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| On the Fast of the Tenth Month, VI.
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Sermon XVII.
On the Fast of the Tenth Month,
VI.
I. The duty of fasting is based on both
the Old and New Testaments, and is closely connected with the duties of
prayer and almsgiving.
The teaching of the Law, dearly beloved, imparts
great authority to the precepts of the Gospel, seeing that certain
things are transferred from the old ordinances to the new, and by the
very devotions of the Church it is shown that the Lord Jesus Christ “came not
to destroy but to fulfil the Law709
.” For since the cessation of
the signs by which our Saviour’s coming was announced, and the
abolition of the types in the presence of the Very Truth, those things
which our religion instituted, whether for the regulation of customs or
for the simple worship of God, continue with
us in the same form in which they were at the beginning, and what was
in harmony with both Testaments has been modified by no change.
Among these is also the solemn fast of the tenth month, which is now to
be kept by us according to yearly custom, because it is altogether just
and godly to give thanks to the Divine bounty for the crops which the
earth has produced for the use of men under the guiding hand of supreme
Providence. And to show that we do this with ready mind, we must
exercise not only the self-restraint of fasting, but also diligence in
almsgiving, that from the ground of our heart also may spring the germ
of righteousness and the fruit of love, and that we may deserve
God’s mercy by showing mercy to His
poor. For the supplication, which is supported by works of piety,
is most efficacious in prevailing with God,
since he who turns not his heart away from the poor soon turns himself
to hear the Lord, as the Lord says: “be ye merciful as your Father also
is merciful.…release and ye shall be released710
.” What is kinder than this
justice? what more merciful than this retribution, where the
judge’s sentence rests in the power of him that is to be
judged? “Give,” he says, “and it shall be given
to you711
.” How soon do the misgivings of
distrust and the puttings off of avarice fall to the ground, when
humanity712
| 712
Humanitas: one ms.
reads humilitas (man’s humility), but
humanitas occurs again in chap. iii. lucrum quod omni caret
humanitate. | may fearlessly
spend what the Truth pledges Himself to repay.
II. He that lends to the Lord makes a better bargain than he that lends to
man.
Be stedfast, Christian giver: give what you
may receive, sow what you may reap, scatter what you may gather.
Fear not to spend, sigh not over the doubtfulness of the gain.
Your substance grows when it is wisely dispensed. Set your heart
on the profits due to mercy, and traffic in eternal gains. Your
Recompenser wishes you to be munificent, and He who gives that you may
have, commands you to spend, saying, “Give, and it shall be given
to you.” You must thankfully embrace the conditions of this
promise. For although you have nothing that you did not receive,
yet you cannot fail to have what you give. He therefore that
loves money, and wishes to multiply his wealth by immoderate profits,
should rather practise this holy usury and grow rich by such
money-lending, in order not to catch men hampered with difficulties,
and by treacherous assistance entangle them in debts which they can
never pay, but to be His creditor and His money-lender, who says,
“Give, and it shall be given to you,” and “with what
measure ye measure, it shall be measured again to you713
.” But he is unfaithful and
unfair even to himself, who does not wish to have for ever what he
esteems desirable. Let him amass what he may, let him hoard and
store what he may, he will leave this world empty and needy, as David
the prophet says, “for when he dieth he shall take nothing away,
nor shall his glory descend with him714
.”
Whereas if he were considerate of his own soul, he would trust his good
to Him, who is both the proper Surety715
| 715 Fide iussor one
of Leo’s legal terms. | for the poor
and the generous Repayer of loans. But unrighteous and shameless
avarice, which promises to do some kind act but eludes it, trusts not
God, whose promises never fail, and trusts
man, who makes such hasty bargains; and while he reckons the present
more certain than the future, often deservedly finds that his greed for
unjust gain is the cause of by no means unjust loss.
III. Money-lending at high interest is in
all respects iniquitous.
And hence, whatever result follow, the
money-lender’s trade is always bad, for it is sin either to
lessen or increase the sum, in that if he lose what he lent he is
wretched, and if he takes more than he lent he is more wretched
still. The iniquity of money-lending must absolutely be abjured,
and the gain which lacks all humanity must be shunned. A
man’s possessions are indeed multiplied by these unrighteous and
sorry means, but the mind’s wealth decays because usury of money
is the death of the soul716
| 716 Fœnus
pecuniæ funus est animæ, the epigrammatic play on words
will not escape notice. | . For what
God thinks of such men the most holy Prophet
David makes clear, for when he asks, “Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle, or who shall rest
upon thy holy hill717
?” he
receives the Divine utterance in reply, from which he learns that that
man attains to eternal rest who among other rules of holy living
“hath not given his money upon usury718
:” and thus he who gets
deceitful gain from lending his money on usury is shown to be both an
alien from God’s tabernacle and
an exile from His holy hill, and in
seeking to enrich himself by other’s losses, he deserves to be
punished with eternal neediness.
IV. Let us avoid avarice, and share
God’s benefits with
others.
And so, dearly beloved, do ye who with the whole
heart have put your trust in the Lord’s
promises, flee from this unclean leprosy of avarice, and use
God’s gift piously and wisely. And
since you rejoice in His bounty, take heed that you have those who may
share in your joys. For many lack what you have in plenty, and
some men’s needs afford you opportunity for imitating the Divine
goodness, so that through you the Divine benefits may be transferred to
others also, and that by being wise stewards of your temporal goods,
you may acquire eternal riches. On Wednesday and Friday next,
therefore, let us fast, and on Saturday keep vigil with the most
blessed Apostle Peter, by whose prayers we may in all things obtain the
Divine protection through Christ our Lord. Amen. E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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