Sermon 345

SERMO 345

TREATISE OF SAINT AUGUSTINE ON DESPISERS OF TEMPORAL THINGS:
Held on the feast day of the Tuburbitan Martyrs

Precepts for the wealthy. Dream of the poor.

The solemnity of the martyrs and the Lord's day prompt us to speak to your Charity about what pertains to the contempt of the present age and the hope for the future. If you seek what to despise, every holy and pious martyr despised even the present life. If you seek what to hope for, today the Lord has risen. If you falter in the matter, be firm in hope; if the task troubles you, let the reward lift you up. The first apostolic reading, in the epistle he writes to Timothy, also warns us as he commanded him, saying: Command those who are rich in this world not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on the living God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. And this reading seems to us no less appropriate for the solemnity of the blessed martyrs; for it encompasses the contempt of the world. For when it is commanded to the rich to store up for themselves a good foundation for the future, and to take hold of true life, without a doubt, this present life is false. And the rich, who are praised, should especially hear this when the poor look upon them, murmur, sigh, praise, envy, wish to be equal, and grieve that they are unequal, and often say among the praises of the rich: "They alone, they alone live." Therefore, on account of these words, by which people flatter the rich because they alone live, and live alone, let them not, inflated by these flattering words, think they are living: Command, he says, those who are rich in this world not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on the living God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. Be rich: but in what? In good works; be generous, because they do not lose what they give; share with those who do not have. And what comes of this? They will store up for themselves a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of true life; not assenting to flatterers who say they live and alone live. This life is a dream; these riches flow as if in a dream. Hear the Psalm, O richest poor man: They have slept their sleep, and none of the men of wealth have found anything in their hands. Sometimes even a beggar lying on the ground, trembling with cold, occupied with sleep, dreams of treasures, and rejoices and is proud in his dreams, and does not deign to recognize his ragged father, and as long as he sleeps, he is rich. When he sleeps, he finds false joy; when he awakes, he finds true sorrow. Therefore, the rich man dying is like the poor man waking, who saw treasures in his dreams. For he was wrapped in purple and fine linen, a certain rich man, neither named nor to be named, a despiser of the poor lying before his door; he was wrapped in purple and fine linen, as the Gospel testimony is, and feasted sumptuously every day. He died, he was buried; he woke up, and found himself in flames. Therefore, he slept his sleep, and this man of wealth found nothing in his hands, because he did nothing good with his hands.

An example of a man who redeems his life from the enemy.

Because of life, wealth is sought, not life because of wealth. How many have made pacts with their enemies, so that they take everything and leave life! However much they had, they bought their life at that price. How much is eternal life to be valued if a perishable life is so precious? Give something to Christ so that you may live blessed, if you give everything to an enemy so that you may live as a beggar. Weigh your temporal life, which you redeem at such a high price, measure its worthiness to eternal life, which you neglect so that you live for a few days, even if you were to reach old age. For all the days of a man from infancy to old age are few days; and if Adam himself were to die today, he would have lived few days, as he had finished them all. Do you redeem so few and laborious days, in such poverty, in such temptation? At what cost? You want to have nothing so that you may have yourself. Do you want to know at what cost eternal life is valued? Add yourself to the calculation. Behold, an enemy who had captured you said to you: If you want to live, give me whatever you have; and to live, you gave everything; today you are redeemed, tomorrow perhaps you will die; freed by this one, perhaps to be pushed by another. Let dangers teach us, my brethren. What education do we lack, surrounded by the words of God and human experiences? Behold, you gave everything and went away rejoicing because you live, even if poor, even if needy, even if naked, even if a beggar, you still rejoice because you live, and the light is sweet. Let Christ appear: let Him also negotiate, not the one who captured you, but the one who was captured for you; not the one who seeks to kill you, but the one who deemed it worthy to be killed for you. He who gave Himself for you (how great a price!), who made you, tells you: Make a pact with me. Do you want to have yourself and lose everything? If you want to have yourself, you must have me; hate yourself so that you may love me, and by losing your life you may find it, lest you lose it by holding onto it. From these riches of yours, which you love to possess and which you are nevertheless ready to give for your present life, I have already given sound advice. If you love them too, do not lose them; but where you love them, they are perishable with you. I give advice about these, too. Do you love them? Send them where you may follow them; so that while you love them on earth, you do not lose them alive or leave them dead. And, he says, I have given this advice. I did not say: Lose, but: Save. Do you want to store up treasure? I do not say: Do not, but I say: Where. Take me as your advisor, not your prohibiter. Where then do I say to store up treasure? Store up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, nor thieves break in and steal.

A healthy piece of advice on preserving wealth.

