The Worth of a Talent

In Matthew 25, 1-14, we read the parable of the talents.  The so-called 'common' talent of which The Lord speaks here, was no insignificant amount.  In fact, a single common talent weighed a hundred and thirty pounds.  Thus, a talent of silver, at twenty-five dollars an ounce, would be worth nearly $50,000.  Here, St. Gregory the Great makes a few observations regarding the servant who was given one talent and buried it in the earth instead of investing it:  

"The servant who did not make money on his master's talent repaid his master with the  words of an excuse: 'Lord, I know that you are a hard man, that you reap where you did not sow, and gather where you did not scatter, and fearing, I went and hid your talent in the earth: behold, you have what is yours.'  We should note that the useless servant called his master 'hard', to whom he pretends to care about his profit, and he says that he was afraid to put out the talent for interest, but he only should have been afraid lest he return this to his master without profit.  This servant is an image of very many within the Holy Church who fear to set upon the ways of a better life but do not fear to lay in the sloth of torpor; and although they consider themselves sinners, they fear to seize the ways of sanctity and do not dread to remain in their iniquities.  Peter is the figure of those who are still set in their weakness when he said, after seeing the miracle of the fishes: 'Leave me Lord, for I am a sinner' (Luke 5, 8).  Indeed, if you consider yourself a sinner, it is necessary that you not send The Lord away from you.  Those who reject the ways of a better condition and do not seize the protection of a more righteous life because they deem themselves to be weak, confessing themselves to be sinners, and reject The Lord, whom they ought to sanctify in themselves, flee, as it were, and do not have counsel in their trouble when they die, and they fear life.  Then, further on, the master responds to this servant: 'You wicked and lazy servant!  You knew that I reap where I do not sow, and gather where I do not scatter.  You should have given my money to the bankers so that when I came, I should have received what is mine, with interest.'  And with these words, the servant was bound: 'I reap where I do not sow, and gather where I do not scatter.'  As though to say clearly, If, according to your own words, I take what I did not give, how much more I require from you what I gave you to invest."

A Deathbed Scene

The parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids in the Gospel of St. Matthew prompts us to consider the end of the world as well as our own personal end on earth.  Pope St. Gregory the Great (d. 604) often told characteristic stories in his homilies, and he does so here, in his homily on this parable:

"Most beloved brothers, I relate an event which will instruct you powerfully by its careful consideration, if your charity wishes to hear it attentively.  There was a certain noble man named Chrysaorius who lived in the province of Valeria.  The people called him 'Chryserium' in their rustic language.  He was a very capable man, but full of vices.  He was swollen with pride, overcome by delights of the flesh, and burning from the logs of greed for the acquisition of things.  But when God decreed to put an end to these wicked deeds, as I have learned from his neighbor, a certain religious who survives to this day, he was attacked by a disease of the body.  Coming to his end, in the same hour when he was about to depart from his body, he opened his eyes and saw very black, fearsome spirits standing before him, terribly ready to seize him for the prison of hell.  He began to tremble, to grow pale, to perspire, and to beg for time with a loud voice, and to cry out for his son Maximus, whom I saw as a monk, as a monk myself, with terrible and frightened cries, saying, 'Run, Maximus!  I never did anything wicked to you!  Receive me into your faith!'  Soon the troubled Maximus was present, and the family gathered together, weeping and making a clamor.  Gravely he bore with those who insisted to him that they could not see these evil spirits, but they did see the presence of these spirits in his confusion, and in the paleness and trembling with which his soul was being hauled away.  He was turned this way and that in his bed by his shaking at their fearful image.  He lay on his left side, and could not bear their appearance; he turned to his other side, and they were present there, too.  And when he was bound tightly together, he despaired that he could be loosed now, and he began to cry out with a loud voice, saying, 'Give me until morning!  Give me until morning!'  But when he had cried this, he was torn from the dwelling of his flesh.  He did not see this vision for himself, but for our sake, so that it may profit us who now patiently wait with divine patience.  For what did it profit him that he saw fearful spirits before his death and beg for time, which he did not receive?  Most beloved brothers, we ourselves should consider this now with care, lest our times fall into emptiness and then we should seek to do well in our lives when we are already forced to depart our bodies."

The Head of John the Baptist

The amount of space devoted by the Evangelists to describe John the Baptist tells much about his influence on the Jews of his time, and even a cursory reading of the Acts of the Apostles shows how far abroad his influence spread -- even to Jewish communities outside of Judea and Galilee.  Many of the Church Fathers and later theologians devoted much space of their own to understanding what he meant in the work of salvation.  Anselm of Laon provides the following thoughts on the story of John's beheading, taken from his commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew:

" 'Herod was saddened, but because of his oath and those at the feast, he ordered it to be given her.'  According to Bede, it is the custom of the Scriptures for the historian to give the opinion of many as to what was believed by men at that time, as that Joseph was called the 'father' of Jesus by Mary.  In the present case, Herod is called 'saddened' because those at the feast thought he was saddened.  But this liar and murderer put a sad expression on his face while having joy in his heart.  And he excused his wickedness by his oath so that a wicked deed might be carried out under the pretense of a good one.  The fact that he carried this out right away because of those at the feast shows that he wished them to be sharers in the deed with him.  John holds the figure of the law.  Herod signifies the Jewish people, who joins to himself, as it were, an unfaithful wife from the Gentiles, born of the same ancestor as he.  Because John, as the law, forbade the union, he was arrested and was not permitted to speak.  At last, on Herod's birthday, that is, in satisfying his natural desire, the daughter danced -- depraved desire born from the infidelity leaped up -- and asked that the head of John be added to her charms -- that is, that Christ be severed from the understanding of the law.  The daughter brought the head to her mother, for a depraved will leads to infidelity.  Then John's disciples -- the hearers of the law -- buried John's body -- they put an end to physical observances in this, and so they came from the law to the Gospel, and were made solicitous hearers of the word of God.  To this day, we perceive, by the head of John the Prophet, that the Jews have lost Christ, the head of the Jews and the Prophets.  Otherwise, the beheading of John the Baptist is the 'diminution' of his fame by which Christ was believed in by the people, just as the lifting up of The Lord on the Cross is the 'summit' of our faith.  What is lessened in regards to the head of John, is raised up in the Cross of The Lord, just as John himself said: 'It is necessary for him to increase and for me to decrease' (John 3, 30).  Josephus says that John was brought bound to the castle called 'Macherus', where he was beheaded.  The 'Ecclesiastical History' (by Eusebius) says that he was buried in Sebaste, a city of Palestine, which was called 'Samaria' at that time.  In the time of Julian [the Apostate], who bore ill-will against the Christians who frequented his tomb with pious care, the tomb was attacked by pagans, and his bones were spread throughout the fields.  Collected again, they were burned with fire and then again scattered through the fields.  Later monks from Jerusalem gathered up the greatest part of them, mixed with the bones of pagans, and brought them back to Jerusalem to Philip, their abbot.  He sent them to blessed Athanasius, the bishop of Alexandria.  They were preserved there up to the time of Theophilus, bishop of that same city.  At that time, the temples were destroyed by the command of Theodosius, the ruler of all peoples, and then after the cleansing of the filth of the temple of Serapis, a basilica in honor of St. John was consecrated where it had stood."

Does God Become Angry?

The Holy Scriptures often portray the anger of God, and the grim results of his anger.  But can we say that God truly becomes angry?  St. Augustine, in his commentary on Psalm 2, provides an answer to this question:

" 'Why do the nations rage and the people consider vain things?  The kings of the earth have stood forth and the princes have come together as one against The Lord and against his Christ.'  The Psalmist asks 'why', as though to say: for nothing, for they did not accomplish what they wanted, that Christ might be destroyed.  This is said of the persecutors of The Lord, who are remembered in The Acts of the Apostles (4, 26).

" 'Let us burst their bonds and cast off their yoke from us.'  Whatever else may be understood here, still the most apt understanding is that this is spoken in the person of those who considered 'vain things'.  'Let us burst their bonds and cast off their yoke from us': let us take pains that he may not bind us, nor may the Christian religion be established upon us.  

" 'He who dwells in heaven shall deride them and The Lord shall mock them.  There is a repetition here, for in place of 'he who dwells in heaven' is set 'The Lord'; and in place of 'shall deride them' is set 'shall mock'.  It is not necessary to understand any of these things in physical terms, as though God 'derides' with his cheeks, or 'mocks' with his nose.  But the meaning to be understood is of the power which he gives to his holy ones, that they, perceiving what is to come -- that is, that name of Christ and his rule are to extend to all posterity and to reach all nations -- should understand that those men consider 'vain things'.  This power, by which these things are foreknown, is the 'derision' and 'mocking' of God.

" 'Then shall he speak to them in his anger, and trouble them in his wrath.'  The Psalmist plainly shows how The Lord speaks to them, and says: 'He shall trouble them.'  That is, in 'his anger' and in 'his wrath'.  It is not fitting for the 'anger' and 'wrath' of The Lord to be understood as a disturbance of the mind, but as the power by which he most justly judges those subject to his governance -- all the creatures of the world.  We should consider and hold that which is written by Solomon: 'O Lord of power, you judge with tranquility, and you dispose us with great care (Wisdom 12, 18).  The 'anger' of God is the movement which is made in the soul who knows the law of God when she sees the same law ignored by a sinner.  Many souls are punished through this movement of  just souls.  Whatever can be understood rightly by the 'anger' of God, it is the obscuring of the mind which results for those who transgress the law of God." 

