that it hated me before it hated you. Behold, the world hates. Whom, if not the world? Which world? God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. The condemned world persecutes; the reconciled world suffers persecution. The condemned world is anything outside the Church; the reconciled world is the Church. For the Son of man did not come, he says, to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

Everyone is commanded to deny themselves.

But in this world, holy, good, reconciled, saved; indeed in saving, now however saved in hope: For we are saved by hope: in this world therefore, that is, the Church, which entirely follows Christ, it is said universally: Whoever wants to follow me, let him deny himself. For this is not what virgins ought to hear, and the married ought not; or widows ought, and those married ought not: or monks ought, and the married ought not; or clerics ought, and the laity ought not: but the whole Church, the entire body, all members distinguished and distributed by their own functions, should follow Christ. The whole, follow that one, follow the dove, follow the bride, follow the redeemed and endowed with the blood of the bridegroom. In it, virgin integrity has its place; widow continence has its place; marital chastity has its place: adultery does not have its place there; illicit and punishable lust does not have its place there. These members, however, which have their place in their kind, and in their place, and in their way, should follow Christ; let them deny themselves, that is, do not presume upon themselves; let them take up their cross, that is, let them endure in the world for Christ whatever the world inflicts. Let them love Him who alone does not deceive, who alone is not mistaken, who alone does not deceive: let them love Him, because what He promises is true. But because He does not give now, faith wavers. Endure, persevere, tolerate, bear the delay, and you have carried the cross.

Various degrees of following Christ, and what it is in them to look back.

Let the virgin not say: I will be alone there. For Mary will not be alone there, but Anna the widow will be there too. Let the married woman not say: The widow will be there, not I. For Anna will not be there without Susanna being there too. But those who will be there should indeed prove themselves from here, so that those who have a lower place here do not envy but love the better place in others. For example, my brothers, consider this: someone has chosen the married life, someone has chosen the continent life; if he who chose the married life desires adulteries, he looked back; he desired what is illicit. But if someone wishes later to return from continence to marriage, he looked back: he chose what is licit, and he looked back. Are marriages then to be condemned? No. Marriages are not to be condemned: but see where the one who chose them went. He had already gone before. When he was living licentiously as a young man, marriages were in front of him; to them he was striving: but when he chose continence, marriages were behind him. Remember, said the Lord, Lot's wife. Lot's wife remained behind by looking back. Let everyone, therefore, come as far as he can, from there fear to look back: and let him walk on the way, follow Christ: forgetting what is behind, straining forward to what lies ahead, according to the inward intention, follow toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. The married should prefer the unmarried; acknowledge that they are better: love in them what they themselves do not have; and love Christ in them.