Sermon 279

SERMO 279

OF THE APOSTLE PAUL

For the Solemnity of His Conversion

In the transformation of Paul, the prophecy of Jacob concerning Benjamin is fulfilled.

We have heard the words of the Apostle, yea, through the Apostle the words of Christ speaking in him, whom He made a preacher out of a persecutor, striking and healing, killing and giving life; the lamb slain by wolves, and making lambs out of wolves. It was foretold in a notable prophecy, when Jacob, the holy patriarch, was blessing his sons, touching the present, foreseeing the future, it was foretold what happened in Paul. For Paul, as he himself testifies, was of the tribe of Benjamin. And when Jacob, blessing his sons, came to bless Benjamin, he said of him: "Benjamin is a ravening wolf." What then? If a ravening wolf, always rapacious? God forbid. But what? "In the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil." This was fulfilled in the Apostle Paul, for it was also foretold of him. Now, if you please, let us consider him devouring the prey in the morning and dividing the spoil in the evening. Morning and evening are put for what is before and what is after. Thus then, let us take it, first he shall devour, after he shall divide the spoil. Consider the ravager: Saul, as the Acts of the Apostles testify, having received letters from the chief priests, that wherever he found followers of the Way of God, he might seize and bring them to be punished, went breathing out and panting for slaughter. This is he devouring in the morning. For when Stephen, the first martyr, was stoned for the name of Christ, Saul more evidently was present. And he was so present with those stoning that it did not suffice him only to stone with his own hands. For to be in the hands of all who were stoning them, he himself kept the garments of all, raging more by assisting them than by stoning with his own hands. We have heard: "In the morning he shall devour"; let us see, "at night he shall divide the spoil." He was struck down by the voice of Christ from heaven and receiving the interdiction of raging, he fell on his face; first to be cast down, then to be raised up; first to be struck down, afterwards to be healed. For Christ would not live in him except he were first killed in that which he had lived badly before. What then did he hear when struck down? "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads." And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And the voice from above: "I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecute." With his members still set on earth, the head cried out from heaven, and did not say, "Why do you persecute my servants," but "Why do you persecute me?" And he said, "What do you want me to do?" Already he prepares himself to obey, who had previously raged to persecute. Already he is made a preacher from a persecutor, a sheep from a wolf, a soldier from an enemy. He heard what he should do. He was made blind indeed: that his heart might shine with inner light, the outer light was taken away for a time; it was taken from the persecutor that it might be returned to the preacher. And yet at that time, when he saw not other things, he saw Jesus. Thus also in his very blindness the mystery of believers was being formed; for he who believes in Christ ought to look upon him, and count other things as nothing; that the creature may become vile, and the Creator may become sweet in the heart.

Paul is brought to Ananias, like a wolf to a sheep, as a captive.

Let us then see. He was brought to Ananias, and Ananias means Sheep. Behold, the ravenous wolf is brought to follow the sheep, not to seize it. But lest the sheep should suddenly fear the wolf, the shepherd himself from heaven, who was doing all these things, announced to the sheep that the wolf would come, but would not be savage. And yet such a huge reputation of that wolf had preceded him that the sheep could not help but be troubled upon hearing his name. For when the Lord Jesus announced to Ananias that Paul had now come to believe, and that Ananias should go to him, Ananias said: Lord, I have heard about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints: and now he has received letters from the chief priests, that wherever he finds followers of your name, he may drag them away. But the Lord said to him: Let it be, and I will show him what he must suffer for my name's sake. A wondrous and great thing is being done. The savageness of the wolf is prohibited, the wolf is brought as a captive to the sheep. So great was the preceding fame of the predatory wolf, that upon hearing his name, the sheep would fear even under the shepherd's hand. He is comforted, so that he no longer thinks the wolf savage, nor fears his imminent attack. The sheep feel secure about the wolf from the Lamb who died for the sheep.

Christ meek and humble, how he neither remains silent nor becomes mild.

