Hunolt Sermons/Volume 12/Sermon 50
FIFTIETH SERMON
ON THE HOLY APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST ST. MATTHEW.
Subject.
In his conversion St. Matthew gained a heroic victory over himself. Preached on the feast of St. Matthew.
Text.
" He saith to him: Follow Me. And he arose up and followed Him." (Matt 9:9)
Introduction.
See what a brave, constant mind, strengthened by the grace of God, can do. Matthew was a public, notorious miser, a rich publican sitting in the toll-house, and actually engaged in usurious practice; the Saviour, passing by, saw him and said only the words: Follow Me; and at once, without hesitation, Matthew gets up, leaves the toll-house, his money, his house and home, and from a rich publican becomes a poor disciple and faithful follower of the poor Jesus: "And he arose up and followed Him." In truth, when we consider this matter rightly, it is one that deserves our greatest admiration, one that could be the result only of a heroic act of self-denial. For when I consider on the one hand the power of the love of money and of avarice, once it has taken possession of the heart, and how difficult it is to be overcome, and on the other with what quickness and bravery Matthew trampled it under foot, I must give him this great and well-deserved meed of praise, that by so speedily conquering a strong passion he proved himself to be a heroic and brave conqueror of himself. This shall form the subject of this panegyric.
Plan of Discourse.
In his conversion St. Matthew gained a heroic victory over him self. Such is the whole subject. How, after his example, we are to overcome ourselves shall form the moral lesson.
That we may resolve to do so, give us Thy powerful grace, Christ Jesus, which we beg of Thee through the merits of Mary, our holy guardian angels, and of Thy heroic apostle and follower St. Matthew.
The stronger the enemy we have to fight against, and the greater the difficulty of overcoming him, the greater and more glorious is the victory we gain, and therefore he deserves the praise of heroic valor who not only undauntedly attacks such a foe, but at once overthrows and subdues him. What was it, my dear brethren, that gained for the brave young David such renown in the whole land of Judea? Was it not the ardent courage with which he at once, as soon as he had heard the vile reproaches uttered by the giant Goliath, went to King Saul, and immediately attacked this formidable foe, whom none of the men of Israel had hitherto dared to meet, overcame him at the first onset, cut off his head, and by this sudden victory took away all courage from the Philistines, and infused such vigor into the hands and hearts of his countrymen that they gained victory and freedom? Truly, that was an exploit that deserves the admiration of posterity, and undying praise and renown.
My dear brethren, it is a point on which the holy Fathers and heathen moralists are agreed that man, as far as the moral life is concerned, has no worse or more powerful foe than himself, especially when, taken up by a violent passion, he allows it to master and govern him. No worse foe, I say, for it is a foe that no one can escape, that one must always have with him; no more powerful foe, because that enemy attacks us with our own arms, and by the help of the self-love innate in all men easily conquers us, and as the combat is an interior one it is all the more difficult. Therefore the Holy Ghost says, by the wise Solomon, that it is not such a great exploit to capture well-fortified cities and strongholds as to hold in restraint one's own desires by overcoming one's self: " He that ruleth his spirit "is better "than he that taketh cities." For, as St. Gregory writes of these words, the victory over cities is less, because what is conquered is outside the man himself; but it is a far greater thing to overcome one's own desires, because by an interior combat the mind is overcome by it self, subjected to itself, and its unrestrained desires made to obey the command of reason. A victory that as it is the most difficult is also the most glorious and excellent, as the heathen philosopher Plato says.
