8. For that ye may know, that the Bridegroom and the Bride are One according to the Flesh of Christ, not according to His Divinity (for according to His Divinity we cannot be what He is; seeing that He is the Creator, we the creature; He the Maker, we His work; He the Framer, we framed by Him; but in order that we might be one with Him in Him, He vouchsafed to be our Head, by taking of us flesh wherein to die for us); that ye may know then that this whole is One Christ, He said by Isaiah, "He hath bound a mitre on me as a bridegroom, and clothed me with ornaments as a bride." [3068] He is then at once the Bridegroom and the Bride. That is, the Bridegroom in Himself as the Head, the Bride in the body. "For they twain," saith He, "shall be in one flesh; so now they are no more twain, but one flesh."
9. Seeing then that we are of His members, in order that we may understand this mystery as I have said, Brethren, let us live holily, let us love God for His Own sake. Now He who showeth to us while in our pilgrimage the form of a servant, reserveth for those that reach their country the form of God. With the form of a servant hath He laid down the way, with the form of God He hath prepared the home. Seeing then that it is a hard matter for us to comprehend this, but no hard matter to believe it; for Isaiah says, "Unless ye believe ye shall not understand;" [3069] let us "walk by faith as long as we are in pilgrimage from the Lord, till we come to sight where we shall see face to face." [3070] As walking by faith, let us do good works. In these good works, let there be a free love of God for His Own sake, and an active [3071] love of our neighbour. For we have nothing we can do for God; but because we have something we may do for our neighbour, we shall by our good offices to the needy, gain His favour who is the source of all abundance. [3072] Let every one then do what he can for others; let him freely bestow upon the needy of his superfluity. One has money; let him feed the poor, let him clothe the naked, let him build a church, let him do with his money all the good he can. Another has good counsel; let him guide his neighbour, let him by the light of holiness drive away the darkness of doubting. Another has learning; let him draw out of this store of the Lord, let him minister food to his fellow-servants, strengthen the faithful, recall the wandering, seek the lost, do all the good he can. Something there is, which even the poor may deal out to one another; let one lend feet to the lame, another give his own eyes to guide the blind; another visit the sick, another bury the dead. These are things which all may do, so that in a word it would be hard to find one who has not some means of doing good to others. And last of all comes that important duty which the Apostle speaks of; "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so shall ye fulfil the law of Christ." [3073]
[3039] Matt. xxvii. 42.
[3040] 1 Cor. ii. 8.
[3041] Gen. xxii. 18.
[3042] Ps. cxviii. 22; Luke xx. 17, 18.
[3043] Matt. xxii. 42.
[3044] Matt. xxii. 43-45.
[3045] John i. 1.
[3046] John i. 14.
[3047] John xiv. 28.
[3048] John x. 30.
[3049] Sacramentum.
[3050] Job i. 9. Gratis.
[3051] 2 Cor. i. 12.
[3052] Job i. 21, Sept.
[3053] Sacramentum.
[3054] Vita.
[3055] Gal. v. 6.
[3056] Matt. xxiii. 6; Mark xii. 39.
[3057] Prepositi plebis.
[3058] Matt. xvi. 6.
[3059] Matt. xvi. 9, 12.
[3060] Meruit.
[3061] Phil. iii. 12, etc.
[3062] John iii. 13.
[3063] 1 Cor. xii. 27.
[3064] Eph. v. 31.
[3065] Phil. ii. 7.
[3066] Matt. xix. 4, etc.
[3067] John iii. 13.
[3068] Isa. lxi. 10, Sept.
[3069] Isa. vii. 9, Sept.
[3070] 2 Cor. v. 6, 7.
[3071] Benefica.
[3072] Promerebimur abundantem.
[3073] Gal. vi. 2.
Sermon XLII.
[XCII. Ben.]
On the same words of the Gospel, Matt. xxii. 42
1. The question which was proposed to the Jews, Christians ought to solve. For the Lord Jesus Christ, who proposed it to the Jews, did not solve it Himself, to the Jews, I mean, He did not, but to us He hath solved it. I will put you in remembrance, Beloved, and ye will find that He hath solved it. But first consider the knot of the question. He asked the Jews what they "thought of Christ, whose Son He was to be;" for they too look for the Christ. They read of Him in the Prophets, they expected Him to come, when He was come they killed Him; for where they read that Christ would come, there did they read that they should kill Christ. But His future coming they hoped for in the Prophets; for they did not see their future crime. He therefore so questioned them about the Christ, not as if about One who was unknown to them, or whose Name they had never heard, or whose coming they had never hoped for. For they err in that even yet they hope for Him. And we indeed hope for Him too; but we hope for Him as One who is to come as Judge, not to be judged. For the Holy Prophets prophesied both, that He should come first to be judged unrighteously, that He should come afterwards to judge with righteousness. "What think ye," then, saith he, "of Christ? whose Son is He? They answered Him, The Son of David." [3074] And this was entirely according to the Scriptures. But He said, "How then doth David in spirit call Him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto My Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand, till I make Thine enemies Thy footstool. If David then in spirit call Him Lord, how is He his Son?" [3075]
2. Here then is need of a caution, lest Christ be thought to have denied that He was the Son of David. He did not deny that He was the Son of David, but He enquired the way. "Ye have said that Christ is the Son of David, I do not deny it; but David calls Him Lord; tell me how is He his Son, who is also his Lord; tell me how?" They did not tell Him, but were silent. Let us then tell by the explanation of Christ Himself. Where? By His Apostle. But first, whereby do we prove that Christ hath Himself explained it? The Apostle says, "Would ye receive a proof of Christ who speaketh in me?" [3076] So then in the Apostle hath He vouchsafed to solve this question. In the first place, what said Christ speaking by the Apostle to Timothy? "Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my Gospel." [3077] See, Christ is the Son of David. How is He also David's Lord? Tell us, O Apostle: "who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God." Acknowledge David's Lord. If thou acknowledge David's Lord, our Lord, the Lord of heaven and earth, the Lord of the Angels, equal with God, in the form of God, how is He David's Son? Mark what follows. The Apostle shows thee David's Lord by saying, "Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God." And how is He David's Son? "But He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, having become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him." [3078] Christ "of the seed of David," the Son of David, rose again because "He emptied Himself." How did He "empty Himself"? By taking that which He was not, not by losing that which He was. He "emptied Himself," He "humbled himself." Though He was God, He appeared as man. He was despised as He walked on earth, He who made the heaven. He was despised as though a mere man, as though of no power. Yea, not despised only, but slain moreover. He was that stone that lay on the ground, the Jews stumbled against it, and were shaken. And what doth He Himself say? "Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be shaken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder." [3079] First, He lay low, and they stumbled against Him; He shall come from above, and He will "grind" them that have been shaken "to powder."