Then he, to whom we sang, "Lord, who is like you?" on the preceding Sunday, "Do not be silent, and do not be gentle, O God"—yet he says, "Come to me, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart." Let us see how he demonstrates both and shows that his words are in harmony with himself. He is gentle and humble in heart, because he was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. Suspended on the wood, he endured the unjust flames of hatred, he withstood the tongues of the ministers of the worst hearts; with these tongues they struck the innocent, they crucified the just. Of these tongues it was said: "The sons of men, their teeth are weapons and arrows, and their tongue is a sharp sword." And what did the tongue do? What did the sharp sword do? It killed. What did it kill? Death killed life, so that death would be killed by life. What then, what did their sharp tongue do? Hear what it did: see what follows. "Be exalted above the heavens, O God, and let your glory be over all the earth." Behold what the sharp sword did. We know the Lord was exalted above the heavens, not by seeing, but by believing: His glory over all the earth, by reading, believing, and seeing. See, therefore, the gentle and humble in heart, bringing the trophy of the mortified flesh to this glory. See him gentle. While hanging, he said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing"; and, "Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart." Let us learn from you, for you are gentle and humble in heart. Where could it more appear, or ought to have appeared more worthily than on the very cross? When his limbs were hanging on the wood, when his hands and feet were pierced with nails, when they still raged with their tongues, when they were not satisfied with the blood poured out, when the sick did not recognize the physician: "Father," he said, "forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." As if to say, "I have come to heal the sick: what prevents them from recognizing me is the immensity of the fever." Thus the gentle and humble in heart says, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

Towards Paul he exhibits both; and he does not remain silent, and he does not become mild. Temporal tribulations must be considered small by the hope of future glory.

What then: Will you remain silent and be soft, God? Fulfill even this. Behold, he did not remain silent: he cried out from heaven: Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? He acted: Do not be silent: exhibit: And do not be soft. First, because he did not spare his error, because he did not spare his cruelty, because he, gasping for bloodshed, was overthrown by a voice, seized the light from the raging one, led the captive to Ananias, whom he was seeking to persecute. Behold, not soft, behold, raging, not against the man, but against the error. This is not enough: still do not be silent, nor soft. To Ananias trembling and fearing upon hearing the name of that famous wolf: I, he said, will show him. I will show him. See him threatening, see him still raging: I will show him. Do not be silent, nor soft, God. Show the persecutor not only your goodness, but also your severity. Show him, let him suffer what he did, let him learn to also suffer what he inflicted, let him also feel what he was inflicting on others. I, he said, will show him what he must suffer. But he speaks as if raging, and fulfills what was said: Do not be silent, nor soft, God. Do not depart from it: Learn from me because I am gentle and humble in heart. I will show him what he must suffer for my name. You showed terror; help, lest he suffer and perish whom you made, whom you found. He is threatening, he is not silent, he is not soft, he threatens. I will show him what he must suffer for my name. Where there is terror, there is salvation. Who was acting against the name, let him suffer for the name. O merciful severity! You see him preparing the iron: he is about to cut but not to kill; to heal, not to slay. Christ said: I will show him what he must suffer for my name. But to what end? Hear the one who was suffering. The sufferings of this time are not worthy. He himself says who was suffering, and knew for whose name he was suffering, and with what reward he was suffering. The sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared to the future glory which will be revealed in us. Let the world rage, let the world roar, let it rebuke with tongues, let it flash with arms, let it do whatever it can: what will it do against what we are going to receive? I weigh what I suffer against what I hope for. I feel this, I believe that. And yet what I believe is worth more than what I feel. Whatever might rage for the name of Christ, if it can be lived, is tolerable: if it cannot be lived, it causes departure from here. It does not extinguish, but hastens. What does it hasten? The reward itself, the sweetness itself; which, when it comes, will be without end. Work with end, reward without end.

Saul, from where he was named. Paul, small and humble.

So, brothers, this chosen vessel, first Saul from Saul. For recall, you who know the Scriptures of God, who Saul was. A very wicked king, persecutor of the holy servant of God David; and he too, if you remember, was from the tribe of Benjamin. Thus this Saul, leading a path of cruelty, but not remaining in cruelty. Afterwards, if Saul from Saul, from where Paul? Saul from the cruel king, when proud, when raging, when breathing slaughter: but from where Paul? Paul, because small. Paul is a name of humility. Paul, after being brought to the Master, who said, "Learn from me for I am gentle and humble of heart." Hence Paul. Observe the usage of the Latin expression: because “paulum” means little. "I will see you a little later," "wait here a little,” that is, "I will see you after a short while," "wait here for a short while." Therefore, listen to Paul: "I am," he says, "the least of the Apostles." Truly, I am the least of the Apostles: and elsewhere: "I am the last of the Apostles."

God exalts the humble.