Weighty Matters of the Law

Anselm of Laon (d. 1117), one of the great Scripture scholars of the Middle Ages, comments on Matthew 23, 4, in which The Lord Jesus upbraids the scribes and Pharisees for burdening the people of God:

" 'For they bind heavy and unsupportable burdens', when they gather their traditions together, which do not lighten the conscience, but weigh it down: for, no one is able to fulfill them by their own strength.  He calls the commandments of the law, which God gave most particularly because of sin, 'unsupportable burdens'.  The scribes and Pharisees taught this law mixed with their traditions, teaching the people to live according to these and not to strive for the easy and delectable grace of Christ.  As The Lord said earlier: 'Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest' (Matthew 11, 28).  And Peter, later: 'Why do you wish to impose a yoke upon the necks of disciples, which neither you nor your fathers were able to carry, but we believe that we are saved through the grace of Christ' (Acts of the Apostles 15, 10-11).  Indeed, they set such burdens on the shoulders of men as though they should be made strong for this purpose.  Those, then, who are not just in their actions wish at least to appear just in their words.  

"Next, The Lord says: 'They do not wish to move them with their finger.'  They do not wish in the least to help them carry out these things which they teach.  Such are the indiscreet priests who command the people to all justice -- and they themselves do not serve justice even a little -- and impose a grave weight on those who come to penance: that which they command them, they themselves do not.  Then when they sin, they impose a slight penance.  Is it not better, for the sake of mercy, to impute this to their reason rather than to their faith?

" 'All the works whatsoever they shall say to you, observe and do, but do not according to their acts.'  The Lord says that such teachers are to be heard, but not imitated.  Now he shows the reason why those who 'performed their works so as to be seen by men', were not able to believe in him: a person is not able to believe in Christ's preaching of heaven if he longs for earthly glory."

The Morals of the Clergy

In Matthew 23, 13-22, we read of The Lord Jesus rebuking the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy and for misleading the people.  Poor behavior of religious leaders has always plagued the Church, beginning with Judas Iscariot. Bishop Baldwin of Canterbury (d. 1190) delivered an impassioned plea to his clergy, making it clear that their behavior was partly responsible for the murder of St. Thomas a Beckett a few years before.  The following is taken from this plea, entitled, "On the Corruption of the Morals of the Clergy and People":

" 'The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of The Lord should come' (Joel 2, 31).  The sun and moon in the heavens signify the life of the life of those who govern and those who are governed, in the order of the Church.  That is, ecclesiastical authority and the secular power.  The moon is inferior to the sun and does not shine by its own light, but by the light of the sun.  Thus it is with the life of the laity and the life of the clergy, through whom they ought to be warmed and enlightened.  It is to the clergy that it is said: 'You are the light of the world' (Matthew 5, 14).  The sun is 'turned into darkness' in those clergy who are ignorant, who sin, who are blind and are the blind leading the blind.  Therefore 'the moon' -- the life of the laity -- is 'turned into blood': the blood of corruption and cruelty.  Behold, the charity of many grows cold and iniquity abounds.  Blood rises from the press even to the horses's bridles (cf. Revelation 14, 20) -- even to the rulers of the peoples -- and, 'blood touches blood' (Hosea 4, 2).  The laity do not find in us what ought to be imitated; they find that which they want to imitate.  They imitate us with calumnies, injuries, curses, disclosures, and words of hatred.  Lastly, they imitate us with swords.  Recently, the fury of those imitating us has wounded us in the 'head': they struck even to death Thomas, our prelate, most blessed of Christ our Lord, on account of his remarkable defense of the liberty of the Church.  And if it is true that the news of this event has spread, and has caused the consciences of many to fear, our undisciplined life is the nursery of such an evil deed as this, and it furnished the kindling of such hatred.  For men did not esteem us as ministers of God and dispensers of the mysteries of God, but they will bear the judgment of God, whoever they are.  We seemed unworthy for the ancient privileges granted for the peace and liberty of the clergy by the indulgence of the Roman Pontiff, and by ancient and noble kings.  We were certainly unworthy in every way according to our way of life to be given respect.  However, in whatever priest, there is ever the holy priestly ministry, and the honorable sacrament of the priesthood."  

Why Do Good People Suffer?

The French Benedictine monk, Herve´ of Burgundy (d. 1150), provides a commentary on 2 Thessalonians 1, 2-9, in which he presents an intriguing answer for the ancient question of why good people suffer:

"We glory 'for your patience and faith' [says St. Paul] because it does not fall off or murmur, but you are patient and serve the Faith 'in all your flights' from one place to another, 'and tribulations', that is, the torments and afflictions imposed upon you in one place, 'which you bear for an example of the just Judgment of God'.  As if to say, When you, who do good things, suffer harsh things, you give an example of the just Judgment of God.  For it should be understood from the sufferings with which he allows you, in whom he rejoices, to be afflicted, how he will strike those who anger him; or, how he will punish those to whom he shows his just Judgment, if you, whom he piously cherishes, should suffer in this way.  We understand from this how he does not spare the wicked from a burning as with cut firewood when he does not spare the just from their perfecting purgation.  As Peter said: 'For the time is, that judgment should begin at the house of God' (1 Peter 4, 17).  If the Judgment first begins with us, then what will be the end for those who do not believe in the Gospel of God?  The affliction of the just is the example of the future Judgment: if these are judged harshly for their light sins, how much more harshly will the wicked be judged for their crimes at the end of the world?  Therefore, bear the scourges of the present tribulations so that when you are purged, 'you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God', unto eternal beatitude, into which nothing shall enter that is unclean, for it is unworthy.  But you are made worthy, through these afflictions, for that kingdom -- not for human favor, on the one hand, or for some crime, on the other.  For your soul seeks nothing from these sufferings but the kingdom of God, and you have committed no crimes for which you should have suffered."

The Acts of St. Bartholomew

The Acts of the Apostles focuses on the work of St. Peter and St. Paul, and does not tell much about the others.  We might wish that its author, St. Luke, had gone into equal amounts of detail about each of the other Apostles, but such was not the scope of his work.  Later writers tried to fill in the gaps in our knowledge of the Apostles with their own works on them.  Some of these apocryphal acts were taken as authentic history by medieval churchmen.  The following homily by St. Bede for the feast of St. Bartholomew is drawn from a collection of these lives of the Apostles called "The Apostolic History", which was edited in the 500's in a Frankish monastery.

"When Blessed Bartholomew went into India, he entered a temple where there was a demon named Asheroth, and he began to stay there as a pilgrim.  The men of that place said that the demon healed everyone who was sick, and many came there from faraway regions at that time, all seeking for him to heal them.  But through the power of St. Bartholomew, the demon remained silent.  Then men from there went out to a city where there was another demon and they asked if he knew why the first demon was not able to speak.  He said, 'From the hour when the Apostle Bartholomew entered the temple, your god was bound with fiery chains so that he could neither speak nor breathe.'  They asked him who was this Bartholomew.  The demon Berith responded, 'He is a friend of the Almighty God, and he has come to this land to destroy all the vain idols.'  They all responded and said to him, 'Give us a sign so that we may be able to recognize him.'  The demon responded, 'He has black hair, white skin, large eyes, nostrils of equal size, ears covered by the hair of his head, and a lengthy beard with a few gray hairs.  He is of middle stature, neither very tall, nor very short.  He is dressed in a white mantle.  Never in twenty-six years has his clothing been changed.  He prays a hundred times each day and so many times every night.  His voice is like a trumpet.  The angels of God walk with him and do not allow him to become tired or hungry.  At all times he remains joyful in The Lord.  He foresees all things, speaks all languages, and has understanding.'  The men returned and found him preaching, and they recognized him.  A certain man, filled with a demon, came and cried out, 'Bartholomew, Apostle of God, your prayers burn me!'  And the Apostle said, 'Be silent, demon, and go out of him!'  And immediately he went out from him.  At last, the king commanded him to be beheaded.  Afterwards, innumerable people, who believed in God through him, came from twelve cities and carried his body with hymns and all glory, and they built for him a basilica of wondrous size, and placed his body in it.  But on the thirtieth day of his entombment, the king was seized by a demon, and he and many priests filled with demons came to the tomb of St. Bartholomew and confessed the Apostle of God, and so they died.  And it came to pass that a great fear came over all the unbelievers, and they believed and were all baptized by the priests whom St. Bartholomew ordained.  And it came to pass, through a revelation of the Apostle that the king was ordained as Bishop by all the clergy, with all the people crying out.  It was King Apollonius who was ordained bishop, and he began to perform many signs in the name of The Lord and of St. Bartholomew.  He remained as bishop for twenty years, and then departed to The Lord by the intercession of St. Bartholomew."

