Works › Sermons for the Seasons of the Year
Volume 13 · pp. 92–95
Sermon XVIII. On the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
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Sermo XVIII.
In Dominica IV post Epiphaniam.
Domine salva nos: perimus. Matth. viii, 25.
Quatuor sunt hic principaliter notanda:
I. Quis sit ille, a quo salvatio postulatur? II. Quid per Discipulos, qui se salvari petierunt, intelligatur? III. In quibus casibus homo indigeat, ut ei subsidium salvationis afferatur? IV. Quibus aeterna salvatio Scripturae testimonio promittatur?
I.
De primo nota, quod Jesus est ille, quem omnis homo pro salvatione sua sollicite debet invocare. Unde ipse dicit Isa. xliii, 3: Ego Dominus Deus tuus sanctus Israel Salvator tuus. Dicit etiam ipse Dei Filius de seipso, Joan. iii, 17: Non misit Deus Filium suum in mundum, ut judicet mundum, sed ut salvetur mundus per ipsum. Hunc Salvatorem petierunt omnes Patriarchae et Prophetae: propter quod Isaias in persona eorum sic ait, xlv, 8: Rorate caeli desuper, et nubes pluant justum: aperiatur terra, et germinet Salvatorem. Per caelos intelliguntur Pater, et Filius, et Spiritus sanctus. Per nubes autem misericordia, et veritas figurantur. Per terram quoque notatur Beata Virgo Maria. Orant igitur sancti patres, ut caeli rorare dignentur, id est, ut Pater et Spiritus emittant Filium: quia paratus erat ad mittendum. Rogant etiam, ut nubes pluant justum, id est, ut misericordia et veritas e caelo deducant Dei Filium. Misericordia quippe invitavit Filium, ut promitteret se venturum. Veritas vero compulit eum, ut exsolveret promissum. Decet enim ut in Dei Filio veritas inveniatur. Precantur etiam sancti Patriarchae ac Prophetae, ut Beata Virgo, quae est terra gratia plena, aperiatur per devotionem et per consensum fidei, ad verba Angeli, qui dicturus erat quod conceptura esset Filium Dei, ut sic germinet, id est, pariat Salvatorem totius mundi.
II.
De secundo nota, quod per Discipulos Jesu intelliguntur boni Christiani. Sicut enim boni Discipuli magistrum suum sequuntur, ejusque praeceptis obediunt: ita etiam Christiani debent Jesum sequi, ac mandatis ejus obedire. Sed quorsum debemus sequi Jesum? Certe in Ecclesiam. Unde dicitur in praesenti Evangelio, quod ascendente Jesu in naviculam, secuti sunt eum Discipuli ejus 1.
Per naviculam sancta Ecclesia figuratur. Sicut enim navicula in principio et in fine stricta est et angusta, in medio spatiosa, et magis extenta: ita etiam sancta Ecclesia in principio sui paucos habuit viros fideles; paucos etiam in fine sui, qui Deum vere colant, habebit. Multorum enim charitas in fine saeculi refrigescet. Verumtamen, sicut prima pars naviculae, et posterior eminentior est quam sit media, ita etiam sancti Dei Apostoli et Martyres, qui Ecclesiam in suo sanguine fundaverunt, per veram charitatem corda sua ad Deum habebant. Habebit etiam Ecclesia in fine sui gloriosos Martyres, qui ferventi charitate cor suum ad Deum erectum habebunt. Igitur Jesus carnem assumens etiam corporaliter ingressus est sanctam Ecclesiam, ut videlicet factis et verbis formam vivendi Ecclesiae suae daret. Coepit enim Jesus facere et docere. Quilibet ergo Christianus debet sequi Jesum gressibus suis bonae vitae.
Sermon XVIII.
On the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany.
Lord, save us; we are perishing. Matthew 8:25.
Four things are principally to be noted here:
I. Who is the one from whom salvation is sought? II. What is understood by the Disciples who asked to be saved? III. In what cases does a human being need the aid of salvation to be brought to him? IV. To whom is eternal salvation promised by the testimony of Scripture?
I.
