Sermon 301

SERMO 301

On the Solemnity of the Holy Maccabees

The mother of the Maccabees in the suffering of her sons, how strong she was.

A great spectacle is set before the eyes of our faith. With our ears we have heard, with our hearts we have seen a mother wishing to end her life before her sons: far contrary to human custom and desires. For all people wish for their children to precede them in departing from this life, not to follow: but she wished to die later. For she was not losing her sons, but sending them ahead: nor did she see what life they were ending, but what life they were beginning. For they ceased to live, where someday they would have died; and they began to live, destined to live without end. It is little to have been a spectator, we rather admired her as an encourager. More fruitful in virtues than in offspring: seeing those contending, in whom she herself contended in all; and in all who won, she herself was victorious. One woman, one mother, how did she set before our eyes one holy mother the Church, everywhere encouraging her sons to die for the name of Him, from whom she conceived and gave birth? Thus filled with the blood of martyrs, the world with the scattered seeds blossomed into the harvest of the Church. Whence to man is this, except because the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord, and He is their protector in time of tribulation?

God was present not only with the three boys but also with the Maccabees. Why are the three boys liberated from the fires, the Maccabees consumed?

We have seen and we know that the Lord was a protector in the time of tribulation of those three men, who walked unscathed among the fires, and praised the Lord without any harm. Where man was raging, the flame was sparing.

We have seen, we know how the salvation of those righteous ones was from the Lord, so that they might be thrown into the fire, and convert that harsh king, whom they had provoked by speaking, by living. For he believed in their God, and issued an edict, that whoever blasphemed the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego should perish, and his house be laid waste. How different the second command is from the first! What was the first command? Let him perish who does not worship the golden statue. What is the second? Let him perish who blasphemes the true God. The faithful men did not change, but they changed the unfaithful man. They did not allow him to persist in his unbelief, because they stood firm in their faith. Therefore, their salvation was clearly from the Lord. When they did not burn and praised, the Lord was present. When these men burned, they confessed, yet were dying, where was the Lord? Perhaps those were righteous, and these were sinners? For we have just heard these confess their sins, and say that all those things happened to them because the Lord was angry, but also by their father's merit, they suffered. What about the others? Read and you will see that they also confessed their own sins, and said they suffered justly. Equally righteous, equally confessors of sins; and therefore righteous, because they equally confessed their sins. Therefore they were beyond reproach, because they were not liars. For if we say, says John, that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Therefore confession of sins pertains to the righteous: defense of merits pertains to the proud. Equally then, the righteous confessing sins, equally giving glory to God, equally prepared to die for His laws.

Why are they freed from the flames, while these are consumed by the flames? Thus did God aid those and abandon these? By no means: rather, He was present to both; to those openly, to these secretly. He visibly delivered those: He invisibly crowned these. Those indeed were freed from death; but remained in the temptation of this life: freed from fire, reserved for future dangers; having defeated one tyrant, still to contend with the devil. My brothers, understand as Christians. The Maccabees were freed better and more safely. By those three men, the single temptation was overcome, the rest remaining: by these, this life ended, which is entirely temptation. Then by divine judgment, hidden no doubt, but yet just, Nebuchadnezzar deserved to be converted, Antiochus deserved to be hardened. The former found mercy, the latter magnified pride.

Against those who believe happiness exists in this life, and doubt about the other life.

