Sermon 252

SERMO 252

IN THE DAYS OF EASTER

In the two fisheries, about which the Gospels, mysteries must be sought.

In many and various ways, the Lord Jesus Christ, in the Holy Scriptures, shows both the height of His divinity and the mercy of His humanity, as He is accustomed to do, in mysteries and sacraments; so that those who ask may receive, those who seek may find, and to those who knock it will be opened. For what has been read today from the holy Gospel also seeks an interpreter, and brings spiritual joy when it has been understood. Pay attention, Your Holiness, to what it means when the holy Scripture testifies that the Lord showed Himself to His disciples as the Evangelist narrates. The disciples went fishing and caught nothing all night. The Lord, however, appeared to them in the morning on the shore and asked if they had any food; they said they did not. He said to them: Cast the nets on the right side, and you will find. He who had come as though he were going to buy something, generously gave them so many from his own sea as a gift. It was indeed a great miracle. Instantly they cast, and they caught so many that they could not haul the nets in because of the large number of fish. But if you pay attention to who performed this miracle, it is not surprising: for He had already done much greater things. For in this, who before His resurrection had raised the dead, making fish be caught after His resurrection is not a great feat. Therefore, we must ask the miracle itself what it speaks to us inwardly. For He did not say randomly, Cast the nets; but: Cast on the right side. Then it was important for the Evangelist to mention the number of fish. It was also important to say: And though there were so many, the net was not torn. Here He made us recall that sometimes at the Lord’s command the nets were cast when He chose the disciples before He suffered. There were Peter, John, and James. They cast the nets and caught innumerable fish, and when one boat was filled, they asked for help from the nearby boat: and two boats were filled with fish (this was before the resurrection), so many that the nets were torn. Why is no number mentioned there? Why were the nets torn there but not here? Why was it not said to cast the nets on the right side there, but here He said: Cast the nets on the right side? This is certainly not without reason. For the Lord did not do these things in vain and idly. Christ is the Word of God, who speaks to men not only with sounds but also with deeds.

The nets, the Word of God; the sea represents the world.

Therefore, it is proposed to us, together with your Charity, to discuss what this diversity means. For those nets that were cast before and caught an innumerable number of fish and loaded two boats, so that the nets broke, were not cast to the right side, nor was it said to cast them to the left side. Now the mystery of that catch is fulfilled in this time. However, this other mystery, which was not done without reason after the resurrection, when He was no longer to die but was to live forever; not only by divinity, which never died, but also by the body, which deigned to die for us. Therefore, it was not in vain that the former was before the passion, the latter after the resurrection. There, neither to the right nor to the left, but only: Cast the nets; however, here it is: Cast to the right. There was no number, but only an abundant multitude, so as to almost sink the two boats; for it was also said there: and here, too, the number and the size of the fish. Then there the nets broke, here it was important for the Evangelist to say: And although they were so large, the nets were not torn. Don't we see, brothers, that the word of God is nets, and this world is the sea, and all who believe are enclosed within those nets? If perhaps anyone doubts this significance, let him pay attention to the fact that the Lord Himself said in a parable what He showed in the miracle. For He said: The kingdom of heaven is like a net cast into the sea, which gathers of every kind of fish. When it was filled, they drew it to shore; and sitting down, they gathered the good into vessels, but the bad they threw away. So it will be at the end of the age: the angels will come forth and separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire; there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Therefore, it is clear that the nets cast into the sea signify faith. Is not this world a sea, where men devour one another like fish? Are there not small storms and waves of temptation that disturb this sea? Are there not small dangers for the navigators, that is, for those who seek the heavenly homeland on the wood of the cross? The similarity, therefore, is most evident.

Two ships are two peoples coming from opposite directions.

