EIGHTH HOMILY. And God said, "Let us make man in our image and likeness, and let him rule over the fishes of the sea; and on the birds of the air, and on the animals, and on all the earth, and on all the creeping things that creep on the earth. "(Gen. I, 26.)

ANALYSIS.

1. After a few words of congratulation on the eagerness of his listeners to hear him. 2. The speaker addresses the creation of man, and observes that if all other creatures were produced by the Lord's sole command, he uses a very different language for the formation of man. which already testifies excellence. of this new being. - 3. He then proves to the Jews by these words: "Let us make man in our image," the existence of the mystery of the Trinity, and to the Arians the consubstantiality of the Word, since God speaks to a divine person., and that this person is equal to him in all things. 4. When Moses says that man was created in the image of God, he does not mean to say that God has the human form, but that the Lord in establishing man as king of nature, has made enter into participation of his authority. 5. From there, the speaker makes a brilliant description of the noble prerogatives of man, and combats the absurdity of idolatry, which is only the degradation of man. 6. He then finishes by enumerating the qualities of true fasting, and exhorts his hearers to practice almsgiving and humility.

1. The eagerness with which you testified yesterday encourages me, my dear brothers, to explain to you today the words of Genesis which we have just read. But praying you to listen carefully to this present interview, I ask you not to forget those of the previous days, so that my work is not useless. For I strive to make you perfectly understand the meaning and strength of each verse of Scripture, so that you retain them yourself, and that by communicating them to your brothers, you can, according to the precept of St. Paul, edify one another. (I Thess, V, 11.) For if you make some progress in piety, and if you withdraw some fruits from these instructions, my joy will be great. Are not you indeed all my happiness, and all my joy! Yes, what is our hope, our joy, and our crown of glory? Is it not you, and your progress according to God? (I Thess, II, 19.) The master who sees that his disciples retain his lessons, and put them into practice, continues to instruct them with new ardor. And I, too, see that your attention is great, that your desire is keen, and that your intelligence spreads its wings to the breath of my word, the more I feel anxious to open to you all the treasures of sound doctrine. For these spiritual treasures increase in my hands in the same proportion as I communicate them to you. Such is the happy effect of those conversations which edify you, and which serve the usefulness of your souls. There is none of these riches like money: the more we give to our brothers, the more we diminish our treasure; the more generous we are, the poorer we are, but here it is quite the opposite. Our riches are increasing, and our opulence is increasing in proportion as we spread sound doctrine in souls who are thirsty to possess it. Since the word of God is thus a fruitful mine for us, and for you a spiritual food, of which you are holy greedy, today, let us gather the instructions that Moses gives us in the passage which has just been read, or rather those which the Holy Spirit communicates through him.

And God says, let us make man in our image and likeness. My dear brothers, do not (43) pass slightly on these words, but let us examine them in detail, and seek to deepen them, in order to find there the rich and abundant meaning which they contain in their brevity. They are short, it is true; and yet they hide a precious treasure, and it is proper that we should take all our care and our application to discover it. Do you see those who operate a gold mine? They do not just touch the ground, but they dig deeply, and penetrate into the bowels of the earth. Only by this means do they tear away this precious metal; and often, even after many works and fatigues, they only collect a few grains. Here, on the contrary, the work is less, and the result always abundant. This is the law of all things spiritual.

2. Let us be no less active than those who seek perishable treasures, but let us work hard to discover the spiritual treasure hidden in the words of Genesis. And first let us consider what they contain again, and truly admirable: then we will examine all the various terms chosen by the sacred writer, or rather that God himself inspires him. And God says, let us make man in our image and likeness. When he created heaven and earth, he said, Let there be light: let the firmament be between the waters; that the waters meet in a single basin, and that the arid element appears; and again: that bodies of light be, and that the waters produce living animals that swim. Thus for five days all creatures were formed by the word of the Lord alone. But today what a different language! He does not say: let man be, but let us make man in our image and likeness. What will be this new work, and what a marvel will happen! who is this being whose formation seems to require from the Creator so much prudence and circumspection? Do not be surprised, my dear brothers, for man surpasses in dignity all visible creatures created only for him. Yes, the sky, the earth and the sea; the sun, the moon and the stars; reptiles, domestic animals and ferocious beasts, all in one word was created only for man.