But to what extent and how far did he increase his pride? I saw the wicked exalted over the cedars of Lebanon. How far? For how long? I passed by, and behold, he was not: and I sought him, and his place was not found. Well: you sought, and did not find; because you passed by. Do you want to see the wicked is not? Do you want to seek him and not find his place? Pass by. What do I say, Pass by? Do not be alarmed: I did not say: Die. For you thought I said, Pass from this life: and therefore you were alarmed, because you did not pass by. What is it, you did not pass by? You did not pass by the erection of the heart, the allurements of temporal felicity; you did not pass by the enticements of the flesh, you did not pass by the suggestions of the world, tickling the heart and casting in the fear of human miseries. Therefore in this world you think there is happiness, in this world you do not think there is calamity. The happiness of the kingdom of heaven has not touched your heart, nor has the breeze of refreshment from there sprinkled upon your heats. When it is said to you, The happiness of the world is false; even if you do not dare to say so, I still see in your heart, perhaps you twist your mouth, mock, sneer, and say to yourself: Oh, if only I could be well here! What will happen afterwards I do not know. And it is not little that you even say: I do not know: perhaps you also say this: The time of our life is brief and full of labor, and there is no return at the end of man, and there is no one who has returned from the dead and been recognized. At least say, I do not know. Confession of ignorance is a step towards knowledge. Thus I address you, as if you say to me, I do not know what will happen after death: I am completely ignorant whether the just will be blessed and the sinners miserable; or whether neither will exist at all. However, even though you do not know this, you will not dare to say that sinners will be blessed and the just miserable after death. You cannot say, even if you suspect they will not equally exist, that the wicked will be in a better state, and the just in a worse state after death. Nor can your ignorance suggest this to you. Therefore, you can say: Whether it will be well for the just after death, and ill for the wicked after death, or whether neither will exist with sense, I do not know. Oh, if only I could be well here, while I live, while I feel! You see, you have not yet passed by. Those, I say, those earthly, dusty, smoky, vaporous, carnal, mortal thoughts, you have not yet passed by. Therefore it seems to you that the wicked is exalted above the cedars of Lebanon: therefore you seek his place, and find it, because you have not passed by.

The wicked placed here in their own place for good uses.

You seek his place, and you find it; but here. He has his place in this world. For he would not be created by an all-knowing God in vain, nor nurtured in vain, nor would the sun rise over him in vain, and rain fall on him in vain, nor would God’s great patience spare him in vain, though he is wicked and lives wickedly. This is not in vain: he has his place here. And if we cannot find everything: but all things are known to God, who knows how to arrange everything. Behold, to be silent about others, what kind of place did this wretched Antiochus have here? Through him, the people of God were scourged and tested: through him, these holy youths were crowned. Therefore, he had his place here. He was evil; but the one who cannot be evil used him well. For just as evil men use good things badly, so the good Creator uses evil men well. He knows what to do with it, who created the entire human race. The goldsmith carries, the goldsmith weighs, the goldsmith balances. The painter knows where to place the black color, so that the picture is beautiful; and does God not know where to place the sinner, so that the creation is orderly?

If God did not preserve sinners through previous ages with His patience, from where would so many faithful be born today? Some evil ones are preserved, so that good ones may be born from them. The good are by the grace of God: for the whole mass of sin is condemned. What could be more wicked than the devil? And from his wickedness how much good has God made? The blood of the Redeemer would not have been shed for our salvation if not through the wickedness of the betrayer. Read the Gospel and see what is written there: The devil put it into the heart of Judas to betray Christ. The devil was evil, Judas was evil: as is the craftsman, so is the instrument. The devil used his vessel badly: the Lord used them both well. They attempted our ruin: God deigned to turn this to our salvation.

The betrayal of Christ is both by Judas and by God.

Judas handed over Christ, and he is condemned. Judas handed over, and he is condemned; the Father handed over the Son, and He is glorified. I say, Judas handed over the master, and he is condemned; the Son handed over Himself, and He is praised. How Judas handed over Christ, we all know; perhaps you are waiting to hear how the Father handed over the Son. And this you know; but I will remind you, so that you may remember. Hear the Apostle speaking of God the Father: "He who did not spare His own Son, but handed Him over for us all." Hear also about the Son: "Who loved me, he says, and gave Himself up for me." Now see two betrayers: the Father as the betrayer of the Son, the Son as the betrayer of Himself, but both as saviors, because both are creators. So what did Judas do? What good did he do? Good came from him, but he himself did not do good. For Judas did not say: I will hand over Christ, so that the human race may be liberated. In Judas, avarice handed over; in God, mercy. Nothing was returned to Judas except what he did, not what God did through him.

This desolate place is among the righteous, not in the other life.

Why have we said these things? Because in this impious world there is a place: the Lord truly knows who are His; and He knows what He does for them, concerning those who are not His. But if you pass, if you tread on earthly things, if you do not in vain answer that you have your heart above; by passing you will seek the place of the impious, and you will not find it. For in that future life, what place is there for the impious? Do we still need to be exercised by evils? Does gold still need to be purified through chaff? For the whole world is a goldsmith's furnace. There the just as gold: there the impious as chaff. There tribulation like fire: there God like a goldsmith. The pious praises God, the gold gleams: the impious blasphemes God, the chaff smokes. At one tribulation, as at one fire, he is purified, he is devastated: but God the goldsmith is praised in both.