Now of all the desires that sway the heart of man there is none that does more violence, adheres to it more obstinately, and is more difficult to be overcome than avarice and the desire of money, once it has taken possession of and rules the mind. I acknowledge that anger, desire of revenge, and carnal love are very powerful and mighty foes that conquer many souls and bring them to ruin; yet they are not always equally violent and inflamed; their fire decreases with time, and at last is even extinguished altogether. Take from the angry or vindictive man the object which excites his rage and his wrath is stilled, his fury appeased; when death comes and takes from the unchaste man the object of his unholy love that passion is at an end. And although it is one of the most violent, and often, when deep-rooted, trammels and fetters the mind for years, yet experience teaches that at least on the approach of old age, or on the occurrence of sickness or danger of death it is generally not only lessened, but even extinguished altogether. But, oh, unhappy the heart that once allows itself to be taken up by the love of money! There is hardly any means of overcoming that enemy and getting the better of it; neither gain nor loss nor misfortune can still the fires of avarice; it is always on the increase, always growing stronger. Well has the poet said: " The miser is always in want." For when he has amassed the great treasures he was longing for he is not content with them, and his desires for more gain are all the greater, as St. Gregory says: "Avarice is not extinguished, but increased by the possession of the desired goods; for like a fire it grows, the more fuel is placed upon it, and what seemed to put it out only makes the flame burn fiercer." Nay, even in abundance the avaricious man is poor in his own fancy, as St. Ambrose says. Why? " Because he thinks himself in want of all that others possess." "Everything in the world is wanting to him, because the world itself could not satisfy his cupidity." Protracted and painful illnesses, old age and the approach of death how powerful you are to restrain other passions, or even to extinguish them! But you can do nothing with the avaricious man; his desires increase even during suffering, they are not lessened by any bodily weakness, and therefore they are with just reason called incurable by St. Chrysostom: "The insane desire of riches is an incurable malady." It grows strong with years, it sticks to a man in his gray old age, and although other passions and inclinations are then wont to weaken and die out, avarice still holds its sway, nay, shows itself even stronger, as St. Jerome says. Hence it is generally the case that they who abandon themselves to this vice do not cease to be avaricious until they cease to live, and although death separates them from their money and riches, their desire for these things accompanies them to the grave. " It is not easy for him who has once been overcome by avarice to overcome avarice." See, my dear brethren, how mighty, obstinate, and almost invincible a foe is avarice. It is clear, then, that he who has fully overcome it and trampled it under foot deserves justly to be praised and exalted as a most heroic, brave, and valiant champion.
Most glorious apostle Matthew, holy disciple of Christ! thou art he who has gained an illustrious and renowned victory over this strong and mighty foe, when, although at first thou wert under the dominion of the craving for money, as soon as the divine light and the impulse of grace came, at the words of Christ, thou wert at once converted, and didst abandon forever thy wealth and goods, and even the desire for them, and didst resolve to follow the poor Jesus in extreme poverty. My dear brethren, let us consider the circumstances of the conversion of our holy apostle: the state in which he then was, the time and place in which he was addressed and called by Our Lord, the alacrity and generous cheerfulness with which he followed the call of the Saviour by leaving all he possessed. Who was Matthew? What was his business? He tells us himself. When he records the names of the apostles he puts his own along with them, and adds these words: " Matthew the publican." The same title is given him by St. Luke, who does not mention him by the name he is usually known by: " He saw a publican named Levi." So that Matthew, according to his own confession, was a publican, th.it is to say, a public sinner, notorious for avarice and the thirst of lucre, who sought to enrich himself by cheating, usury, robbery, and unjust extortion. For such was the estimation in which publicans were held at the time. "The business of the publicans," says St. Chrysostom, " was full of heartlessness; it was a vile pursuit, nay, a very robbery." a And St. Lawrence Justinian testifies that Matthew was also one of this sort: " Matthew was a publican, openly practising usury, ostracized from the society of the good, seeking only for temporal things, and caring little about heavenly goods.": Nay, some authors affirm that Matthew had at the time made good profit out of his usurious practices, that he had already amassed a good sum of money and hoped to amass more. So that the satisfaction at the gains he had made already, and the expectation of still greater gains had filled his mind and heart completely. Could any one imagine or reasonably expect that one who was bound to riches by so many chains could ever be converted, and be persuaded to abandon his wealth at the first word of a man whom he had never seen before?
Where, and at what time did Jesus speak to him? If Matthew had accompanied the other publicans who went into the usury. desert to hear the preaching of John the Baptist, if, with other sinners, he had gone after Christ to listen to His teaching and meditate on His holy life, we should not have much reason to wonder that he then turned his heart from riches; in such circumstances he would have had no opportunity of practising usury; the truths preached would have opened his eyes and shown him the deformity of the vice to which he was addicted, and so inspired him with a disgust for his former life. But his greed of gold left him no time to go into the desert to hear the preaching of John and of Our Lord. It kept him chained to the custom house, fettered to his desk. There he sat as Jesus approached, there he sat when Jesus spoke to him: "Jesus saw a man sit ting in the custom-house named Matthew," as he himself tells us. The Glossa Interlinearis adds that he was then all intent on gain. Abulensis goes still farther: " As he was sitting, in flamed with the fires of avarice. And even at the moment when he was fully occupied with the passion that devoured him, actually engaged in usury and the acquisition of money, in the custom-house, where he liked so much to spend his time, Mat thew formed the resolution of giving up his occupation, leaving the custom-house and all his wealth, and instead of living in abundance, as he had hitherto done, of leading a poor, necessitous life. And he carried this resolution into effect. What think you of this, my dear brethren? Was there ever before seen in one addicted to the greed of gain such a sudden change, such a heroic conversion, such a complete victory over self?