But since man surpasses all creatures in dignity, why was he created last? Certainly, it is with reason. For when a king is to enter a city, he sends his guards and his officers first, so that they may dispose of the palace for his arrival. And likewise, the Lord, who was to establish the man king and ruler of the universe, first wanted to adorn and beautify him, and then he created the man to whom he gave the empire of the world. This is how he shows how much he honors the man.

Now let's ask the Jews, and ask them to answer that question. To whom does the Creator say: Let us make man in our image? The Jews boast of believing Moses who wrote these words; but they really do not believe it, as Jesus Christ reproached them. If you believed in Moses, he said to them, you would believe me also (John v. 46); they are, it is true, the depositories of the Holy Scriptures, but only Christians have the meaning. To whom then does the Lord say? Let's do the man? And with whom does he take advice? It is not that God needs to take advice, and to act with circumspection: no doubt. But these figurative expressions attest to the excellence of the being he was going to produce. What do those who have a veil over their eyes who do not want to understand Scripture answer? God, they say, speak to an angel, or to an archangel. O madness! O impudence! can we say with some semblance of reason, O poor man, that God take counsel from his angels, and the Creator, from his creatures? The office of the angels is not to give advice, but to surround the throne of the Lord and to execute his orders. Do you doubt it? listen to this magnificent vision of the prophet Isaiah: I saw cherubim standing on the right hand of the Most High, and seraphim, veiling their faces and feet with their wings. (Isaie, VI, 2.) They veiled themselves thus, because they could not sustain the splendor of the divine majesty. So the Prophet saw them trembling and penetrated with fear. It is indeed the duty and the office of these celestial intelligences to stand near the Lord.

3. Jews who do not wish to understand the meaning of the Scriptures respond to us by chance, without reflection. Thus, after refuting their errors, let us expose to the children of the Church the truth of the words of Moses. Whom does the Creator say: Let's man? But to what other than the One who is the Angel of the (44) Great Councilor, the Counselor: par excellence, the mighty God, the Prince of peace, the Father of the future age, the only Son of God, which is consubstantial with the Father, and by whom everything has. was created? It is to him that the Lord says: Let us make man in our image and likeness. This passage is enough to confuse the Arians. For God the Father does not command his Son as a subject and a servant, nor even as if he were inferior to him in substance; but he speaks to him as his equal, saying, Let us do man, and he proclaims his perfect consubstantiality by adding: Let us make man in our image and likeness.

Here rise other heretics who fight the teaching of the Church, and who concludes from this word in our image that God aune. human form. But is it not the last degree of folly to give a human form to the Being who is one, simple and immutable, and to attribute a body and members to Him who is a pure spirit? Can anything be invented more extravagant, and that hurts in a more shocking way the inspiration and the sense of the divine Scriptures? These heretics look like people whose stomachs are sick, or whose eyes are weak. The infirmity of their sight prevents them from sustaining the brightness of the sun, and their bad complexion leads them to repel your best and most salutary food. It is thus that these heretics who have a soul that is sick, and the eyes of the mind that are badly affected, can not bear the light of truth. But our ministry obliges us to reach out to them, and to speak to them with the most kindly sweetness. This is the opinion given to us by the Apostle. Instruct, he said, gently those who resist the truth, in the hope that God can give them and the spirit of penance to make it known to them, and the sobriety of the spirit so that they come out of traps of the demon who holds them captive, and does what he pleases. (II Tim. II, 25,26.) Do you see how he represents us stupefied by drunkenness, and plunged into a deep abyss, when he says that God will give them to recover the sobriety of the spirit? He says that they live under the slavery of the devil, that is, they are caught and wrapped in his nets. We can therefore withdraw them only by much patience and a great deal of gentleness. That is why we say to them amicably: Wake up a little, open your eyes to the light of the Sun of righteousness, and weigh with us the expressions of Scripture. For after having recorded this saying: Let us make man in our image and our likeness, she hastens to add the following, which make us clearly know in what sense she takes the word image. Let man rule over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the sky, and all the reptiles that move on the earth. Thus the word image signifies only a relation of authority and empire, and can not receive another meaning. And indeed, God has established the man king of the universe. Nothing on earth equals it in dignity, and all creatures are subject to it.

