Luke VI, 1-5. Plucked ears.
"And it came to pass that on the second-first Saturday, as He was passing through cultures, his disciples were picking ears and eating them, crushing them in their hands." It is not only by the content of his words, but by the very practice and example of his acts, that the Lord Jesus begins to strip man of the observance of the Old Law and to put it on of the new garment of grace. So He is now taking the Sabbath day through the cultures, that is, applying it to fruitful works. What does the Sabbath mean, the harvest, the ears? It's not a little mystery. The field is everyone present; the harvest of the field is, by the sowing of the human race, the abundant harvest of the saints; the ears of the field, the fruits of the Church, which the Apostles stirred by their activity, nourishing and feeding on our progress. She was therefore on her feet, the rich harvest of virtues, with many ears of corn, to which are compared the fruits of our merits; for like them, bad weather spoils them, or the sun grows them, or the rains stifle them, or the storms break them, or the reapers pile them up in the deposit of the blessed granaries. The earth, therefore, had already received the word of God, and, seeded by the grain of heaven, the field of nourishment had produced rich harvests. The disciples were hungry for the salvation of men, and seemed to extract from the hedge of bodies the fruit of souls, drawn to the light of faith by the brilliant prodigies they were operating. But the Jews thought that it was not allowed on the Sabbath; Christ, by a new blessing of grace, emphasized the idleness of the Law, the action of grace. And
it is not, I think, without mystery that in Matthew and Mark the evangelist
simply mentioned the Sabbaths: for it is Sabbaths that endless recreation of
the eternal resurrection. So, either in this century, where the superstitions
of the Jews rest and go, or in the other, where we ourselves will celebrate the
holidays of an endless solemnity, we will eat the goods of the earth, according
as it is wrote, "They will eat, while you are hungry" (Is., LXV, 13).
It is remarkable, however, that in Luke the second-first Sabbath is spoken, not
the first-second: for it is written: ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . It was necessary
to give the step to what is better. Second Sabbath, because a first came first
under the Law, where a punishment was prescribed for whoever would work; first,
because this Sabbath of the Law, which was first, was abolished, and this one
was the first that was instituted second. For since it is permissible to work
on the sabbath and to work without punishment, from the legal Sabbath which has
ceased to be in force, there is not even the name; since, however, he was the
first by the origin and the other as to the benefit, the latter is not less
because he is second. For Adam is also first and can not be compared to the
second Adam: "The first Adam, living soul; the last Adam, the life-giving
spirit "and" the first man, coming from the earth, is earthly; the
second man from heaven is heavenly "(I Cor. XV, 45, 47). Certainly the
second passes before the first: one causes death, the other life. In the same
way, we speak of a second-first Sabbath: second in numerical order, first in
the benefit realized; for it is better for the Sabbath where punishment is
handed over than for punishment. The Law is first, the Gospel second; yet fear
is inferior to grace. Or, perhaps, first in the determination of the design,
second in the execution of the decision. But it is good that the Lord, in this
passage again, shows in the Law the figure of the future and accuses the
defenders of the Law of ignoring the things of the Law: He quotes the example
of David who, having He hungered him and his companions, entered the house of
God, took the showbread, ate it and gave it to those who were with him (I Sam.,
XXI, 3-6). Great and truly prophetic example, where for the first time we are
shown that we must not attach ourselves to the emptiness of the Law, but to the
solid and the useful. Moreover, as David and his companions fled before King