And what did Jesus say to him? Did He perhaps hold a long discourse with him? Did He sit down and set forth at length the deformity of greed, the abominable sins he had committed publicly as well as privately, as He did on another occasion with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well? Did He convince him by force of reasoning? Did He frighten him with the threat of the eternal fire of hell, or attract him by winning words and promises, or gain him over by divine eloquence means that He frequently used to win the hearts of His hearers? No; He simply passed by: When Jesus passed." And when He saw Mat thew He said to him: " Follow Me"; that was all; that finished the whole discourse. He did not tell Matthew for what purpose he should follow Him, nor whither, nor how long; He promised nothing, said no 1; a word of a reward or recompense that he might expect; He went no farther than the words: " Follow Me"; and they sufficed to make Matthew obey Him at once: "And he arose up and followed Him." Others of the apostles, before resolving definitely to adhere to Christ, remained in His company for a considerable time, and saw the great wonders and glorious deeds He performed; how He expelled the demons from the possessed, healed the sick, cured the dumb, lame, blind, restored hearing to the deaf, and the use of their limbs to the paralytic; and it was no great wonder that, attracted by such signs and miracles, they left all and became His disciples. But, as St. Lawrence Justinian says: "Matthew had seen no sign of salvation, nor heard the exhortations of Christ, nor had he been a familiar friend of Our Lord," perhaps up to that moment he had never laid eyes on Him, " yet the mere word of Christ calling him was enough to fill his heart with contrition, so that he became completely changed in mind, enlightened with the faith, transfixed with the dart of charity, and he at once left money, family, possessions, and self, and submitted to his Master's authority." Mark how he did that at once. Hardly had Jesus called him when he was ready; hardly had he heard the words, "Follow Me," when he arose up at once and obeyed. Truly, that victory over self was all the more heroic the quicker the brave resolution was formed and carried out, and therefore the victory was all the more glorious as it was gained so suddenly.
We read in the Third Book of Kings that when Eliseus, at the command of God, received the prophetic spirit from Elias he at once left his father's field, oxen, and plough, with which he was actually engaged, and followed Elias: "He forthwith left the oxen, and ran after Elias." Yet he begged for a little delay, and asked permission to take leave of his parents: " He said: Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and mother, and then I will follow thee." On another occasion one was called by Our Lord in the same words as Matthew: " Follow Me"; he did not indeed refuse the invitation, and even accepted it: " I will follow Thee, Lord; " but he wished first to take leave of his relatives: "Let me first take my leave of them that are at my house." Matthew was much braver and more generous; without any delay or hesitation, without thinking of taking leave of his family, "without losing a moment of time," as St. Ambrose says, he got up at the first word of the Lord; "he arose up and followed Him." Doubt less he must have thought that after having carried on business for so long, and having been occupied in the custom-house so successfully he should have arranged matters before leaving, and settled his accounts, or at least disposed of his private property and the wealth he had been so long accumulating, and so forth; but all these thoughts he put out of his head, and, as St. Peter Damian says, " as soon as he heard the command of the Saviour calling him he did not delay, nor ask for time to dispose of his goods, or to see his friends, but at once despised riches, broke nil the bonds of carnal affection, and being thus quite free, cheerfully arid with alacrity followed the footsteps of Christ."
