Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
First, Christ defends His disciples against the Pharisees when, being hungry, they plucked ears of grain on the sabbath. Second, in verse 8, He cures a man with a withered hand on the sabbath. Third, in verse 13, He chooses and constitutes the twelve apostles. Fourth, in verse 20, He sets forth the Evangelical beatitudes. Fifth, in verse 30, He continues preaching to the end about love of enemies, mercy, not judging, and zeal for good works.
I explained the first part at Matt. XII, 1; the second at the same place, verse 10; the third at Matt. X, 1; the fourth at Matt. V, 1; the fifth at Matt. V, 44, and VII, 3, and X, 24, and other places noted in the margin of the Bibles at this chapter.
Vulgate Text: Luke 6:1-49
1. And it came to pass on the second-first sabbath, that as He passed through the cornfields, His disciples plucked the ears and ate them, rubbing them in their hands. 2. But some of the Pharisees said to them: Why are you doing what is not lawful on the sabbaths? 3. And Jesus answering them said: Have you not read even this, what David did when he himself was hungry and those who were with him? 4. how he entered into the house of God and took the loaves of proposition, and ate, and gave to those who were with him, which it was not lawful to eat but for the priests alone? 5. And He said to them: The Son of Man is Lord, even of the sabbath. 6. And it came to pass also on another sabbath that He entered the synagogue and taught. And there was a man there whose right hand was withered. 7. And the Scribes and Pharisees watched whether He would heal on the sabbath, that they might find an accusation against Him. 8. But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand: Rise up and stand forth in the midst. And rising he stood forth. 9. Then Jesus said to them: I ask you, is it lawful on the sabbaths to do good or to do evil; to save a life, or to destroy? 10. And looking round about on them all, He said to the man: Stretch forth your hand. And he stretched it forth, and his hand was restored. 11. But they were filled with madness, and conferred with one another what they might do to Jesus. 12. And it came to pass in those days that He went out into a mountain to pray, and He spent the night in the prayer of God. 13. And when day came, He called His disciples, and chose twelve from them (whom He also named Apostles): 14. Simon, whom He surnamed Peter, and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, 15. Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who is called Zelotes, 16. and Jude the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, who was the traitor. 17. And coming down with them, He stood in a level place, with the crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judaea and Jerusalem and the seacoast, both of Tyre and Sidon, 18. who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19. And all the crowd sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed all. 20. And He, lifting up His eyes upon His disciples, said: Blessed are the poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God. 21. Blessed are you who now hunger, for you shall be filled. Blessed are you who now weep, for you shall laugh. 22. Blessed shall you be when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you, and reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake. 23. Rejoice in that day and exult: for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for after these things their fathers did to the Prophets. 24. But woe to you who are rich, for you have your consolation. 25. Woe to you who are filled, for you shall hunger. Woe to you who now laugh, for you shall mourn and weep. 26. Woe when men shall bless you, for after these things their fathers did to the false prophets. 27. But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. 28. Bless those who curse you, and pray for those who calumniate you. 29. And to him who strikes you on the cheek, offer also the other. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not forbid even your tunic. 30. Give to everyone who asks of you; and from him who takes away what is yours, do not ask it back. 31. And as you want men to do to you, you also do to them in like manner. 32. And if you love those who love you, what thanks are due to you? for sinners also love those who love them. 33. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks are due to you? for sinners also do this. 34. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what thanks are due to you? for sinners also lend to sinners, that they may receive equal in return. 35. But love your enemies; do good and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward shall be great, and you shall be the children of the Most High, for He Himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36. Be therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. 37. Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven. 38. Give, and it shall be given to you: good measure, pressed down and shaken together and running over, shall they give into your bosom. For with the same measure with which you measure, it shall be measured back to you. 39. And He spoke to them also a similitude: Can the blind lead the blind? Do they not both fall into the pit? 40. The disciple is not above the master; but everyone shall be perfect, if he is as his master. 41. And why do you see the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the beam that is in your own eye? 42. Or how can you say to your brother: Brother, let me cast out the speck from your eye, when you yourself do not see the beam in your own eye? Hypocrite, cast out first the beam from your own eye; and then you shall see clearly to take out the speck from your brother's eye. 43. For there is no good tree that produces bad fruit, nor a bad tree that produces good fruit. 44. For every tree is known by its fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they harvest grapes from a bramble bush. 45. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil; for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 46. But why do you call Me, Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say? 47. Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and does them: I will show you to whom he is like. 48. He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation upon a rock; and when a flood came, the river beat against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. 49. But he who hears and does not do them, is like a man building his house on the ground without a foundation, against which the river beat, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.
