Sermon 33A

SERMON 33/A

Sermon Given at Utica on the Third Day before the Ides of September.
ON THE VERSE OF PSALM 145:
"I will praise the Lord in my life,
"I will sing psalms to my God as long as I live."

This will be our living: to see, love, praise God.

From the words of this psalm, which we have just sung, may the Lord grant that we might be able to speak to you. For we have said: I will praise the Lord in my life; I will sing psalms to my God as long as I live. With these words, let us first remind your Charity that when you hear or say as long as I live, I will sing psalms to my God, do not think that when this life ends, the praise of God will end for us. For we will praise Him even more then, when we live without end. For if we praise in the pilgrimage from which we depart, how much more will we praise in the house from which we will never depart? As is said and read and sung in another psalm: Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they will praise you forever and ever. Where you hear: forever and ever, there is no end. And to live a blessed life, where God is undoubtedly seen, is to be loved without offense, to be praised without end; this will indeed be our life, to see God, to love Him, to praise Him. If therefore we praise when we believe, how will we praise when we see? How will sight praise, if faith praises so? For the Apostle says: As long as we are in the body, we are pilgrims from the Lord; for we walk by faith, not by sight. Now therefore by faith, then by sight. Now we believe what we do not see, then we will see what we believed. The one who believes is not ashamed, because it is true what he will see. But our Lord first built faith in us, where, if the reward of faith is given, it should not be sought prematurely.

Our life is a vapor, appearing for a little while.

Someone says: "Why then did the psalm say: I will sing praises to my God as long as I live, and not say: I will sing praises to my God forever?" For where it is said: As long as I live, a limit is implied, if it is not understood. If you think that it was said of this life, as long as I live, examine whether this life is indeed long. However long you live here, it is not long. How can it be long, that which does not satisfy you? A young person says that an old man has lived a long time, but when he reaches the age that the old man has reached, he sees how it was not long. Indeed, time flies so swiftly, moments pass in such a way, that we see ourselves as children a few days ago, young people yesterday, and old men today. Therefore, where you think it has been said of this life, as long as I live, I will sing praises to my God, because it said as long as I live, the true understanding is that it was not said of this life, because it said as long as. The truth would never say as long as regarding this life, where nothing is long. The wise of this world could have seen this, and can Christians not see this? One of the world's wise men, a most eloquent man, said: "For what is long in that which has an end?" He entirely denied that what could ever come to an end is long. Indeed, whenever your life, however long it may be, comes to an end, it is not long, even if you have reached extreme old age. For the life of one man, especially in these days, is a vapor that appears for a little while. This is what I said, and Scripture says it. To people who rejoice and are powerful in pride, and who do not know if they will die suddenly, divine Scripture says, admonishing them, thus prideful and trusting in their fleeting fragility: What is your life? It is a vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes. Therefore, one who exalts himself in pride trusts in vapor; he is elevated in honor and perishes with the vapor. Pride must thus be restrained and trampled as much as possible. And we must understand that we live on this earth mortally and contemplate the end where there will be no end. For if you, as I began to say, if you have grown old, you exalt yourself greatly, thinking you have lived long who will eventually end, but if even Adam still lived and did not die until the end of the world, he would not have anything long, in which there was something final. And it is very truly said, and prudently understood, and it is not only preached as true, but also recognized by listeners.

We are not made Christians to desire this life.

