Sermon 137

SERMO 137

In the Gospel of John (10:1-16): 1. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. 4. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. 5. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. 6. This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. 7. Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. 8. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. 9. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. 10. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. 11. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. 12. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. 13. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. 14. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. 15. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd."
Concerning the Shepherd, and the Hired Hand, and the Thief

Health of the members in unity and charity.

Your faith, beloved ones, is not ignorant, and we know that you have thus learned, taught by the Teacher from heaven, in whom you have placed your hope, because our Lord Jesus Christ, who has already suffered for us and has risen, is the head of the Church, and the Church is His body, and in His body the unity of the members and the bond of charity exists, just as health exists. However, whoever grows cold in charity becomes weak in the body of Christ. But He who has already exalted our head is able to heal even weak members: provided they are not cut off by excessive impiety, but adhere to the body until they are healed. For anything that still adheres to the body is not in despair of health; but anything that has been cut off can neither be cured nor healed. Therefore, as He is the head of the Church, and the Church is His body, the whole Christ is both head and body. He has already risen. Therefore, we have our head in heaven. Our head intercedes for us. Our head, without sin and without death, already reconciles God for our sins; so that we too, rising at the end, and transformed into heavenly glory, may follow our head. For where the head goes, so do the other members. But while we are here, we are members; let us not despair, for we will follow our head.

The unity of Christ and the members.

For see, brothers, the love of our Head. He is already in heaven and labors here as long as the Church labors here. Here Christ hungers, here He thirsts, He is naked, He is a guest, He is sick, He is in prison. For whatever His body endures here, He said He endures: and in the end, separating His body itself to the right, and those who now trample upon Him to the left, He will say to those on the right: Come, blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world. By what merits? For I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat; and He continues with the rest as though He received it Himself: to the extent that those not understanding will answer and say: Lord, when did we see You hungry, a stranger, and in prison? And He says to them: When you did it to one of the least of My brethren, you did it to Me. Likewise in our body, the head is above, the feet are on the earth: yet in some crowding and compression of people, when someone steps on your foot, does the head not say: You are stepping on me? No one has stepped on your head, nor touched your tongue: it is above, it is safe, nothing harmful has happened to it; and yet because of the connection of love, there is unity from the head to the feet, the tongue has not separated itself, but said: You are stepping on me; even though no one has touched it. Likewise then how the tongue, which no one touched, says: You are stepping on me; so Christ the Head, whom no one steps on, said: I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat. And to those who did not do this, He said: I was hungry, and you did not give Me to eat. And how did He conclude? Thus: Those will go into eternal fire, but the righteous into eternal life.

Christ is the door. Peter, weak and unknown to himself.

So when the Lord spoke now, He said He was the shepherd, He said He was also the door. You have both there; and: I am the door; and: I am the shepherd. The door is in the head, the shepherd in the body. For He says to Peter, in whom alone He forms the Church: Peter, do you love me? He responded: Lord, I love you. Feed my sheep. And for the third time: Peter, do you love me? Peter was grieved because He asked him the third time: as if He who saw the conscience of the denier, did not see the faith of the confessor. He always knew him, He knew him even when Peter himself did not know himself. For then he did not know himself, when he said: I will be with you until death; and he did not know how weak he was. Just as it often truly happens to the sick that the patient does not know what is happening to him, but the doctor does; while the patient endures the illness itself, the doctor does not endure it. The doctor speaks more about what is happening in another, than the one who is sick about what is happening in himself. Peter, therefore, was then sick, but the Lord was the doctor. The former said he had strength, which he did not have; but the latter, touching the vein of his heart, said that he would deny Him three times. And it happened just as the doctor predicted, not as the patient presumed. Therefore, after His resurrection, the Lord asked him, not ignorant of the state of his mind regarding his confession of the love of Christ, but so that by a threefold confession of love, He might erase the threefold denial of fear.

What is required of Peter. To enter through the gate into the sheepfold.