Verse 1: The Second-First Sabbath
1. AND IT CAME TO PASS ON THE SECOND-FIRST SABBATH. — The Arabic has "on the second sabbath"; the Syriac does not mention "sabbath" at all. You will ask: what is this sabbath? St. Jerome put this very question to St. Gregory Nazianzen, his teacher. He turned the same question back upon him in jest, when, as St. Jerome writes to Nepotian, he said: "I will teach you about this matter in the church, where, with all the people acclaiming me, you will be forced unwillingly to know what you do not know, or surely, if you alone keep silent, you alone will be condemned by all of foolishness."
First, St. Epiphanius (heresy 51), Vatablus, and others suppose that "the second-first sabbath" was the eighth day of unleavened bread, or the last day of the Passover. For the Passover was celebrated for eight days, during which it was lawful to eat only unleavened bread; and the eighth day was more solemn than the other seven, and was to be celebrated with the same rite as the Passover feast itself. Therefore the first day of the Passover was called "the first-first sabbath," that is, the highest and most solemn feast; but the eighth day was called "the second-first sabbath," because after the first day of the Passover it was second in solemnity; for every feast day was called a sabbath by the Hebrews.
Secondly, Isidore of Pelusium, in Book III, letter 110, and after him Titus of Bostra and Euthymius here, by "the second-first sabbath" understand the first day of unleavened bread, which was the second day of the Passover. For the Passover began on the fourteenth day of the first month, Nisan, in the evening, and the fifteenth was the first of unleavened bread. Therefore the second sabbath is the first day of unleavened bread, because it is the second after the first day of the Passover; and the same is also first, because it is the first day of the festival of unleavened bread.
Thirdly, Maldonatus thinks "the second-first sabbath" is Pentecost: for the Passover is "the first-first sabbath," that is, the first and highest feast; but Pentecost is next to this, and therefore second in order after the first of the Passover. But I say that "sabbath" here does not mean any feast, but the sabbath properly so called, namely the seventh day of the week. For only on that day, as on the most sacred, were the Jews forbidden by law to pluck ears and prepare food, Exod. XXXV, 3, which on other feasts was permitted, as is clear from Exod. XII, 16. Secondly, the same is plain from the fact that Matthew, Mark, and Luke consistently call this feast "sabbath."
But what was this sabbath, and why was it called "second-first"?
First, Theophylact thinks it was the sabbath that was preceded by another feast day — for example, if on the day of preparation, that is, on Friday, there had been the feast of Passover, the New Moon, Pentecost, and so on, then the sabbath immediately following was called "second-first," as being second from the preceding feast and after it "first." Others, conversely, understand by "the second-first sabbath" that sabbath after which another feast immediately followed; for in respect of this latter the sabbath was "first," and in respect of the latter as being "second" it was called "second-first," as it were "first before the second" that immediately followed.
Secondly, Joseph Scaliger, in De Emendatione Temporum, Book VI, chapter 6, asserts that this was the first sabbath after the feast of Passover, and that it was called "second-first" because it was the first after the second day of unleavened bread, from which seven weeks were counted up to Pentecost. Thus the first week and the first sabbath was called "second-first," the second week with its sabbath "second-second," the third week "second-third," the fourth "second-fourth," and so on down to the seventh.
To this is added Gabriel Vasquez, in his treatise On the Eucharist, disp. 173, ch. 2, no. 10, who thinks that "the second-first sabbath" was the sabbath immediately following the second day of unleavened bread. And he adds that "second first" is two words, as the corrected Roman Bibles also make two of them, not one compound, and therefore in the Greek it should likewise be written separately deuterō prōtō, not joined as deuteroprōtō: because, he says, the deuterō is not a diminishing addition, as if to say "secondarily first," but augments the dignity of this sabbath. So he thinks this sabbath is called "second-first" by reason of order and number, but in respect of different things: for it was "second" in respect of the first day of unleavened bread, which was the first sabbath, that is, the first feast; but it was "first" inasmuch as it was the sabbath, that is, the seventh day, which immediately followed the feast of the second day of unleavened bread. Against this opinion stands what I showed at the beginning: that here neither the second day of unleavened bread nor any other feast is called "sabbath," but only the seventh day of the week.