A Spiritual Introduction to the Book of Ruth

While understanding the Book of Ruth as history, the Church Fathers also read the book with an eye to its spiritual meaning.  The wandering man at the beginning of the book, the bereaved mother, the faithful daughter-in-law who abandons her country for a new one, the upright head of the family, the gleaning in the fields -- these are all types and figures that the learned men of the early Church could use to provide insight into the mystery of Salvation.  Rabanus Maurus (d. 856) wrote one of the relatively few early commentaries on the Book of Ruth, and the following is taken from its first page: 

" 'In the days of one of the Judges, when the Judges ruled, there was a famine on the earth.'  What does the famine in the days of one of the Judges signify?  It signifies the scarcity of spiritual teachers and masters of the people of God to whom the authority of judging was delegated.  This was not a famine of bread or food, but of hearing the word of God in the land born of the Synagogue, when the law was corrupted through the traditions of the Jews (cf. Amos 8, 11), and the Psalms, Prophets, and Divine Histories were confused according to the carnal sense and by a foolish interpretation and not understood according to their own truthfulness.  'A man departed from Bethlehem of Judah to wander in the land of the Moabites with his wife and two children.'  Some wish to understand this 'man' as the Ten Commandments of the law, his 'wife' as the Synagogue, and his two 'children' as the two orders of dignity -- the regal and the priestly -- who seemed to rule that territory in the times of the Old Testament.  These two orders ruled not only over the Jewish people but also the rest of the nations by dint of their power, and so a certain bond arose between the two peoples of the Israelites and the foreigners in the times of David and Solomon and the other kings.  But others understand this 'man' as Christ, who was born of a Virgin in Bethlehem of Judea, wishing to visit the wandering of this world with his 'wife' the Holy Church, whom he presented to himself as 'glorious, without spot or wrinkle' (Ephesians 5, 27), and with his two 'children', whom we can understand as the two orders of the Prophets and Apostles.  They are called 'children' [Latin: liberi] because they were freed [liberati]  from the yoke of sin and the ancient slavery by the Blood of our Redeemer."

The Blessed Virgin Mary, Star of the Sea

St. Bernard of Clairvaux wrote many moving sermons, none more moving than his sermons on the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Here is an excerpt from one such sermon, in which "the last of the Fathers", as he is known, considers the name of the Virgin Mary:

"Let us say a few words about her name, which arises from 'star of the sea' [Latin: maris stella] -- a name very fitting to the Virgin Mother.  She is very aptly compared to a star, for just as a star without corruption to itself radiates its light, so the Virgin bore her Son without injury to her body.  The star's rays do not lessen its brightness, nor did the Son damage the Virgin's integrity.  This is that noble Star that arose from Jacob [cf. Numbers 24, 17] whose rays illuminate the whole world, whose splendor pours forth its light to the heavens and penetrates the depths.  This Star brightly illumines lands and warms souls more than bodies. It shines upon virtues and perfects vices.  This is the precious and excellent Star which is raised up over the great and wide 'sea' of our necessity, shining with its merits, enlightening with its examples.  Whosoever you are, you know that you are driven about in the flood of this world, among its tempests and storms, more than you walk on the land.  Do not take your eyes from the brightness of this Star unless you wish to be overwhelmed by the storms.  If the winds of temptation rise up against you, if you come upon the crags of tribulations, look upon the Star and call upon Mary.  If anger, greed, or the desires of the flesh beat upon the 'boat' of your soul, look to Mary.  If disturbed by the proximity of sin, confused by foulness of conscience, terrified by the horror of the Judgment, anxious that you may fall into the abyss of misery and the pit of despair, know Mary.  If you are in peril, anguish, or doubt, know Mary; call upon Mary.  Do not cease to beseech her aid with your word or your heart.  Do not depart from the example of her conduct."

The First and the Last in the Kingdom

In Matthew 20, 1-16, we find Jesus telling the mysterious and unsettling parable about the man who hired workers for his vineyards at various hours and afterwards paid them all the same wage.  The man hired the workers at the first, third, sixth, ninth, and eleventh hours.  The "first" hour would have been near dawn, the sixth hour would have been close to our noon, and the eleventh hour just before sunset.  In his commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew, St. Jerome provides his interpretation on these verses:

"It seems to me that the first hour is that of the workers Samuel, Jeremiah, and John the Baptist, who are able to say with the Psalmist: 'From my mother's womb, you are my God' (Psalm 21, 11).  At the third hour, the workers are those who begin to serve God in their early youth.  At the sixth hour, those who take up the yoke of Christ at a mature age.  At the ninth hour, those declining into their old age.  A little after the eleventh hour, those who reached their last hours.  And still, all of these receive an equal payment although the work was not divided equally.  There are those who read this parable differently.  They want that in the first hour, Adam and the rest of the Patriarchs up to Noah were sent into the vineyard.  At the third hour, those from Noah himself up to Abraham and the circumcision given to him.  At the sixth hour, those from Abraham up to Moses, when the law was given.  At the ninth hour, Moses himself and the Prophets.  At the eleventh hour, the Apostles and the Gentiles, who were envied.  John the Evangelist himself, knowing  that it was already past the eleventh hour, near sunset and towards evening, said: 'My little children, the hour is very near' (1 John 2, 18).  And at the same time, consider that all those who accused the head of the household of injustice in his equal treatment of the workers at the eleventh hour, did not see themselves in them.  Now, if the head of the household was wicked, he was not wicked to one only, but to all, for the worker of the third hour worked less than the worker of the first hour.  Similarly, the one who worked from the sixth hour worked less than the one who worked from the third.  And the worker at the ninth hour less than the worker of the sixth.  Therefore, everyone envied the one called after him, and was twisted around according to the grace of the Gospel.  Thus, the Savior concludes his parable: 'The first will be last, and the last will be first.'  The fact is that the Jews were turned around from the head to the tail, and we are changed from the tail to the head."

St. Bernard and the Love of God

St. Bernard of Clairvaux (d. 1153), founded, and ruled as abbot, the famous Cistercian abbey at Clairvaux, France.  He worked tirelessly for the unity and defense of Christendom while maintaining a great strictness of life.  Among his many beautiful works is his book, "On Loving God", from which the following is taken:

"Do you wish to hear from me why and how God should be loved?  I answer:  The reason for loving God is that, God is.  And the measure with which to love him?  Without measure.  Is this not enough?  Perhaps, but only to the wise.  But in any case, I am a debtor to the unwise (cf. Romans 1, 14): where a word to the wise is sufficient, to these also the law must be borne.  Therefore, I am not burdened to repeat this more profusely than profoundly because of those who are slow.  I say that there is a two-fold reason why God should be loved for his own sake: nothing is more just, nothing is more fruitful.  There is a two-fold sense to the question of why God should be loved: Should God be loved because of his merit, or by our due?  Of course, I answer both in the same way.  Clearly, no other reason occurs to me for loving him than for his own sake.  First, let us look at the question of his merit.  Now, he who gave himself for us has merited much from us.  Indeed, what more could one give than himself? Therefore, if the merit of God is sought for the reason why he should be loved, that is the principal one: that he first loved us.  Plainly, he is worthy to be loved in return, especially if we consider who, whom, and how much he loves.  Who is loved?  The one to whom every spirit confesses: 'You are my God; you have no need of my goods' (Psalm 15, 2).  And the true love of his majesty is not of one who seeks his own (cf. 1 Corinthians 13, 5).  To whom is such purity shown?  'When we were still his enemies, we were reconciled to God' (Romans 5, 10).  God freely loved his enemies.  And how much?  John tells us how much: 'God loved the world, so that he gave his only-begotten Son' (John 3, 16).  And Paul: 'God did not spare his own Son, but handed him over for us' (Romans 8, 32).  The Son himself said: 'Greater love than this no man has, to lay down his life for his friends' (John 15, 13).  Thus, the Just One has merited from the unjust, the Greatest One from the least, the Almighty One from the weak."

Thou Shalt Not Have False Gods

The Lord God warned his people against the worship of false gods throughout their history, especially through the Prophets of the Old Testament.  Pagan worship and superstition remained a problem for the early Church because many of the new Christians were Gentile converts living in a society soaked in it.  The North African apologist, Tertullian (d. 220) wrote a book, "On Idolatry", to help them.  In the following excerpt, he explains the nature of this sin:

"The principal crime of the human race, the greatest guilt of the world, the cause of judgment is -- idolatry.  For although each fault is of its own kind, although it is destined for judgment under its own name, still it is reckoned in the crime of idolatry.  Let us forget the names of sins and instead recognize their works for what they are.  Idolatry is homicide.  Who is killed?  If a man conducts it out of his own desire, only himself, not a stranger or an enemy.  By what snares does it kill?  Its departure from the truth.  What weapon is used?  The enmity of God.  How many blows are received for the crime?  As many as there are instances of it.  Whoever denies that idolatry kills, denies that the idolater commits homicide.  In the same way, recognize idolatry as adultery and defilement, for he who serves false gods is without a doubt an adulterer of the truth, for adultery is everything false.  Likewise a person steeped in defilement.  For who is a fellow worker with unclean spirits and does not go forth defiled and polluted?  For this reason, the Sacred Scriptures use the word 'defilement' as a reproach against idolatry.  Fraud is an action in which one person seizes what belongs to another or refuses to give what is due to another.  Committed against man, it has the name of the greatest crime.  Idolatry is fraud in that it denies to God the honors that belong to him and confers them on others, so that insolence is joined to the act.  But if fraud, as much as defilement and adultery bring death, then, taken equally with these cases, idolatry is not freed from the guilt of murder."