Let us only observe this, brothers (because the resurrection of the Lord signifies the new life that we will have when this age has passed), how the first word of God was sent into this sea, that is, into this world. Into this turbulent age with its waves, dangerous with its storms, and troublesome with its shipwrecks, the word of God was sent and caught many, so that two ships were filled. What are the two ships? Two peoples. To these two peoples, like two walls, the Lord became the cornerstone, so that he might join them to himself coming from diverse places. For the people of the Jews came from a very different custom: the people of the Gentiles came from idols. The people of the Jews came from circumcision: the people of the Gentiles came from foreskin. They came from diverse places: but they are joined in the cornerstone. For walls never make an angle unless they come from diverse places. Therefore in Christ, the two peoples harmonized, called from the Jews who were near, and from the Gentiles who were far off. For since the Jews were near (for they already worshipped one God), when they believed in Christ, observe what they did. Whatever they had, they sold, and laid the prices of their properties at the Apostles' feet: and distribution was made to each, according to his need. They were freed from the burdens of worldly affairs, and with light shoulders followed Christ: they submitted their neck to the gentle yoke, and embracing the cornerstone from near at hand, they were at peace. But the people of the Gentiles came from afar, and they too arrived at that stone, and united in peace. Those two ships signify these two peoples. But they were so filled with such a multitude of fish, that they were almost sinking. For we also read that among those who had believed from the Jews, there were some carnal ones, who caused trouble for the Church and forbade the Apostles to speak the Gospel to the Gentiles, saying, Christ was sent only to the circumcised: that if the Gentiles wanted to receive the Gospel, they should be circumcised. Hence the apostle Paul, sent to the Gentiles, became odious to those who believed from Judea, for preaching the truth. For the Apostle wanted the people of the Gentiles coming from diverse places to touch the angle, where there was firm peace. Therefore, those carnal ones demanding circumcision did not belong to the number of the spiritual ones: nor did they see that with the carnal sacraments having passed, he had come whose present light would dispel the shadows. Nevertheless, since they caused divisions, they almost sank the ship with their multitude.

In the Church now, evils and evil persons are not lacking.

Let us also consider the ship of the Gentiles. Let us see if such a multitude has not been gathered into the Church that the grains of wheat hardly appear among the great number of chaff. How many robbers, how many drunkards, how many slanderers, how many theater spectators! Do not those who fill both the churches and the theaters fill them? And they often seek such disturbances in churches as they are accustomed to in theaters. And often, if something spiritual is said or commanded, they resist, they struggle, following the flesh, opposing the Holy Spirit. Hence, Stephen also accused the Jews. In this city, my brothers, have we not experienced, as your Holiness remembers with us, how, to our peril, God expelled drunkenness from this basilica? Was the ship not almost sinking with us due to the carnal seditions? Why did this happen, if not because of that innumerable number of fish? Next, it was also said there that the nets were breaking. With the nets broken, heresies and schisms occurred. The nets indeed gather all: but the impatient fish, unwilling to come to the Lord’s food, wherever they can, they strike themselves, and break them, and leave. And the nets are indeed spread out everywhere: but those who break them break them in specific places. The Donatists broke them in Africa, the Arians broke them in Egypt, the Photinians broke them in Pannonia, the Cataphrygians broke them in Phrygia, the Manichaeans broke them in Persia. In what places has that net been disrupted? And yet, those whom it gathers, it leads to the shore. It leads indeed, but do those who broke the nets come? All the wicked leave. They indeed do not leave unless they are wicked: but both good and wicked remain. For from where is the net led to the shore with both good and bad fish, about which the Lord spoke in the parable?

The chaff and the wheat are now together in the Church.