Thirdly, more probably St. Chrysostom, hom. 40 on Matthew, Jansenius, Toletus, Franciscus Lucas, and Emmanuel Sa hold that "the second-first sabbath" is the same as a double sabbath, that is, a twice-first and twice-solemn sabbath, and that a sabbath was so called on which another feast — for example, Pentecost, or the New Moon, or some similar one — fell: for then this sabbath seemed to be a double feast, or twice a feast. But in that case Luke would have said more briefly, clearly, and aptly: And it was a double sabbath, or twice a feast; just as the Church calls more solemn feasts "doubles," because in them the antiphons are doubled, the whole antiphon being recited both before and after each psalm. Again, "the second-first sabbath" implies an order with reference to the "first-first sabbath"; therefore it cannot be one and the same with it, as Jansenius maintains, but must be different from it, and inferior to it in dignity; for "second" implies an order and sequence to the first.
Jansenius objects: Matthew in chap. XII, 1 in the Greek, and Mark, chap. II, 23 in the Latin, call this sabbath "sabbaths" in the plural; therefore several feasts coincided in it. I answer: They call it "sabbaths," that is, sabbath in the singular. I have given the reason at Matt. XXVIII, 1.
Fourthly, then, it is most probable that "the second-first sabbath" is so called as the sabbath which fell on the feast of Pentecost, or within the week of Pentecost, and is called "second-first," that is, first in the second place, or the first after the sabbath which fell within Passover week: for that one was the first of all sabbaths absolutely, or the very first of all the sabbaths of the whole year. Hence John in chapter xix, 31 says of it: "For that day of the sabbath was a great one," that is, this Paschal sabbath was the most noble and most solemn. For just as the feast of Passover was the first and most celebrated of the other feasts, so also the sabbath falling within the Paschal feast was the first and most celebrated of the other sabbaths. Now next after Passover, or the second feast, was Pentecost: hence the sabbath nearest after Pentecost held the second place among sabbaths. Therefore the Paschal sabbath was first-first, while the Pentecost sabbath was the next after it, but inferior in dignity, and so was called second-first, that is, second after the Paschal sabbath, and after that the first of the others.
This opinion is proved first, because the things related here about Christ's disciples plucking ears of grain on this sabbath happened around Pentecost, as is clear from the fact that the harvests are then ripe in Judaea, since it is a hot region. Hence the Jews were then commanded to offer to God the first loaves of the new harvest, Lev. xxiii, 16 and 17.
Secondly, because this sabbath, as I showed at the beginning, was a sabbath properly so called, and therefore must be called second with respect to some sabbath that is also first in the proper sense, not with respect to Passover or another feast. Therefore since the Paschal sabbath was the first of all, as I have proved, it follows that the sabbath of Pentecost is and is called second, or "second-first," that is, primary and principal in the second rank and degree. And this is required by the Bibles corrected at Rome, which separate the word "second" from "first" by a comma. For thus they read: "And it came to pass on a second sabbath, the first one, as he passed through the cornfields;" and the Arabic, "on the second sabbath."
Thirdly, because from what has been said it is clear that none of the other opinions is truly probable. Finally, Passover and Pentecost are kindred and neighboring feasts, so that one appears as the first and the other as the second after the first. Hence the Italians call Pentecost the Passover of the Holy Spirit. In the same manner, consequently, the two sabbaths of Passover and Pentecost were kindred and neighboring. Hence too the Church numbers all the Sundays which have succeeded in place of the sabbaths in their order from Pentecost to Advent, and calls the first Sunday after Pentecost that one which falls within the octave of Pentecost, the second the one which next follows, the third the one which holds the third place, etc.
You will say: The whole week of Pentecost was not a festal week, as the week of Passover was; therefore the sabbath falling within it was not more worthy than the others. I reply: The week of Pentecost was not festal by the prescription of the law, but nevertheless by the religion and devotion of the Hebrews, in imitation of Passover, it was more celebrated than the other weeks. Hence with great solemnity they celebrated the eighth day of Pentecost, on the 13th day of the third month Sivan, or May (for they celebrated Pentecost on the sixth day of the same month). Just as they celebrated the octave of Passover on the 22nd day of the first month Nisan, or March, for that is the octave from the 14th day on which they celebrated Passover: all of which is plain from the Calendar of the Hebrews which Genebrardus published, and from the Commentary which he prefixed to the Psalms.