And smallest and last, like the hem of the Lord's garment. What is so small, what is so last as the hem? Yet by touching this, the woman was healed from the flow of blood. In this little thing there was greatness, in the smallest thing the great dwelt; and the less it excluded greatness from itself, the more less it was. Why do we marvel that the great dwells in the narrow? It dwells more in the smallest. Hear Him saying: "Upon whom shall my spirit rest? Upon the humble, and quiet, and trembling at my words." Therefore, the high dwells in the lowly, to exalt the humble. For the Lord is high and looks upon the humble; but the high things He knows from afar. Humble yourself, and He will draw near to you: exalt yourself, and He will withdraw from you.

One should not be ashamed of Christ crucified.

So what does this smallest one say? What we heard today: With the heart believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Many believe in their hearts, and are ashamed to confess with their mouths. Know, brothers, that there are now almost no Pagans who do not silently marvel, and perceive the prophecies concerning Christ exalted above the heavens being fulfilled; because they see his glory over all the earth. But since they fear each other, they are ashamed in front of each other, they drive salvation far from them: because confession is made unto salvation with the mouth. What good does it do to have believed unto righteousness in the heart, if the mouth hesitates to utter what is conceived in the heart? God sees the faith within: but it is not enough. You do not confess the humble, you fear the proud; and you place the proud above him who was displeasing to the proud for your sake. You are afraid to confess the humble Son of God. You are not ashamed to confess the great Word of God, the virtue of God, the wisdom of God: but you are ashamed to confess Him born, crucified, dead. High, exalted and equal to the Father, by whom all things were made, by whom you also were made, he became what you are; he became man for you, born for you, died for you. Sick one, how will you be healed, if you are ashamed of your remedy? Choose the time. Now is the time: later that despised one will come to be admired, the judged one will come to judge, the killed one will come to raise up, the dishonored one will come to honor. Now, and later: now it is a matter of faith, later it will be in manifestation. Choose in this time which part you will hold in the future. Are you ashamed of the name of Christ? From that which you are ashamed of now before men, you will be ashamed of when he comes in his glory to repay what he promised to the good, what he threatened to the bad. Where will you be? What will you do, if that exalted one looks at you, and says to you, You were ashamed of my humility, you will not be in my glory? Therefore let the evil shame depart; let the beneficial boldness come, if it must be called boldness: but yet, brothers, I was compelled to say this, and I was not afraid at all.

On the death of Christ, why we should not be ashamed. Christ took upon Himself our two evils, that He might give us His two goods.

For I do not want us to be ashamed of the name of Christ. Let it be an insult to us that we believe in the Crucified, in the Slain. Certainly in the Slain; but if blood had not flowed from Him, the handwriting of our sins would still remain. Without a doubt, I believed in the Slain One: but what was slain in Him was what He took from me, not what He made me from. Absolutely, I believe in the Slain One, but in whom slain? Who came, and received something. Who came? He who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. Behold who came: what did He receive? But He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. The Maker made, the Creator created. But in what was He made and created? In the form of a servant, by taking the form of a servant, not by losing the form of God. Therefore, in this form of a servant, in what He received from us for us, He was born, suffered, rose again, and ascended into heaven. I mentioned four things. He was born, He died, He rose again, and He ascended into heaven. Two first, two last: the two first, He was born, He died; the two last, He rose again, He ascended into heaven. In the first two, He showed you your condition: in the last two, He presented you with an example of reward. You knew to be born and to die: the region of mortals is full of these two things. What abounds here in all flesh, except to be born and to die? This man has in common with beasts: thus, we share this life with beasts. We were born, we are going to die. This you did not yet know, to rise again and to ascend into heaven. You knew two, you did not know two: He took what you knew, He showed what you did not know: endure what He took, hope for what He showed.

Death of the temporal kind is not to be feared, but the eternal.