But you say, "I do not see what I place in heaven." For you see what you bury in the earth. You are secure in burying in the earth, and you are anxious about giving to Him who made heaven and earth? Keep it where you wish; if you find anyone better than Christ, entrust it to that guardian. "I entrust," you say, "to my servant." How much better to entrust to your Lord? A servant perhaps will steal and flee; and amidst so many evils which have already happened, it would have been preferable for the servant to steal and flee rather than to lead enemies to his master. Many servants suddenly turned enemies to their masters, and betrayed them to the enemies along with the goods they had. To whom then do you entrust it? "Meanwhile," you say, "I entrust my gold to my servant." Your gold to your servant: to whom does your soul belong? "I entrust," you say, "my soul to God." How much better to entrust both your gold and your soul to Him? Or is He perhaps faithful in guarding your soul, and unfaithful in guarding your money? Does He who keeps you not also keep your possessions? Have faith then. The servant acts so as not to steal: does he act so as not to lose? His entire faithfulness is in not defrauding you; you regard his faithfulness, do you not regard his weakness? He put it down, did not hide it; another came and took it. Would anyone do this to Christ? Shake off your laziness, take the counsel; treasure up in heaven. And what did I say: Shake off your laziness? As if it were an effort to treasure up in heaven. Even if it were an effort, it must be done, and the effort must be undertaken, and those things which we hold in high regard must be stored in a secure place, from which no one can take them away. Yet Christ does not say to you: Treasure up in heaven, seek ladders, fit wings; but: Give to Me on earth, and I will keep it there. On earth, He says, give to Me; therefore I came to be poor here, so that you may be rich there. Make a transfer. Are you afraid of defrauders, lest you lose it? Are you looking for someone to carry it where you are migrating? Christ is present to you in both; He does not deceive but carries.

Christ is to be found in the poor.

But you will say, "Where do I find Christ?" Since my faith has what I heard in the Church; I learned this, I believed this, I was imbued with this Sacrament: He was buried, He rose on the third day, after forty days He ascended into heaven before the eyes of His disciples, He sits at the right hand of the Father, and in the end, He will come. When do I find Him here? To whom shall I give? Do not be anxious, hear everything; or if you have heard everything, say everything. I know that you have received this: Christ was hung on the cross, taken down from the wood, placed in the tomb, He rose, He ascended into heaven. And you read that, when Saul proudly persecuted His Church, cruel and breathing threats of murder, thirsting for the blood of Christians, when he raged, when he persecuted, carrying letters to Damascus so that he might bring back in bondage any men and women he found of this discipline; you heard what He called out to him whom you confess sitting in heaven? Remember, therefore, what was said, what you heard, what you read: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" For Paul was neither seeing Him nor touching Him; and yet He said: "Why do you persecute me?" He did not say: "Why do you persecute my family, my servants, my saints, add the honor, my brothers?" None of these, but what did He say? "Why do you persecute me?" That is, my members, for whom on earth you tread, and the head from heaven cries out; because for even your foot, if it is trodden on earth, your tongue cries out, not: "You tread on my foot," but: "You tread on me." So why do you doubt, to whom you should give? He who said: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" says to you: "Feed me on earth." Saul raged, and yet he persecuted Christ; so also you, give on earth and you feed Christ. For the Lord Himself foretold this question, which troubles you, will trouble those who will be placed on the right; and when He said: "I was hungry, and you gave me food," they will answer: "Lord, when did we see you hungry?" And they will immediately hear: "When you did it to one of the least of my brethren, you did it to me."

What true riches are must be learned.

If therefore you do not want to give, you have something in you to accuse, you have nothing to excuse. Therefore, about these riches your Lord says to you: I have given most salutary advice. Do you love them? Transfer them; and when you have transferred, you will follow. Follow them meanwhile with your heart: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. If you commend your treasure to the earth, you entomb both it and your heart on earth; but when you have buried your heart on earth, be ashamed when you respond, when you hear: Lift up your heart, we have it with the Lord. I, says He, have given salutary advice concerning your riches. If you do, if you hear, if you are such a rich man as the Apostle describes, that you do not think proudly, nor hope in the uncertainty of riches, readily distributing, sharing, treasuring up for yourself a good foundation for the future, that you may lay hold on true life; now ask me, says your Lord. Behold, I have committed what I have to heaven, whether by giving it all, or by holding what remains as though not having it, using this world as though not using it. Is the kingdom of heaven worth so much? Behold, if I have done this, is it worth so much? It is dear. It is worth more dearly: for it is not truly such as to be worth so much. You will live eternally. For you would give all these treasures even for the life of a few days; there you will be truly rich, because you will not need. But in fact, you do this, when you wish to be rich, so that you may not need on earth; and therefore you heap up and accumulate thick clay for yourself, by which you are weighed down, by which you are pressed, by which you are more closely bound when dried out. Therefore, so that you may not need, you seek many animals for transportation, abundant feasts for sustenance, the most precious clothes for clothing. But do know that, having much, you are rich, and the Angel is poor, who uses neither horse nor carriage, does not fill the table with provisions, nor cover himself with garments because he is clothed with light. Learn true riches. You wish to have these, that you may have the means to soothe your throat and fill your belly; he truly makes you rich, who grants you not to hunger. This is to not need at all, to not hunger; for no matter how much you have, when the hour comes for you to eat, or before you approach the table when you hunger, you are needy. Finally, removing the feasts, you as a proud person gasp. This fulfillment is not of needs but smoke of cares. See what you think about increasing these riches of yours; see if you sleep easily when you think, either not to lose where you saved, or to increase what you saved. Therefore, you have found riches, who have found rest. When you are awake, you think about the increase of wealth; when you sleep, you dream of thieves; in the day anxious, at night fearful, always a beggar. He truly wants to make you rich, who promises you the kingdom of heaven. And do you think how much you are going to buy those true riches, that true life, and that eternal one? What then? Do you think it is true because you are going to buy it for as much as you were prepared to buy these few laborious and miserable days? Something worth more should indeed be far greater.