But Our Lord did not command him thus completely to renounce everything, and to give up all his goods; he could have simply restored whatever he had gained unjustly; and if he wished to do more than that, he might have divided the half of his possessions among the poor, and kept the remainder for his own wants. Did not Jesus show great satisfaction with that other publican Zachseus, when he came and said: " Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have wronged any man of anything I restore him fourfold." It is true, my dear brethren, but Matthew's victory over greed and avarice had to be in all points a complete one; he wished to prostrate and trample at once on the passion that had so long had dominion over him. If he had kept back a portion of his goods the love for them would still have remained partially in his heart, and it might have grown again with time and broken out as bad as ever. No, Matthew wished to free himself perfectly from the danger of such a misfortune. Therefore he at once stood up and renounced not only what he had acquired unjustly, not only the half of his lawful goods, but the whole of them at once, thus taking from himself all occasion of avarice, all opportunity of being again tempted by that desire. Doubtless enlightened by divine grace, at the first words of Christ he recognized Him as the true Messias, was impelled by grace to follow Him, and determined to make the following a perfect one; seeing, therefore, that Jesus was poor and needy, he resolved to be poor, like Him, and to renounce all his possessions; " leaving all things, he arose up and followed Him." Cardinal Hugo adds: " Leaving all that might keep him back, delay, or hinder him " from following Christ perfectly. And, as Euthemius says, "he kept nothing but a will ready to do everything commanded him by Him who had called him." Is not that a resolution, my dear brethren, which deserves all the more admiration the more difficult it is and the more unexpected in such circumstances? I know well that when St. Luke describes the calling of Peter, Andrew, James, and John he gives them also this praise, and says that "leaving all things, they followed Him." But what did they leave? A torn net, a poor, worm-eaten fisherman's boat. This was all they had, their whole possessions, so that their hearts were not much trammeled, nor were they in need of great heroism to leave so little. And that act of renunciation they completed on the occasion of the miraculous draught of fishes, when at the word of Christ they launched forth their nets and caught so much that the boat was unable to hold the fishes; so that they who had labored all the night and taken nothing were quite amazed at the occurrence. What! they must have said to them selves, if Jesus can enrich us by one word, as we now see He can, we need not plague ourselves any more with this trouble some work in heat and cold, by day and night, in order to find something to eat; if He has the power to bring the fish out of the deep into our hands, He will certainly not allow those who adhere to Him to suffer want; away, then, with net and boat, we want them no more! we will follow Jesus! Thus there was no special difficulty about their resolution; in fact, they were rather impelled to it by the desire of bettering their poor and laborious mode of life in the train of such a great lord. On the other hand, who was Matthew? A publican, as we have seen already, and a rich publican, nay, as Metaphrastes, quoted by Surius, writes, one of the chiefs of the publicans. He was sunk in money and the desire of making money; he saw, moreover, that Jesus was poor, and consequently that if he followed Him he would have no riches to expect, so that he would not improve his worldly state, but rather impoverish himself, nay, reduce himself to beggary, and be obliged to live on alms. But all this did not deter him; rich as he was before, and greedy to grow richer, he left all and followed Him. In truth, my dear brethren, that is a heroism which seems to me the more wonderful and incomprehensible the more I consider it.
There is still another circumstance to reflect on, namely, the state of mind in which he was when this change occurred and he left all he owned. Only too true are the words of St. Augustine: " What is possessed with desire is not lost without sorrow. " Why did that young man of whom we read in the Gospel of St. Mark go away sorrowful and troubled from Jesus? He came up to Our Lord most respectfully, and knelt down before Him, desiring nothing else but to be put on the right way to heaven; he professed to be ready for everything: " What shall I do that I may receive life everlasting? " I have kept, he continues, all the commandments from my youth; what else have I to do? what is still wanting to me? Our Lord seemed particularly pleased with his frankness, and showed a special pleasure in him. "One thing is wanting unto thee," said Our Lord; "go, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven." But when he heard these words he be came sad, uneasy, and disturbed; he went away sorrowful: Who, being struck sad at that saying, went away sorrowful." Why so? Had he not come to get good advice from Jesus as to how he was to make sure of heaven? And did he not offer to do all that Our Lord would ask him? Yes, but, alas! he was rich, and his heart was attached to his riches: "For he had great possessions. Anything else he was ready enough to do; but to leave his beloved goods, to sell them and distribute them to the poor that was too much for him. Therefore " he went away sorrowful." Did our Saint perhaps show signs of being sorrowful, disturbed, or sad when he was on the point of leaving at once and forever the money he formerly loved so much? Not by any means; on the contrary, he felt the greatest joy on the occasion, and to prove it he prepared a banquet for Our Lord and invited many publicans and former friends of his, that they might share in his joy: " Levi made Him a great feast in his own house," as we read in the Gospel of St. Luke; " and there was a great company of publicans and of others that were at table with them." " A banquet is a sign and symbol of joy," says a certain author. And therefore Matthew prepared a splendid feast in honor of Our Lord, to show that " he followed Christ, not with regret, but willingly and cheerfully." Abulensis writes in the same strain: " He prepared a great feast, to show that he renounced the goods of this world with greater joy than another would have in acquiring them." Such was the power of the first ray of God's grace in this brave, heroic heart that he now looked on that which had been his idol gold and worldly goods as mere chaff, and he proved by his actions the truth of what St. Paul afterwards wrote in his Epistle to the Philippians: " The things that were gain to me, the same I have counted loss for Christ; " and he adds immediately after: " Furthermore, I count all things to be but loss, . . . and count them but as dung, that I may gain Christ." Truly, that was a great and courageous mind that at the first word of Our Lord, at the first glimmer of interior light, " with ease, quickness, and readiness counted as nothing what it formerly esteemed and valued highly."