Saul, this passage of the Law prefigured Christ, who with his Apostles was to
escape from the prince of the world. But how did this observer and advocate
himself eat bread and give it to those who were with him, when only priests
were allowed to eat? to eat, if not to show by this figure that the food of the
priests would be made available to the people, or that we must all imitate the
life of the priests, or that all the children of the Church are priests? We
receive the anointing for a holy priesthood, offering ourselves to God as
spiritual victims (I Peter, II, 5). On the Law therefore spreads the doctrine
of Christ: it does not destroy the Law but fills it, since it does not even
destroy the Sabbath. If the Sabbath was made for man, and if man's utility
demanded that the hungry man, who had long been deprived of the fruits of the
earth, avoid the fasting of the ancient hunger, certainly not destruction of
the law but fulfillment. How then to reproach as a grievance to the Lord what
in the servant is not deemed grievance? And what's more obvious than this
figure that comes back during the whole episode? David entered the house of
Ahimelech the priest; but, in the face of the danger of death, the soul of the
holy priest did not rob the host, nor did he avoid the outlaw. It is the beauty
of hospitality to willingly take upon ourselves the dangers of others. But what
is morality according to history is also prophecy in the mysterious sense: even
in the presence of their loss and death to suffer, the faithful priests would
not refuse the hospitality of their souls to the true David. And we are taught
not only that Christ will find shelter in the home of each priest, but also
that he will take figuratively the remains and weapons of the evil spirits:
because the one who gives hospitality to Christ stripped of his traits the
spiritual Goliath. And what is more clear than this: David, in the house of
Achimelech, asking for five loaves and receiving only one? This figure shows us
that the food of the faithful would be assured not by the Five Books but by the
body of Christ; that Christ would take a body so that none of the faithful
would be hungry. And Doech is not devoid of any figurative sense: he was
guardian of mules, because only the guardian of a sterile flock could realize
the symbol of the traitor Judas. As to the fact that, to have welcomed David,
the whole house of Achimelech was persecuted by Saul, except Abiathar, prince
of the priests of that time (I Sam., XXII, 20), it shows us prophetically that
no one can harm the true Prince of priests, who is the only Christ. Luke, VI, 6-11. The man with the parched hand. From there, the Lord moves on to other works. For, having resolved to save the whole man, He went about the members one by one; In this way he could truly say, "You are angry with me, who healed a whole man on a Sabbath day" (Jn, VII, 23). So in this passage, the hand extended by Adam to gather the fruits of the forbidden tree, He impregnated it with the salutary sap of the good works, so that, parched by the fault, it was cured by the good works . On this occasion, Christ takes to heart the Jews, who by their false interpretations violated the precepts of the Law, judging that the Sabbath should be released even good works, while the Law prefigured in the present the physiognomy of the future, where surely the evil will not work, not the good. For if the works of this world are put to rest, it is not an act devoid of good work to rest in the praise of God. So you have heard the words of the Lord, "Extend your hand," said II. This is the common remedy, general. And you who believe you have a healthy hand, take care that the advance, take care that sacrilege does not contract it. Extend it often: extend it to the poor man who implores you; extend it to help the neighbor, to help the widow, to wrest from injustice the one whom you see subjected to an unjust vexation; extend it to God for your sins. This is how you extend your hand, as it heals itself. Thus Jeroboam, when he sacrificed to idols, had a contracted hand, and extended it (again) when he prayed to God (I Kings 13:46). Luke, VI, 12-49. Sermon on the mountain.