For the Love of The Lord Jesus

In Luke 12, 49-53, The Lord tells of his own passionate longing for the Redemption he will win for us, and foretells the suffering which will afflict his Church because of her loyalty to him.  He uses the image of the family in order to describe the intensity of the division belief in him will produce.  The following is taken from St. Bede's commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke:

" 'The father against his son, and the son against his father.'  This 'father' is the devil.  He did not create the 'son', but we are his 'sons' when we imitate him: 'You are the sons of your father the devil' (John 8, 44).  But after we have heard the voice of admonishment: 'Forget your people and your father's house' (Psalm 44, 11), that 'fire' came -- that is, spiritual grace separated us from each other -- and showed us another Father, to whom we say: 'Our Father, who are in heaven' (Matthew 6, 9).  

" 'Mother against daughter, and daughter against mother.'  The 'mother' is the Synagogue, and her 'daughter' is the early Church, which endured the persecution of the Synagogue because of her faith, and which fought against the Synagogue by the truth of faith. 

" 'Mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.'  The 'mother-in-law' is the Synagogue, and the 'daughter-in-law' is the Church of the Gentiles, for Christ, the Bridegroom of the Church, is the Son of the Synagogue.  As the Apostle says: 'Whose are the fathers, and of whom is Christ, according to the flesh' (Romans 9, 5).  The 'mother-in-law' -- that is, the mother of the Bridegroom -- is divided against her 'daughter-in-law' and her own 'daughter' (as we have just said), for the Synagogue does not cease to persecute believers, whether of the circumcision or of the uncircumcision [cf. Ephesians 2, 11].  The 'daughter-in-law' and the 'mother-in-law' are divided because the Church of the Gentiles does not wish to accept physical circumcision, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles."

Jesus and the Children

The Frankish abbot Paschasius Radbertus (d. 865) provides this commentary on Matthew 19, 13-15, in which The Lord Jesus expressed his desire for even little children to be brought to him, and admonishing his disciples for attempting to prevent this:

"It seems strange to me that the disciples prevented the babies from being brought to Christ, that he might impose his hands on them and pray for them.  I think that we should not take it strictly that they did not want them to be touched by the hand of the Savior or to be blessed by his voice, but because they did not yet have the fullness of the faith or the understanding of Christ, they thought him to be wearied by the importunity of those who brought their babies to him.  They did not remember how the most beneficent Savior, a little while before, had taken a little child, stood him in their midst, and said: 'Unless you become as this little child, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.'  And behold, immediately forgetting this childlike innocence, they forbade the children from coming to Christ, as though they came unworthy or unfit -- the children to whose innocence they were called, that they might become their imitators!  They did not pay heed to the faith of those who brought them for him to touch, as though they already knew well his power from past events: that the deceptions of our enemies are repelled and the grace of sanctification is granted not only by the imposition of the hands of Christ but also by those of his ministers."

The Mysterious Beauty of Christian Marriage

The Holy Scriptures can be read as a book about marriage.  The human race begins when God took Eve from Adam's side, resulting in Adam's exclamation, "This one, at last, is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh!"  At the end of the last book of the Bible, Christ takes his Bride, the Church, to heaven with him.  Divine laws governing the holiness and integrity of marriage are found throughout the Scriptures.  St. Paul provided profound insights regarding marriage in his letters to the churches.  Here is the commentary of St. Ambrose on the passage from Ephesians 5, 22-32:

" 'Be subject to one another in the fear of Christ, ever giving thanks for everything to God our Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.'  We are commanded to give thanks to God for all his gifts -- he who has deigned to adopt us through Christ, his own Son.  We have known him through Christ, and learned to adore God in the Spirit -- for God is a spirit -- subjecting ourselves to one another for the sake of the fear of Christ, who has commanded us to subject ourselves in humility (cf. John 4, 24).  

" 'Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to The Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the Head of the Church: he is the Savior of his Body.  Therefore, as the Church is subject to Christ, let wives be subject to their husbands in everything.'  Wives are commanded to be subject to their husbands according to natural law, for a man was the progenitor of the woman [i.e. Adam and Eve].  Therefore, Paul says, as women are subject to The Lord, so should they be to their husbands.  For this reason Sarah called Abraham her 'lord' (Genesis 18, 12).  And just as Christ is the Head of the Church, so the husband is the head of the wife.  The Church is subject to Christ because she received her origin from him.  Such is the relationship of the wife to the husband, so that she might be subject to him.  But there is this difference: the wife and the husband share the same nature; but the Church can only share in Christ in name, but not in nature.

" 'Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church and handed himself over for her in order to sanctify her, cleansing her with a laver of water, so that he might present to himself a glorious Church, having no stain or wrinkle or anything of this kind: but that she might be holy and immaculate.  In this way should husbands love their wives.'  Women are commanded to be subject to and to have respect for their husbands, but husbands are admonished to love their wives in such a way that they set the souls of their wives before their own, by reason of love having zeal for their condition and discipline, that they might be religious and holy.  'He who loves his wife, loves his own body.'  Natural reason tells us that the wife is a sharer in the body of her husband, and so the husband, in loving his wife, loves his own body.  Because of this -- because they are two in one flesh -- he sins against her if he commits fornication.  Their substance is not divided so that they each have a separate nature.  Rather, they are united in their nature.  

" 'For no one ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the Church.'  Men are exhorted to love their wives according to the example of The Savior: for just as Christ nourishes and cherishes his Body [the Church], so should a man his wife, because she is his flesh.

" 'For we are members of his Body, and of his flesh and of his bones.'  This should be understood spiritually.  Paul said that we are his members because The Lord himself is the Head of the whole Church.  He is called our Head because we began to be through him, just as every body has life because of its head.  Every spiritual creature who bends his knee in his Name may be a member of his Body.  

" 'Because of this, a man shall leave his father and mother and cling to his wife, and they shall be two in one flesh.'  He gave an example of unity in order to commend unity: that just as a man and a woman are one in their nature, so Christ and the Church are understood to be one in faith.  'This is a great mystery that I tell you, speaking of Christ and his Church.'  The mystery of the unity of man and woman signifies this great mystery."

St. Amadeus of Lausanne (d. 1159), in France, came from a noble family, but renounced the world in order to follow The Lord as a Cistercian in the early days of that order.  Like his master, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, he possessed a fervent devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.  The following is from his homily on the Feast of her glorious Assumption into heaven:

"Why did not The Lord's Mother, who was filled with such great love for him, follow him immediately, when he ascended into heaven?  It seems strange that she was not immediately borne aloft into the air with her Son since no cloud of sin weighed her down, no stain was splattered on her life, she was redder than fire because of her charity, and burned more brightly than it because of the rarity of the virginal birth.  Certainly, Enoch walked with God in the innocence of his heart, and he was seen no more, for God took him (cf. Genesis 5, 24).  And we recall that Elijah burned with a very great fire of charity, and was caught up in a fiery chariot with fiery horses (cf. 4 Kings 2, 11).  But why was she not carried into heaven from that place -- she, who exceeded Enoch on purity of heart, and preceded Elijah in love?  After all, she was 'full of grace' and 'blessed among women' (Luke 1, 28).  She alone merited to conceive true God from true God, bore him as a Virgin, fed him as a Virgin, warmed him in her bosom, and ministered sweet duty to him in all things.  At length, she suffered more in spirit than in her flesh when he was dying, revived in the Spirit of God when he rose.  Why should she not rise with him when he ascended into heaven?  Her most sacred body was made pregnant by the Holy Spirit and was made large by the sprouting of the great King (cf. Isaiah 11, 1).  The God-man, 'the Word made flesh', and the fullness of divinity dwelt in it through Christ the Mediator.  It would seem only right for this flesh to be carried up to heaven with the Ascension of her Son.  What slows here?  Why does she suffer separation from her Son?  Why is her most holy desire, burning with fire, delayed?  This delay was, at the very least, a consolation for the disciples of Christ.  This delay took nothing from the Mother, and conferred the remedy of salvation to the world.  The Lord willed, when he returned to the Father, for the Apostles to be nourished by Maternal solace and teaching.  Although, Indeed, they were taught by the Holy Spirit, they were still able to be taught by her who brought forth to the world the Sun of Justice and the Image of Wisdom, from her virginal field, in a basket without stain."

The Angel and the Handmaid

In a sermon on the Feast of the Annunciation, the English monk St. Bede (d. 735) provided a meditation on the Blessed Virgin Mary's true dignity and her understanding of herself, which are displayed in the few but deeply meaningful words she exchanged with the Archangel Gabriel:

" 'And the Angel went unto her and said: Hail, full of grace, The Lord is with you.  Blessed are you among women.'  This greeting, which is so unheard of according to human custom, is very fitting to the dignity of Holy Mary.  Truly she who was the first among women to offer the most glorious gift of her virginity to God, was full of grace.  Thus, she who was to imitate the angelic life rightly merited to enjoy the angelic appearance and address.  Truly, she was full of grace, for it was given her to bear Jesus Christ, through whom grace and truth were made.  And so, truly, The Lord was with her whom he first raised up, through the love of the new chastity, from earthly things to the longed-for heavenly things, and afterwards consecrated her with all the fullness of his divinity by his mediating human nature.  And, truly, she who rejoiced in the honor of motherhood with the beauty of her virginity, without precedent in the way of women, was blessed among women.  And so it was fitting for the Virgin Mother to bear God the Son. 