4. Do our adversaries still want, even after such a categorical explanation, to hear this word image of a corporeal form? we will tell them that God is not. only man, but woman too, since the human form is found in both sexes. But it would be really too absurd; and it suffices to convince oneself to read this passage of the Apostle: Man must not cover his head, because he is the image and the glory of God; instead that woman is the glory of man. (I Corinthians II, 7) And indeed, man commands and the woman is subjected to him, as God has signified to him from the beginning. You will be under the power of your husband, and he will dominate you. (Gen. III, 16.) Thus man was made in the image of God because he enters into the participation of his authority, and not because God has a human form. Man therefore commands all creatures, and even the woman who is subject to it. That is why St. Paul said of man that he is the image and the glory of God, and of woman, that she is the glory of man. But if the words of Scripture were to be understood as form and figure, distinction. what the Apostle does here would be useless, since human nature is the same in man and in woman.

Such is the true meaning of this passage of Genesis, and it leaves no pretext for those who obstinately persist in rejecting it. But, whatever it may be, let us not cease to treat them gently, for perhaps the Lord will give them the spirit of penance that will lead them to recognize the truth. (II Tim. II, 25.) So let us give our zeal a new activity, and let us strive by our sweetness to snatch them from the traps of the devil. Let them quote (45) also the authority of the Apostle, who told the Athenians that we should not believe that divinity is like gold or silver, or stone whose art and men's industry has made figures. (Act XVII, 29.) And observe here with what precautions this wise doctor undermines in their basis the reasoning of the heretic; for he says that not only the divinity can not have a corporeal form, but he even adds that the imagination of man can not represent it.

Quite to them these words, and use all your care to undeceive them and make them come back from their mistakes. Moreover, if you must always instruct them with kindness, you must also know thoroughly the dogmas of the Church, as well as the meaning of the Scriptures. When you dispute with the Jews, tell them that these words of Genesis are not addressed to the angels, who are the servants of God, but to his only Son; and when you fight against Arians, prove to them by these same words that the Son is equal to the Father in nature and in dignity; finally, quote the authority of St. Paul against those who maintain that God has a human form. Thus, by sheathing the exposition of your belief, you will snatch those pernicious errors that abound in our midst, like tares among the good grain; and that, by your zeal, the good doctrine will be rooted in souls and will be strengthened. Yes, I want you all to be teachers, and after listening to our instructions, you too can teach others, and that, becoming fishers of men, you bring back the heretics into the ways of the truth. The Apostle exhorts us when he tells us to Edify one another! and operate your salvation with fear and trembling. (I Thess, V, 11, Philip, II, 12.) By this means the Church will increase the number of her children, and you will obtain you more abundant graces, as a reward for your zeal towards of your brothers.

5. And, in fact, the Lord does not want a Christian to be satisfied with working for his salvation, but he commands him to build up his neighbor by sound doctrine, and above all by his life and conduct. This is the most powerful means of bringing sinners back into the ways of truth; because they consider our actions much more than our words. This is only too true. And so it would be in vain that we should eloquently dissertate on the pardon of insults if, on occasion, we give no example. Our speeches would never be so effective for the good as our behavior for evil. But if the example precedes and accompanies our words, we will believe, because we will practice ourselves the lessons that we will give to others. It is from these Christians that Jesus Christ said: Blessed is he who will do and who will teach! (Matt V, 19.) And observe how he puts action before doctrine. And indeed, even if the word does not follow the example, it would suffice to instruct all those who see it.