"And it came to pass in those days, that he went to the mountain to pray, and spent the night praying to God." Those who pray do not all climb the mountain - for it is a prayer that produces sin (Ps. 7) - but he who prays well, rising from earthly goods to superiors, climbs the summit of solicitude from above. But this one does not climb the mountain which cares for the riches of the world or honors; he does not climb the mountain, he who covets the possession of the lands of others. He goes up who seeks God; this one goes up who implores for his march the help of the Lord. All great souls, all elevated souls ascend the mountain; for it is not on the first comer that the Prophet says: "Lift up the high mountain, you who give the good news to Zion; raise your voice with strength, you who give the good news to Jerusalem "(Is., XL, 9). It is not by the steps of your body but by high actions that you have to climb this mountain. Follow Christ, so that you can be a mountain; for "mountains surround him" (Psalm 124: 2). Look in the gospel, you will find that only the disciples have climbed the mountain with the Lord. The Lord therefore prays: no to beg for Him, but to obtain for me; for although the Father has placed all things at the disposal of the Son, the Son, however, to fully realize his condition as a man, judges it opportune to implore the Father for us: for He is our advocate. Do not set insidious ears, claiming that Christ asks by weakness to obtain what He can not accomplish, He author of power: master in obedience, He molds us by his example to the precepts of virtue. "We have, it is said, an advocate with the Father" (I Jn, II, 1): if he is a lawyer, He must intervene for my sins. It is not by weakness, but by kindness, that he implores. You want to know how much he wants, II can? He is both a lawyer and a judge: in one is an office of compassion, in the other the badge of power. "And he spent the night, it is said, praying to God. We give you an example, we trace you the model that you will have to imitate. What do you need to do for your salvation, when for you Christ spends the night in prayer? What should you do when you wish to undertake some pious duty, when Christ, at the moment of sending his Apostles, prayed and prayed alone? And nowhere else, if I am not mistaken, we find that he prayed with the Apostles: everywhere He implores alone. It is because the design of God can not be grasped by human desires, and no one can share in the intimate thought of Christ. You want to know how much it is for me, not for Him, that he prayed? "He called his disciples, he said, and chose twelve of them," to send them, sowers of faith, to spread the help and salvation of men throughout the universe. Notice at the same time the heavenly plan: they are not wise, rich, or noble, but sinners and publicans whom he has chosen to send them, lest they appear to have been trained by the skill, redeemed by riches, attracted to his grace by the prestige of power and notoriety; so that victory should remain with the substance of truth, not with the charm of speech. Judas himself is chosen, not inadvertently but knowingly. Greatness of the truth that even an enemy minister can not weaken! What character trait of the Lord, that he preferred to compromise in our eyes his judgment that his love! He had taken charge of human weakness, and since then he has not refused this very aspect of human weakness. He wanted abandonment, He wanted betrayal, He wanted the betrayal of his apostle, so that you, if a companion abandons you, if a companion betrays you, you take with calm, the error of your judgment, the waste of your benefit. "And he went down with them, it is said, and stopped on a plateau." Consider all things carefully: how He ascends with the Apostles and descends to the crowds. How, indeed, would the crowd see Christ, if not below? She does not follow him on the heights, she does not rise to the summits. As soon as he goes down, he finds the infirm, for the infirm can not be on the heights. Matthew (VIII, 1) also tells us that the sick were healed in the plains: for each one was healed, so that his forces progressing little by little, he could climb the mountain; He also heals in the plain, that is to say, he avoids disorder, and removes the disgrace of blindness. He descended to our wounds, in order to make us, by his intimacy and his commerce, participate in his celestial nature. He cured them, it is true, but leaving them below. "Seeing the crowds - you read it - He climbs the mountain. And when He was sitting, His disciples went up to him. " At the moment of evangelizing and drawing divine treasures the oracles of the beatitudes, He begins to be higher. But even here, while in the plain, He looked up. In the same way, during the resurrection of Lazarus, He shuddered in his spirit (Jn, XI, 33); in the same way he raised his head when He forgave his sins to the adulterous woman (Jn, VIII, 10). What to lift the eyes, if not open the inner look? St. Matthew then says, "He opened his mouth," that is, the treasures of God's wisdom and knowledge, opening the sanctuary of his temple. He opened his mouth; so you too open your mouth; but beg first that it opens. If indeed Paul asks for help to open his mouth (Ephesians 6: 19), it is even more fitting for you to implore. The Prophet also shows you the key to the science by which you must open your mouth, when he says: "Open your mouth by the word of God" (Prov., XXXI, 9). The word of God is the key of your mouth; the key to science is the key to your mouth, through which the chains of silence once detached open the bars of ignorance.
The Beatitudes.