Therefore, this is what the Lord requires of Peter: Peter, do you love me? As if to say: What will you give me, what will you offer me because you love me? What was Peter to offer the risen Lord, who ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father? As if he said: This you will give me, this you will offer me if you love me, that you feed my sheep; enter through the gate, do not ascend by another way. You have heard, when the Gospel was read: He who enters by the gate is the shepherd; but he who climbs in by another way is a thief and a robber; he seeks to scatter, to disperse, and to take away. Who is it that enters by the gate? He who enters through Christ. Who is this? He who imitates the suffering of Christ, who recognizes the humility of Christ; and although God became man for us, he recognizes that he was not God, but a man. For he who wants to appear as God, although being a man, does not imitate him, who, although being God, became man. But to you it is not said: Be something less than you are; but: Know what you are. Know yourself infirm, know yourself as man, know yourself as a sinner; know that he justifies, know that you are stained. Let your heart's stain appear in your confession, and you belong to the flock of Christ. Because the confession of sins calls for the healing physician; as in sickness, he who says: I am well, does not seek the physician. Did not the Pharisee and the Publican ascend to the temple? The former boasted of his own health, the latter showed his wounds to the physician. For the former said: God, I thank you that I am not like this Publican. He boasted against the other. Therefore, if that Publican were healthy, the Pharisee would have envied him; because he would not have had anyone over whom to exalt himself. How then did he come, who was so envious? Surely he was not healthy: and since he said he was healthy, he did not come down healed. But that one, lowering his eyes to the ground, not daring to lift them to heaven, struck his chest, saying: God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And what does the Lord say? Amen I say unto you, the Publican descended from the temple justified, rather than the Pharisee: because everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled; and he who humbles himself shall be exalted. Therefore, those who exalt themselves want to ascend to the sheepfold by another way: but those who humble themselves enter through the gate to the sheepfold. Hence he said about the latter: he enters; about the other: he ascends. He who ascends, you see, he who seeks high things, does not enter, but falls. But he who submits himself to enter through the gate, does not fall, but is a shepherd.

Three persons coming to the sheepfold: the shepherd, the thief, the hired hand. The shepherd is to be loved, the hired hand tolerated, the thief to be avoided.

But the Lord mentioned three persons, and we must investigate them in the Gospel: the shepherd, the hireling, and the thief. When it was read, I think you noticed, He designates the shepherd, He designates the hireling, He designates the thief. He said the shepherd lays down his life for the sheep and enters through the gate. He called the thief and the robber climbing over another way. The hireling, he said, sees the wolf or even the thief and flees; because he does not care for the sheep: for the hireling is not a shepherd. He enters through the gate because he is the shepherd; he climbs over another way because he is the thief; he, seeing those who want to take the sheep, fears and flees, because he is a hireling, because he does not care for the sheep; for he is a hireling. If we find these three persons, Your Holiness has found those whom you should love, tolerate, and beware of. The shepherd must be loved, the hireling tolerated, the robber avoided. There are people in the Church, of whom the Apostle says, who preach out of selfish ambition, seeking their own gain from men, whether monetary, or honors or human praise. They preach to receive gifts in any way, and they do not so much seek the salvation of those to whom they announce, as their own profit. However, if one who hears salvation from someone who lacks salvation believes in Him whom he announces, and does not place hope in him through whom salvation is announced: the announcer will suffer loss; the one to whom it is announced will gain.

The saying of Christ against the Pharisees, to be directed also to the bad pastors of the Church. The Church, one from Jews and Gentiles.

You have the Lord speaking of the Pharisees: They sit on Moses' seat. The Lord was not signifying them alone: as if truly those who believed in Christ would be sent to the school of the Jews, to learn there the way to the kingdom of heaven. Did not the Lord come, therefore, to establish the Church and to separate the good-believing, good-hoping, and good-loving Jews as wheat from chaff, and to make one wall of the circumcision, to which another wall of the uncircumcised Gentiles would be joined, which two walls coming from different directions would have Him as the cornerstone? Thus the same Lord spoke of these two peoples to be one: I have other sheep that are not of this fold. He was speaking to the Jews: I must bring them also, so there shall be one flock, and one shepherd. Hence there were two ships, from which He called the disciples. These two peoples were signified when they cast the nets and gathered such a large number of fish that the nets were almost breaking: And they loaded, it says, two ships. Two ships symbolized one Church, but made from two peoples, united in Christ, although coming from different places. This is also signified by the two wives of one husband Jacob, Leah, and Rachel. These two are also signified by the two blind men sitting by the way whom the Lord enlightened. And if you observe the Scriptures, you will find in many places the two Churches signified, which are not two but one. For the cornerstone's worth is that from two it makes one. That shepherd's worth is that from two flocks he makes one. Therefore, the Lord, teaching the Church and having His school beyond the Jews, as we see now, was He truly to send believers in Him to the Jews to learn? But by the name of Pharisees and Scribes, He signified some in His Church who would say and not do: He Himself had prefigured Himself in the person of Moses. For indeed Moses bore his person, and he would place a veil before himself when speaking to the people; because as long as they in the Law were devoted to carnal joys and pleasures and sought an earthly kingdom, a veil was placed before them so they might not see Christ in the Scriptures. With the veil removed, after the Lord suffered, the secrets of the temple were seen. Therefore, when He hung on the cross, the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom; and the apostle Paul openly says: When you turn to Christ, the veil is removed. But whoever does not turn to Christ, though he reads Moses, a veil is placed upon his heart, as the Apostle says. Therefore, prefiguring certain people to be like this in His Church, what does the Lord say? The Scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat; do what they say, but do not do what they do.

