1174 The Apostles' poverty more blessed than their power.
HOMIL. For where there are riches, there is matter for enmity, and for countless wars. The mouth again of the other is full of insults, of a certain haughtiness, of much boasting, cursing, deceit; but the mouth and the tongue of this are sound, filled with continual thanksgiving, blessing, words of gentleness; of affection, of courtesy, of praise, of commendation. And if thou wouldest see also the proportion of her members, she is of a goodly height, and far loftier than wealth. And if many flee from her, marvel not at it, for indeed so do fools from the rest of virtue.
But the poor man, thou wilt say, is insulted by him that is rich. Again thou art declaring to me the praise of poverty. For who, I pray thee, is blessed, the insulter, or the insulted; It is manifest that it is the insulted person. But then, the one, covetousness, urges to insult the other; poverty persuades to endure. "But the poor man suffers hunger,” thou 11 Cor. wilt say. Paul also suffered hunger, and was in famnine'. "But he has no rest." Neither 2 had the Son of Man where 11, 27. to lay His Head.
Seest thou how far the praises of poverty have proceeded, Matt. and where it places thee, to what men it leads thee on, and how it makes thee a follower of the Lord? If it were good to have gold, Christ, Who gave the unutterable blessings, would have given this to His disciples. But now so far from giving it them, he forbad them to have it. Wherefore Peter also, so far from being ashamed of poverty, even 3 Acts 3, glories in it, saying, 'Silver and gold have I none; but what I have give I thee. And who of you would not have desired to utter this saying? Nay, we all would extremely, perhaps some one may say. Then throw away thy silver, throw away thy gold. "And if I throw it away, thou wilt say, shall I receive the power of Peter?" Why, what made Peter blessed, tell me? Was it indeed to have lifted up the lame man? By no means, but the not having these riches, this procured him Heaven. For of those that wrought these miracles, many fell into hell, but they, who did those good things, attained a Kingdom. And this you may learn even of Peter himself. For there were two things that he said, Silver and gold have I none; and, In the Name of Jesus Christ rise up and walk.
Judgment of Christ in favour of almsgiving. 1175
Which sort of thing then made Him glorious and blessed, MATT. the raising up the lame man, or the casting away his money? y? 20. And this you may learn from the Master of the conflicts Himself. What then doth He Himself say to the rich man seeking eternal life? He said not, " raise up the lame," but, Sell' thy goods, and give to the poor, and come and follow1 Matt. 19, 21. Me, and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven. And Peter again said not, "Behold, in Thy Name we cast out devils;" although he was casting them out, but, Behold, we have 2ib.v.27. forsaken all and followed Thee, what shall we have? And Christ again, in answering this Apostle, said not, "If any man raise up the lame," but, "Whosoever hath forsaken houses 3ib.v.29. or lands, shall receive an hundredfold in this world, and shall inherit everlasting life.
Let us also then emulate this man, that we may not be confounded, but may with confidence stand at the Judgmentseat of Christ; that we may win Him to be with us, even as He was with His Disciples. For He will be with us, like as He was with them, if we are willing to follow them, and to be imitators of their life and conversation. For in consequence of these things God crowns, and commends men, not requiring of thee to raise the dead, or to cure the lame. For not these things make one to be like Peter, but the casting away one's goods, for this was the Apostle's achievement.
But dost thou not find it possible to cast them away? In the first place, I say, it is possible; but I compel thee not, if thou art not willing, nor constrain you to it; but this I entreat, to spend at least a part on the needy, and to seek for yourselves nothing more than is necessary. For thus shall we both live our life here without trouble, and in security, and enjoy eternal life; unto which God grant we all may attain, by the grace and love towards man of our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory and might, together with the Father and the Holy Ghost, now and always, and world without end. Amen.
INDEX OF THE PRINCIPAL MATTERS
CONTAINED IN THE COMMENTARY.
Abel, wherefore slain, 985.
Abraham, humility of, 383, 969;
heartiness of, 519; varied life of,
724; craft of, 769.
Aceldama, how a witness of The
Truth, 1121.
Adam, temptation of, 174-7, 200; life
of described, 920.
Adoption, may be useless, 127; inti-
mated by J. C., 205.
Adultery, the Jews' law of, 50;
Christ's law of, 253-8; evils of, 657.
Advent, the first, 81; the second, 988,
1011-12; will be in the night, 1025,
1037; is not near, 1037.
Agony, the, how ordered and why,
Almsgiving, merit of, 64, 74, 158, 585,
686-7, 710-12, 898, 1031-2, 1062,
1107; duty of, 645, 870, 898, 973,
1093, 1152, 1175; rule of, 217, 285,
515-19, 713, 956-9, 1121-22; ex-
amples of, 870. (See Charity.)
Andrew, St. 190-1.
Angels, ministry of, 64, 180, 810, 1107,
1160,
Anger, how to he tamed, 50; when
right, 240; evils of, 278, 699, 1057,
1143; how caused, 947.
Anointing, cures effected by, 473.
Antichrist, coming of, 1012, 1024.
Antioch, people of, ceremonious, 282;
riotous, 474; profane, 541; given to
theatricals, 542; worldly, 814; un-
grateful to God, 829; uncharitable,
859, 1123, 1152; luxurious, 948,
population of, 1124.
Antony, St. praise of, 116.