" 'Behold the handmaid of The Lord: let it be done to me according to your word.'  She held great constancy to her humility in naming herself the handmaid of her Creator when he chose her as his mother.  It was foretold by the angelic prophecy that she would be "blessed among women", although as yet unknown to the rest of mankind to whom the mystery of our redemption was not known.  Singularly, she did not extol herself regarding the uniqueness of her most excellent merit.  Rather, mindful of her state and of the divine dignity, she humbly joined herself to the company of Christ's handmaids, and devoted herself to the servitude which Christ commanded.  Let it be done to me, she said, according to your word; let it be done that the Holy Spirit come to me and make me worthy for the heavenly mysteries; let it be done that the Son of God may clothe himself in human nature in my womb, and proceed as a Bridegroom from this wedding chamber for the redemption of the world (cf. Psalm 18, 6).  Dearest brethren, let us consider ourselves to be the servants of Christ in all our acts and movements, following his voice and mind, according to our state; let us ever surrender all the members of our body in his obedience; let us direct all of our mind for the fulfilling of his will, that having received his gifts, we may render him back our thanks by our way of life and may merit to receive greater ones, standing before him."

The Lord Jesus tells his disciples that they must become as little children.  But what can this mean?  Many possible ways exist in which to understand this saying.  St. Albert the Great, in his commentary on Matthew 18, 1-5, explains:

" 'Unless you shall become as little children.'  That is, small and innocent, unmindful of injuries, not full of ambition, and not disturbed by lust.  Concerning the first of these characteristics: 'The innocent and the upright shall cling to me' Psalm 24, 21.  Concerning the second: "Let not the sun set on your wrath' (Ephesians 4, 26).  Concerning the third: 'Let us not be made desirous of empty glory, provoking one another, envying one another' (Galatians 5, 26).  Concerning the fourth: 'Do not seek revenge, and remember not the injuries of your fellow citizens' (Leviticus 19, 18).  

" 'You shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.'  That is, the joy of the kingdom.  'You shall not enter': because it is necessary for the one who wishes to 'enter' it to do so with a continuous advance.  'The innocent man shall be saved, but the innocent man of clean hands' (Job 22, 30).  'Who shall climb the mountain of The Lord, or who shall stand in his holy place?  The man whose heart is innocent and who is pure of heart' (Psalm 23, 3-4).  Christ is the Gate of the kingdom.  'I am the gate' (John 10, 9).  Christ is lowly, and the lofty man strikes against the lowly gate.  'No one comes to the Father except through me' (John 14, 6).

" 'Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child.'  He here teaches the meaning of humility.  'In malice be children, and in understanding be perfect' (1 Corinthians 14, 20).  'God chooses the foolish of the world to confound the wise' (1 Corinthians 1, 27).  

" 'He shall shall greater in the kingdom of heaven.'  'He who shall be humbled shall be in glory' (Job 22, 29).  'Humiliation follows the proud, but glory upholds the humble of spirit' (Proverbs 29, 23). 'Be humbled under the power of the hand of God, that he may exalt you in the time of his visitation' (1 Peter 5, 6)."

Translating the third of these paragraphs proves a bit tricky because Albert employs a play on words.  The Latin word for "lowly" also means "small", and the word for "lofty", implying "proud", also means "large".  Thus, the large man hits up against the small gate and cannot go through it, and the proud man cannot go "through" the Gate, which is Christ.  The man must become small, first.

From ancient times, holy men and women have spoken strongly about the need for conversion and personal sanctity.  Here is a part of an exhortation to the holy life, especially recommending the reading of the Sacred Scriptures, by St. Paulinus Aquileia (d. 804) to his friend Eric, Duke of Friuli (d. 799): 

"Sanctity consists in works of justice.  According to the Prophet, it is accomplished in two just ways: that we not do those things which are forbidden, and that we do the things that are commanded: 'Avoid evil and do good' (Psalm 33, 15).  A whole succession of holy books has been written for our instruction.  It speaks loudly in our ears and repeats again and again what men must avoid and what they must follow.  Your dignity knows that he occupies himself excellently with these books because our God and Lord himself speaks through them to us, and he shows the power of his holy will to us in them.  And we recognize and understand with what honor this legation of his to us must be received.  Supposing a legation or summon should come to us from a king?  Would we not set aside our other cares with a prompt will and receive this letter with all reverence and busy ourselves in fulfilling its requirements?  Certainly, the King of kings and Lord of lords, and, indeed, our Redeemer, has deigned to direct his letters to us from heaven through his Prophets and Apostles -- not in order to demand some service necessary for him, but to grant those things which are able to profit us in terms of our salvation and glory."

A Glimpse of the Apocalypse

The Lord Jesus devoted much of his preaching to warning his followers of the suddenness with which the world would end.  St. Ambrose of Milan comments in his "Exposition of the Seven Visions of the Apocalypse":

" 'Be vigilant and strengthen those who are about to die' (Revelation 3, 2).  The one who is vigilant performs good works.  He is commanded to keep watch by exercising himself in the works of charity, lest he lose the small goods which he seems to have.  Just as a dead body is without a soul, so whatever goods we seem to have are dead if charity be absent.  'For I do not find your works full before my God.'  They were not full but empty because they were not filled with charity.  Such was the case of the five foolish virgins who were sent away from the dwelling of the heavenly Spouse because they did not have the oil of charity in their vessels (cf. Matthew 25, 10-12).  

" 'Have in your mind how you received and heard, and then obey and do penance' (Revelation 3, 3).  That is, remember how you took wholly the faith of Christ in baptism, when you promised to renounce the devil and all his works.  Remember how you heard from the teachers of the Christian faith, who taught you the faith in Christ, how it is necessary for you to live: 'And obey what you have heard and do penance', for you have been useless, regarding good works, for a long time.  'If you do not keep watch', that is, if you do not exercise yourself in the performing of good works, 'I shall come as a thief, at an hour that you do not know.'  The Lord will come to them as a thief in order to take them away through death from this worldly dwelling.  These are those who rest in their depravities and neither wish to abstain from their vices nor set their own death before their eyes.  As The Lord says in the Gospel: 'If the head of the household knew at what hour the thief would come, he would keep awake until then and not let his house be broken into' (Matthew 24, 43).  We can understand the 'head of the household' as the mind: for, just as the head of the household rules his house, so also does the mind govern all the acts of the body as well as all thoughts.  The head of the household 'sleeps' and the thief breaks into his house when the mind rests in carnal pleasures, unforeseen death arrives, it breaks into the 'house' of the body, and draws away the soul.  If he had kept watch, that is, persevering in good works, death would not carry him away as a thief, but as a liberator."

St. Lawrence

Few martyrs were as revered, in the early years of the Church, as St. Lawrence (d. 258).  He was one of the seven deacons Pope St. Sixtus II appointed to care for the needs of poor Christians in Rome.  St. Sixtus and six of these deacons were slaughtered one day by the Roman authorities while offering Mass in the catacombs.  A few days later, Lawrence was captured.  St. Augustine, in a homily he gave on his feastday, tells the rest of the story: 

" 'Lawrence the archdeacon was commanded to bring forth the riches of the Church.'  When the persecution, which you have just heard foretold for Christians in the Gospel, burned fiercely in Rome, as in other places, and the goods of the Church were demanded of him [by the Roman authorities], as archdeacon, it is said that he replied, 'Send wagons with me so that I may load them with the riches of the Church.'  He opened the jaws of avarice [with these words], but in his wisdom, he knew what he would do.  He was immediately commanded to do this, and as many wagons as he requested, so many went.  He asked for many wagons, and as many as he asked for, so much greater was the hope of plunder conceived in their hearts.  He filled the wagons with the poor and returned with them.  [The authorities] asked him, 'What is this?'  He responded, 'These are the riches of the Church.'  Ridiculed in this way, the persecutor ordered flames [to be lit].  He was not a cold man so he did not fear the flames; the persecutor was almost entirely burned up in his fury, but Lawrence burned even more with the love in his soul.  How much more?  A gridiron was brought and he was roasted on it.  It is said that he bore his torments with such tranquility that when he had been seared on one side he fulfilled what we have just heard in the Gospel: 'In your patience you shall possess your soul' (Luke 21, 19).  Thereupon, burned by the flames but tranquil with patience, he said, 'Now, the baking is done: take, turn me, and eat.'  In such a way did he go to his martyrdom.  He was crowned with this glory.  His kindnesses to Rome are so many that they cannot be counted.  This is the man of whom Christ said: 'He who loses his soul for my sake, shall save it' (Luke 9, 24).  He saved his soul through his faith, his contempt of the world, and through martyrdom.  How great is his glory in the presence of God, when his glory is so great among men!"