Clerics striving to pervert the Gospel, while by their example draw the laity to sin.

When evil clerics hear what is said about them, they want to pervert it. For I have heard that some desire to pervert this statement. If it were allowed to them, would they not erase it from the Gospel? Because indeed they cannot erase it, they seek to pervert it. But the grace and mercy of the Lord are present and do not allow them to do so; for He has surrounded all His statements with His truth and delivered them; so that anyone who wishes to cut something from Scripture, or to introduce something by misreading or misinterpreting, he who has a heart will join what has been cut from Scripture to Scripture and read what goes before or after, and he will find the sense that the one who misinterpreted wished to distort. Therefore, what do you think they say about those of whom it is said: Do what they say? Because indeed it is said to the laity. For a layperson who wishes to live well, when he notices an evil cleric, what does he say to himself? The Lord said: Do what they say; but do not do what they do. I will walk the way of the Lord, I will not follow this one's habits. I will listen to him, not his words, but God's. I will follow God, let him follow his own greed. Because if I were to defend myself before God by saying: Lord, I saw that cleric of yours living badly, and therefore I lived badly; would He not say to me: Wicked servant; had you not heard from Me: Do what they say; but do not do what they do? But an evil layperson, a non-believer, not belonging to the flock of Christ, not belonging to the grain of Christ, who is tolerated like chaff on the threshing floor, what does he say to himself, when he begins to argue against the word of God? Get out: what do you speak to me? Those bishops, those clerics do not do it, and you force me to do it? He does not seek an advocate for a bad cause, but a companion for punishment. For never will he be defended by that one in the day of judgment, whoever he might have wished to imitate among the wicked. For just as the devil leads all whom he deceives, not to reign with them, but to be damned with them; so all who follow the wicked, seek companions for themselves to hell, not advocates to the kingdom of heaven.

A perverse interpretation of the Gospel.

How then do these people pervert this statement when it is said to those living wickedly: "It was rightly said by the Lord: What they say, do; but do not do what they do"? They rightly said, "For it is said to you that what we say, you should do; but what we do, you should not do. For we offer a sacrifice, you are not permitted to do it." See the cunning of people: what can I say? mercenaries. For if they were shepherds, they would not say these things. Therefore the Lord, to shut their mouth, followed and said: "They sit on Moses' seat; what they say, do; but do not do what they do, for they say and do not do." What therefore, brothers? If he were speaking about offering sacrifices, would he say: "For they say and do not do"? For they do the sacrifice, they offer it to God. What is it that they say and do not do? Hear what follows: "For they bind heavy and unbearable burdens, and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with a finger." He openly reproached, described, and showed it. But when they want to thus pervert a statement, they show that they seek nothing in the Church except their own advantages; nor have they read the Gospel: for if they knew this very page, and had read it entirely, they would never dare to say this.

Bad shepherds are in the Church similar to the Pharisees. Pastor, who is a hireling, who is chaste. Chaste wife.

But listen more attentively, because the Church has such people. Lest anyone say to us: He spoke solely about the Pharisees, about the Scribes, about the Jews; for the Church does not have such people. Who then are those about whom the Lord says: "Not everyone who says to me: Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven"? And he adds: "Many will say to me on that day: Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name perform many wonders, and in your name eat and drink?" Are Jews doing these things in the name of Christ? Surely it is clear that he speaks about those who bear the name of Christ. But what follows? "Then I will declare to them: I never knew you. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity." Listen to the Apostle lamenting over such people. He says some preach the Gospel out of love, others out of selfish ambition; of whom he says: "They preach the Gospel not sincerely." The matter itself is right, but they themselves are not right. What they preach is right; but those who preach it are not right. Why are they not right? Because they seek something else in the Church, not God. If they sought God, they would be chaste; because the soul has God as its legitimate spouse. Whoever seeks anything from God outside of God does not seek God chastely. See, brothers; if a wife loves her husband because he is rich, she is not chaste. For she does not love her husband, but the gold of her husband. But if she loves her husband, she loves him even if he is naked and poor. For if she loves him for wealth; what happens if (as human events go) he is dispossessed and suddenly remains poor? Perhaps she would renounce him; because what she loved was not the husband, but his wealth. But if she truly loves her husband, she loves him more as a poor man; because she loves with compassion.