"Blessed, poor, because the Kingdom of God is yours, blessed are those who are now hungry and thirsty, because they will be
filled. Blessed are you who are crying now, because you will smile. Blessed are you when men will hate you. "
Luke noted only four beatitudes of the Lord, Matthew eight; but in the eight there are the four, and in the four the eight. One is attached to the four, as to the cardinal virtues; the other has, in eight, maintained the mysterious number: for many psalms are entitled: for the octave; and you are commanded to make the shares for eight, perhaps the Beatitudes (Eccl., XI, 2). In the same way, that the octave is the fulfillment of our hope, the octave is also the sum of the virtues.
But let's first see the most developed.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, says He, because for them is the kingdom of heaven. This bliss was first placed by both evangelists. It is indeed the first according to order, and as mother and generator of virtues: for it is by despising the goods of the world that the eternals will be deserved; and no one can obtain the reward of the kingdom of heaven, if, captive to the lust of this world, he is unable to emerge from it.
Second beatitude: "Blessed," said the gentle ones; third: "Blessed are those who cry"; fourth: "Blessed are those who are hungry"; fifth: "Most happy the merciful"; sixth: "Blessed are the pure hearts"; seventh: "Blessed are the peaceful ones
and it is the seventh, for it is on the corresponding day that God rested from all the work of the world: it is the day of rest and peace; eighth: "Blessed are those who suffer persecution for justice. "
Come, Lord Jesus; teach us the order of your beatitudes. For it is not without order that you first said, Blessed are the poor in spirit, and secondly blessed are the meek, and the third blessed are those who mourn. Although I know something about it, I only know part of it; For if Paul knew in part (I Cor., XIII, 9), what can I know? I am below Paul by my life, and just as much by the word: for life produces and acquires speech; the word without life is not the word of God. As Paul is wiser than me! He prides himself on perils (II Cor., XII, 5), me successes; he prides himself on not being exalted by his revelations; if I had any revelations, I would boast of it. But, however, God can bring forth stones from men (Matt. III, 9), draw the word out of closed mouths, cause speech to be produced to the dumb; If he has opened the eyes of the donkey so that she may see the angel (Num. XXII, 27), He has the power to open our eyes too, so that we may see the mystery of God.
"Blessed," said II, "the poor. The poor are not all blessed; because poverty is a neutral thing: there can be good and bad poor people. Unless you hear that the poor blessed is the one described by the Prophet saying that "better a poor poor than a rich liar" (Prov., XIX, 22). Blessed is the poor man who cried out and the Lord answered (Ps. 33: 7): poor of sin, poor of vices, poor to whom the prince of the world has not found anything (Jn., Xiv. poor in imitation of this poor man who, being rich, became poor for us (II Cor., VIII, 9). So Matthew gives the complete explanation: "Blessed," he said, "the poor in spirit": for the poor in spirit does not swell, nor exalt himself in his carnal mind. This is the first bliss. Having left all sin, stripped all malignity, being content with my simplicity, devoid of harm, it remains for me to moderate my character. What good is it for me to miss the goods of the world if I am not gentle and tranquil? For to follow the right path is, of course, to follow Him who says: "Learn from me that I am gentle and humble of heart" (Matt., XI, 29). So leave all improbity, be devoid of vices, in accordance with true poverty; soften your feelings, so as not to irritate you or at least not to sin by irritating yourself, as it is written, "Be angry, but sin not" (Ps 4: 5). It is glorious to calm emotion by wisdom; and it is not reputed to be less virtuous to restrain his irritation, to repress his indignation, than not to be angry at all: although generally the former is considered calmer, the second braver. That done, remember that you are a sinner: mourn your sins, mourn your faults. And it is good that the third blessedness is for those who mourn their sins, for it is the Trinity who forgives sins. Purify yourself with your tears and wash yourself with your tears. If you cry about yourself, another one will not have to cry to you: for if Saul had mourned his sins, Samuel would not have cried over him (I Sam. XV, 35). Everyone has his dead to cry. We are dead when we sin, when we are satisfied with the bones of the dead. Death is the evil word that comes out of the mouth: for it comes out of a bad tomb: "Their throat is a gaping grave" (Ps. 5, 11). So the Apostle says, "Be my imitators" (I Cor., IV, 16): He wants us to have the memory of our sins. Paul had nothing to deplore from the moment he believed in Christ; and yet he mourned his past life: "I am not worthy," said he, "to be called an apostle, because I have persecuted the Church of God" (I Cor., XV, 9). He therefore was a sinner before believing, but we sin, we, even after having believed. Let him who is a sinner weep over him and rebuke himself, to become righteous; for "the just accuses himself" (Prov., XVIII, 17).