Allegorically S. Ambrose here: The "second-first sabbath," he says, is the time of the Gospel; for this is second in time, because it follows the legal sabbath, but in dignity it is first.
Symbolically, the same Father, on Psalm XLVII at the beginning: The "second-first sabbath," he says, is the sabbath of the Jews; for in dignity it is second to our Passover, because after the resurrection of Christ the Lord's Day has been preferred to it: yet it is also called "first," because before Christ it was the first and most solemn.
Tropologically Bede: Christ, he says, heals and teaches especially on the sabbaths, not only to insinuate the spiritual sabbath in which the mind, abstaining from vices and bodily works, is free for God alone; but also because of the more crowded gathering of the people, just as a sermon is now delivered on the Lord's Day to the assembled people. Another reason was added, which I gave in Matthew, namely that Christ might teach the Jews and the Scribes the true observance of the sabbath, and that the healings of the sick and the miracles He worked on the sabbath did not contradict it, as the Scribes thought, who on this account persecuted Him as a violator of the law unto death and the cross. And God had decreed to permit this, that He might thus fulfill His decree concerning the redemption of mankind through Christ's cross.
Verse 5: The Lord of the Sabbath
5. BECAUSE THE LORD IS THE SON OF MAN, ALSO OF THE SABBATH, — for the reasons I gave in Matthew chapter XII. Here the Parisian Greek copy, which Franciscus Lucas cites in his notes, adds these words: "On the same day, when He had seen a certain man working on the sabbath, He said to him: Man, if indeed you know what you are doing, you are blessed; but if you do not know, you are accursed and a transgressor of the law." But the Church does not acknowledge these words.
Verse 11: Filled With Madness
11. BUT THEY THEMSELVES WERE FILLED WITH MADNESS. — That is, the Jews were unable to answer Christ in the manner of a fool who has nothing to say or speak. In Greek for insipientia it is ἀνοίας, that is, mindlessness; as if to say, they were driven into rage and fury, because they were confounded by Christ's reasonings, which were so evident. The Syriac translates, "they were filled with envy": for this blinded them, so that they would not acknowledge the truth about the manner of observing the sabbath, and incited them to Christ's death. Hence Luke adds: "And they conferred together what they should do to Jesus," so that they might take Him out of the way. It is a metalepsis: for the effect is put for the cause, namely "madness" for envy, by which it is caused and from which it is born.
Verse 12: He Spent the Night in Prayer
12. HE WENT OUT INTO A MOUNTAIN TO PRAY, AND HE PASSED THE NIGHT IN THE PRAYER OF GOD, — praying to God, conversing with God. The proper and nocturnal cause of this prayer was that Christ might thereby ask the Father that on the following morning He might designate twelve Apostles from among the disciples, and choose them as men worthy of so great a rank, and that by praying He might obtain for them grace and a great spirit to discharge this Apostolate rightly and to convert many; and that He might teach us to do the same. Wherefore the Church, by Christ's example, in the Ember Days, when she ordains Priests, Deacons, Bishops, etc., enjoins prayer and fasting upon all the faithful, that worthy men may be chosen, and that grace fitting for so great an office may be obtained for those chosen. For the whole people depends upon the Clergy. If a Bishop is good and zealous, he edifies and sanctifies all the faithful of his episcopate; but if he is vicious or slothful, he scandalizes and ruins them all. So too a Parish Priest, if he is good, makes the whole parish good; if bad, bad.
Tropologically: here Christ teaches us to pray at night; first, because the night, by reason of its quiet, silence, and solitude, gathers the mind, so that it may easily be lifted up to God and united with Him; secondly, to ward off nocturnal illusions, temptations, and terrors which the devil is wont to stir up; thirdly, that by praying at night we may draw from God the spirit and graces which by day we may pour out upon our neighbors. For this reason Christ prayed by night and preached by day. The same did S. Paul, Acts xvi, 15; 1 Tim. v, 5; S. Anthony, S. Simeon Stylites, S. Dominic, S. Francis, and others. Hence David so often commends nocturnal prayer, as Ps. cxxxiii, 1: "In the nights lift up your hands to the holy places." Ps. cxviii, 62: "At midnight I rose to give You praise." Ps. lxxvi, 7: "I meditated in the night with my own heart." Ps. xli, 4: "My tears have been my bread day and night, while it is said to me daily: Where is your God?" More on this subject I have said above, and on Deut. vi, 7, on the words: "When you sleep and when you rise."