3. Thus have ye heard that Christ is both David's Son, and David's Lord: David's Lord always, David's Son in time: David's Lord, born of the substance of His Father, David's Son, born of the Virgin Mary, conceived by the Holy Ghost. Let us hold fast both. The one of them will be our eternal habitation, the other is our deliverance from our present exile. For unless our Lord Jesus Christ had vouchsafed to become man, man had perished. He was made that which He made, that what He made might not perish. Very Man, Very God; God and man whole Christ. This is the Catholic faith. Whoso denieth that Christ is God is a Photinian; [3080] whoso denieth that Christ is man is a Manichæan. [3081] Whoso confesseth that Christ is God equal with the Father and very man, that He truly suffered, truly shed His blood (for the Truth would not have set us free, if He had given a false price for us); whoso confesseth both, is a Catholic. He hath the country, he hath the way. He hath the country, "In the beginning was the Word;" [3082] He hath the country, "Being in the form of God, He thought it not robbery to be equal with God." [3083] He hath the way, "The Word was made flesh;" [3084] He hath the way, "He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant." [3085] He is the home whither we are going, He is the way whereby we go. Let us by Him go unto Him, and we shall not go astray.
[3074] Matt. xxii. 42.
[3075] Matt. xxii. 43-45.
[3076] 2 Cor. xiii. 3.
[3077] 2 Tim. ii. 8.
[3078] Phil. ii. 6, etc.
[3079] Matt. xxi. 44.
[3080] Vinc. Lirinens. Commonit. xii.; Conf. vii. 26 (xx.), Oxf. transl, and note f.
[3081] Conf. v. 16 (ix.), 20 (x.), 25 (xix.), vii. 25 (xix.), Oxf. trans. and note A, p. 325. De Dono Perseverant, c. 67 (xxiv.), Serm. lxvi. (cxvi. Ben.) 1-5 (i.-iv.), Epist. 236 (al. 74) 2.
[3082] John i. 1.
[3083] Phil. ii. 6.
[3084] John i. 14.
[3085] Phil. ii. 7.
Sermon XLIII.
[XCIII. Ben.]
On the words of the Gospel, Matt. xxv. 1, "then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins."
1. Ye who were present yesterday remember my promise; which with the Lord's assistance is to be made good to-day, not to you only, but to the many others also who have come together. It is no easy question, who the ten virgins are, of whom five are wise, and five foolish. Nevertheless, according to the context of this passage which I have wished should be read again to you to-day, Beloved, I do not think, as far as the Lord vouchsafes to give me understanding, that this parable or similitude relates to those women only who by a peculiar and more excellent sanctity are called Virgins in the Church, whom by a more usual term we are wont also to call, "The Religious;" [3086] but if I mistake not this parable relates to the whole Church. [3087] But though we should understand it of those only who are called "the Religious," are they but ten? God forbid that so great a company of virgins should be reduced to so small a number! But perhaps one may say, "But what if though they be so many in outward profession, yet in truth they are so few, that scarce ten can be found!" It is not so. For if he had meant that the good virgins only should be understood by the ten, He would not have represented five foolish ones among them. For if this is the number of the virgins which are called, why are the doors of the great house shut against five?
2. So then let us understand, dearly Beloved, that this parable relates to us all, that is, to the whole Church together, not to the Clergy [3088] only of whom we spoke yesterday; nor to the laity only; but generally to all. Why then are the Virgins five and five? These five and five virgins are all Christian souls together. But that I may tell you what by the Lord's inspiration I think, it is not souls of every sort, but such souls as have the Catholic faith, and seem to have good works in the Church of God; and yet even of them, "five are wise, and five are foolish." First then let us see why they are called "five," and why "virgins," and then let us consider the rest. Every soul in the body is therefore denoted [3089] by the number five, because it makes use of five senses. For there is nothing of which we have perception by the body, but by the five folded gate, either by the sight, or the hearing, or the smelling, or the tasting, or the touching. Whoso then abstaineth from unlawful seeing, unlawful hearing, unlawful smelling, unlawful tasting, and unlawful touching, by reason of his uncorruptness [3090] hath gotten the name of virgin.