Let us continue in order, since it is written, "Command me in charity" (Cant., II, 4). I have left sin, moderated my character, cried my faults: I become hungry and thirsty for justice. When one is suffering, in the grip of a serious illness, one is not hungry, because the pain of the evil excludes hunger. But what is this hunger for justice? What are these loaves whose righteousness is hungry? Would it not be the loaves of which it is said, "I was young, and I have grown old, and have not seen the righteous left, neither his offspring questing his bread" (Ps. 36:25) . Who is hungry, of course, seeks to increase his strength; but is there comforting greater for virtue than the rule of justice? After that, "blessed," said the merciful ones, "for after justice comes mercy. So it is said, "He distributed, given to the poor; his righteousness remains forever "(Psalm 111: 9). But he who has mercy loses his reward if he does not have a pure heart in his mercy: for if he seeks to make himself worthy, it is without any fruit. So purify the inmost of your soul, and when you have carefully purified the secret of your heart, have compassion on those who have to fight, and understand how many men, how many of your brothers are asking for your help. But if at first you free your interior from all taint of sin, so that neither disagreements nor disputes arise from your dispositions, you can not remedy others. So begin with you the work of peace, so that once peaceful you yourself, bring peace to others. How could you cleanse the hearts of others if you did not purify yours first? You have done a service to others, you have been helpful to many: hurry to reach the goal. While there were many ways out of life, only one suited the Lord? because, being born according to the flesh, He also had to die according to the flesh? He chose suffering, in order to die for us. Also, concerning all that he has given you, say, "I will take the chalice of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord" (Ps 115, 13), which means suffering; so he said to those who wished to sit on his right or left: "Can you drink the chalice that I have to drink? (Matt, XX, 22). He leads you to the end, He accompanies you to martyrdom, and He makes it the palm of the beatitudes.
So see the order: you must become poor in spirit, because the humility of spirit, it is the wealth in virtues? if you are poor, you will not be able to be gentle? whoever is gentle can cry over the present? who weeps over inferior goods may desire better ones? who seeks higher goods forsakes those from below, so that he in turn may be helped by those above? who is compassionate purifies his heart [what is it to purify his soul, if not to efface the defilement of death? because "alms deliver from death" (Tob., IV, 11)]? as to patience, is the completion of charity? and whoever suffers persecution, engaged in the supreme combat, is tested by adversity, to be crowned after having "fought according to the rules" (II Tim., II, 5).
These are, to the feeling of many, the degrees of the virtues by which we can ascend from the lowest to the highest.
In the same way, moreover, that there is an increase of virtues, there is also an increase of rewards: to be son of God is more than to possess the earth and to obtain consolation. But as long as the first reward is the Kingdom of Heaven, and the last reward is the Kingdom of Heaven, is there an equal reward for the beginners and for the perfect? Is it not a matter of teaching us that in the mystical sense there is a first kingdom of heaven, that of the Apostle: "Dissolve me and be with Christ? This is the first kingdom, where the saints are delighted in the clouds to meet Christ in the air; for the multitude of those who rest will rise, some for eternal life, others for shame (I Thess., IV, 17, Dan., XII, 2). So a first kingdom of heaven is promised to the saints by the liberation of the body; the second kingdom of heaven is, after the resurrection of bodies, to be with Christ. When you are in the Kingdom of Heaven, then there is progression in the mansions: although the kingdom is unique, yet there is diversity of rewards in the Kingdom of Heaven. After the resurrection you will begin to own your land, being free from death; for he to whom he says,
"You are earth, and in earth you will go" (Gen., III, 19) does not own his land: one can not be a possessor if one does not collect the fruits. So released by the cross of the Lord - if you find yourself under the yoke of the Lord, you will find consolation in the very possession. Consolation is followed by enjoyment; enjoyment, divine mercy; but he whose Lord hath pity, He calls him; who is called sees him who calls him; who has seen God is admitted to the rights of divine filiation: and then finally, as son of God, he enjoys the riches of the kingdom of heaven. So one begins, the other is filled: for even in this world many are part of the Roman Empire; but these derive greater benefit from the Empire, which are closer to the Emperor.
