Sermon 14
SERMO 14
SERMON GIVEN AT CARTHAGE
In the Basilica of the New Ones on Sunday.
The verse from the psalm: "To You the poor is left,"
"You will be a helper to the orphan."
What it is to be poor.
We sang to the Lord and said: To you the poor man is abandoned; you will be a helper to the orphan. Let us seek the poor man, let us seek the orphan. Nor should it be a wonder that I urge us to seek what we see and feel to abound so greatly. Are not all things full of the poor? Are not all things full of orphans? Yet among all I seek the orphan. And first it must be shown to your Charity that what we think is not what we seek. For those poor in whom God's commands and alms are fulfilled, concerning whom it is written: Enclose alms in the heart of the poor, and it will pray to the Lord for you, indeed this type of man abounds, but this poor man is to be understood more deeply. This poor man is of that kind about whom it was said: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. There are poor people without money, barely finding daily sustenance, so needing the mercy of others' resources that they are not ashamed even to beg, if it is said of these: To you the poor man is abandoned, what are we to do who are not this? Therefore we who are Christians, are we not abandoned to God? And what other hope do we have if we are not abandoned to Him who does not abandon us?
The rich man is he who is proud.
Learn, therefore, to be poor and to be left to God, O my fellow poor ones! The rich man is proud. For in those riches, which are commonly called riches, and in which the common poverty is opposed, there is nothing in those riches so much to be avoided as the disease of pride. For he who does not have money does not have the greatest resources, does not have what he could be proud of. Therefore, if he who does not have what he could be proud of is not praised for not being proud, let him who has be praised, if he is not proud. Why then do I praise the humble poor man, who does not have anything to be proud of? But who can bear both the poor and the proud? Praise the humble rich man, praise the rich poor man. Such are wanted by him who, writing to Timothy, says: Command the rich of this world not to be high-minded. I know what I am saying: this command to them. For they have riches inwardly persuading pride, they have riches in which they struggle to be humble. Give me Zacchaeus having great riches, the chief tax collector, the confessor of sins, short in stature, shorter in spirit, climbing a tree to see the one passing by who hung on the tree for him; give me the one saying: I give half of my goods to the poor. But you are very rich, O Zacchaeus, you are very rich! Behold, you will give half, why will you keep the other half? Because if I have taken anything from anyone, I will repay fourfold.
The rich man and poor Lazarus.
But every beggar says to me, tired from weakness, clothed in rags, weak from hunger, responds to me and says: "The kingdom of heaven is owed to me. For I am like that Lazarus who lay with sores before the house of the rich man, whose dogs licked his sores, and he sought to be satisfied with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. I am more like him, he says, our kind is to whom the kingdom of heaven is owed, not to those who are clothed in purple and fine linen and feast splendidly every day. For such was he, before whose house the poor man with sores lay. And see the outcome of both. For it happened that the poor man died, and was carried by angels to Abraham's bosom. But the rich man also died and was buried. For perhaps the poor man was not even buried. And what then? While the rich man was in torment in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw the poor man whom he had despised resting in Abraham's bosom. He desired a drop from the man who hoped for a crumb, and because he loved wealth, he found no mercy. He wanted to relieve his brothers, always foolish, late in showing mercy; he received nothing at all that he requested. Therefore, let us discern, he says, between the poor and the rich. Why do you urge me to understand other things? The poor are open, the rich are open."
The rich are not despising the humble: an example of Abraham.
Therefore, listen to me regarding what you have proposed, poor lord. For when you say that you are that holy man with sores, I fear that by exalting yourself you are not what you say you are. Do not despise merciful rich men, humble rich men, and, to be brief, do not despise rich men made poor. O poor man, you too be poor; poor, that is humble! For if a rich man has become humble, how much more ought a poor man to be humble! The poor man has nothing to inflate himself, the rich man has something to struggle with. Therefore, listen to me. Be a true poor man, be pious, be humble. For if you glory in ragged and sore-covered poverty, because such was he who lay destitute before the house of the rich man, you notice that he was poor, and you notice nothing else. “What,” he says, “do I notice?” Read the Scriptures and you will find what I say. Lazarus was poor; he in whose bosom he was carried was rich. It came to pass, he says, that the poor man died, and was carried away by the angels. To where? To the bosom of Abraham, that is, into the secret where Abraham was. For do not understand it carnally, as if the poor man was carried into the fold of Abraham's robe. There was a bosom because there was a secret. Whence it is said: "Render to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom." What is into their bosom? Into their secrets. What is "Render into their bosom"? Torment their conscience. Read, or if you cannot read, listen when it is read, and see that Abraham was most wealthy on earth, with gold, silver, household, cattle, possessions. And yet this rich man was poor, because he was humble. And he was humble: For Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. He was justified by the grace of God, not by his own presumption. He was faithful, he worked well. He was commanded to sacrifice his son, and he did not hesitate to offer the one he had received, from whom he had received it. He was tested by God, he was set as an example of faith. He was already known to God, but he had to be shown to us. He was not puffed up as if in his good works, because this rich man was poor. And to know that he was not puffed up as in his good works (for he knew that whatever he had, he had from God, and he gloried not in himself but in the Lord), listen to the Apostle Paul: For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
In the crowd we search for the poor man and scarcely do we find him.