A man should offer not only his goods but also himself to God. The example of the martyrs of Tuburbium.

And what shall I do? you ask. I have given everything I had to the poor, and what I have I share with those in need: what more can I do? You have more: yourself; you have more, you are one of your possessions, you must be added. Pay attention to your Lord's counsel, which He gave to the rich man: Go, sell everything you have, and give to the poor. And did He dismiss him after saying this? And so that he might not think he would lose what he loved, He first assured him that he would not lose it, but store it up: You will have, He said, treasure in heaven. Is this enough? No. And come, follow me. Did you love? Do you want to follow? He ran, he flew, whom you wish to follow. By what? Through hardships, through reproaches, through false accusations, through spitting in the face, through slaps and beatings with whips, through the thorny crown, through the cross, through death. Why are you reluctant? You wanted to follow, the way has been shown. And you say: Who will follow there? Be ashamed, bearded one; women followed, whose feast we celebrate today. Today we celebrate the solemnity of the martyred women of Tuburba. Your Lord, our Lord, their Lord, the Lord of all, the Redeemer of life, by preceding along the narrow way has made it paved, a royal road, fortified and pure, on which even women delight to walk; and are you still reluctant? Will you not shed your blood for such a great blood? Your Lord says this to you: I suffered first for you; give what you received, return what you drank. Can you not? Boys and girls could; the delicate and refined could; the rich, and the very rich, who when the sudden temptation of passion came, were not restrained by the abundance of riches, nor captivated by the sweetness of this life, thinking of that rich man ending his riches and finding torments; and they did not send their riches ahead, but rather went ahead in martyrdom. With so many examples preceding, are you reluctant? And yet you celebrate the feasts of the martyrs. Today is the birthday of the martyrs: I will proceed, you say, perhaps with a better tunic. See with what conscience: love what you do, imitate what you celebrate, do what you praise. But I can't. The Lord is near, be anxious for nothing. You say, I can't. Do not fear the very source; from where they were filled, you can also be filled, if you approach eagerly, if you do not swell like a hill, but humble yourself like a valley, so that you may deserve to be filled.

The world flourishing, the world perishing. Christ the healer comes.

Therefore let us not be hard on ourselves, brothers, especially in these times of abundant pressure; the world was despised by the martyrs when it flourished; truly with great praise was it despised when flourishing, and loved when perishing. They despised its flowers, and you embrace its thorns. If you are reluctant to depart, let the ruined house terrify you. But the pagan mocks you. Why does the pagan mock you? Indeed, it is time for the pagan to mock you, because the prophecies of your Lord are being fulfilled; it would be more fitting for him to mock you if what he predicted were not fulfilled. He denies the God you worship; you, from what the world endures, show the truth, and not saddened by prophecies, rejoice in promises. For it is coming at the time when the world, already aging, made as if to end, was to abound in disasters and calamities and distresses and troubles. He comes for your consolation, he who comes then; lest you fail in the pressures of a perishing and passing life, he promised another life. Before the world suffered these afflictions and calamities, Prophets were sent; servants were sent to this grievously ill one, to the human race, as if to one languishing man stretched and lying from East to West; the powerful physician sent his servants. It came that such attacks would come to this sick one, in which he was to labor greatly. And the physician said: This sick one is to labor greatly, I am necessary. Now the foolish sick man says to the physician: Lord, I have been suffering since you came. Foolish one, you do not suffer because I came, but I came because you were to suffer. To be brief, brothers, why say much? The Lord shortened his word upon the earth. Let us live well, and for our good life do not hope for the fleeting goods of the earth. Earthly happiness is a cheap reward for a good life; what you live well here is not worth as much as what you covet here, although by coveting such things you do not live well here at all. If you wish to change your life, change your desire. You keep faith with God, and therefore to be happy on earth. Is that the only reason you keep faith with God? Is your faith worth that much? Do you value it so little? If you had something for sale on earth, and you negotiate with a buyer, you would ask a higher price, he a lower: it is worth this much, you say, because you exaggerate what you sell; and he: it is not worth that much, but this much; and he offers you a lower price, wanting to buy cheaper. The Lord Christ corrects you. You say to your Lord Christ: Lord, I keep faith with you, and you give me on earth. Foolish one, what you sell is not worth that much; you err, you do not know what you have. You keep faith, and seek earth? Your faith is worth more than the earth; you do not know its value. I know how much it is worth, I who gave it to you; it is worth as much as the whole earth; add the earth and the sky, it is worth more. What is worth more than earth and sky? He who made both earth and sky. Turned to the Lord...