God must be sought chastely.

And yet, brothers, our God can never be poor. He is rich, He made everything, heaven and earth, sea and Angels. Whatever we see, whatever we do not see in heaven, He made. But nevertheless, we should not love riches, but Him who made them. For He promised you nothing but Himself. Find something more precious, and He will give it to you. The earth is beautiful, the heaven and Angels are beautiful, but more beautiful is He who made these. Therefore, those who proclaim God, loving God; those who proclaim God, for the sake of God, feed the sheep, and are not hirelings. Our Lord Jesus Christ required this very chastity from the soul when He said to Peter: Peter, do you love me? What is: Do you love me? Are you chaste? Is your heart not adulterous? Do you not seek your own things in the Church, but mine? If therefore you are such, and you love me, feed my sheep. For you will not be a hireling, but you will be a shepherd.

Hired workers how useful. Shepherds are few, hired workers many.

But those who do not preach chastely, about whom the Apostle laments. But what does he say? So what? As long as, in every way, whether for a pretext or in truth, Christ is preached. Therefore, he allowed there to be hired hands. The shepherd preaches Christ in truth, the hired hand preaches Christ for a pretext, seeking something else. Nonetheless, both preach Christ, and both preach Christ. Listen to the voice of the shepherd Paul: whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. The shepherd himself wanted to have the hired hand. They do what they can, they are useful as far as they can be. But when the Apostle sought out other purposes, for the weak to imitate his ways: I sent to you, he says, Timothy, who will remind you of my ways. And what does he say? I sent a shepherd to remind you of my ways; that is, who walks just as I walk. And sending the shepherd, what does he say? For I have no one of like mind, who will genuinely care for you. Were there not many with him? But what follows? For all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ; that is: I wished to send you a shepherd; for there are many hired hands, but it was not fitting to send a hired hand. For performing other tasks and businesses, the hired hand is sent: but for those tasks which Paul then desired, a shepherd was necessary. And he scarcely found one shepherd among many hired hands: because there are few shepherds, many hired hands. But what is said of the hired hands? Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But what does the Apostle say of the shepherd? Whoever purifies himself from such things will be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, useful to the Lord, prepared for every good work. Not prepared for some tasks, and unprepared for others; but prepared for every good work. These things I have said about the shepherds.

The fleeing hireling, Donatists, wolves, and robbers.

But now we will speak about the hired hands. The hired hand, when he sees the wolf lying in wait for the sheep, flees. The Lord said this. Why? Because he does not care for the sheep. Therefore, the hired hand is useful only as long as he does not see the wolf, as long as he does not see the thief and robber; but when he sees them, he flees. And who among the hired hands does not flee from the Church when he sees the wolf and the robber? Wolves are abundant, robbers are abundant. They are the ones who climb up by another way. Who are these who climb up? Those who, from the party of Donatus, wish to plunder the sheep of Christ, they climb up by another way. They do not enter through Christ: because they are not humble. Because they are proud, they climb up. What does it mean: they climb up? They are exalted. From where do they climb up? By another way: from where they wish to be called of a party. Those who are not in unity, are of the other party, and they climb up from that very party, that is, they are exalted, and they wish to steal the sheep. See how they climb up. They say, "We sanctify, we justify, we make people righteous." See where they have climbed up. But he who exalts himself will be humbled. The Lord our God is able to humble them. But the wolf is the devil: he lies in wait to deceive, and those who follow him; for it has been said, that dressed in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. If the hired hand sees someone speaking depraved things, or having harmful thoughts for their soul, or doing something wicked and obscene, and because he seems to have some significant role in the Church, from which the hired hand hopes for benefits, and when he sees the person dying in sin, he sees them following the wolf, he sees their throat being dragged by the bite to punishment; he does not tell them: "You sin"; he does not rebuke them, lest he lose his benefits. Therefore, this is: When he sees the wolf, he flees; he does not say to them: "You commit a crime." This is not a flight of the body, but of the soul. The one whom you see standing in body, flees in spirit when he sees the sinner, and does not tell him: "You sin"; and even takes counsel with him.

How can a grape be gathered from thorns?