You see that when the poor are abundant, we rightly seek a poor man. We seek him among the crowd and scarcely find him. A poor man comes to meet me, and I seek a poor man. Meanwhile, you extend your hand to the poor man whom you find. In your heart, you search for whom you seek. You say: "I am poor like Lazarus." This humble rich man of mine does not say: "I am rich like Abraham." Therefore you exalt yourself, he humbles himself. Why do you puff yourself up and not imitate? "I," he says, "am a poor man lifted into the bosom of Abraham." Do you not see that a rich man has received a poor man? Do you not see that the rich man is a supporter of the poor? For if you pride yourself against those who have money and deny that they belong to the kingdom of heaven, while perhaps humility is found in them which is not found in you, don't you fear that when you have died, Abraham might say to you: "Depart from me, for you have blasphemed against me"?
Consider the concerns of the rich and compare them to the securities of the poor.
Let us therefore admonish our rich ones, as the Apostle admonished. We are warned not to be proud in wisdom, nor to trust in the uncertainty of riches. Those riches, which you think are full of delights, are full of dangers. The poor man was safer and slept more securely; sleep came more easily upon the hard ground than upon a bed covered with silver. Consider the cares of the rich, and compare them with the securities of the poor. But let this rich man hear so that he may not be proud in wisdom nor trust in the uncertainty of riches. Let him use the world as though not using it. Let him know that he is walking on a path and has entered these riches as though in an inn. Let him be refreshed, he is a traveler; let him refresh himself and move on; he does not take with him what he finds in the inn. Another traveler will come, and he will have it but not take it away. All will leave here what they have acquired here. Naked, he says, I came out of my mother's womb; naked I shall return to the earth. The Lord gave, the Lord took away. - He did not take away, for the poor was left to you - Naked I came out of my mother's womb, naked I shall return to the earth.
Hear the poor man: Paul.
Hear another poor man: We brought nothing into this world, nor can we carry anything out. Having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. For those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which some coveting, have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Who are they that have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves with many sorrows? Those who want to become rich. Now let that ragged man answer me. Let us see if he does not want to be rich; let us see, let us question him if he does not want to be rich; let him answer, let him not lie. I hear the tongue but I question the conscience. Let him say if he does not want to be rich. But if he wishes, he has already fallen into temptation and many foolish and harmful desires. For I speak not of wealth, but of desires. From where? Because he wants to become rich. What of it? Many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge men into ruin and destruction. Do you see where you are? Why do you show me no resources, when I convict you of so many desires? Look now, compare the two. This man is rich, that man is poor. But this rich man is so already, does not want to become so. This man is rich, either from parents or from gifts and inheritances. Let us suppose, let us make it: he is rich even through iniquities. He no longer wants to add, he has imposed a limit, he has set a boundary to his greed, now in his heart he serves piety.
What you lament, if you could, you would do.
"You are rich," you say. I answer: "He is rich." Again, you, the accuser, respond and say: "He is rich from iniquity." What if he makes friends using the mammon of iniquity? The Lord knew what he was saying; certainly, he was not in error when he commanded: Make for yourselves friends using the mammon of iniquity, so that they may also receive you into eternal dwellings. What if that rich man does this? He has already ended greed, he practices piety. You have nothing, but you want to become rich. You will fall into temptation. But perhaps you have become very poor and destitute because of some ancestral possessions that used to sustain you, and some competitor's calumny took them away. You lament, I hear you, and you blame the times. What you lament, if you could, you would do. Do we not see, are not all things filled with daily examples? Yesterday he was lamenting because he was losing his own; today he, belonging to a greater one, seizes the possessions of others.
Christ, the true poor man.
We find a true poor one, we find a pious humble one, not trusting in himself, truly poor, a member of the poor one who for us became poor, though he was rich. See our rich one, who for us became poor, though he was rich; see that rich one: All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made. It is more to create gold than to have it. You are rich with gold, silver, flocks, household, lands, fruits: you could not create these for yourself. See that rich one: All things were made through him. See that poor one: The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. Who can worthily think upon his riches, how he does who is not done, how he creates not being created, forms not being formed, remaining unchanged, eternal of temporals? Who can worthily think upon his riches? Let us think upon his poverty, lest perhaps we may even grasp it as poor ourselves. He is conceived in the womb of a virgin woman, enclosed in the bowels of a mother. O poverty! He is born in a narrow lodging, wrapped in infant coverings, laid in a manger, becomes food for poor beasts, and then the Lord of heaven and earth, the creator of angels, the maker and founder of all visible and invisible things, nurses, cries, is nourished, grows, tolerates age, conceals his majesty, afterward is held, despised, scourged, mocked, spit upon, struck with fists, crowned with thorns, suspended on wood, pierced with a lance. O poverty! Behold the head of the poor whom I seek, of which poor one we find a true poor member.
Who is the orphan.
Briefly, let us seek the orphan, for in seeking the poor we have become weary. Lord Jesus, I seek the orphan; weary, I seek. Quickly respond, so that I may find. Do not, he says, call anyone on earth your father. The orphan on earth finds an immortal Father in heaven. Do not, he says, call anyone on earth your father. This orphan has been found. Let this orphan pray. Let us hear him and imitate him. What is his prayer? "For my father and my mother have forsaken me." He says, "My father and my mother have forsaken me; but the Lord has taken me up." Therefore, if blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, the poor has been left to you. If my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord has taken me up, you will be a helper to the orphan.