The Lord Jesus made many statements that perplexed his original hearers but which became better understood after his Death and Resurrection, as St. John himself mentions in his Gospel.  However, many of the words of The Lord continue to perplex people today.  These, for instance: "Amen, I say to you, there are certain men, standing here, who shall not taste death till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom' (Matthew 16, 28).  St. Jerome comments on these words in the following homily.  Since this homily also speaks of the Transfiguration, celebrated recently, the whole of it is translated:

" 'Amen, I say to you, there are certain men, standing here, who shall not taste death.'  The Lord said: 'Amen, I say to you.'  Christ swore an oath.  We ought to believe Christ when he swears an oath.  In the Old Testament, it says: As I live, says the Lord.  In the New Testament, it says: Amen, amen, I say to you.  'Amen, amen' means, 'Truly, truly'.  The Truth speaks the truth in order to conquer the lie.  'Amen, I say to you, that there are certain men, standing here.'  I am speaking to you disciples, but I am not speaking to the Jews, who have closed their ears, and my word cannot penetrate them.  'That there are certain men, standing here, who shall not taste death until the Kingdom of God comes.'  How beautifully it is said to those standing there, You shall not taste death, for those who stand, stand in him who is standing, and they 'shall not taste death.'  For, Moses says, in Deuteronomy: 'For forty days and forty nights, I have stood on the mountain with God.'  He stood alone for forty days, and thereby merited to receive the law.  It is given to those who are standing, not to those who are lying.  We are scrutinizing each word in order to come to the mystery of the reading.  For, if the exterior parts of the house are beautiful, how much more the house itself?


" 'Who shall not taste death.'  There are many different experiences of death.  Some taste it, some see it, some eat it, some are filled with it, and some rest in it.  But the apostles, because they were standing, and because they were apostles, indeed, did not taste death.  We will speak of this according to the allegorical meaning and, at the same time, according to the sense of, 'Who is the man, who may live and not see death?'  Who is he talking about?  Or, is what he says impossible or difficult?  'Who shall not taste death.'  He says, 'There are certain men, standing here, who shall not taste death.'  But it is not easy to discover who it is that may not see death.  But here we should understand that he is speaking of the death of sin.  'For the soul that shall sin, shall die.'  It is difficult, then, for anyone who lives not to see death.  Now, there is a difference between 'to see' and 'to taste'.  He who sees, shall see, indeed, but not necessarily taste.  Another man tastes, but may not necessarily see.  Let us see what it means 'to taste death', and 'to see death'.  Now, if I see a beautiful woman, and my soul wishes to know her carnally, but the fear of God expels this desire, then I have seen death, but not tasted it.  But if I see her, and I lust for her, and I commit adultery with her in my heart, then I have tasted death.  This is what it means to 'taste death' – not to eat it, or to rest in it, but to taste the soul a little, as it were.  But if I commit this sin a second and a third time, and I frequently engage in fornication, not only have I tasted death, but I have become filled with it.  See what the Prophet is saying.  He does not say, Who is the man who may live, and not 'taste' death.  Rather, he says, Who is the man, who shall live, and not 'see' death?  It is difficult to exist and not be tempted by lust, or not shaken by temptations.  We have presented this according to the higher meaning, but, at the same time, let us speak of the literal meaning.  The Lord said to the apostles that there were those standing there who would not taste death until they saw the Kingdom of God coming in its power.  What he is saying is: Those who shall see me reigning now, shall not die.  This is according to the literal sense.

" 'And after six days, Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and he led them up a very high mountain, alone by themselves, and he was transfigured before them.'  This is what he had meant: that is, the apostles saw how Christ would reign.  Seeing him transfigured on the mountain, the apostles saw how he would reign.  This is what he had told them when he said, 'They shall not taste death until the Kingdom of God comes.'  It says: 'It came to pass after six days.'  In the gospel according to Matthew, it says, 'It came to pass after the eighth day.'  There seems to be a disagreement. In the literal sense, since Matthew says there were eight days, and Mark says there were six.  But we should understand that Matthew gave both the first and the last days of this event, and Mark gave only the middle days.  The literal sense tells us this: that he went up the mountain, that he was transfigured, that Moses and Elias were seen speaking with him, that Peter, delighted by this most beautiful vision, said to him: 'Lord, if you wish, we will make three tabernacles: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elias.'  And immediately, the evangelist said: 'For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified with fear.'  Then mention is made of the clouds, and that these same bright clouds overshadowed them, and a voice came from heaven, saying: 'This is my most beloved Son.  Hear him.'  Then it says: 'And at once, looking around, they saw no one except Jesus.'  This is the literal meaning.  Now, there are those who love the literal sense, who follow the Jewish understanding, who follow the dead letter, and not the living spirit .  We do not denigrate the literal sense, but we prefer the spiritual meaning.  This is not our own 'meaning', but we very earnestly follow the meaning of the apostles, those 'vessels of election'.  The Jews had understood his words as pertaining to their deaths, but the Apostle understood them as pertaining to their lives.  He said that Sara and Agar represent the two covenants, that of Mount Sinai, and that of Mount Sion: 'Now, these are the two covenants.'  Was there no Agar?  Was there no Sara?  Was there no Mount Sinai?  Was there no Mount Sion?  The Apostle does not deny he literal meaning, but that it revealed mysteries.  He did not say, These two covenants are understood, but that, 'These are the two covenants.'  

" 'After six days, Jesus took Peter, James, and John.'  It says, 'After six days.'  Pray to the Lord hat these words may be explained by the same Spirit who spoke them.  'And it came to pass after six days.'  Why not after nine, or ten, or twenty, or forty, or fifty days?  Why is the number of six days chosen, and not some other number?  'And it came to pass after six days.'  These are the ones, standing with Jesus, about whom he said, These are the men who shall see the Kingdom of God, after six days.  Unless this world, understood as the six days, shall pass away, the true Kingdom shall not appear.  Now, after the six days will pass, Peter, who receives his name from the word for “rock”, shall merit to see the Kingdom.  Just as the name 'Peter' is taken from the word for rock – πέτρινος – so we are called 'Christians' from the name, 'Christ'.  We would most certainly be led by Jesus onto this mountain if we were a πέτρινος – and had such great faith as the one upon whom the Church of Christ was built.  Likewise, we would be led up if we were as James and John, brothers as much in spirit as in blood – James, πτερνιστήρ, the 'supplanter'; and John, 'the grace of the Lord' (for when we have 'supplanted' our enemies, we will merit the grace of Christ).  We would be led there if we had deeper teaching and a more excellent understanding, and so merit to be called 'the sons of thunder'.  At the same time, consider that Jesus is transfigured until he descends.  He goes up, and he is transformed.  'He led them up a very high mountain, alone by themselves, and he was transfigured before them, and his clothing was made radiant and exceedingly white.'  Even today, Jesus, for some men, is below, and, for others, he is above.  Those who are below and have him below are the crowds, and those who are unable to go up the mountain – for, the apostles go up the mountain alone, and the crowds remain below.  If anyone, then, is below, and is of the crowd, he will not be able to see Jesus in his radiant vestments, but only in dirty clothes.  And if anyone follows the literal sense, and is all below, and looks upon the earth in the way of the brute animals, he cannot see Jesus in his radiant garments.  But he who follows the word of God to the mountains, that is, by climbing the heights, Jesus is immediately transformed for him, and his vestments become very bright.  If we read according to the literal understanding, then what brightness, or radiance, or depths, is there?  But if we understand the spiritual meaning, the Holy Scriptures – that is, the clothing of the word – are changed, and are made bright as the snow.  'Such as could not be done by a fuller on the earth.'  If you wish, take away the prophetic witness and the gospel story: if you understand only according to the letter, nothing in the Scriptures has brilliance or splendor.  But if you follow the apostles, and you understand the spiritual meaning, the 'vestments' of the word are at once transformed and made radiant – Jesus is transformed altogether on the mountain and his vestments are made as exceedingly white as snow, so very white that no fuller upon the earth could have done this.  The one who stays below is not able to see the white vestments.  But there is the one who ascends the mountain with Jesus, and leaves the earth behind, as it were, and decides to climb to the mountains and the heavens.  He is able to whiten his clothes, 'such as could not be done by a fuller on the earth.'  

"Now, someone may say to me (or, at least, think it to himself silently): You have interpreted the mountain for us, and you have spoken of the word of God: you have told us of the vestments of the Sacred Scriptures.  Now, tell me about the fullers, those who are not able to make clothing such as Jesus was wearing.  Fulling is work in which something dirty is made white.  This whitening cannot be done without labor.  To whiten clothes requires washing them, and stretching them out in the sun.  Clothing cannot be changed from dirty to a bright color without much work.  Plato, Aristotle, Zeno, (the prince of the stoics), and Epicurus (the protector of pleasure) wanted to whiten their sordid teachings so that their words were white, but they could not make their clothing such as Jesus had on the mountain.  They disputed wholly on the things of earth because they were 'on the earth'.  No debater of earthly matters could make their vestments as white as those Jesus had on the mountain.                                      