Apostles, the, inspiration of, 3, 485;
how victorious, 8, 29, 124; how
rulers of the kingdom, 11; teachers
in the Church, 159; reward of, sure,
185, 497, 501; call of, 191, 436;
represented all Christians, 199;
above the Prophets, 211; slow to
understand the truth, 227, 416, 696,
718, 876, 1107; firmness of, 369;
how trained by J. C., 415, 464, 471,
496; mission of, how seasonable,
465; list of, 466; why not sent to
Samaritans, 467; why to be pro-
vided for, 469; to bid Peace, 472;
first mission of, prophetic, 479; how
like sheep and doves, 480; how
proved in the Acts, 483; aids and
trials of, 484; above heathen heroes,
486; case of, worse than ours, 489;
when to flee, 496; will be justified,
497; boldness of, 498; how to con
fess Christ, 501; how to hate life,
&c., 510; how encouraged by J. C.,
513; how humbled, 550; kindness
of, 621; how leavened the Church,
633; why employed in the Miracle
of Loaves, 668; why washed not,
689; why sharply rebuked, 696;
begin to believe, 718; varied life of,
724; why questioned at Cæsarea
Philippi, 729; confession of, inferior
to Peter's, 730; leaders of, who,
757; lovers of mankind, 856; how
to be judges, 864; how warned of
the Passion, and why, 875; when
first perfect, 882; reconciled by
J. C., 883; how all equal, 966;
deaths of, predicted, 984; phy-
sicians of the soul, 990; eager for
the Advent, 995; why warned of
the Jews' troubles, 996-7; triumph
of, 1000; encouraged against trou-
bles, 1010; how prepared for the
Passion, 1051, 1105-8; why against
Mary of Bethany, 1560; flight of,
predicted, 1086; what taught, at the
Agony, 1097, what, at the Betrayal,
1105-8; commission of, 1170; blessed
in poverty, 1174.
Aristippus, censure of, 486.
Ascension, a proof of Christ's equality
with the Father, 96.
Astrology, condemned, 77, 1002.
Axe, moral of the, 150.
Babylonish captivity, why mentioned
in The Genealogy, 45, 85.
Baptism [of Christ], twofold, 20; a
second beginning of the Gospel, 94;
virtue of the, 153; humiliation of,
163; reasons for, 133, 164.
Baptism (of John), how for remission
of sins, 134; prepared for Christ's,
135; effect of, on the Jews, 136; of
what value, 152-3.
Baptism, sin after, dangerous, 56,
127-8, 170; how to be recovered,
1031; followed by temptation, 173;
makes men brothers, 1048.
Beatitudes, the, connexion of, 209; the
seeds of Christian doctrine, 229.
Beauty, what it is, and where, 505.
Bethlehem, the glory of, 84, 95, 101;
the slaughter at, 122 4.
Blessing, frequent use of, in the early
Church, 472 (note).
Blind men at Jericho, praise of, 889.
Body, the, decay of, how a benefit,
503-4.
Brethren, of J. C., 71, 1149 (note);
vanity of the, 509.
British Isles, 1061.
Cain, sin of, what, 398, 1132.
Canaan, woman of, why praised, 706.
Carefulness, reasons against, 324, 335.
Centurion, the, faith of, 385-90.
Charity, of timely interference, 220;
which the greatest, 276; extent of,
277; contrasted with riches, 362;
the root of all good, 636; true motive
of, what, 823-4; how to be shewn,
1033; easiness of, 1050. (See Alms-
giving.)
Children, wherein our example, 847.
Children, the Three, humble confes-
sion of, 39, 199; glory of, 62, 215,
494; temperance of, 117.
Christ, law of, simple, 10; twofold
birth of, 19; why called Jesus, 21,
54; why traced up to David, 22;
why to Thamar, 33; reserved in
teaching the Incarnation, 32, 94;
birth of, full of mysteries, 48; how
to be called Immanuel, 69; brethren
of, why so called, 71; witnessed by
His enemies, 93: revealed Himself
gradually, 94; favoured the Jews
first, 96; why sent into Egypt, 108;
why settled at Nazareth, 126; why
came to John's Baptism, 133; His
Baptism far greater than John's,
153; why taught by natural em-
blems, 157; indwelling of, mys-
terious, 157; why humbled Himself
to be baptized, 163; why went into
the desert, 174; why fasted,_175;
temptation of, contrasted with Eve's,
177; in temptation represented us,
186; why went into Galilee, 188;
why waited for John's imprisonment,
189; reserved His doctrine at first,
190; preached to all, through His
disciples, 198; why referred some-
times to His Father's Power only,
225; how fulfilled the law. 228, and
enlarged it, 230, 235; legislates
with authority, 234; uses temporal
sanctions, 248; why begins with the
second table, 252; straitened the
law of marriage, 260; how far for-
bids display, 286; what most loves
and hates, 299; prepares to teach
greater strictness, 323; why teaches
from the lower creatures, 325, why
from the lilies, 330; why referred
often to the Father, 331; acted
what He taught, 336; why enjoins
reserve, 349; law of, how easy,
354; why repeated John's threat,
358; forbearing, even in judgment,
360; often enforces obedience, 368,
371; joined miracles with doctrine,
376; intimates His Divinity to the
leper, 377; His care to keep Him-
self in our minds, 382; draws out
men's faith, 384, 450, 890; en-
courages high thoughts of Himself,
387; why repeated His miracles,
405; rejects some, invites others,
407-9; answers to men's thoughts,
408, 430, 576, 722, 852; intimates
His Divinity in healing the Demo-
niacs, 417; in the cure of the Para-
lytic, 430; careful to prove His
miracles, 431; why sat with sinners,
438; reproved ignorance of Holy
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