Homily 4

Pronounced before the people

in the basilica of St. Stephen, martyr,

about the apostles

November 26, 590 (a Sunday of Advent)

The sending of the twelve on mission

Jesus instructs His Apostles to preach the Gospel except in the pagans and cities of the Samaritans. And he adds: "You have received free, give free." The speaker takes occasion of this sentence to deny the vice of simony.

Simon the Magician is that mysterious person who attracted a green reprimand from St. Peter for wanting to buy him the power to lay hands: "May your money perish with you, since you believed that the gift of God was acquired at a price of money. "(Acts 8:20) He gave his name to simony, which originally referred to the sale of priestly ordination. Gregory always uses this word with this meaning. He notes, for example, in one of his letters that no one in Gaul or Germany can "reach holy orders without making presents" and condemns this shameful trade as "simonic heresy" (Registrum 5, 62). The text of this Homily was widely used in the Middle Ages against Simony, especially by the Gregorian reformers of the eleventh century (see A. Fliche, The Gregorian Reformation, Louvain, 1966, 1: 23-30) . The holy pope distinguishes here the three kinds of simony according to the three types of presents by which one seeks to obtain the coveted ecclesiastical charge: servility, money and flattery.

Let us now turn to a whole other order of realities, that of the very delicate theological question of predestination. When St. Gregory speaks of those who, by a secret judgment of God, "did not deserve to be regenerated by grace," he teaches predestination absolutely gratuitous to salvation. Elsewhere, he affirms no less clearly the other aspect of the mystery: the real possibility of this salvation for all adults, at least for all the baptized. He agrees, moreover, with St. Augustine, that no one can see here below the intimate conciliation of these two truths. The balance lies in the affirmation of these two extreme aspects of the mystery and in the superior contemplation of the infinite goodness of God, which is at once the principle of his mercy and justice. It is only by looking at things from the side of God's love that the anguishing question of predestination is safely approached (see Garrigou-Lagrange in DTC, art Predestination, 12, col. 2901).

Mt 10, 5-10

At that time Jesus sent his twelve apostles after giving them his instructions: "Do not go to the Gentiles, and do not enter the cities of the Samaritans; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. On your way, announce that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received for free, give for free. Have no gold, no money, no money in your belts, no bag for the road, neither tunics, nor shoes, nor stick; because the worker deserves his food. "

Is it not obvious to all, dear brothers, that our Redeemer has come to this world for the redemption of the Gentiles? Do we not see Samaritans called to faith every day? Then why does the Lord say to the apostles whom he sends to preach, "Do not go to the Gentiles, and do not enter the cities of the Samaritans; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. "This is to lead us to conclude from what has happened that he wanted to be preached first to Judea alone, and only then to all pagan peoples, that when Judea, having been called, refused to convert, the holy preachers go and call the heathen in their turn. In this way, after the rejection of the preaching of our Redeemer by his own, this one would seek listeners so to speak foreign among the pagan peoples; and where the Jews were to find a charge against them, the Gentiles would draw an increase of grace.

At that time, indeed, there were in Judea, who were to be called, and it was, among the pagans, who were not to be called. In the Acts of the Apostles we read that at the preaching of Peter, three thousand Jews first, and five thousand others believed (see Acts 2:41, 4, 4). And when the apostles wanted to preach to the Gentiles in Asia, it is reported that it was forbidden to them by the Spirit (Acts 16: 6); and yet this same Spirit, who at first forbade preaching, afterwards made it penetrate into the heart of the Asiatics. Is it not already long since all Asia is won over to the faith?

If the Holy Spirit began by banning what he did next, then there were in Asia men who were not to be saved. There were, then, in this region men who did not yet deserve to be brought back to life, but who also did not deserve to be judged more severely for having scorned the preaching. Thus, a subtle and mysterious judgment refused the holy preaching in the ears of these men, because they did not deserve to be regenerated by grace. It is therefore necessary for us, dear brothers, to fear, in all that we do, the hidden designs that the almighty God nourishes for us, lest if we let our souls spread abroad, without To bring it back to itself by diverting it from pleasure, the Judge does not spare him, to correct it, terrible trials in the interior. This is what the psalmist observed when he said, "Come and see the works of the Lord. May his designs upon the sons of men be feared! "(Ps 66: 5). He has indeed seen that one receives a call dictated by mercy, while another is rejected as required by justice. And because the Lord is determined sometimes to forgive, sometimes to rage with anger, the psalmist dreaded what he could not understand. This God whom he discovered not only unfathomable, but also inflexible in some of his decisions, proclaimed that he was formidable in his designs.

2. Let us hear what is prescribed for the preachers sent on mission: "On your path, announce that the Kingdom of Heaven is near." This proximity, dear brothers, even if the Gospel was silent, the world would proclaim it. For he speaks to us by his ruins: crushed by so many blows and fallen from his glory, he shows us, as already very near, another Kingdom, which follows him. He has become bitter even for those who love him. He exhorts them by his ruins themselves not to love him. Indeed, if a damaged house threatened ruin, the one who lives in it would run away; and whoever had loved her when she was standing would move away as quickly as she collapses. Surrounding the world with our affection at the moment it collapses is not wanting to be lodged, but rather wanting to be crushed, because this love that connects us to the misfortunes suffered by the world renders useless any effort to free us from his collapse. It is therefore easy for us today to detach our soul from the love of the world, when we see all things destroyed around us. But it was very difficult at the time when the Twelve were sent to preach the Invisible Kingdom of Heaven, because then, as far as the sight went, all the earthly kingdoms prospered.