" 'Elias and Moses appeared to them, and they were speaking with Jesus.'  Unless they had seen Jesus transformed, unless they had seen his clothes made white, they would not have been able to see Elias and Moses.  It says that they were, 'speaking with Jesus'.  For as long as we understand and follow only the dead letter of like the Jews, Elias and Moses do not speak with Jesus, nor do they know the gospel.  But if, indeed, they should follow Jesus, they would merit to see the Lord transformed, and his clothes made white, and to understand spiritually all the things that were written.  At once Moses and Elias came – the law and the prophets – and they spoke to the gospel.  'Elias and Moses appeared to them, and they were speaking with Jesus.'  In the gospel according to Luke, there is this addition, besides: 'And they announced to him in what way he would suffer in Jerusalem.'  Moses and Elias spoke this; they told this to Jesus – that is, to the gospel, for the law and the prophets had prophesied the Passion of Christ.  See how the spiritual understanding profits our souls?  Now, Moses and Elias seemed to them to be wearing white vestments, as well.  But they did not have white vestments except when they were with Jesus.  But they did not go up the mountain and their vestments were all dirty, and not white, if you read the law (Moses) and the prophets (Elias) and you did not understand them in Christ.  You would not, then, understand that Moses and Elias spoke with Jesus: you would only understand Moses and Elias without Jesus, and you would not see that they did announce his Passion.  If you follow the literal meaning, like the Jews, what does it profit you to read that Juda had carnal relations with Thamar, his daughter-in-law, or that Noe became drunk and naked?  What does it profit you to read that Onan, the son of Juda, did a very shameful thing that I blush to mention.  But do you see how the dirty clothing of Moses becomes white, if you understand the spiritual meaning?  Now, Peter, James, and John had “seen” Moses and Elias before, without Jesus, and when they saw them speaking with Jesus, and that they had whitened clothing, the apostles saw that Moses and Elias were on the mountain, for, truly, we stand fast on the mountain when we understand the Scriptures according to the spiritual sense.  As long as I read Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, or Deuteronomy according to the worldly sense,, it seems to me that I am below, but if I know the spiritual sense, I am climbing the mountain.  You see, then, how Peter, James, and John saw that they were on the mountain, that is, that they understood according to the spirit, disdained the lowly and human, and sought the high and the divine.  They did not wish to descend to the earth, but to be entirely consecrated to spiritual things.  

" 'Peter responded to Jesus, and said: Rabbi, it is good for us to be here.'  When I read the Scriptures, and I understand something lofty according to the spiritual sense, I do not want to descend again, I do not want to go down to the lower things.  I want to make a tabernacle for Christ, the law, and the prophets.  But Jesus came to save that which was lost and did not come to save those who were righteous, but those who had acted wickedly.  He knew that if the human race would be on the mountain, it could not be saved unless he went down to earthly things.  'Rabbi, it is good for us to be here: let us build three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elias.'  Surely there were not trees on that mountain?  Even if there were trees and clothes there, do we hope that this was all that Peter wanted to do – building tents for them to dwell in?  He wanted to construct three tents: one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elias, in order to separate the law, the prophets, and the gospel – which cannot be separated from each other.  In a certain way, he said, 'Let us build three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elias.'  O Peter, although you climbed the mountain, saw Jesus transformed and his clothes made white, still you are unable to know the truth, for Christ has not yet suffered for you.  Now, a person may say, Let us build three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elias.  He would be saying to the Lord, I will build a tabernacle for you, and similar ones for your servants.  If those who have unequal rank are honored as equals, there is a very serious affront.  'Let us build three tabernacles.'  There were three apostles – Peter, James, and John – on the mountain, and they wished to build three tabernacles.  He wanted one to dwell in one, another in another, and the third in the third.  'He did not know what he was saying', when he was honoring the Lord and his servants in an equal fashion.  Indeed, there is one tabernacle for the gospel, the law, and the prophets.  Unless they dwell together, they cannot be in harmony.


" 'It came to pass that clouds overshadowed them.'  'Clouds': according to Matthew, φωτινή.  It seems to me that these 'clouds' were the grace of the Holy Spirit.  It even covered over the tabernacle and overshadowed those who were in it.  The apostles knew how to build tabernacles, but the Holy Spirit knew how to make clouds.  O Peter, you who wanted to construct three tents, look upon the one tent of the Holy Spirit, who protects us entirely.  If you had, indeed, built a tabernacle, it would have been only a human one.  In addition, your tent would have kept out the light and held within it only darkness.  But these bright and over-shadowing clouds are the one tabernacle that does not keep out the Sun of Justice, but allows him inside.  And the Father would say to you: Why did you build three tabernacles?  Behold, you have one Tabernacle.  See the mystery of the Trinity, according to my understanding.  I do not wish to understand anything that I do understand, without Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Father.  Unless I believed in the Trinity who saves me, nothing that I know could be sweet for me.  A bright cloud (φωτινή) was made, and, 'a voice came from the cloud, saying: This is my most beloved Son.  Hear him.'  This is what the Father is saying: O Peter, you who say, I will make three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elias: I do not wish for you to make three tabernacles.  I have given you a Tabernacle that will protect you.  Do not make tents equally for the Lord and his servants.  'This is my most beloved Son.  Hear him.'  This is my Son, not Moses or Elias.  These are his servants, but this is my Son.  'This is my Son', of my nature, and my substance, remaining in me, and all that I am.  'This is my most beloved Son.'  Moses and Elias are dear to the Father, but his Son is most beloved to him.  'Hear him,' then.  They foretell him, but you, 'hear him'.  He is the Lord; they are your fellow servants.  Moses and Elias speak about Christ, and they serve with you.  But he is the Lord: 'Hear him.'  Do not honor your fellow servants as you would your Lord.  Hear the only Son of God.

"The Father did not appear when he spoke, and said: 'This is my most beloved Son.  Hear Him.'  There was the cloud, and the voice was heard: 'This is my most beloved Son.  Hear him.'  It could have happened that Peter might have said: He spoke of Moses, or, He spoke of Elias.  But they had no doubt about whom the Father spoke, for the two were taken away, and Christ remained alone.  'This is my most beloved Son.  Hear him.'  Peter says in his heart: Who is his Son ?  I see three men.  Which of these is he speaking of?  But when he sought the one who was chosen, he looked upon only one.  'And immediately, looking around,' when they looked for three, they looked upon one.  Indeed, they lost three, and they found one.  Again, I shall say more: in three, they found one.  For, Moses and Elias are found, if they are gathered together in Christ.  

" 'And immediately looking around, they saw no one more.'  When I read of the witness of the law and the prophets, I think only of Christ.  Thus I see Moses and the prophets – to understand them speaking of Christ.  Then, when I come to the splendor of Christ, and the most blazing light of the bright Sun, I cannot see the light of the lamp.  If you light a lamp during the day, is it able to shine?  If the sun is shining, the light of the lamp does not appear.  Thus, when the law and the prophets are set next to Christ, they do not appear at all.  I do not disparage the law and the prophets – rather, I praise them, for they foretell Christ.  But I so read the law and the prophets that I do not remain in the law and the prophets, but attain to Christ through them."

The Binding and Loosing of Sin

The Lord Jesus committed the august power of binding and loosing sins to St. Peter and the Apostles.  At the time. The Lord's words must have been so overwhelming to those that heard them that they could make no sense of them, as so much else that he said.  After the Lord's Ascension into heaven and the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, they began to use this power of absolving sins in their ministry, especially in the Sacrament of Penance, to which St. James makes reference in his letter.  Richard (d. 1173), prior of the abbey of St. Victor, in France, wrote an entire book on the doctrine of binding and loosing, from which the following is taken:

"The binding of sins is considered in two ways.  On the one hand, there is that binding by which is man is bound to his sin.  On the other, there is that by which he is bound to his punishment.  In the first case, he is bound by the chains of captivity.  In the second, by the bonds of condemnation.  For, if a man gravely falls into some sin, he is not then in his power to rise from it by himself.  He can withdraw from God by his own power, but he cannot return to him through his own power.  It is, indeed, a case in which 'a spirit goes out but does not return' (Psalm 77, 39).  In like manner, 'Blessed is the man who does not go out to the counsel of the wicked' (Psalm 1, 1).  Thus, the binding of sin is called the 'death of the soul': for, just as in exterior death, the body is restrained from the works that pertain to life, so through the binding of sin, the soul dies to the works that pertain to eternal life.  Would that a man chained and made prisoner be bound by this captivity alone, but because he is most wretched, he is bound also by his servitude to sin, 'for he who commits sin is a slave of sin' (John 8, 34).  It is the same as in the case of a man paying off an usurious loan: the payment due for his debt increases daily.  See, then, the binding of sin: on the one hand, the chains of captivity; on the other, the bonds of servitude.  Now, let us see about the binding of punishment.

"In addition to this wretchedness, the sinner is held bound by merit of his sinning not only by the binding of sin, but also being bound to punishment.  By the very fact that a man commits a sin that he cannot ever rectify so that the wound, great in itself, lasts forever, the man incurs the debt of eternal punishment.  In the Sacred Scriptures, eternal damnation is called 'the second death' (cf. Revelation 20, 14), for just as the soul is drawn back from the divine goodness by the binding of sin, so the soul is made a stranger to all her own goodness by the infliction of eternal damnation.  He alone who is truly omnipotent and can do all things, is able to loosen the binding of a man from his chains: 'Those things that are impossible for men are possible for God' ( Luke 18, 27).  There is no heart so rock-like, so hard, or obstinate, that God, if he wished, could not soften it immediately for true repentance.  Blessed John the Baptist spoke of this when he said: 'God is powerful enough to raise up sons of Abraham from these stones' (Matthew 3, 9).  When, therefore, he who can do all things stings the conscience of a sinner unto true repentance, what does he do other than make an end to permanent sin and permanent punishment?  Thus, punishment passes into satisfaction, and the eternal into the temporary, and he who earlier was bound by the binding of damnation, now is bound by the debt of expiation."

