Sermon 61

SERMO 61

OF THE WORDS OF THE GOSPEL MT 7, 7-11:
"Ask, and it will be given to you," and so forth.
"An Exhortation to Give Alms."

Our Father is God.

In the reading of the Holy Gospel, the Lord exhorted us to pray. "Ask," He says, "and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who seeks finds, and to everyone who knocks it shall be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him?" When you, He says, are evil, you know how to give good gifts to your children. A marvelous thing, brethren: we are evil, and we have a good Father. What could be clearer? We have heard our own name: When you, He says, are evil, you know how to give good gifts to your children. And to those He called evil, see what kind of Father He points out: "How much more your Father?" Whose Father? Certainly of the evil ones. And what kind of Father? No one is good, except God alone.

A man does not become good from evil except by God.

Therefore, brothers, we have a good Father even when we are evil, so that we do not always remain evil. No evil person does good. If no evil person does good, how does an evil person make himself good? He who is always good makes good out of evil. Heal me, Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved. What do vain people say to me in vain: "You can save yourself if you wish"? Heal me, Lord, and I shall be healed. We were created good by the good: for God made man upright; but by our own will we have become evil. We could have become evil from being good, and we could become good from being evil. But He who is always good makes good out of evil: for a man could not heal himself by his own will. You do not seek a doctor in order to wound yourself: but when you have wounded yourself, you seek one who will heal you. Therefore we know how to give our children good things according to time, temporal, bodily, and carnal good things, even though we are evil. For these are good things too, who would doubt it? Fish, egg, bread, fruit, wheat, this light, this air that we breathe, these are good things: even the riches in which men are exalted, and they do not recognize other men as their equals: in which, I say, men are exalted, loving more a shining garment than thinking about the common skin; therefore these very riches are good: but all these good things which I have mentioned can be possessed by both good and evil people; and though they are good, they cannot make people good.

The good is twofold.

Therefore, it is good that one should do good: and there is good from which to do good. The good that does good is God. For no one makes a person good except Him who is always good. Therefore, to be good, call upon God. But there is another good from which to do good: that is, whatever you possess. It is gold, it is silver; it is good, not such that it makes you good, but from which you do good. You have gold, you have silver; and you covet gold and you covet silver. And you have, and you covet; and you are full, and you thirst. It is a sickness, not prosperity. There are people in sickness, filled with fluid, and they are always thirsty. They are filled with fluid, and they thirst for fluid. How then do you delight in wealth when you have the hydropic desire? Therefore, you have gold, it is good: you have, not that it makes you good, but from which you do good. What good, you ask, will I do with gold? Have you not heard the Psalm? "He has distributed, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." This is good, this is the good from which you are good, righteousness. If you have the good from which to be good; do good from the good from which you are not good. You have money, spend it. By spending money, you increase righteousness. For he has distributed, given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever. See what is diminished and what is increased. Money is diminished, righteousness is increased. That is diminished which you were going to let go of, that is diminished which you were going to leave behind: that is increased which you will possess forever.

Money must be distributed so that justice may be maintained.

I offer advice for profits, learn to trade. For you praise the merchant who sells lead and acquires gold; and do you not praise the merchant who spends money and acquires justice? But you say, I do not spend money because I do not have justice. Let him spend money who has justice: if I do not have justice, let me at least have money. Therefore, because you do not have justice, do you not wish to spend money? Rather, spend money, so that you may have justice. For from whom will you have justice, if not from God, the source of justice? Therefore, if you wish to have justice, be a beggar of God, who just a little while ago from the Gospel was advising you to ask, seek, knock. He knew his beggar, and behold the head of the household and the great rich man, that is indeed rich in spiritual and eternal riches, encourages, and says to you: "Ask, seek, knock. Whoever asks receives: the one seeking finds: to the one knocking it will be opened." He encourages you to ask: will he deny what you ask?

The likeness of an unjust judge.

Attend to the contrary comparison or analogy, as with that unjust rich man, urging us to pray, when the Lord said: There was a certain judge in a city, who neither feared God nor respected man. A certain widow appealed to him daily and said, Avenge me. He refused for a time: she did not cease to appeal; and he did out of frustration what he would not do out of kindness. Thus indeed He admonished us by contrary example to ask.

The parable of the troublesome friends.