3. For this reason, miracles came to the rescue of the holy preachers, so that this demonstration of power might inspire confidence in their words, and those who preached from the unpublished also come to make something new, such as add our text: "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons."

As long as the world was flourishing, that the human race was growing, that we lived for a long time and that we were overflowing with goods, to whom could we have made believe by words that there was another life? Who would have preferred invisible things to visible things? But when infirm persons were brought back to health, dead were recalled to life, when lepers had found the clearness of their flesh, and possessed persons had been delivered from the power of unclean spirits, when so many visible miracles had been accomplished, who could not believe the invisible things he heard about? For the visible miracles only come to the eyes of those who see them to draw them to faith in the invisible realities, and to make them feel, through what is accomplished admirably outside, that what is at -in the east is still a lot more.

That is why, today, when the number of the faithful has increased, there are still many in the Holy Church who lead a life rich in virtues, but without the wonders associated with these virtues; indeed, the external miracle is useless if there is nothing to achieve inside. As the Doctor of Nations says, "tongues are a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers" (1 Cor 14:22). So this eminent preacher raised the young Eutychus to prayer before all the unbelievers, who fell asleep during the sermon and fell by the window and was dead (see Acts 20). , 7-12). Coming to Malta and knowing the island filled with unbelievers, he healed by prayer the father of Publius, who was tormented by dysentery and fevers (see Acts 28: 7-10). As for Timothy, his traveling companion and his aid for holy preaching, who suffered from an upset stomach, he did not cure him of a word, but he appealed to the medical art to restore his health: "Take he said, "a little wine, because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses."

(1Tm 5, 23). He who, by a single prayer, was able to cure an unbelieving patient, why does he not also put his suffering companion on the path of prayer? It was necessary to heal the outside by a miracle that man who did not have life inside, so that the manifestation of the external power would allow an inner virtue to bring it to life. But Paul's sick companion, who was a believer, did not need to see miracles outside, since he was alive and healthy inside.

4. Now let us hear what our Redeemer adds after granting the power of preaching and the power to perform miracles: "You have received freely, give freely." He foresaw that some would use the very gift of the Spirit that they had received as a bargaining chip, and that they would turn away prodigies and miracles by making them serve their greed. This is how Simon the Magician, who saw the miracles wrought by the laying on of hands, wanted to receive for money the gift of the Holy Spirit, in order to sell in a more shameful way what he would have poorly acquired (see Acts 8: 18-24). This is also why our Redeemer, having whipped himself with ropes, drove the crowd out of the Temple and overthrew the sieges of the doves (see Jn 2: 14-16). To sell doves is to lay hands, to confer the Holy Spirit, without regard to the merit of life [of the candidate], but for a reward. Some, however, without touching money as a reward for ordination, grant sacred orders to obtain the favor of men; in doing so, they seek for all retribution only praise. They do not give freely what they have received for free, since in performing this holy function, they expect to be paid adulation in their coin. It is therefore right that the prophet describes the righteous man as "he who keeps away his hand from all present" (Is 33, 15). He does not say, "he who keeps his hand away from the present," but he makes it clear: "from all present"; for one must distinguish the present from servility, the present from the hand, and the present from the tongue. The present of servility is a subjection which is fulfilled when it was not held; the present of the hand is money; the present of language is adulation. He who confers the sacred orders thus removes his hand from all present when in the divine things, not only does he not seek money, but he does not seek the favor of men either.

5. As for you, dear brothers, who have not left the secular habit, since you know the duties that come to us, bring the attention of your soul back to yours. All your mutual duties, complete them for free. The reward of your works, do not look for it in a world which, as you see, has already declined so rapidly. Just as you want to hide your bad deeds so that others do not see them, be careful not to manifest your good deeds in order to be praised by men. Do no harm in any way, and do not do good for an earthly reward. Seek to witness your actions the very one you expect as a judge. Give him to see that your good deeds are now secret, so that at the time of the reward he will make them known to all.

Just as you give food to your body every day, so that it does not fail, that good works are the daily food of your soul. It is through food that the body is rebuilt, it is through the work of charity that the soul must talk. What you give to your body doomed to die, do not deny it to your soul destined to live for eternity. Suppose the fire suddenly devours a house: any owner then seizes what he can and flees; he looks like a gain from having been able to snatch anything from the flames with him. Behold, the fire of tribulation annihilates the world, and its near end burns like a flame all that made it the ornament. Estimate then, dear brothers, that it is a considerable gain that you realize if you tear something out of it with you, if you carry anything in your flight, if what you could lose by keeping it for you, you keep it for your eternal reward by giving it. For we lose all earthly things by keeping them, but we preserve them by giving them generously.

Very quickly, time runs away. Therefore, since an unwelcome insistence compels us to see our Judge soon, let us prepare ourselves in all haste with good deeds, with the help of Our Lord ...