For this same likeness does the threshing floor have as well when it is threshed. There is chaff, there is grain: yet those who keep an eye on the threshing floor see mostly the chaff with difficulty. Diligence is needed to find the grains within the chaff. However, the winds blow across the threshing floor from every side. And when it is threshed, before it is raised up to be winnowed, does it not endure winds? The wind blows from this side, for instance, and lifts the chaff: then it blows again from another side and lifts it to the other part. From whichever side it lifts the chaff, it spreads it in the hedge, and in the thorns, and wherever. It cannot lift the grain from there: the wind only lifts the chaff. Yet when the blowing winds from every side have lifted the chaff, will only wheat remain on the threshing floor? It is only the chaff that leaves: yet both the chaff and grain remain. When will all the chaff go? When the Lord comes bearing a fan in His hand, and He will cleanse His threshing floor, He will gather the wheat into the granary, but He will burn the chaff with an unquenchable fire. Let Your Holiness pay better attention to what I say. For sometimes the winds that lift the chaff from the threshing floor blow again from the hedge where the chaff adhered, and bring it back to the threshing floor. As, for example, I know not which man established in the Catholic Church endured some temptation of tribulation. He saw that he could be carnally aided in his matter among the Donatists: it was said to him, 'You will not be aided unless you communicate here.' The wind blew, cast him into the thorns. If it happens that he has a secular matter again, which cannot be settled except in the Catholic Church, not paying attention to where he is, but where he can better expedite his affairs, as if the wind blew from the other side of the hedge, he is brought back to the Lord's threshing floor.

Chaff can become grain.

Therefore, brothers, those who seek carnal things in the Church, and do not consider what God promises: because here there are temptations, dangers, difficulties; however, after temporal labors, He promises eternal rest and the company of holy angels: therefore, not considering these things for themselves, but desiring carnal things in the Church, whether they are on the threshing floor or outside, they are chaff. We do not greatly rejoice in them, nor do we flatter them with vain adulations. It is good for them to become wheat. For this is the difference between those true chaffs and these carnal men, because those chaffs do not have free will, but God has given free will to man. And if a man wills, yesterday he was chaff, today he becomes wheat: if he turns away from the word of God, today he becomes chaff. And it is only necessary to inquire what the final winnowing finds them to be.

In the heavenly city, only the good will be.

Now listen, brothers, to that blessed, mystical, great Church, which is signified by the one hundred fifty-three fish. For we have heard, and known, and seen what this Church is: but what it will be in the future is in prophecy for us; but it has not yet come in experience. But still, it is permitted to rejoice in the future, although we do not yet see it in the present. The nets were then cast, neither to the right nor to the left: for they were capturing both good and bad. For if it had been said: to the right; the bad would not be understood there: if it had been said: to the left; the good would not be understood there. But when they were going to contain both good and bad, the nets were cast randomly, and they took, as we discussed, the wicked and the just. Now, however, the future Church in that holy Jerusalem, where the hearts of all mortals will be open, there is no fear that anyone wicked might enter that Church. For no one will hide the cunning of a most wicked heart under the skin of mortality. For the Lord has now come: and therefore after the resurrection, he commands that these nets be cast to the right, now no longer to die. And what the Apostle says happens: Until the Lord comes, and illuminates the hidden things of darkness, and makes clear the thoughts of the heart: and then praise will be given to each by God, when consciences, which are now hidden, will be publicized. Then, therefore, only the good will be there, the bad will be driven out. For the nets sent to the right will not be able to hold the wicked.

What one hundred fifty-three fishes signify.

Why then one hundred fifty-three? Will there be that many saints? For if we count not only all the faithful who departed from the body in a good life, but only the martyrs; if the day of martyrdom alone is counted, thousands of men are found to have been crowned. Therefore, one hundred fifty-three fish, what do they signify, must without doubt be examined. What do fifty signify? In this number indeed, that is, in fifty, there is a mystery: because fifty multiplied by three, make one hundred fifty. For this reason, the number three seems to be added, so that we may be reminded by what multiplication one hundred fifty-three were made: as if it were said: Divide one hundred fifty by three. For if it were said: One hundred fifty-two, noticing the excess number, we would divide it by seventy-five: since seventy-five multiplied by two, make one hundred fifty. Indeed, an added number two would indicate the binary division. If it were said: One hundred fifty-six, we would have to divide it into twenty-fives, to make six parts of them. But now, because it is said, One hundred fifty-three, we must divide the whole number, that is, one hundred fifty, into three parts. Therefore, a third part of this number is fifty. Thus our entire consideration must be fixed on the number fifty.