He came, he says, to his friend to whom a guest had come; and he began to knock and say: A guest has come to me, lend me three loaves. He replied: I am already resting, and my servants are resting with me. He does not stop, he stands, he insists, he knocks; and as a friend begs from a friend. And what does he say: I tell you, he gets up, and not because of their friendship, but because of his persistence, gives him as many as he wishes. Not because of friendship, although he is a friend, but because of persistence. What is it, because of persistence? Because he did not stop knocking: because even when he was denied, he did not turn away. The one who did not want to give, did what was asked because the one asking did not give up. How much more will the good one give, who encourages us to ask; who is displeased if we do not ask? But when sometimes he gives slower, he commends the gifts, he does not deny them. Long desired things are obtained more sweetly: things given quickly become cheap. Ask, seek, insist. By asking and seeking you grow, so that you may receive. God keeps for you what he does not wish to give quickly; so that you may also learn to desire great things greatly. Hence it is necessary always to pray, and not to give up.

Who, from whom, what we should ask.

So therefore, my brothers, God made us his beggars, admonishing us, and urging and ordering us to ask, seek, knock; let us also consider those who ask from us. We are asking. From whom are we asking? who are we who ask? what are we asking? From whom, or who, or what are we asking? We ask from a good God: we ask as evil men: but we ask for righteousness, so that we may be good. Therefore we ask for that which we may possess for eternity: so that when we have been satisfied with it, we may not need further. But in order to be satisfied, let us hunger and thirst; by hungering and thirsting let us ask, seek, knock. For blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Why blessed? They hunger and thirst, and are blessed? Is hunger sometimes blessed? They are not blessed because they hunger and thirst; but because they shall be satisfied. There will be blessedness in satisfaction, not in hunger. But let hunger come before satisfaction, lest satiety does not lead to fullness.

Who, from whom, or what these our beggars ask.

Therefore, we have said from whom we should ask, who should ask, what we should ask. But we are also asked. For we are beggars of God: so that He may recognize His beggars, let us also recognize ours. But let us also consider, when we are asked, who asks, from whom they ask, what they ask. Who asks? Humans. From whom do they ask? From humans. Who asks? Mortals. From whom do they ask? From mortals. Who asks? Frail ones. From whom do they ask? From frail ones. Who asks? Wretched ones. From whom do they ask? From the wretched. Except for the substance of their wealth, those who ask are the same as those from whom they ask. What face do you have in asking from your Lord when you do not acknowledge your equal? "I am not like that," he says; "may it be far from me to be such." The puffed-up wealthy speaks thus of the ragged. But I ask the naked. I do not ask what clothes you are wearing, but how you were born. Both naked, both weak, starting a miserable life, both therefore crying.

The rich and the poor are equal in birth and death.

Behold, recall, rich man, your beginnings: see whether you brought anything here. You have already come, and you have found so much. Tell me, I ask you, what did you bring? Tell what you brought. Or if you are ashamed to say, listen to the Apostle: We brought nothing into this world. Nothing, he says, we brought into this world. But perhaps because you brought nothing and found many things here, will you take something from here with you? And this too you may hesitate to admit because of your love of riches: listen to this as well. And the Apostle says this too, he who does not flatter you. We brought nothing into this world, certainly when we were born; but we can take nothing out, certainly when we will leave this world. You brought nothing, you will take nothing from here: why do you boast against the poor? When infants are born, let the parents, servants, and clients step aside; let the crowds of attendants step aside, and let the crying rich children be recognized. Both the rich and the poor are born together, the rich woman and the poor woman give birth together: let them not observe what they give birth to, let them step away briefly, return, and recognize. Behold, rich man, you brought nothing into this world: but neither can you take anything from here. What I said about the born, I say about the dead. Surely when ancient tombs are broken by some chance, the bones of the rich can be recognized. Therefore, rich man, listen to the Apostle: We brought nothing into this world. Recognize, it is true. But neither can we take anything away. Recognize, this too is true.

It is one thing to be rich, another to want to become rich.

What then follows: Having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. For those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and into many harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the root of all evil is avarice; which some having followed, have strayed from the faith. Consider what they have abandoned. You grieve because they abandoned this; see where they have inserted themselves. Listen: They have strayed from the faith, and have inserted themselves into many pains. But who? Those who want to be rich. It is one thing to be rich; another, to want to become rich. Rich is the one who is born from rich parents: not because he wished it, but because many have left him inheritances. I see wealth, I do not question pleasures. Here, greed is accused, not gold, not silver, not riches, but greed. For those who do not want to be rich or who do not care or are not burning with desires, are not kindled by the torches of avarice, but are rich, let them hear the Apostle. Today it was read: Command those who are rich in this world. Command. What? Command above all, not to be high-minded. For there is nothing that so generates pride as wealth. Every fruit, every grain, every wheat, every tree has its worm. And there is one worm of apples, another of pears, another of beans, another of wheat. The worm of riches is pride.