Let us turn our mind to the psalm we have sung, and we find that he would not say: "I will sing praise to my God as long as I live," unless it were about that life where it is long. For indeed in this life, nothing is long because there is an end to something; we are not called to desire this life when we become Christians. For we do not become Christians so that it may be well with us in this life. For if we think that we become Christians for this reason, that it may be well with us here according to this temporal life, according to fleeting and ephemeral happiness, we are greatly mistaken, and our steps will falter, seeing someone who is so distinguished in dignity that he stands out among those with whom he lives, being healthy in body, reaching decrepit old age. The poor Christian sees this, ignoble, sighing in daily labor with groans, and perhaps says to himself: "What good is it to me that I have become a Christian? Am I better off than he who is not, than he who does not believe in Christ, than he who blasphemes my God?" The psalm advises him: do not put your trust in princes. Why does the flower of the grass delight you? All flesh is grass, as the Prophet says; he not only speaks but exclaims. The Lord exclaimed to him: Cry out, He said. And he answered: What should I cry out? All flesh is grass, and all the glory of the flesh is like the flower of the grass. The grass withers, the flower falls. Is everything lost then? By no means. But the word of the Lord endures forever. Why does the grass delight you? Behold, the grass has perished. Do you want not to perish? Hold on to the Word. So too in this psalm. For the poor, humble Christian might be looking at a rich and powerful pagan, looking at the flower of the grass, and perhaps choosing him as a patron rather than God. The psalm addresses him: Do not trust in princes, in the sons of men in whom there is no salvation. He immediately responds: "Does he say this about one who has salvation? Behold, he is healthy. Today I see him vigorous. I myself am constantly sick with misery." Why do you look at things that please and delight you? There is no salvation. His spirit will depart, and he will return to his earth. Behold all his salvation, a vapor appearing for a moment. His spirit will depart, and he will return to his earth. Let a few years pass. Let the river move, as usually happens, running through various tombs of the dead. Distinguish the bones of the rich man from the bones of the poor man. Upon his spirit departing, he returns to his earth. He said nothing of his spirit for the best because when he lived, he thought nothing spiritually. He will return to his earth, according to the flesh, surely, according to the body, where he flourished, where he was carried away, where he deceived you, in the felicity of whose flesh he misled you. His spirit will depart, and he will return to his earth; on that day all their thoughts will perish. Those thoughts which were earthly: "Behold, I do this, behold, I accomplish, behold, I reach, behold, I buy that, behold, I acquire that, behold, I reach such and such honor," on that day all his thoughts will perish. But if, because the word of the Lord endures forever, you hold to the Word to give you eternal life, not only will your thought not perish then, but it will come then. When his perishes, yours will come. For he thought about temporal and earthly things, adding wealth to wealth, augmenting monetary resources, striving for honors, swelling with power. Therefore, because he thought such things, on that day all his thoughts will perish. But you, if you thought, because you have become a Christian, not about temporal felicity, but eternal rest when your body returns to its earth, then your soul finds its rest.

About the rich man and Lazarus.

Pay attention to the Gospel, and see and inspect the thoughts of two men. There was indeed a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and feasted sumptuously every day. Daily hay, and the flower of hay. Do not be deceived by the felicity of him who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and feasted sumptuously every day. He was proud, he was impious, he thought vain thoughts, he desired vain things. When he died, on that day his thoughts perished. But there was a certain poor man named Lazarus at his gate. The name of the rich man is silent but the name of the poor man is said. Whose name was being aired, God was silent about him; of whose name silence was kept, God spoke him. I do not want you to be surprised. God recited what he found written in his book. For it is said of the impious: And they will not be written in your book. Likewise, of the Apostles, when they gloried because demons were subject to them in the name of the Lord, lest they should be exalted by this matter and boast themselves, even though it was such a great matter, and even though it was excellent virtue: Do not rejoice, he said, in this, that demons are subject to you; but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. For God the inhabitant of heaven was silent about the name of the rich man, because he did not find it written in heaven. He spoke the name of the poor man, because he found it written there, indeed he ordered it to be written there. But see that poor man. For we have spoken of the thoughts of the impious rich man, famous, clothed in purple and fine linen, and feasting sumptuously every day, because when he died, all his thoughts perished. But poor Lazarus was at the gate of the rich man, full of sores, and desired to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the table of the rich man, and no one gave to him; but even the dogs came and licked his sores. There I want you to see yourself, Christian: for the deaths of these two are spoken of. Indeed God is able, both to give salvation in this life, to remove poverty, and to grant sufficiency to the Christian. And yet, if this were not so, what would you choose? To be that poor man, or to be that rich man? Do not be deceived. Hear the end, and observe the bad choice. For without a doubt, that poor man, because he was pious, placed in temporal troubles, thought someday that life would end, and eternal rest would be attained. Both died, but the thoughts of that poor man did not perish on that day. For it came to pass that the poor man died, and was carried by angels to Abraham's bosom. On that day all his thoughts were healed. And since Lazarus is interpreted in Latin as "helped" - in Latin "helped" is said who in Hebrew is Lazarus - the Psalm well reminded: Blessed is he whose helper is the God of Jacob. When his spirit departs, and his flesh returns to his own dust, his thoughts will not perish, because his hope is in the Lord his God. This is learned in the school of Christ the teacher, this is hoped for by the faithful listener's soul, this is the truest reward of the Savior.