Homily 11

Pronounced before the people

in the Basilica of St. Agnes,

the day of his birthday

January 21, 591

The treasure, the pearl and the net

The popularity of St. Agnes was very great in Rome. By St. Ambrose, who gave us the oldest relation of his death in the De virginibus (378), we know that she accomplished her martyrdom at the age of twelve, that she was then a virgin, that she had to struggle much for to remain so, and finally to perish by the sword, by going to meet death with admirable courage.

For the feast of this heroic child, the Church has chosen the parable of the treasure hidden in a field, which Gregory explains in this Homily: it shows why we must hide the treasure after having found it, then it exposes what means the pearl of great price, of which the second part of the gospel speaks. It is here that our preacher in a few words praises Saint Agnes, whose solemnity the Romans solemnly celebrated. But as a wise pastor, the pope extols the merits of his favorite saint only to engage them in the path of conversion, and he comments in this sense on the last passage of the parable, concerning the net and the sorting of fish.

The speaker thus conducted his speech so as to complete it on a perspective of eternity, very conducive to make the faithful reflect and lead them to change their lives. This is a habit of St. Gregory, who likes to finish his speech by recalling the last judgment. Our contemporaries are easily shocked by it, and a little too quickly they conclude, with the historian Pirenne, that by its constant evocation of the last ends, the Gregorian work has "powerfully contributed to give the medieval religiosity a dark and anguished turn. ". This, however, was not the way of seeing men of the Middle Ages. And such monk of the twelfth century, for example, claimed that this work "poured in him calm, serenity, courage and joy". Father de Lubac cites many other testimonies in this sense (see Medieval Exegesis, Paris, Le Cerf, 1993, 2, pp. 537-548).

Mt 13, 44-52

At that time, Jesus told his disciples this parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field; the man who found him hides him, and in his joy he goes away, sells everything he owns and buys this field.

"The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. Having found a great price, he went away, sold everything he owned and bought it.

"The kingdom of heaven is like a net that has been thrown into the sea and picks up fish of all kinds. When it is full, the fishermen bring it back, and sitting on the shore, they collect the good ones in baskets, but they reject the bad ones. So will it be at the end of the world: the angels will come out, and they will separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. There will be crying and gnashing of teeth.

"Did you understand all this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord." He said to them, "This is why every educated scribe of the kingdom of heaven is like a father who draws from his treasure the new and from the old. "

The kingdom of heaven, dear brethren, is said to be like terrestrial realities, so that the soul rises from what it knows to what it does not know, so that it is brought to the unseen things by the example of visible things, and as heated by the contact of what experience has taught him; thus, the love she feels for what she knows, teaches her to love what she does not know.

Behold, the kingdom of heaven is likened to a treasure hidden in a field: "The man who found him hides it, and in his joy, he goes away, sells everything he owns and buys that field It must be remarked here that this man hides the treasure he has found, in order to preserve it. It is because an ardent desire of Heaven is not sufficient to preserve from evil spirits one who does not put this desire under cover of human praise. For we are in this life as in a path by which we are moving towards the Homeland. And evil spirits are like thieves in ambush on this road. It is therefore wanting to be stripped of carrying treasure uncovered on the way. I do not say that our loved ones should not see our good works, since it is written, "Let them see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven" (Mt 5:16), but we must not look for praise outside for what we do. That the work be public, but that the intention remains secret, so that we give to our loved ones the example of a good action without never ceasing to desire the secret by our intention to please God alone.

The treasure is the heaven to which we aspire, and the field in which the treasure is hidden is our sustained application to obtain Heaven. It is good to sell everything to buy this field, to give up the pleasures of the flesh and to trample on all our earthly desires by keeping a celestial conduct, so that nothing that flatters the flesh will please him, and that the mind does not fear anything that destroys carnal life.

2. The kingdom of heaven is still declared like a merchant looking for fine pearls. He finds one of great value; he also sells everything to buy that pearl he has found. For whoever knows the sweetness of heavenly life, as perfectly as possible, willingly abandons all that he loved on earth. Everything seems to him valueless in comparison with this blessed life: he leaves what he possesses and distributes what he has amassed; his soul is inflamed for the things of heaven; nothing of those of the earth appeals to him; all that beauty charmed him in this world seemed deformed to him, because only the brilliance of the precious pearl sparkled in his mind. It is with such love that Solomon rightly asserts: "Love is as strong as death" (Ct 8, 6). In fact, just as death destroys the body, the love of eternal life destroys the passion for bodily things, and the one he possesses as a whole, makes him insensitive to the desires of the earth. .

3. This saint whose feast we are celebrating today could not have died in her body for God, had she not died first in her mind to the desires of the earth. His soul, elevated to the summit of virtue, despised torments and trampled on rewards. Conducted in the presence of kings and governors surrounded by soldiers, she remained firm, more resistant than the one who struck her, superior even to the one who judged her. And we, adults full of weakness, who see girls walking towards the Kingdom of Heaven through the sword, what will we find to say in front of such examples, we who let ourselves be dominated by anger, swell by pride to trouble with ambition and to defile with lust? If we can not conquer the Kingdom of Heaven through the war of persecution, let us at least be ashamed not to want to follow God through peace. God does not say to any of us now, "Die for me," but only, "Make the forbidden desires die in you." If in peace we do not wish to dominate the desires of the flesh, how then in the war would we give we this flesh itself for the Lord?