But all this was not enough for the brave spirit of Matthew. He made his victory over avarice and the greed of gain still more glorious by a new conquest, for when he abandoned all his earthly goods he gave up, so to speak, himself also, his heart, his body and soul in a word, his whole self without exception, and devoted himself altogether to Christ and His service. After having given all he had," says St. Peter Chrysologus, "he gave himself to the Lord; " and that with such a complete emptying of himself " that he reserved not the slightest concern or regard for the things of this life," as the Venerable Bede says of him, but directed all his thoughts to pleasing Christ, his Lord, to following Him in a perfect manner, and to further His glory by teaching and instructing others. This was the sole gain that he looked for during the remainder of his life, and to make that more copious he strained every nerve and wore out his strength. No labor was great enough for him, no country vast enough to satiate his untiring zeal. His wish was to enlighten the whole world and gain it for Christ. Therefore, in addition to his apostolic labors, acting on the impulse of the Holy Ghost and at the invitation of the other apostles, to whom his zeal was well known, he also undertook the office of Evangelist, in order that the name and doctrine of his divine Master might be spread even after his death to the end of the world, and that the knowledge, adoration, and love of Our Lord might be furthered where the sound of his preaching could not arrive. And this praise is especially due to Matthew, because he was the first to give an account of the advent, the life, the doctrine, the miracles, the passion and death of Christ, and his description of these is the most detailed one. Therefore St. Peter Damian says of him: " He may well be called the Evangelist of evangelists, because he was the leader and general and first of them all. By his example he showed the way to the others, and like a general he carried the standard in front, and aroused others to write. We therefore owe the gospel to him, because he is known to be the first who undertook to write the gospel narrative." Nay, he adds: " I affirm without hesitation that there is no one, after Our Lord, to whom the Church owes so much. For if a properly-ordered life can be led in the world, that is because the light of the gospel has shone on us. Now it is well known that Matthew first of all wrote the gospel in the Hebrew tongue, and thus he first of all made, as it were, a kind of mirror of the faith." This gospel was brought by the holy apostle St. Bartholomew into India through many countries; St. Barnabas copied it with his own hand, and held it in such honor as a great treasure that he kept it always on his breast. Matthew himself preached it first in Judea, then to the Tartars, to the inhabitants of Palestine, of Mesopotamia, of Egypt, and finally to the Moors, until at last he shed his blood and sacrificed his life for the honor of his divine Saviour and in testimony of the truth of what he had written and preached; thus after having by the martyr's death given up his life for Christ, whom he had followed so zealously on earth, he followed Him into eternal glory in heaven. " Leaving all things, he followed Him.
Such was the glorious end by which Matthew confirmed the victory he had gained over himself. Truly, he was a valiant and intrepid champion, whose heroism cannot be sufficiently admired! I leave you to imagine what a glorious triumph in heaven followed his victory. Suffice it to quote the words of St. Peter Damian: " Of all the saints who have brought trophies from the conquered world into eternal glory the blessed Matthew seems to me to be distinguished in a special manner, and to hold, as it were, the chief place." The chief place, I say, because in his conversion he overcame with wonderful strength and promptitude a roost powerful, difficult, and intimate enemy; the chief place, because he continued during the remainder of his life to reap the fruits of glorious victory, and continued to the end. We therefore wish thee joy, great apostle, renowned conqueror, holy St. Matthew! We rejoice and exult with thee on account of thy glorious triumph, and much more on account of the eternal crown, the unending happiness thou hast thereby gained in heaven. Valorous indeed and difficult was thy combat, yet it was short; in a little time thou didst fight with and overcome thyself; and everlasting is the reward thou hast reaped therefrom. To follow Christ thou didst give up all thou hadst in the world, yet these things were but earthly and perishable; and instead of them thou hast received heavenly and eternal goods, and a superabundance of bliss. We wish thee joy then, and congratulate thee on thy unending happiness!