Now let us say how in four beatitudes S. Luke has enclosed eight beatitudes. Now we know that there are four cardinal virtues: temperance, justice, prudence, strength. Who is poor in spirit is not greedy. The one who weeps does not pride himself, but is gentle and peaceful; who weeps humbles himself. He who is righteous does not refuse what he knows to be given to all for common use. He who has mercy gives of his good; who gives of his good does not seek the good of others and does not set a trap for his neighbor. So there is a link and a link between the virtues, so that if you have one, you will have several; the saints have their own virtue, but the one that is more extended has a greater reward. What hospitality in Abraham! what humility! what fidelity, when he delivers from the enemy the son of his brother! and what disinterestedness, when he claims nothing of booty! But as he did by faith, he deserved first of all to be first by faith. So each one has several rewards, because there are many motives of virtues; but what is richer in merit is also more rewarded.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit": here you have temperance, who abstains from sin, tramples on the world, does not seek its attractions. "Blessed are those who are hungry and thirsty": for when one is hungry one has compassion on the hungry; having compassion is given; giving, one becomes righteous, for "his righteousness remains forever" (Psalm 111: 9). So we recognize in Matthew the spiritual thirst and hunger that makes the food or drink of justice desire; for this virtue is like the substance of virtues, so that the righteous puts himself at the level of his inferiors, forbids deception, searches for the truth.
"Blessed are you who are crying now, for you will smile. Here is the prudence, to whom is it to weep what passes and seek what is eternal; to cry over the things of the world, who are making war; to seek the God of peace (Rom. xiv. 33), who chose foolishness according to the world to confound the wise (I Cor., I, 27 ff.); and who destroys what is not, in order to be able to possess what is. "Blessed are you when men hate you. You have strength here, but that which, instead of inciting hatred by crime, suffers persecution by faith; for it is thus that we come to the crown of suffering, disdaining the favor of men, and pursuing that of God. As well, to let you know that the completion of the force is suffering: "It is thus," he says, "that their fathers treated the prophets"; because the Jews persecuted the prophets until they killed their bodies. It is still the strength to overcome anger, to restrain indignation; and in this way strength strengthens the soul and the body together, and does not leave them to be disturbed by any fear or pain, of those which often impress upon us like dishonest brokers. So temperance implies the purity of heart and soul, justice, mercy, prudence, peace, strength and gentleness.