Let the pious not be disturbed by the worldly happiness of the impious.

I shall speak, beloved, exhorting you and myself. Let us transcend carnal thoughts with the help of the Lord, let us lift our hearts on high, let us think of the future life: where your heart has been, you have passed over. Where is the impious man? He will not be there. Here he was necessary: there you will seek him, and you will not find his place. Therefore, when you see, brothers, who live by faith, whose hearts are upright, who hope for the future and the same true and eternal happiness; when you see men rejoicing and being glad in this false and deceiving happiness, if you are pious, grieve; if you are sane, weep. For thus, he whose feet were moved, reproached himself, because he had begun to accuse God, and he was already there; but he was almost there, he was slightly less than there. He did not deny knowledge to God: but, as if his feet were moved, he wavered. What does it mean to waver? To doubt. But when he reproached himself, that he did not have it corrected, what did he say? Why have my feet been moved? Because, he says, I was envious of sinners, seeing the peace of sinners. Because I saw the wicked rich, I was envious; and I said that I lost justice, and in vain I justified my heart, and washed my hands among the innocent. And as I doubt, thus I begin to understand. Thus I begin, he says, to understand: this is labor before me. Great labor, to solve this question. Truly it is labor. It is well with him, and he is evil; it is ill with him, and he is good: and above both, God is the judge. Therefore, the just judge gives good things to the evil, and evil things to the good. This is labor before me. But how long is it labor? Until I enter into the sanctuary of God, and I understand in the end. Therefore, if you understand in the end, there will be rest from seeking, labor of questioning will disappear.

Heavenly happiness is prepared for the pious. Worldly happiness for the pious is not an honor, but a burden.

Understand in the end times, where no wicked person will be happy, no good person unhappy. For what does he say? What do I have in heaven? Later, I understood what I have in heaven, when I entered the sanctuary of God and understood in the end times. For what do I have in heaven? Incorruption, eternity, immortality, no pain, no fear, no end to blessedness. So what do I have in heaven? What is kept for me in heaven? And what did I desire from you on earth? For what do I have in heaven? What? Should I say what? When will I explain what? Therefore, marveling at this, he said it without explaining: For what do I have? he said. Why don't you say what? How do I say what eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of man? Trample downward what; because it is nothing: hope upward for what; because it cannot be explained. And having this faith, do not be envious of sinners when you see them as if they are happy, falsely happy, truly unhappy. And you, rejoice in the Lord. And if you happen to have riches, honors, powers according to the times, do not think yourselves happy because of these.

To know how to rejoice in the Lord, and to understand the end things, the happiness of the world is not an honor, but a burden. A happy man according to the age is endangered, lest by that very happiness he is corrupted, not in the body, but in the soul. For that happiness is false. Such men, even if they seem to be something in this age, do not rejoice; they delight in the commandments of the Lord. Then what God commands is preferred to the world, both flattering and threatening: all visible things are trampled upon, they are passed over; they are passed over by thinking, not by walking. I did not say, all visible things; for it is easy to pass over what you trample upon: but I said, all changeable things are passed over. For whatever is visible is changeable: but not everything changeable is visible; for the mind is also changeable, and yet invisible. Pass over everything that is seen; pass over also that which is not seen, and yet is changed: so that you may come to Him who is neither seen nor changed. When you come to Him, you will come to God.

Brief is the time of life.

But now walk by faith, compose your morals. He is far on high: nourish your wings. Believe what you cannot yet see, so that you may deserve to see what you believe. Let us live as strangers, let us think that we are passing through; and we will sin less. Rather, let us give thanks to the Lord our God, because He willed that the last day of this life be both brief and uncertain. From early infancy to decrepit old age is a short span. What would it have profited someone who lived so long if Adam had died today? What is long where there is an end? No one recalls yesterday: today is urged on by tomorrow, so that it may pass. Let us live well in this short span, and let us go to that place where we shall not pass away. And now while we are speaking, we are indeed passing. Words run, they fly from the mouth: thus our deeds, thus our honors, thus our misery, thus our happiness. All things pass: but let us not be afraid; the Word of the Lord remains forever.