But, my dear brethren, what conclusion shall we draw from this glorious victory for our own profit? Shall I exhort you, too, to a complete renunciation of all earthly things, after the exam~ pie of St. Matthew? Ah, in many cases my words would have but little effect if I were to address you in such a style, and in stead of finding attentive listeners I should only be treated with scorn. No, such a sacrifice is not required by the Almighty from every one, but only from those whom He has called to serve Him perfectly in the religious state. Therefore I must not ask too much of you. I only say with the gifted Salvianus; " ye rich of this world, if you cannot be persuaded to be poor here below," like Matthew, " at least so act that you may be rich in eternity." These words are for you in the first place, unjust Christians, who, like Matthew, when he was avaricious, appropriate wrong fully the goods of others and still retain possession of them. If with the penitent Matthew you do not wish to renounce every thing once for all, at least overcome yourselves so far as to restore what does not rightly belong t o you, and abandon what you have unlawfully acquired. Pay what thou owest is the divine law that allows no excuse nor exception. Unless you fulfil this law, provided it is in your power to do so, you can never obtain forgiveness of your sins, nor hope to enter heaven. The well-known saying of St. Augustine holds good: " The sin cannot be forgiven unless what is unjustly acquired be restored." At once, then, if with Matthew you have acted dishonestly, like Matthew make due restitution. If this seems difficult to you, then remember that the sacrifice is well warranted by the hope of saving your soul and gaining heaven. It is better to suffer a little loss of what you must some day or other leave in any case, and perhaps soon, much better to be poor on earth, and even beg your bread from door to door than to lose your soul and be deprived of the eternal and infinitely better things of heaven, and suffer want and distress in the torments of hell.
Wealthy and just Christians, whom God has blessed in preference to others with temporal goods and riches! if. I say to you with the writer quoted above, if you cannot and will not overcome yourselves so far as to renounce at once, like Matthew, when called by God, all earthly possessions, that thus you may follow the poor Christ; " if you cannot be satisfied to live without riches, then so act that you may always be rich." Let your riches be to you an incentive to serve God all the more zealously, and by a good use of your wealth and by good works to make your salvation all the more sure. For that is the end and object for which God has made you wealthy. " For this reason does God make men rich in temporal things, that they may become rich in good works; and thus, by using well the things of this world that God has given, may make them turn into everlasting goods." The best means of making one's wealth everlasting is generosity to the poor and needy. Do not imagine that you lose what you give the poor. Never can you make a better investment of your money than by spending it on them. What they receive from you through Christian charity they hand over to Heaven; God Himself takes it from them as if it were given to Him, as a, capital entrusted to Him, to be one day returned to you with a hundredfold interest, as St. Peter Chrysologus says. Truly, a profitable investment! You receive a hundred for one; and for temporal, trivial, and transitory things, everlasting, heavenly, and priceless treasures! Christians, if you all knew how to trans act business in this style, what great wealth you might amass for eternity! Try it; the infallible words of Christ cannot deceive: " Give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven."
But above all, see that temporal wealth be not to you a snare to lead you to eternal perdition. "What," says the oft-quoted Salvianus, " what can be more miserable than to convert present goods into future evils, and to seek eternal death and damnation by those things that were given to help to eternal beatitude?" Therefore I conclude for all in general: at least follow the example of Matthew by leaving in spirit, with him, what you cannot leave in reality. Do not allow your hearts and minds to be trammeled too much with the world and its vain and perishable goods; do not, for the sake of gaming such things, or the fear of losing them, allow yourselves to be misled into doing anything displeasing to God. Often recall to mind that you are created, not to amass or keep temporal goods, but solely to serve God and garner up treasure in heaven. To gain this end the rich should use their wealth and the needy their poverty. Happy ye poor, if by your poverty you attain this end; unhappy and eternally miserable ye rich, if by abusing your wealth you turn away forever from God and your salvation!
To this object, then, should we, like the converted Matthew, direct our hearts and all our thoughts; for the rest of our lives this should be the chief, nay, the only care to occupy us: to gain God and heaven. " Lord," said the holy bishop of Nola, Paulinus, when the town was plundered by the barbarians, ff even if I lose all, the loss of gold or silver will be nothing to me, for Thou knowest where I have all my wealth." As if to say: It makes little matter whether I be rich or poor in the goods of this world, as long as I possess Thee, my God, my only Good; Thou art to me in the place of all riches. Let us, too, make this resolution, my dear brethren; let no desire of earthly gain, no fear of temporal loss or injury cause us the least disturbance, discontent, or sorrow; for all that we can possess on earth is but transitory and perishable, and sooner or later we must leave it all. Thou, my God, art the only Good that can satisfy us. If I have Thee I have all. Thee alone shall I try to possess by Thy grace here on earth, that I may possess Thee in glory in heaven. Amen.