Verse 20: Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit
20. BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT. — "For humility of spirit is the riches of virtues," says S. Ambrose. Now Matthew in chapter v lists the eight Evangelical Beatitudes, which Luke here in summary reduces to four. See what is said there.
Hence S. Ambrose rightly concludes, Book II Of Offices, ch. iv: "And so," he says, "poverty, hunger, and pain, which are thought to be evils, have been most clearly declared by Christ to be not only no hindrance, but even a help to a blessed life," — by Christ, who is the First Truth, and therefore can neither be deceived nor deceive.
Furthermore, S. Ambrose here gives the reason why Luke assigns only four beatitudes: Because, he says, he was content to embrace the four cardinal virtues, namely justice, which not coveting another's goods rejoices in holy poverty; temperance, which prefers to hunger and thirst rather than to be filled and to feast; prudence, which here desires to mourn and weep, that in heaven it may merit to laugh and rejoice; fortitude, which for Christ and for virtue nobly bears and overcomes all reproaches and curses and any adversities whatever. Or rather he thinks that temperance is noted in the first beatitude when He says: "Blessed are the poor;" justice in the second when He says: "Blessed are you who hunger now," namely for justice, as Matthew adds in ch. v; prudence in the third when He says: "Blessed are you who weep now:" "You have," says Ambrose, "prudence whose part it is to weep over things that pass away, and to seek the things that are eternal;" fortitude in the fourth when He says: "Blessed shall you be when men hate you:" "You have," he says, "fortitude, but such as does not deserve hatred for crime, but suffers persecution for faith. For thus is the crown of suffering reached, if you neglect the favor of men and follow that of God."
Verse 24: Woe to You Who Are Rich
24. WOE TO YOU WHO ARE RICH, BECAUSE (so it is to be read with the Roman editions, not "who"; for in Greek it is ὅτι, which gives the reason why woe is to the rich) YOU HAVE YOUR CONSOLATION. — Christ, having now listed the four beatitudes or felicities, by antithesis sets against them just as many miseries and unhappinesses; namely, first, against the pursuit of poverty and its reward, the kingdom of heaven, He sets the pursuit of riches and avarice and its punishment, the woe of eternal damnation, desolation, and gehenna. Secondly, against abstinence and hunger and their reward, heavenly satiety, He sets gluttony and its fitting punishment, the woe of eternal hunger and want. Thirdly, against pious mourning and its reward, perennial joy, He sets the slight joy and laughter of the present life and its punishment, eternal mourning and lamentation. Fourthly, against persecution and its reward, an ample reward in heaven, He sets the applause of men and its punishment, the perennial offense, anger and vengeance of God. For "woe" in Scripture often signifies God's wrath and damnation to eternal hell, as S. Gregory notes in Homily 9 on Ezekiel. Furthermore, the "vae" is an interjection of Christ partly bewailing the eternal misery of the rich, as S. Chrysostom would have it, Hom. 44 to the People; partly foretelling it, as Titus would have it; partly threatening and decreeing it, as Tertullian would have it, Book iv Against Marcion.
TO THE RICH. — Just as by "the poor" in v. 20 He understood the poor in spirit, that is, in love, affection and pursuit, namely those who love poverty in order to please God more, so by "the rich" here He understands the greedy and covetous, who strive to heap up wealth by fair means and foul, and in these place their happiness as their final end: for this is mortal sin, which drives men to robberies, usuries, unjust contracts, and other sins, and therefore Christ here threatens such a man with the "woe" of gehenna. For otherwise the rich, who from inheritance or honest labor and gain abound in wealth, if they are not attached to it, but spend it on the poor and on pious works, are poor in spirit, as were Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, etc.; "not the census therefore, but the affection lies in the crime," says S. Ambrose here. This is what the Apostle says, 1 Tim. vi, 9: "Those who wish to become rich fall into temptation and the snare of the devil, and into many useless and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and perdition; for the root of all evils is covetousness:" in Greek φιλαργυρία, that is, the love of silver. See what is said there.
