Sermon 97A
SERMON 97/A
On that which is written in Luke 5:31-32:
"The healthy do not need a doctor, but those who are sick."
And so that the catechumens may not delay in coming to grace.
Christ calls sinners so that they might not always be sinners.
It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but those who are ill; I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners. This is the voice of the Lord; He calls sinners to this, so that they may not always be sinners; lest people think that the Lord loved sinners and would always want them to have sins so that Christ might love them. Christ loves sinners just as a doctor loves the sick, but so that he may rid them of the fever and save them. He does not want them to be always sick so that he always has someone to visit; he wants to heal them. Therefore, the Lord did not come to call the righteous but sinners, so that He might justify the ungodly. He made a believer out of an idolater, a sober man out of a drunkard, a temperate man out of a lascivious one, a man generous to the poor and crowned by Christ out of a greedy man who did not give to hunters but clapped for the devil, and who now acquires that which cannot pass away. What the Lord did was more difficult; for if He made a pious man out of an impious one, will He not give a reward to the pious? Consider, my brothers; what is more incredible, to make a pious man out of an impious one, or to make an angel out of a pious man? The impious and the pious are contrary to each other; the pious and the angel are not contrary. Will He not perfect you from a neighbor, who changed you from an adversary? For when you begin to be pious, you begin to imitate the angelic life; but when you were impious, you were far from the life of the angels. But with faith coming, you are justified and humbled to God, who you blasphemed; and having turned towards the creature, you now desire the Creator.
The call to faith in the Church and baptism.
Behold what has been granted to you: the Church has been manifested in the world; as it was promised, so it has been revealed. Idolatry was foretold to be destroyed and removed; our ancestors read this, and did not see it; but we read and we see. For who believes what he sees? He who does not see believes; believing is one thing, seeing is another. Believe because you do not see, so that by believing what you do not see, you may deserve to see what you believe. The merit of vision is faith; the reward of faith is vision. Why do you seek the reward before the work? Therefore believe, and walk in faith; your salvation is in hope. Thus, the best Physician, for whom no disease is incurable, has begun to care for you. Do not fear your past crimes, however great, however unbelievable they may be, which perhaps you have committed; the diseases are great, but greater is the Physician. Therefore, do not worry about the past; in a moment of the sacrament, they will be forgiven, and all will be forgiven. Hear what has been said by the Apostles to the Jews about this matter, who crucified the Lord: Do penance, and let each of you be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and your sins will be forgiven. It happened: they were baptized, they believed, they joined the Lord’s body, they came to drink the blood which they shed. To all criminals who have been made defendants, the forgiver of sins grants pardon, not the praiser of sins; who did not come to call the just, but sinners.
A vain excuse for delaying baptism.
So in brief we say to Your Holiness: let every Christian take care, if he is still a catechumen, that his sins are forgiven. For he already bears the sign of Christ on his forehead, he already enters the church, already only his name is invoked; but he still carries the burden of his sins; they are not yet forgiven, because they are not forgiven except in holy baptism. And let him not say to himself: I fear becoming faithful, lest I sin afterward. For whether he does not sin afterward, he has in his power; but whether he has not sinned, does he have in his power? He has what he should do, not to sin; what does he do, not having sinned? For what is done is done; you cannot make past things not have happened; but those things which are to come, you can not do. Why therefore by a perverse counsel is he seduced by the devil? He fears future sins, which he has not yet committed; he does not fear past sins, which he carries committed. Those you have not yet done, these already press upon you; perhaps you will not do those, rather if you do not want to you will not do, these even if you wish you can erase. I cannot, you say. Flee therefore to him who erases those.
Come to grace. For you have received power, as it is written: He gave them the power to become children of God. Therefore begin to be a son, you who were a wicked servant, but have now begun to be in a great house. Where you began to be a servant, strive to be a son; let the sins you carry be forgiven you. Why do you fear what is not, and not fear what is? And when you have been renewed by the remission of sins, with all past sins forgiven, if you receive here a generous span of life, so that good works may follow your faith, live in such a way, as a son made of the family of so great a father of the household, as one upon whom the name of God is invoked. Live this way: make progress, disdain present things, hope for future things; let temporal things become worthless to you, let eternal things shine. Let us follow the instructions of the Physician, so that we may deserve to enjoy eternal health: because whoever does the will of God remains forever, just as God remains forever.