"Woe to you, rich, who have your consolation! "
Although the abundance of wealth contains many solicitations for evil, there is also more than an invitation to virtue. Undoubtedly, virtue does not need resources, and the contribution of the poor is more worthy of praise than the liberality of the rich; yet those whom he condemns by the authority of the heavenly sentence are not those who have riches, but those who do not know how to use them. For if the poor man is more worthy of praise when he gives grace, and does not allow himself to be stopped by the locks of famine in prospect, not judging to be poor if he has enough for his condition; in the same way the rich man is more reprehensible, for he must at least give thanks to God for what he has received, not to keep hidden and useless a given good for the common good, not to smear treasures buried in the ground. So it's not the fortune but the feeling that is at fault. And although at length the miser ascends a guard anxious, a miserable faction - torture that nothing surpasses - keeping in anguished fear that will provide wastage of his heirs, however, since the care of greed and the desire to amass are as if satisfied with a vain enjoyment, having had the consolation of the present life, they have lost the eternal reward. Here, however, we can recognize in the rich the Jewish people, or the heretics, or even the philosophers of the world, who, indulging in the abundance of words and in the pretentious dichotomy that serves them as heritage, beyond the simplicity of faith real, amassed useless treasures. Does such a heretic, when you hear him talk about the generation of the Lord in the manner of the world, do not seem to you rich in words, poor in meaning? He thinks he now has opulent wealth, but in the next life he will recognize the indigence of his faith and, exhausted by the eternal famine of faith, will know that the food of bad faith, which he belittled in the present time, is the cause of such a great torture. A time will come when they will lament their laughter, those who now laugh at our words. It is to them that it is rightly said: "Woe to you when all men will congratulate you. Does this not seem to you to appeal to those who, in the old days of the Council of Rimini, were the architects of an unfair prevarication, seeking for the good graces of the Emperor, lost the grace of God, in seeking to please the powerful ones indulged in the eternal curse?
So, by means of rewards, Matthew has attracted the people to virtue and faith; this one (Luke) has also diverted them from the crimes and the sins by the announcement of the punishments to come; and it is not without reason that, following his way through the remembrance of many divine deeds, he arrived later at the point of the Beatitudes, in order to teach the peoples fortified by the divine miracles to advance beyond from the path of the Law through the march of virtues. Fear was in order as long as the still crippled people had a hesitant heart: now it took the sound of the trumpet to awaken courage. This comes out of the way in which the discourses of this book, those of the beginning, those of the continuation of the sermon, develop. There those who are still infirm are as watered from the milk of the Law and by the ways of the Law led to grace: they hear the things of the Law, so that by following the Law they go beyond the Law. Here the Church, more firmly established, is no longer watered with milk, but nourished with food: for it is a solid food, charity. As well, of these three summits, faith, hope, charity, the greatest is charity. Charity is therefore ordered when it says, "Love your enemies"; Thus the word of the Church, quoted above, is realized: "Order in me charity" (Cant., II, 4): for charity is ordered when the precepts of charity are formulated. See how He departs from the highest things, and pushes the Law back from evangelical bliss. The law commands the revenge that avenges itself; the Gospel gives to enmities charity, benevolence to hatred, wishes to curses, help to the persecutors, spreads on the hungry patience and the grace of beneficence. As the athlete is perfect, if he does not feel the insult! And in order not to seem to destroy the Law, the Lord maintains for the benefits reciprocity which he discards for insults. But yet, when He says, "As you want men to do to you, do the same," the good made is more abundant, since action is adjusted to desires. Virtue does not know how to measure its benefit: not content to give back what it has received, it wants to increase on what it has collected, for fear of being inferior in charity, even if the service is equal.
It is because the benefits are not limited by quantity, but by order and time; with equal benefit, he prevails who first began; the benefactor is the one who has begun to do well, the debtor the one who has returned. It is, therefore, a blessing more than the initiative of beneficence: for whoever renders the money does not pay the benefit, and remains the debtor of the benefit, even if he is no longer the money; then why think that by rendering the benefit we can be quit, since to render it testifies to have received it even more than to be released? The Christian is therefore trained at this good school: not satisfied with the right of nature, that he seeks delicacy. If all, even sinners, agree to make affection, the one whose convictions are of a higher order must also study more generously to virtue, to the point of loving those same who do not do not like. For if the absence of titles to be loved prevents love from exercising, it does not prevent virtue. In the same way that you would blush not to pay back the one who loves you, and that the desire to render a blessing gives birth to the love of the one you previously did not like; so in the one who does not love you must love (the occasion of) virtue, so that by loving virtue you begin to love the one you do not like. As thin and fragile is the wages of love, eternal that of virtue. But what is so admirable as to stretch the other cheek to whom you strike? Is not breaking all the impetus of the indignant man, calm his anger? Will you not, by patience, strike harder the one who strikes you, because of his regret? Thus will it happen that you will repulse the insult and obtain the good graces. And often the greatest reasons for friendship come from the patience rendered for insolence, the benefit for insult. No doubt, I remember having heard him say, and we believe that at least on this isolated point the morgue of philosophy has bowed, she has made a division of justice into three parts: one to God which is called piety; the other towards the parents and the rest of the human race; the third to the dead, to render them just funerals. But the Lord Jesus, going beyond the oracles of the Law and the summits of philosophy, has extended the benefit of kindness to those who have hurt. And indeed, if the enemy who fought with you by the arms of war gets by throwing down the arms the pity that saves him; so often, for the sake of nature, or by virtue of the very law of war, one consents to grant life to the vanquished, how much more must one consent from the superior point of view of religion! Because if the warrior is not impressed by the instinct of conservation, what should not the soldier of peace!