The Fruit of the Promised Land

Many of the persons, places, and events in the history of the Israelites, as they wandered in the Sinai for forty years, prefigured persons, places, and events in the Gospels.  The wandering itself is a figure for the life of the Christian here on earth, making slow and painful progress to the promised land of heaven.  Rabanus Maurus here sees what is prefigured in a significant event that occurs in Numbers 13, 24-30:

"The twelve scouts sent to explore the rich land terrified the people lest they believed that they could receive the Promised Land from The Lord, and in this they prefigured the scribes and Pharisees.  Just as they were sent by Moses to carefully investigate the fruitfulness of the land, so these were commanded by the law and the prophets to look for the coming of The Lord through the searching of the Scriptures, in which 'land', that is, 'holy land', they could receive the abundance of spiritual fruits and eternal life.  But just as the scouts terrified the people out of despair lest they trust in the promise of God, so also did the scribes and the Pharisees persuade the people of the Jews to long to return to the Egypt of this world, lest they believe in Christ, rejecting the 'manna' of faith, seeking the 'fleshpots' of sin, the 'rotten onions' of blasphemy, and growing weak due to the corruption of vice and lust.  Two porters carried bunches of fruit on a wooden pole from the Promised Land.  The fruit hung from the wood even as Christ, the One promised to the nations from the 'land' of his Mother Mary, hung from the wood of a tree."

A sermon on the Transfiguration by a Frankish abbot of a monastery in southern Italy named Autpert Ambrose (d. 784) discusses why Jesus took only Peter, James, and John with him when he was to be transfigured:

"Why did he [the Lord] go up on the mountain to pray with only three disciples? Why did he manifest the glory of his majesty to these three only at that time?  Shall it be thought that he did this without any reason, that he hid the mystery of his revelation from the other Apostles, to whom the Holy Scriptures attest he said: 'To you it is given to know the mystery of God' (Luke 8, 10)?  Or, again: 'All that I have heard from the Father I have made known to you' (John 15, 15)?  Let us grant, then, that these were the primates, the "pillars" of the Apostles, as Paul spoke of Peter, James, and John, saying that they 'seemed to be the pillars' (Galatians 2, 9).  Therefore, The Lord revealed his secrets rather to these than to the others: to these alone apart he revealed the sadness of his heart concerning the betrayal of Judas and the Jews, which was soon to take place in his Passion.  Shall someone think that this mystery was a secret?  By no means.  Peter, James, and John alone were taken up for the teaching of the great glory of the Redeemer through its prefiguring.  Now, the name 'Peter' is taken from the word 'petra' [rock].  But Paul taught that, 'Christ was the rock' (1 Corinthians 10, 4).  Peter said to this Rock: 'You are Christ, the Son of the living God' (Matthew 16, 16).  The faith of the whole Church was spoken truly in these words, and so how fittingly the Rock said to the rock: 'I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.'  That is, The Lord said clearly to him, I will build you upon me -- you, who are the figure of the Church, which will be built on you and upon me.  Thus, when the same blessed Peter, giving prophetic testimony, said: 'Behold, I set in Sion a cornerstone that is precious and elect as a foundation', he joined to this the words: 'Be you as living stones, built up into spiritual houses' (1 Peter 2, 5-6).  Likewise also, when Paul said: 'No one can lay a foundation other than the one that has been laid, which is Christ Jesus', he immediately added: 'Let each man see how he builds upon it' (1 Corinthians 3, 11).  Therefore, it is said that when Peter is set as the foundation, the whole Church is placed upon Christ.  Now, the name 'James' means 'supplanter' in our language.  But what does he supplant?  Vices.  Certainly, we supplant vices in the person of James when we free ourselves with the firstborn of the virtues through the holy zeal of our prayers.  The Psalmist speaks of this supplant action of the vices, saying: 'Blessed is he who shall hold and dash his little ones against the rock' (Psalm 136, 9).  The name 'John' is interpreted 'dove', through whom, without doubt, those are prefigured who are inflamed by the love of God and neighbor within the Holy Church of God.  The 'dove' signifies the Holy Spirit, who is shown and written to be the love of the Father and the Son: 'The love of God is spread forth into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who is given to us' (Romans 5, 5).  Therefore, faith is shown in Peter, the performing of virtues in James, and love in John the Apostle.  It is not unfitting for only these three to ascend the mountain with The Lord, for they bear the figures of all the saints in their own persons."

Preparation for Holy Communion

The story of the manna with which God fed the Hebrews in the wilderness ought to remind the Christian of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, which provides nourishment not merely to strengthen us for our work on earth, but which provides us with the grace that strengthens us for eternal life.  Pious consideration of this Sacrament caused many beautiful sermons, hymns, and prayers to be written.  St. Albert the Great wrote a lengthy series of sermons on this subject.  The following is a translation of one of these homilies:

"It is necessary for the one receiving the Sacrament to be prepared for this in three ways, for the Sacrament is most pure, filled with the living God, and united to him.  First, through the fullness of faith; second, through great purity; third, through devotion to prayer.  

"The first preparation is through the fullness of prayer.  Hebrews 10, 22: 'We approach him with our heart in the fullness of faith.'  With 'our heart' -- with our understanding, without error.  'In the fullness of faith' -- believing with all faith that which we do not see, namely, that the whole Christ, true man and true God, is under the appearance of bread.  Regarding the great merit of this kind of faith, it is written, in 1 Peter 1, 8: 'Believing in the Christ whom you do not see, you shall exult with unspeakable joy.'

"The second preparation is through great purity.  It is only fitting that the vessel be clean that is about to receive the most pure Body of Christ.  Exodus 16, 33: 'Take a vessel and put manna into it.'  A vessel, that is, that is singularly and excellently pure.  Thus, in Hebrews 9, 4, the Apostle said that the vessel must be a vessel of gold.  It is only fitting that the heart that is to receive the heavenly Bread should be the purest 'gold', through its great purity.  Pope Alexander [probably Alexander III, d. 1181] says: 'No sacrifice can be greater than that of the Body and Blood of Christ, nor is there any sacrifice more powerful than it, but it surpasses all others.  It must be offered to God with a pure conscience, and must be received with a pure mind.'  Hugh of St. Victor: 'A pure conscience is that for which there is no just accusation in the past, no sin in the present, and no weak will in the future.  Matthew 27, 58-59: 'Joseph sought from Pilate the Body of Jesus . . . and when he had taken the Body, he wrapped it in pure white linen.'  The Gloss on this says, 'He wrapped the Body of Jesus in pure white linen when he received it with a pure mind.'  Thus, the custom of the Church, that the Sacrifice of the Altar not be celebrated on silk or colored cloth, but on pure white linen.

"Now, there are three actions whereby the altar cloth is made white, and these actions are understood in terms of our 'whitening'.  First, the washing.  Second, the stretching.  Third, the drying.  Thus, the one who wishes to he made clean to receive our Lord must first be washed in the water of tears; second, to be 'stretched' through works of penance; third, to be 'dried' by the heat of his love of God from the humor of carnal desires.

Concerning the first, Hebrews 10, 22: 'Let us approach with our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.'  That is, purified by our tears from sins of the heart and the body.  Exodus 30, 19: 'Aaron and his children shall wash their hands and feet.'  That is, their works and thoughts with the water of compunction and confession, 'when they are about to draw near to the altar, lest they die.'  Jeremiah 4, 14: 'Wash your heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem, and you will be saved.  How long shall hurtful thoughts abide in you?'  Psalm 6, 7: 'Each night I shall wash my bed', that is, my conscience.  'I will water my couch with my tears.'

"Concerning the second: Exodus 26, 1: 'You shall make the curtains of the tabernacle from fine, twisted linen', that is, adorned by the works of penance, fasting, self-denial, prayers, and similar kinds of work, of the soul.  1 Corinthians 9, 27: 'I punish my body and lead it back into service.'  Ecclesiasticus 33, 28: 'Torture and fetters are for the wicked slave', that is, for the body.  'Send him to work, lest he be idle.'

Concerning the third, Psalm 21, 16: 'My strength is dried up as a potsherd.'  As though to say, I am purged from every perverse humor by the fire of divine love.  Psalm 18, 6: 'He has set his tabernacle in the sun' -- in order to dry it through divine love, for it to be made beautiful and clean.  Song of Songs 4, 7: 'You are all beautiful my love, and there is no stain in you', for you have been washed, stretched, and dried.  Numbers 11, 18: 'You have been sanctified.  Tomorrow, you shall eat flesh.'

The third preparation is through devotion to prayer.  Psalm 104, 40: 'They sought, and the quail came; and he filled them with the bread of heaven.'  Job 3, 24: 'Before I eat, I sigh.'  Thus, Mary Magdalene and the other women devoted to him, carried aromatic spices when they sought the Body of Jesus (cf. Luke 24, 1).  Thus, when we are about to approach the Body of The Lord, the prayer of devotion must be tasted beforehand.  Spiritual 'aromatic spices' of devoted prayer should be added to our preparation when it is lacking in fasting and confession.  In 2 Chronicles 30, 18-19, when a great part of the people ate the Passover when they were not sanctified, King Hezekiah prayed for them, saying: 'The good Lord shall have mercy on all who seek The Lord God of their fathers with all their heart, and he will not hold it against them that they were not sanctified.'  Augustine: 'Although a person may be bitten by venial sin, he may not have the will for sinning.  He may make satisfaction with tears and prayers, and confiding in the mercy of The Lord, he may boldly and courageously approach the Eucharist.' "