Concerning the first, note that Jesus is the one whom every human being ought carefully to invoke for his salvation. Hence he himself says in Isaiah 43:3: I am the Lord your God, the holy one of Israel, your Savior. The Son of God himself also says concerning himself, John 3:17: God did not send his Son into the world that he might judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. All the Patriarchs and Prophets sought this Savior; because of this Isaiah says thus in their person, 45:8: Drop dew, heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down the just one; let the earth be opened and sprout the Savior. By the heavens are understood the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. By the clouds, however, mercy and truth are figured. By the earth also the Blessed Virgin Mary is marked. Therefore the holy fathers pray that the heavens may deign to drop dew, that is, that the Father and the Spirit may send the Son, because he was ready to be sent. They also ask that the clouds rain down the just one, that is, that mercy and truth bring down the Son of God from heaven. For mercy invited the Son to promise that he would come. But truth compelled him to fulfill the promise. For it is fitting that truth be found in the Son of God. The holy Patriarchs and Prophets also pray that the Blessed Virgin, who is earth full of grace, may be opened through devotion and through consent of faith to the words of the Angel, who was going to say that she would conceive the Son of God, so that thus she may sprout, that is, bring forth the Savior of the whole world.
II.
Concerning the second, note that by the Disciples of Jesus good Christians are understood. For as good Disciples follow their master and obey his commands, so also Christians ought to follow Jesus and obey his commands. But where ought we to follow Jesus? Certainly into the Church. Hence it is said in the present Gospel that when Jesus ascended into the little ship, his Disciples followed him 1.
By the little ship holy Church is figured. For just as a little ship at its beginning and end is narrow and confined, but in the middle spacious and more extended, so also holy Church at its beginning had few faithful men; few also at its end will it have who truly worship God. For the charity of many will grow cold at the end of the age. Nevertheless, just as the first part of the little ship and the rear part are higher than the middle, so also the holy Apostles and Martyrs of God, who founded the Church in their blood, had their hearts toward God through true charity. The Church at its end will also have glorious Martyrs, who with fervent charity will have their heart raised up to God. Therefore Jesus, assuming flesh, also bodily entered holy Church, namely so that by deeds and words he might give his Church a form of living. For Jesus began to do and to teach. Therefore any Christian ought to follow Jesus with the steps of his good life.
Et nota, quod multi nomine sunt in Ecclesia, pauci vero in ea sunt merito bonae vitae. Multi enim dicunt Jesu, "Domine Domine:" et tamen non faciunt ea quae dicit Jesus. Quid prodesset homini, quod tantum ore esset in navi, sed manibus et pedibus, reliquaque parte corporis sui esset extra navim in magna tempestate? multum de submersione talis hominis esset timendum: sic etiam multi Christiani sunt, qui tantum solo ore sunt in navicula Ecclesiae. Christiani quippe vocantur, et se in Deum credere profitentur: pedibus tamen et manibus sunt extra Ecclesiam: non enim vivunt ut Christiani, quia nec circa Deum per veram dilectionem afficiuntur, nec etiam fidem quam ore loquuntur, bonis operibus exsequuntur.
Tales certissimi debent esse, quod nisi naviculam manibus et pedibus intraverint, id est, nisi bona opera faciant, et Deum ex corde diligant, in abyssum perpetuae damnationis demergentur. Debent etiam Christiani, tamquam boni Discipuli, mandatis Dei obedire, et in ipsis jugiter meditari, unde dicitur in Psal. cxviii, 47: Meditabar in mandatis tuis, quae dilexi nimis. Dedit autem nobis Dominus duo mandata, quae factis adimplere debemus. De istis mandatis dicitur in Psal. xxxiii, 15: Diverte a malo et fac bonum.
Nota, quod triplex est malum, a quo est divertendum: et est triplex bonum, quod est faciendum. Divertendum enim est a malo malitiosae avaritiae, a malo lutosae luxuriae, et a malo ambitiosae superbiae. Divertendum, inquam, est ab hoc triplici malo, ut videlicet per malitiosam avaritiam nec corpori, nec rebus proximi noceamus: ut per lutosam luxuriam animas nostras nec corpora polluamus: et ut per ambitiosam superbiam Deum, qui diligit humiles, non offendamus. Debemus etiam triplex bonum facere: primum bonum est, ut per pias eleemosynas pauperibus assistamus: secundum est, ut per veram paenitentiam animarum nostrarum maculas abluamus: tertium est, ut divino cultui devotis orationibus insistamus.