My brothers, does not a presbyter or bishop sometimes ascend and say nothing from a higher place except not to steal others' goods, not to commit fraud, not to commit crimes? They cannot say otherwise, who sit on the chair of Moses, and it speaks of them, not they of it. What then is this: Do they gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles? and: Every tree is known by its fruit? Can a Pharisee speak good things? A Pharisee is a thorn: how do I read a grape from a thorn? Because you, Lord, have said: What they say, do; but what they do, do not do. Do you command me to pluck a grape from thorns, when you have said: Do they gather grapes from thorns? The Lord answers you: I did not command you to gather a grape from thorns; but observe, pay close attention, lest perhaps, as it often happens, the vine, as it wanders over the ground, gets entwined in thorns. For we sometimes find this, my brothers, a vine placed over a fig tree, because it has a thorny hedge there, it extends its tendrils, and it inserts itself into the thorny hedge, and a cluster hangs among the thorns; and he who sees the cluster plucks it, not from the thorns, but from the vine, which is intertwined with the thorns. So then they are thorny; but sitting in the chair of Moses, the vine entwines them, and clusters hang from them, that is, good words, good precepts. You pluck the grape, the thorn does not sting you, when you read: What they say, do; but what they do, do not do. However, the thorn stings you, if you do what they do. Therefore, to pluck the grape and not cling to the thorns: What they say, do; but what they do, do not do. Their deeds are thorns, their words are grapes, but from the vine, that is, from the chair of Moses.

Hired men fleeing, while they favor the wicked. Augustine is not a hired man.

Therefore, they flee when they see the wolf, when they see the thief. However, I began to say this because from a higher place they cannot say anything except: Do good, do not swear falsely, do not defraud, do not deceive anyone. But sometimes they live in such a way that advice is sought from the bishop about taking someone else's estate, and such advice is requested from him. This sometimes happens to us, and we say it having experienced it: for we would not believe it otherwise. Many people seek bad advice from us, advice to lie, to deceive; thinking they are pleasing us. But in the name of Christ, if the Lord wills what we say, none such has tempted us and found in us what they wanted. Because if He who called us wills it, we are shepherds, not hirelings. But what does the Apostle say? "It means little to me that I am judged by you or by a human day; but neither do I judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, yet I am not thereby justified. The one who judges me is the Lord." Therefore, my conscience is not good because you praise it. For what do you praise, what you do not see? Let him praise who sees; let him also correct, if he sees anything there that offends his eyes. For we do not profess to be perfectly healthy; but we beat our chest and say to God: Be merciful, that I may not sin. Yet I think, as I speak before Him, seeking nothing else from you but your salvation; and we often groan in the sins of our brethren, and we suffer deeply, and we are tortured in spirit, and sometimes we rebuke them; indeed, we never fail to rebuke them. All who remember what I say are witnesses as to how often the sinful brethren have been rebuked by us, and sternly rebuked.

Concerning the sheep, an account which the shepherd must render.

I am now considering our counsel with Your Holiness. In the name of Christ, you are the people of God, you are the catholic people, you are members of Christ: you are not divided from unity. You communicate with the members of the Apostles, you communicate with the memories of the holy martyrs, spread throughout the earth, and you belong to our care, that we might give a good account of you. However, our whole reason, which it is, you know. Lord, you know that I have spoken, you know that I have not been silent, you know with what mind I have spoken, you know that I have wept to you, when I spoke, and was not heard. This, I think, is our whole reason. For the Holy Spirit made us secure through the prophet Ezekiel. You know that reading about the watchman: Son of man, he says, I have appointed you as a watchman for the house of Israel; if, when I say to the impious: Impious, you shall die by death, you do not say it; this is, therefore, why I tell you to say; if you do not announce: And the sword comes, and takes him away, that is, what I have threatened to the sinner; indeed, that impious one will die in his impiety, but I will require his blood from the hand of the watchman. Why? Because he did not speak: But if the watchman sees the sword coming, and blows the trumpet, so that he may flee; and he does not take heed; that is, he does not correct himself, so that he is not found in the punishment that God threatens; and the sword comes, and takes someone; indeed, that impious one died in his iniquity: But you, he says, have delivered your soul. And in that place of the Gospel, what else does he say to the servant? When he said: Lord, I knew you were a harsh or hard man, because you reap where you did not sow, and gather where you did not scatter; and fearing, I went and hid your talent in the earth: behold, you have what is yours. And he says: Wicked and lazy servant, because you knew I was harsh and hard, reaping where I did not sow, and gathering where I did not scatter, my very greed should have taught you that I seek profit from my money. Therefore, it was fitting for you to give my money to the moneychangers, and I, coming, would have collected what is mine with interest. Did it say: To give and to collect? Therefore, brothers, we give; he will come who collects. Pray, that he may find us prepared.