Thus the text of the Apostle: "Charity is patient, benevolent, not envious .... does not swell" (I Cor., XIII, 4) is shown in these precepts. If she is patient, she owes patience to those who strike; if she is benevolent, she must not answer curses; if she does not seek her own property, she must not resist the thief; if she is not envious, she must not hate her enemy. And yet the precepts of divine charity go beyond those of the Apostle: to give is more than to yield; to love enemies is more than not to be envious. All this, the Lord said it and did it, He who, outraged, did not render the outrage, struck did not make the strokes, stripped did not resist, crucified asked for forgiveness for his persecutors themselves, saying, "Father, forgive them this sin, for they do not know what they do" (Lk. XXIII, 34). He excused from their crime those who incriminated him. They were preparing the cross, He was giving salvation and grace in return. And yet, as the application even to the virtues dulls for lack of reward, He has provided us with the model and guaranteed a salary from heaven, promising the condition of children of God to those who would be his imitators. Whoever hastens to the reward should not resist the example: the more excellent is the reward, the more eager must be the service. And how great is this salary of mercy! To be admitted to the rights of divine adoption! Imitate mercy for the benefit.
The benevolence of God unfolds widely: It rains on the ungrateful, the fertile earth does not refuse its products to the wicked. The same sun of this world also gives light to sacrilege and religious men. Or, to hear this in the mystical sense, the Lord watered the people of the Jews with the rains of the prophecies and shone the rays of the eternal sun for those who did not deserve them. But since the dew of the world has soddened them, the Church of God is invited to the heavenly light, though yet they too, if they believe, can expect the benefit of mercy. He adds that one should not judge lightly, or, having yourself aware of your fault, pronounce a sentence against another.
Great lesson still of virtue! Do not wait for the fertility of what is barren, nor expect a bountiful harvest of the uncultivated. Everyone is reaping the benefits of what he cultivates. Among the thorns of this world we can not find the fig tree, which, excelling by the fruitfulness of its fruits, is well chosen to represent the resurrection: either because, as you have read, "the fig trees have produced their figs unripe "(Cant., II, 13), because the fruit first appeared without maturity, useless and obsolete, in the Synagogue; or because our life is not ripe in this body, is timely in the resurrection. So we must reject far from us the worries of the century, which gnaw the soul and dry the mind, if we want to collect the ripe fruits of a diligent culture. This we can not find in the wasteland of this world, because "we do not pick the figs on thorns and we do not harvest the grapes on the brambles". One relates to the world and the resurrection, the other to the soul and the body: either because no one acquires by sins the fruit of his soul, which, like the grapes, is spoiled near the earth, ripens up; or because no one can avoid the damnation of the flesh unless he is redeemed by Christ who, like grapes, has been suspended from the wood. Far from this flesh, which has been ordered to sprout briars for the condemned man (Gen., III, 18), let us look up from the soul, let us stretch out our hands to obtain the harvest of Christ. But He teaches that the basis of all virtues is obedience to the heavenly precepts, by which our present dwelling can not be shaken by the overflowing voluptuousness, by the assault of evil spirits, or by the rain of the world. nor by the cloudy discussions of heretics.
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