The life of the rich man is to be compared to eternal life.

Therefore, instruct the rich of this world not to be arrogant. He has excluded the vice, let him teach its use. Do not be arrogant. But how not to be arrogant? From what follows: Nor to hope in the uncertainty of riches. Those who do not hope in the uncertainty of riches are not arrogant. If they do not think highly, let them fear. If they fear, they do not think highly. How many were rich yesterday, are poor today? How many sleep rich, and when robbers come and take everything, wake up poor? Therefore, do not hope in the uncertainty of riches, but in the living God, who provides us with everything abundantly to enjoy: temporal and eternal. But more to enjoy, the eternal; to use the temporal. The temporal, as for travelers; the eternal, as for inhabitants. The temporal, from which to do good; the eternal, from which we may become good. Therefore, let the rich do this: not be arrogant, nor hope in the uncertainty of riches, but in the living God, who provides us with everything abundantly to enjoy: let them do this. From what they have, what should they do? Hear what: Let them be rich in good works, be generous. For they have the means. Why do they not do it? Poverty is a difficulty. Let them be generous, they have the means. Share, that is, recognize their fellow mortals. Share, store up for themselves a good foundation for the future. For when I say, he says: Be generous, share, I do not mean to strip them, to expose them, to leave them empty. I teach gain, when I show: Store up for themselves. For I do not want them to remain poor. Store up for themselves. I do not say to lose, but show where to invest. Store up for themselves a good foundation for the future, to take hold of the true life. Therefore, this is a false life: to take hold of the true life. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. What is the abundance of man in all his labor, which he labors under the sun? Therefore, the true life must be taken hold of, our possessions must be migrated to the place of true life; so that we may find there what we give here. He changes there, who changes us here.

How the rich ought to use their superfluities.

Therefore give to the poor, my brothers. Having food and clothing, let us be content with these. The rich man has nothing from his wealth except what the poor man asks of him: food and clothing. What then do you have more from all that you possess? You have received food, you have received necessary clothing. I say necessary, not empty, not superfluous. What more do you take from your wealth? Tell me. Certainly, all your surplus goods will be. Let what is superfluous to you be necessary to the poor. But I, you say, receive precious banquets, I eat precious foods. What about the poor? He eats cheap foods. The poor man eats cheap foods; I, he says, eat precious ones. I ask you, when you both are satisfied, the precious food enters into you; what happens when it enters? Would we not be ashamed of all the precious foods with which you are filled if we had mirrors in our stomachs? The poor man is hungry, the rich man is hungry: the poor man seeks to be filled, the rich man seeks to be filled. The poor man is filled with cheap foods, the rich man is filled with precious foods. Satisfaction is equal: possession is the same, where both wish to arrive; but one reaches it by a shortcut, the other by a longer route. But better, you say, do the precious things taste to me. You are hardly satisfied when full. You do not know how it tastes that hunger kindles. Nor did I say this in order to compel the rich to eat the meals and foods of the poor. Let the rich use the habit of their weakness: but let them be sorry that they cannot do otherwise. For indeed, they could do better if they could do otherwise. If, therefore, the poor man is not exalted by his beggary, why are you exalted by your weakness? Use selected, precious foods, because you are accustomed to it, because you cannot do otherwise; because if you change your habit, you fall ill. It is granted to you: use superfluous things, give necessary things to the poor; use precious things, give cheap things to the poor. He awaits from you, you await from God: he awaits the hand that was made with him, you await the hand that made you. But he not only made you, but also the poor with you. He gave you both one way, this life; you found companions, you walk one way: he carries nothing, you are excessively burdened: he carries nothing with him, you carry more with you than is needed. You are burdened: give to him from what you have; and you will both feed him and lessen your burden.

He urges toward alms.

Give, therefore, to the poor: I ask, I advise, I command, I order. Give whatever you want to the poor. For I will not hide from your Charity why I needed to address this matter with you. Since we have been here, going to church and returning, the poor have been asking us, and requesting that we tell you to give them something. They asked us to speak to you; and when they see they are not receiving from you, they think our efforts with you are in vain. They expect something from us as well. We give what we have, we give as best as we can: but are we able to meet their needs? Because we are not able to meet their needs, we become their emissaries to you. You have heard, you have praised: thanks be to God. You have received the seed, you have returned the words. These praises of yours rather burden us and put us in danger: we tolerate them and tremble among them. However, my brothers, these praises of yours are the leaves of the trees: the fruit is sought.