Let us then apply ourselves to edifying our brethren by our good works, and then we will address them with good speeches; otherwise we could apply to ourselves this word of the Apostle: You who instruct others, you do not educate yourself. (Romans II, 21.) When we wish to give someone useful advice for his salvation, let us begin to put them into practice first. We will then be able to talk and learn with more confidence. Thus shall we work with zeal and success for the salvation of souls, and, repressing the movements of the flesh, we shall observe true fasting, that which consists in abstaining from sin; for abstinence from meat has been established only to tame the flesh and make it a submissive and docile messenger. The fasting Christian must, above all, repress the protuberances of anger, and acquire patience and gentleness; he must then become excited at the contrition of the heart and stop the movements of concupiscence, and then never lose sight of that eye of the Lord who watches ceaselessly, nor this tribunal where an incorruptible Judge sits. It must finally be superior to the love of wealth, generous to the poor and careful to dismiss any thought that would hurt charity towards the neighbor. This is the true fast that God himself prescribes through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah: Is this the fast chosen by me? he tells us, that the man bends his head like a reed, and that he sleeps in a hair-shirt and on the ashes, is this a fasting pleasant to the Lord? No doubt; but tear up the unjust contracts, share your bread with the hungry, and receive under your roof the poor who are homeless. If you do these things, your light will shine like the dawn, and I will restore you to health. (Isaiah, LVIII, 5, 6, 8.)

6. Now you understand, my dear brother, what is this true fast that we must observe; for it would be absurd to confine ourselves, like most Christians, to delaying our meal until evening. What the Church wants is for us to join the abstinence of meat with that of sin, and to apply ourselves carefully to spiritual exercises. The fasting Christian must therefore be gentle and humble, submissive and peaceful. He must also despise human glory and despise it as much as he has previously neglected the salvation of his soul. He must also fix his gaze on the One who searches the loins and the hearts, to spread before God fervent prayers and the confession of his faults and, according to his power, to help himself the help of alms; for alms are most efficacious in erasing sin, and delivering us from the sorrows of hell, when it is done generously and without any view of glory and vanity.

But why speak here of glory and vanity, since, to the exclusion of the rewards which God reserves for us, reason alone tells us to consider in alms only the beauty of action, and the pleasure of relieving our brothers: Yes, we do not. we can raise ourselves to the sublime motives of religion, let us at least give alms for ourselves, and not for the esteem of men. Otherwise we would lose and the fruit of this good work, and the reward it deserves. But what I say about almsgiving, I also apply to any other spiritual work. For we must never offer ourselves praise or honor. Also fasting, prayer, alms, and all good works in general, are of no use to us as soon as we do not act only for Him who knows the secret of hearts, and who penetrates to the innermost depths of thought.

But if you act for God, how, my dear brother, do you seek the praises of a man like you? what do I say, praises? instead of praising you, he often tears you up. For there are such evil spirits that they interpret in a bad way all our good works. Where does it come from, tell me, that you esteemed so many judges so well informed? but the eye of the Lord never closes, and none of our actions can escape his active vigilance. That is why this thought must lead us to regulate our conduct with as much care as if we were at all times obliged to give an account of our words, our actions, and our feelings. Let us not neglect the work of our salvation. For, my dear brother, nothing is greater or better than virtue. It is she who after death guarantees us the torments of hell, and introduces us into the kingdom of heaven. But from this life she sets us above the evil designs of men and demons, and makes us triumph over the enemy of our salvation.

Hey! what, then, can we compare to the virtue which thus puts his disciples under the protection of the pitfalls of man, and who makes them conquerors of the demons themselves! But true virtue despises the world, thinks of eternity, and is not enthusiastic about any good of the earth, for it knows that all its prosperity is more fleeting than a shadow and a dream. True virtue is, in regard to the pleasures of life, as insensitive as a corpse; and with regard to the sin which would defile the soul, it is dead and inactive, because all its life and all its action are concentrated in the thoughts and exercises of faith. This is how the Apostle said: I live, or rather, it is not I who live, it is Jesus who lives in me. (Galatians II, 20.) At his example, my dear brothers, let us act ourselves as clothed with Jesus Christ, and let us not begrudge the Holy Spirit. When, therefore, we feel ourselves disturbed by concupiscence, or by some maladjusted affection, by anger, anger, or envy, let us think that God dwells in us, and removes all these thoughts. Let us preserve with respectful care the eminent graces that the Lord has given us, and repress the evil desires of the flesh. May we be so, after having, during this fragile and passing life, legitimately fought, deserve the brilliant crowns of eternity, and appear without fear to that judgment which will be so terrible for sinners, and so consoling to the just! Yes, may we obtain these ineffable goods, by the grace and mercy of Our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom are, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the glory, the empire and the honor, now and always, and for ever and ever. So be it.