The task of the elect is the praise of God.

Could it be that these fifty days which we now celebrate are without reason? For not without cause, my brothers, does the Church hold the ancient tradition that during these fifty days "Alleluia" is said. For "Alleluia" is the praise of God. Thus, the action of our rest is signified to us who labor. For when we come to that rest after this labor, our sole duty will be the praise of God, our action there will be "Alleluia." What is "Alleluia"? "Praise God." Who praises God without ceasing but the Angels? They do not hunger, they do not thirst, they do not fall ill, they do not die. For we have said "Alleluia," and it has been sung here this morning, and a little while ago, we said "Alleluia." We are touched by a certain scent of divine praise and that rest, but to a greater extent, mortality presses us down. For we grow weary in saying it, and we wish to refresh our limbs: and if "Alleluia" is said for long, the praise of God is burdensome to us because of the heaviness of our body. For the fullness without ceasing of "Alleluia" will be after this age and after labor. What then, brothers? Let us say as much as we can, so that we may be deserving to say it always. There, our food will be "Alleluia," our drink "Alleluia," our rest's action "Alleluia," all joy will be "Alleluia," that is, "Praise of God." For who praises anything without end, except he who enjoys without weariness? How much strength will there be in the mind, how much immortality and firmness in the body, so that the intention of the mind does not fail in the contemplation of God, nor do the limbs succumb in the continuation of God's praise?

Mystical meanings lie hidden in the numbers 50 and 40.

Why then are fifty days celebrated in this mystery? The Lord spent forty days with the disciples after the resurrection, as the Acts of the Apostles testify: after forty days He ascended into heaven, and on the tenth day after He ascended, He sent the Holy Spirit. When the Apostles and all who had gathered in one place were filled with the Holy Spirit, they spoke in tongues and performed those great works which we embrace as readers and believers, speaking the word of God with great confidence. The Lord spent forty days on earth with the disciples, and before the passion, He fasted for forty days: you will not find another who fasted for forty days, except the Lord, Moses, and Elijah. The Lord as the Gospel, Moses as the Law, Elijah as Prophecy: because the Gospel has testimony from the Law and the Prophets. Therefore, on the mount, when our Lord Jesus wanted to show His glory, He stood between Moses and Elijah. He shone in the middle with honor: the Law and the Prophets bore witness from the sides. The number forty, therefore, signifies this time in which we labor in the world: because wisdom is dispensed to us here temporally. For the vision of immortal wisdom is dispensed differently without time, and differently temporally. For there were Patriarchs, and they passed from here: their dispensation was temporal. I do not mean, they live temporally; for they live always, and they live with God. But the dispensation of the word through them was done temporally. For they do not speak here now; but what they spoke is written and read in time. Prophets came in their own time, and they left. The Lord came in His own time: for His presence of majesty never departed, nor does He recede divinely established everywhere; but as it is said in the Gospel: He was in this world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him: He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. How was He here, and how did He come, unless because He was here in majesty, He came in humanity? For what came in the flesh, He Himself dispensed wisdom to us temporally: temporally through the Law, temporally through the Prophets, temporally through the Scriptures of the Gospel. When the times have passed, we will see wisdom itself as it is, which gives back the denarius number. For the number seven indicates creation: because God worked on six days, and on the seventh He rested from the works. The number three, however, suggests the Creator, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Perfect wisdom is to piously subject the creature to the Creator; to discern the Creator from the creation, the craftsman from the works. Whoever confounds the works with the craftsman, understands neither the art nor the craftsman: but whoever discerns, is filled with wisdom. This is, therefore, the denarius, the fullness of wisdom. But when it is distributed temporally; because in the quaternary number is the distinction of temporals, the denarius multiplied by four makes the number forty. And the year is divided into four parts, spring, summer, autumn, and winter: and above all, a certain quaternary change appears in time. Scripture also commemorates the four winds. For through the four cardinal points the Gospel spread, which is dispensed in time: and this is the catholic Church, which has obtained the four parts of the world. Therefore, the denarius in this manner makes the number forty.