BECAUSE YOU HAVE YOUR CONSOLATION. — Because you enjoy your riches as your highest good, and trust in them more than in God, find rest, joy, and pride in them, and abuse them for gluttony, luxury and other crimes: for this reason God grants you present riches, so that you may have your consolation and happiness in this life; but in the other you shall lack heavenly and eternal happiness: "For those who have had the consolation of the present life have lost the perpetual reward," says S. Ambrose; for Christ here decreed by an eternal law that those who have their comforts in this life shall have their discomforts in the future life, and vice versa. Hence S. Jerome, in Epistle 34, attempting to lead Julian, a noble and wealthy man, to contempt of the world and to the love of the religious life, presses him chiefly with this argument: "It is difficult," he says, "nay impossible, that anyone should enjoy both present and future goods, and fill his belly here and his mind there, that he should pass from delights to delights, that he should be first in both worlds, that he should appear glorious in both heaven and earth." Hence Abraham objects to the rich glutton no other cause of damnation and torments in the fire of hell than this: "Remember, son, that you received good things in your life, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted here, while you are tormented," Luke xvi. Hence too Christ offered to S. Catherine of Siena two crowns, one of gems, the other of thorns, but on this condition: that if she chose the serene gem-crown in this life, she would receive the thorny one in the other, and vice versa. Wherefore she received the crown of thorns from Christ's hand, and pressed it so violently upon her head that for many days she felt sharp piercings and pains from the thorns.
Verse 25: Woe to You Who Are Filled
25. WOE TO YOU WHO ARE FILLED: BECAUSE YOU SHALL HUNGER — in hell; that is, Woe to you who indulge in gluttony and drunkenness, who saturate yourselves with delights, who load your belly with savory wines, indeed plunge and overwhelm it, because you shall hunger forever: for although the wicked in hell shall undergo heavier punishments of fire, yet gluttons shall feel even this hunger and thirst by the burning of the flames, as a punishment and torment proper to gluttony itself. Hence the rich Reveler wished a drop of water to be given him by Lazarus to cool his tongue burning in the flames, because he had saturated it with delicate foods and wines. So Euthymius. The reason is given by S. Basil in the Longer Rules, ch. xix: Because, he says, to serve the pleasures is nothing other than to make one's belly one's God. And S. Gregory, Bk. V on Kings, ch. 1: "From the one vice of gluttony," he says, "innumerable troops of vices are brought forth to the soul's combat. And when the same vice of gluttony is cut off, we subdue many others to ourselves. There is one vice of gluttony, but the stings of lust are innumerable, which follow that one as their king; they suggest pleasant things, but lead to the laments of eternal weeping." And S. Bernard, Epistle 432: "A mind," he says, "accustomed to delights, and not pruned by the hoe of discipline, contracts many filths." The same in Sermon 48 on the Canticles: "A life," he says, "lived in delights is both death and the shadow of death: for as much as a shadow is close to the body of which it is the shadow, so much, assuredly, does that life draw near to hell."
On the contrary, S. Leo, Sermon 2 On the fast of the tenth month: "From abstinence," he says, "come forth chaste thoughts, reasonable wills, more wholesome counsels, and through voluntary afflictions the flesh dies to its concupiscences, while the spirit is renewed in its virtues."
For this reason Christ gave to S. Catherine of Siena this teaching: "Embrace bitter things as if sweet, and shun sweet things as if bitter." See the many harms of delights which I have listed from Solomon on Eccles. ii, 1.
WOE TO YOU WHO LAUGH NOW, BECAUSE YOU SHALL MOURN AND WEEP, — both in this life and still more in hell. S. Basil, in the Shorter Rules, Response 31, seems to condemn all laughter in the faithful, on the ground that this life is one of penance and mourning, while the future is one of joy and laughter. Hence we read that Christ often wept, but never laughed, as S. Augustine notes in Sermon 35 On the Saints.
But the Wise One, Sirach ch. xxi, v. 23, permits moderate laughter to the Saints: "The fool," he says, "raises his voice in laughter, but the wise man will scarcely smile silently." See what is said there, and on Eccles. ii, 2, on the words: "I considered laughter an error, and to mirth I said: Why are you vainly deceived?" where I have shown that excessive laughter and loud guffaws are forbidden, not moderate laughter; for this latter is a sign of a tranquil, joyful, innocent, benevolent soul. "Woe therefore to you who laugh," that is, who laugh — that is, exult — in revelings, drunkenness, debaucheries and other forbidden pleasures of this world, and pour yourselves out into foolish and wicked joy, because in hell you shall mourn and weep forever.