For what, if you do not wish to die, are you not going to die? Why do you fear what you cannot avoid? You fear what, even if you do not wish, will be; and you do not fear what, even if you do not wish, will not be. What is it that I have said? God has ordained death for all born men, through which they depart from this world. You will be exempt from death if you will have been exempt from the human race. What are you doing? Is it now said to you: Choose whether you wish to be a man? You are already a man, you have come. Consider how you will leave here: you have been born, you will die. Flee, beware, repel, redeem: you can postpone death, not remove it. It will come, even if you do not wish; it will come when you do not know. Why then do you fear what, even if you do not wish, will be? But fear rather, what if you do not wish, will not be. What is this? To the impious, the unbelieving, the blasphemous, the perjurers, the unjust, and all the wicked, God has threatened the fires of hell and eternal flames. First compare these two things, death for a moment, and punishments for eternity. You fear death for a moment, which will come, even if you do not wish it; fear eternal punishments, which will not come, if you do not wish them. What you should fear is much greater, and you have the power to prevent it from coming to you; and it is greater, and far greater, incomparably greater what you should fear, and you have the power to prevent it from coming to you. For indeed, if you live well or if you live badly, you will die: you will not escape death whether by living well or living badly. But truly if you choose to live well here, you will not be sent into eternal punishments. Because indeed you cannot choose here not to die; choose while you live, not to die eternally. This is faith, this Christ shows by dying and rising again. By dying he shows, what you wish or not you will suffer; by rising again he shows, what if you live well you will receive. Here one believes with the heart unto righteousness, confession is made with the mouth unto salvation. But you fear to confess, lest men insult you, not those who have not believed; for they also believe within; but lest those insult you who are ashamed to confess. Hear what follows: For the Scripture says: Everyone who believes in him will not be confounded. Meditate on these things, be in these things: this is the food not of the belly, but of the mind. He who in the morning was seizing, in the evening was sharing those same foods.

What is evident is for us; what is hidden is for God.

Because the Lord and Father also commands me to speak this to you, listen a little more attentively. We announce to your ears and you see with your eyes the spoil snatched from the jaws of the wolf by the mercy and work of our supreme shepherd. The one about whom the flock clamored, the shepherd has brought back. The Lord has not abandoned the tribulation of His servants' hearts, but He wants to commend the sweetness of His mercy; making His mercies wonderful, as it is written, so that tribulation precedes the joys to follow. The one about whom it was clamored as an enemy of the Christian faith has embraced the Christian faith. We could also say, as Ananias and perhaps some others said, or perhaps some still say: Who? That man, a Christian? He believed? The heart of a man we cannot see, nor can we show it. God says: What is revealed belongs to you, what is hidden belongs to me. Paul the Apostle says: Brothers, do not judge anything before its time, until the Lord comes, who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then each one will receive praise from God. You cannot inspect the heart of a new Christian. What? Can you inspect the heart of an old Christian? You will say: But he believed out of necessity. The same might be said of the one we spoke of a little earlier, who was first a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man. For he too was pressed by some necessity. He was struck down by a celestial voice: to gain light, he lost light. Threaten as you wish, and give as much as you wish to any man: what is sweeter than that light? Yet unless Paul had lost it, he would not have received the eternal light. He believed out of necessity. What did he fear, tell me, what did he fear? The clamoring sheep? Sheep can clamour, they cannot bite. He might also in the clamor of God's sheep perceive the glory of God, and fear the judgment of God. He was awakened from a certain sleep to consider that the things predicted about Christ were being fulfilled concerning Christ. He might say in his heart, his gods were defeated within him, he was deserted by his own gods; so powerful is the name of Christ, so prevailing is the glory of Christ. Therefore, briefly I say to your Charity, I speak to the Church of God, I speak to the people of God: if he believed, you have found him; if he feared, you have conquered.

Love the person more than you previously hated the error. Christ vindicates Himself by converting His enemies.

Meanwhile, brothers, as far as men are able, let us not arrogate to ourselves more than is permitted. The Apostle says: "Receive the one who is weak in faith, not to disputes over doubtful things." Let us not arrogate to ourselves the judgment of others' thoughts, but let us offer our prayers to God, even for those about whom we might doubt something. Perhaps his recent conversion causes some hesitation: love him more abundantly as he hesitates, and by your love, remove doubt from the heart of the weak one. Meanwhile, look at the face, about which you rejoice; entrust the heart to God, for whom you pray. Know that he is forsaken by the wicked and taken up by you. Love the man more than you previously hated the error; for when you cried out against him, you were seeking him. Do not presume that you have cried out in vain; and rejoice that you have found the one whom you were seeking. Who is that, this and that? Faustinus. Who is that, this and that? Faustinus. Who was against Christ? Faustinus. Who feared Christ? Faustinus. Thus, Christ came to heal the sick, of whom we heard in the Gospel, because: "Those who are well do not need a physician, but those who are sick." And: "What man among you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the mountains and go to seek the one that is lost? And when he finds it, he rejoices over it; so does my Father rejoice over one penitent more than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance." Thus, indeed, Christ came to heal the sick, thus He knows how to take vengeance on His enemies. Those whose spirits perhaps hurt with their companions' error get angry for a moment, but afterwards, they perhaps will imitate. Therefore, brothers, we commend him to your prayers, your love, your most faithful friendship, and the acceptance of his frailty. As you precede, so he follows: teach the good way, let him find it good in you. Now that he has become a Christian, let him discern the difference between what he has left behind and what he has found. His life and zeal concerning the faith of Christ will prove themselves in later times.