On the mystical meaning hidden in the number 153.

Therefore, they fasted for forty days, signifying in this time the necessity of abstaining from the love of temporal things. For these perpetual fasts signify through all those forty days. Hence, the people of Israel were led through the desert for forty years before they entered the promised land to reign. Thus, we too in this life, where there is great anxiety, where there is fear, where there are the perils of temptations, are led through temporal dispensation as if through a desert. But when we have properly completed the number forty, that is, lived well in this temporal dispensation, walking according to God's commandments, we shall receive the reward of that denarius for the faithful. For when the Lord hired laborers for the vineyard, he gave them the denarius as a reward. He gave the denarius to all, those hired at dawn, and those hired at midday, and those hired at the end of the day, he gave the denarius to all. Because if anyone has been faithful from an early age, he will receive a denarius; now no longer through the distribution of times, but in eternal contemplation, discerning wisdom between the Creator and the creature; that one may enjoy the Creator, giving praise to the Creator through the creature. But if a young person has believed and was not faithful in his previous time, he will receive the denarius. But if an old man believes, now in the twilight of the day, as one hired at the eleventh hour to the vineyard, he too will receive the denarius. Therefore, after having well completed the forty number, add the reward of the denarius, and it becomes fifty, which signifies the future Church where God will always be praised. But because all are called in the name of the Trinity to live well in the number forty and receive the denarius, multiply that fifty by three, and it becomes one hundred fifty. Add the mystery of the Trinity itself, and it becomes one hundred fifty-three, which is the number of the fishes found on the right side: in which number, however, there are innumerable thousands of the saints. Wherefore no wicked ones will be cast out, because they will not be there: nor will the nets, which are the bonds of unity and peace, be broken by any schism.

If the fasts are relaxed, let not the austerity of morals be relaxed.

I believe I have explained the great mystery sufficiently. But you know that it pertains to us to work well during the Lenten season, so that we may praise the Lord on Pentecost. Therefore, we celebrate those forty days, before we keep vigil, in labor, fasting, and abstinence: for they signify the presence of this time. However, after the resurrection of the Lord, because these days signify eternal joy (they are not yet the actual thing, but they signify it: it is a matter of mystery, brothers, not yet of realization: for when Easter is celebrated, the Lord is not crucified: but just as we commemorate past events in their anniversary celebration, so also we signify future things which are not yet here): therefore, at this time, fasting is relaxed; for the number of these days signifies future rest. But see, brothers, that through much drunkenness, as if under great permission, wishing to celebrate these days carnally, you do not deserve to celebrate what they signify with the angels forever. For if I reproach a drunkard, he might say: You told us that these days signify eternal joy; you insinuated to us that this time foretells angelic and heavenly joy: so should I not do well for myself? Would that it be well, and not badly. For it signifies joy for you, if you are a temple of God. But if you fill the temple of God with the filth of drunkenness, the Apostle resounds to you: Whoever destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him. Let this be inscribed in the hearts of your Holiness, that it is better for a less understanding man to live well, than for a very understanding man to live poorly. Indeed, fullness and perfect blessedness is for someone to quickly understand and live well: but if perhaps one cannot do both, it is better to live well than to quickly understand. For he who lives well, merits further understanding: and he who lives poorly, will lose even what he understands. Thus it is said: To him who has, it will be given; and to him who has not, even what he seems to have will be taken away from him.