Verse 26: Woe When Men Bless You
26. WOE WHEN MEN SHALL HAVE BLESSED YOU: FOR ACCORDING TO THESE THINGS DID THEIR FATHERS TO THE FALSE PROPHETS. — That is, Woe to you when men shall applaud you for preaching what is pleasant and agreeable to the flesh; for the far greater part of men are led by sense and concupiscence, and are animal and carnal, and therefore hate and persecute true doctrine and the teacher who censures and cuts away the vices of the flesh and of concupiscence, but love, praise and bless him who excuses and flatters them. Such a teacher is therefore cursed by God, the hater and avenger of vices, because in this same way their fathers applauded false prophets who taught what was pleasant and erroneous; wherefore, just as both the false prophets and their fathers descended to hell, so I likewise threaten the same "woe" of damnation upon you who do the same things. For this "woe" is set against the fourth beatitude of the true Prophets, that is, the preachers who suffer persecution for Christ's sake, namely for the faith, piety, and truth which they preach (v. 22). This is what Paul says, Gal. i: "If I were still pleasing men, I should not be the servant of Christ." See what is said there. For he who teaches errors and things sweet to the flesh is the cause that the people live carnally and commit many crimes: of all which therefore he himself, as the cause and inciter, will pay the greatest penalties and will plunge very many into hell. Again, the preacher who from his sermon seeks applause for himself, not the conversion of the people, and sets and grasps after this vain glory of his as the fruit and reward of his sermon, will be damned, both because he has abused the office of preaching for his own praise and not for God's; and because he has set vain glory before himself as his ultimate end and supreme good; and because he has impeded and overthrown the salvation of so many souls entrusted to him, that he might teach them the way of virtue and salvation. Such false prophets, that is, false preachers, were those whom Jeremiah often rebuked (and other Prophets), as in ch. v, saying: "The prophets prophesied lies, and the priests clapped their hands, and my people loved such things."
Verse 27: Love Your Enemies
27. BUT I SAY TO YOU WHO HEAR: LOVE YOUR ENEMIES. — The "but" signifies an antithesis, namely that Christ turns His discourse from the impious and wretched followers of pleasures, against whom He has four times threatened "woe," to His own hearers who are zealous for the word of God and piety; as if to say, I have hitherto threatened "woe" to the impious, but to you, my pious and devoted hearers, I now deliver the holy precepts of salvation, and first of all, that you should love your enemies. These precepts of Christ I have expounded on Matt. v, vv. 44 and following.
Verse 30: Give to Everyone
30. GIVE TO EVERYONE WHO ASKS YOU. — That is, not only to him who lacks bread, but to him who is in need of help, of your teaching, or of your counsel, willingly bestow it upon him: for thus you shall exercise an act of mercy and almsgiving, whether bodily or spiritual. See what is said on Matt. v, 42. To which add that Luke adds to Matthew the word omni (every), which S. Augustine explains in Bk. I On the Lord's Sermon on the Mount, ch. xx: "'To everyone who asks,'" he says, "not 'all things to him who asks,' so that you may give what you can give honestly and justly. For what if he should ask money with which to try to oppress an innocent man? what if at last he should ask for fornication? But not to pursue many things, which are innumerable, surely that is to be given which harms neither yourself nor another, so far as can be known or believed by man: and where you have refused him what he asks, justice itself must be shown, that you may not send him away empty. So you shall give to everyone who asks you, although you shall not always give what he asks, but sometimes you shall give him something better, when you have corrected him who asks unjustly."
AND OF HIM WHO TAKES AWAY YOUR GOODS, DO NOT ASK THEM BACK, — whether in court, as S. Augustine explains, or outside of it. This is a precept if he who has taken them away has great need of them; otherwise it is counsel. To this purpose belongs that text of Isaiah lviii, 3: "You demand back from all your debtors;" and that parable of the servant who, demanding back a debt from a fellow-servant and choking him, was condemned by his master to prison, until he should pay back the whole debt previously remitted to him (Matt. xviii). This S. Spiridion did, who forgave thieves the sheep they had stolen from him. Many anchorites did the same, as is plain from the Lives of the Fathers.
Verse 34: If You Lend to Those From Whom You Hope to Receive
34. AND IF YOU LEND TO THOSE FROM WHOM YOU HOPE TO RECEIVE (a like benefit), WHAT THANKS ARE DUE TO YOU? — That is, This is not so much a kindness as commerce, and an exchange of benefit for benefit. Hence the Interlinear gloss: "From this alone," it says, "that you hope to receive, you do not give for God's sake." Therefore the hope of a return benefit takes away from the beneficence itself the grace of God.