It was shouted: let the pagans not be elders. The voice of Faustino: I do not want an eldership, I want to be a Christian.

But now, my brothers, it was not necessary, it was not the counsel of the shepherds, to drive away the one who knocks, to delay the one who seeks; to judge the hidden things of the heart, and not to accept the manifest voice, was neither our counsel nor our intention. For we know how that merciful Lord, seeking profits everywhere from His money, warned the lazy servant who wished to judge what he did not see, and who was slothful in gathering his master's profits: Wicked servant, I condemn you out of your own mouth. You called me a stern man, reaping where I have not sown, gathering where I have not scattered. Therefore, you knew my greed. You ought to have given my money to the bankers, and I, coming, would have demanded it with interest. Therefore, we could not do anything but distribute the money of the Lord: He will be the collector, not only of his, but of all of us. Let us then fulfill the office of the distributor, not usurp the place of the collector. Brothers, this work set before your eyes is not ours, but God's. What has been done was not established by us, because neither did we hope for it: another was the intention, both yours and ours. You know what has been cried out here, you know: that the pagans may not be greater, that the pagans may not dominate the Christians. These things have been said: and because this name was in envy, many things have been shouted in this name with zeal for the house of God by the Christians; and the whole intent was nothing but that the pagan may not dominate the Christians. But that he about whom the outcry was made might be a Christian, was not thought of by the Christians: but was disposed by Christ. Truly it is fulfilled which is written: Many thoughts are in the heart of man; but the counsel of the Lord shall stand forever. This counsel was hidden: it was hidden, but it was impending. Men worked what they could: but Faustinus the money-changer emerged new from the workshop of Christ. Therefore, brothers, keep in mind the work of God. You sought one thing, you disposed another, you found another. We commend the work of our Lord to fellow servants. Let us love more what our Lord has done in it, than that which we wished to do: for his works are better. And we have heard his great and devoted voice: I do not want the preeminence, I want to be a Christian. Rejoice, exult, love more than you hated. Commend his work to Christ with prayers. Show a faithful, pious, friendly mind to the rudiments of the old man. For what difference does it make, whom you see now advanced in age? He came at the ninth hour to the vineyard, about to receive equal pay.

Even the pagans seem to celebrate the birthday of John.

We renew the Christian day in memory of your Charity; although it cannot happen that it be erased from your hearts by forgetfulness. But we commend this, because both the pagan and the impious due to some other reasons gradually become obsolete in their own causes, thus it seems the pagans also celebrate the same day. Badly, wickedly, unhappily: but how many are freed from this, it is before your eyes. These things will grow old; but do not help them, distinguish yourselves from them, seek divine things. We are about to celebrate the day of Saint John, John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Lord, the friend of the bridegroom, with all chastity, with all sobriety. When they admire you for being different from their joys, so they gradually follow: and all those things will grow old, and they will perish. Listen to the prophet, and see it fulfilled, see it done as predicted: Listen to me, you who know judgment. The prophet Isaiah, God through him. Listen to me, you who know judgment; my people, in whose heart my law is. Do not fear the reproach of men, and do not be overcome by their detraction; nor should you esteem it as great that they despise you. For just as a garment is consumed over time, and like wool is eaten by the moth. But my righteousness endures forever. Therefore, be secure, brothers, be completely secure. They grow old, diminish: they will end, either by believing, or by dying. No matter how much they clamor, no matter how much they indulge in carnal pleasure, no matter how much they babble wickedly and dance against the divine songs of Christ, they are fewer today than yesterday. Therefore, brothers, tomorrow we will celebrate, as I said, in the name of the Lord, Saint John the Baptist. After seven days, that is on the Sabbath day, we will also celebrate the natal day of the holy martyrs Peter and Paul.