4. The kingdom of heaven is still said to be like a net that has been thrown into the sea and picks up fish of all kinds. When it is full, it is brought back to the shore, and the good are collected in baskets, while the bad ones are rejected.

The holy Church is compared to a net, since the care has been entrusted to fishermen also, and it is she who, to prevent men from being swallowed up in the depths of eternal death, withdraws them from the waves of the sea. present world and makes them pass to the eternal Kingdom. It picks up fish of all kinds, because it calls for the remission of sins the wise and the foolish, the free men and the slaves, the rich and the poor, the strong and the weak. So the psalmist says to God, "All flesh will come to you" (Ps 65: 3)

It is at the end, when the number of humans is complete, that the net is fully filled. He is brought back, and seated on the shore; for if the sea represents the world, the shore of the sea signifies the end of the world. At this end of the world, the good fish are collected in baskets, but the bad ones are rejected; indeed, while the elect are received in the eternal dwellings, the reprobate, having lost the light of the inner realm, are led to the outer darkness. Now the net of faith contains us all, good and bad together, like a mass of unsorted fish. But the shore reveals what the net, that is, the holy church, has fired. Unlike fish, which, once taken, can not change anymore, we are caught bad, but we are made good. Therefore, let's think while we are caught in the net, so as not to be thrown back to the shore.

See how dear is the solemnity of this feast to you: would not one of you, who would be prevented from taking part in this assembly, be saddened? 1 What will those who will be trained do on that day? out of the sight of the Judge, separated from the society of the elect, and who, being plunged in darkness, far from the light, will be tortured with an eternal burn? That is why the Lord briefly explains this same comparison when he adds, "So will it be at the end of the world: the angels will come out, and they will separate the wicked from the righteous and cast them into the fiery furnace. . There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. "These are words, dear brothers, that we must rather fear than explain. The torments of sinners are clearly stated, so that no one takes the pretext of his ignorance, as if they had spoken of the eternal tortures with some obscurity. Hence the rest of the text: "Did you understand all this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord."

5. And it is added in conclusion: "Therefore, every educated scribe of the kingdom of heaven is like a father who draws from his treasure the new and the old."

If by these words "new" and "old" we understand both Testament, we deny that Abraham was instructed, since even though he knew the facts of the New and Old Testaments, he did not announce the words. Nor can we compare Moses to an educated father, for even though he taught the Old Testament, he did not speak the words of the New. This interpretation being excluded, we are led to another. In the word of Truth, "Every learned scribe of the kingdom of heaven is like a father of a family," it is understandable that the Lord spoke, not of those who had preceded his Church, but of those who might later to be part of it. The latter draw new and old when they proclaim the truths of both the Testament by their words and good morals.

Yet we can understand this again in another way. The former, for the human race, was to descend into the infernal prisons and suffer the eternal tortures for his sins. And something new reached him by the coming of the Mediator: henceforth, he who is able to live well here below can enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and to the extent that man, born on earth , die to this corruptible life, he is destined to find a place in Heaven. That the human race will perish in eternal punishment for its sins, here is the old. That, converted, he lives in the Kingdom, here is the new.

Thus, the Lord ended his speech precisely where he had begun it. He had first affirmed that the Kingdom was like a hidden treasure and a fine pearl, and then described the sorrows of hell concerning the burning suffered by the wicked; and he adds, "Therefore, every educated scribe of the kingdom of heaven is like a father who draws from his treasure the new and the old." It is as if he clearly said: In the Holy Church, the educated preacher is the one who knows both how to express new things by speaking of the sweetness of the Kingdom and say old things by speaking of the fear of punishment, so that at least the torments give fear to those whom rewards do not attract. "Let us hear what is said of the Kingdom to love it; let us listen to what is said to us of the torture to dread it, so that if love is not enough to bring to the Kingdom a soul asleep and strongly attached to the earth, fear at least will lead to it.

Here is how the Lord speaks of Gehenna: "There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Eternal lamentations follow the pleasures of now. Also, dear brothers, if you fear to cry in that day, now flee vain joy. It is impossible, indeed, to rejoice now with the world and to reign in that day with the Lord. Stump the floods with the joy that passes, tame the pleasures of the flesh completely. May the thought of eternal fire make you bitter all that your mind finds agreeable in the present world. By the severe rule of life appropriate to well-made men, reprove the puerile amusements to which you give yourself up, so that, fleeing from yourselves the things that pass, you can easily reach the eternal joys, with the help of Our Lord Jesus Christ ...

________________________________

1 What happened between January 14, 591 and January 14, 592, so that so many of the assistants of the first party died before the second? Following epidemics? Famines? Massacres by the Lombards?