Verse 35: Lend, Hoping Nothing Thereby
35. AND LEND, HOPING NOTHING THEREBY — from men, as the Syriac adds, so that God may repay you from elsewhere; "nothing," that is, no price, no interest, no usury, and likewise no recompense. He wishes us therefore to lend gratis, not only so that we may not take usury for the loan, which is of precept; but moreover, so that we may not intend to receive a like benefit from him to whom we lend, which is of counsel; for example, by thinking: I will lend to Peter, that he in turn may render me his service in such-and-such a matter. For this is the mark of a less liberal soul, but rather of a self-seeking and greedy one. But Christ here instructs us in full and sincere liberality, by which we expect no profit from a loan, but only that the loan itself be returned to us at its proper time. Some think that not even this return is to be expected. But Christ is not dealing with that here: for that is to give, not to lend; not a loan, but a gift. So Toletus, Lessius, Valentia and the others who have written about usury and loans.
Moreover, to hope for gain or profit from a loan is against the etymology and nature of a loan. For it is called mutuum because those who give for the sake of an office "are of mutual mind," says Varro, Bk. V On the Latin Language; or rather, as Nonius Marcellus has it, mutuum is so called as if meum tuum ("mine yours"). "It is called mutuum," he says, "because under friendly affection mine becomes yours, by use for a needful time." Hence S. Gregory of Nyssa, Oration Against the Usurers: "In him," he says, "who lends under the condition of usury, the gain of a tavern-keeper is condemned." For "a loan exists in friendship, when it is received and returned with good will," says Cicero, Bk. V, Letter 2 to Metellus.
Finally, a prudent man will give a loan to one in need, even if he thinks it will be lost and never returned to him. For many of the poor cannot return a loan, others are ungrateful and will not. Hence the Comic Poet: "If you lend to a friend," he says, "when you ask it back, either you will lose what you have entrusted, or you will lose that friend." The same elsewhere: "By a talent lent," he says, "I have bought myself an enemy and lost a friend." Wherefore he who gives a loan should reckon it as given, given, I say, for the love of God, and to be repaid him by God with great interest, according to that saying: "He lends to God who has pity on the poor," Prov. xix, 17. See what is said there. Hence S. Chrysostom: "The poor man receives," he says, "but God obliges Himself." And S. Basil, Sermon 4 On Almsgiving: "For when," he says, "you are about to give something to a poor man for the Lord's sake, that very thing is both a gift and a loan: a gift indeed, because of any expectation of reward; but a loan, because of the splendid munificence of the Lord, who repays in his stead, and who, having received a little in the person of the poor man, gives back the greatest in their name."
Wherefore Ecclesiasticus speaks Christianly, xxix, 13: "Lose money," he says, "for your brother and your friend," where for many verses I said much about lending and offered various incentives to lend readily. I saw in a certain principal city a common abuse of lending, by which those who received a loan accepted it not as a loan but as a gift, and so they did not think of returning it; nay, if the loan was demanded back, they were indignant. But by this abuse they brought it about that no one in that place would any longer lend to another, reckoning that to lend was as much as to give or to lose.
Verse 38: Give, and It Shall Be Given to You
38. GIVE, AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN TO YOU. — Many are liberal in promising, but few in giving. Hence Antigonus, king of the Macedonians, according to Plutarch in his Aemilius, was called by the common people "Doson," because he always had on his lips: δώσω, that is, "I will give," but in fact gave nothing. For this reason Christ says: "give," in the present, not "you shall give," in the future.
AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN TO YOU. — For this is the substituted reward of him who gives, which God assigns to him as a kind of recompense, by raising up many who repay him in turn, and who give many things and more to him who gives, as happened to S. John the Almsgiver. Read Leontius in his Life. It is related that a certain monastery, by the generous alms it gave, became wealthy, and afterwards, when those alms were refused, was reduced to poverty. And when on this matter the procurator complained before a certain pilgrim guest there, he heard from him: "Give" and "It shall be given" are sisters. You have cast out the elder, whose name is "Give," and immediately her inseparable companion, whose name is "It shall be given," has followed her into exile. If therefore you wish her to return, recall the elder one, and as before give generous alms. See what is said on v. 27; Matt. v, 42, and elsewhere. Almsgiving therefore does not impoverish, but enriches, as S. Chrysostom elegantly proves in the homily entitled: That almsgiving is the most profitable of all arts. For, as Christ says and decrees: "Blessed are the merciful, for they themselves shall obtain mercy," Matt. ch. v, v. 7, where I have said much on this matter.