And note that many are in the Church by name, but few truly are in it by merit of a good life. For many say to Jesus, "Lord, Lord," and yet they do not do the things that Jesus says. What would it profit a human being that he was in the ship only with his mouth, but with hands and feet and the remaining part of his body was outside the ship in a great storm? Much would have to be feared concerning the sinking of such a human being. So also there are many Christians who are in the little ship of the Church by mouth alone. For they are called Christians and profess that they believe in God; nevertheless with feet and hands they are outside the Church. For they do not live as Christians, because they are neither affected toward God through true love nor do they carry out with good works the faith that they speak with the mouth.
Such persons ought to be most certain that unless they enter the little ship with hands and feet, that is, unless they do good works and love God from the heart, they will be sunk into the abyss of perpetual damnation. Christians also, as good Disciples, ought to obey the commandments of God and continually meditate on them; hence it is said in Psalm 118:47: I meditated on your commandments, which I loved exceedingly. But the Lord gave us two commandments that we ought to fulfill by deeds. Concerning these commandments it is said in Psalm 33:15: Turn away from evil and do good.
Note that there is a threefold evil from which one must turn away, and there is a threefold good that must be done. One must turn away from the evil of malicious avarice, from the evil of muddy luxury, and from the evil of ambitious pride. One must, I say, turn away from this threefold evil, namely so that through malicious avarice we harm neither the body nor the goods of our neighbor; so that through muddy luxury we pollute neither our souls nor our bodies; and so that through ambitious pride we do not offend God, who loves the humble. We ought also to do a threefold good: the first good is that through pious alms we assist the poor; the second is that through true penance we wash away the stains of our souls; the third is that we devote ourselves to divine worship with devout prayers.
III.
De tertio nota, quod sex genera hominum indigent Salvatore. Primi sunt quibus imminet fluctuum saevitia. Secundi sunt, quos premit famis et sitis angustia. Tertii sunt, quos vexat infirmitatum molestia. Quarti sunt, qui multitudinem hostium inciderunt. Quinti sunt, qui periculosa devia errantes intraverunt. Sexti sunt, qui jam per ignis incendium perire coeperunt.
1. Primi igitur indigent Salvatore, quibus imminent fluctuum saevitiae. Unde dicitur in praesenti Evangelio, quod cum motus magnus factus esset in mari, ita ut navicula operiretur fluctibus...: accesserunt ad eum Discipuli ejus, et eum suscitaverunt, dicentes: Domine salva nos: perimus 2.
Nota, quod hodie in mari hujus mundi fluctus sunt vitiorum, quibus navim sanctae Ecclesiae diabolus mirabiliter infestat et impugnat. Unde Osee, iv, 1 et 2: Non est veritas, et non est misericordia, et non scientia Dei in terra. Maledictum, et mendacium, et homicidium, et furtum, et adulterium inundaverunt, et sanguis sanguinem tetigit.
Non est veritas in terra: quia pauci sunt, qui veritatem verbis et factis exsequuntur. Et non est misericordia in terra: quia pauci sunt, qui sicut tenerentur, pauperum misereantur. Et non est scientia Dei in terra: quia pauci sunt, qui passionem Jesu compassionis oculis intueantur. Unde dicitur in Psal. liii, 5: Non proposuerunt Deum ante conspectum suum. Quod autem vera scientia sit cum devotione reminisci passionis Jesu, testatur Apostolus ita scribens I ad Cor. ii, 2: Non judicavi me scire aliquid inter vos, nisi Jesum Christum, et hunc crucifixum.
Cum igitur veritas, et misericordia, et scientia Domini non sint in terra, quid est in terra? maledictum. Maledictum enim in tantum invaluit in mundo, ut homines jumentis suis, et ancillis, et etiam pueris suis in die multoties maledicant. Et quid de pueris dicam? etiam ipsi Creatori suo quampluries maledicunt. Unde ipse dicit per Jerem. xv, 10: Omnes maledicunt mihi.
Mendacium. Veritate quippe derelicta, mendacium pene omnes hodie complectuntur. Unde dicit Jerem. ix, 5: Docuerunt linguam suam loqui mendacium. Ibi dicit Glossa, "Usus reddit magistrum, consuetudo altera natura est."
Homicidium etiam abundat in terra, et licet homicidium non fiat ab omnibus manu, fit tamen ab infinitis ore et corde. Ille manu committit homicidium, qui corporaliter hominem interimit et occidit. Ille lingua perpetrat homicidium, qui proximo suo detrahit, et bona opera ejus invertit. Ille corde homicida existit, qui fratrem suum odit. Unde dicitur I Joan. iii, 13: Omnis qui odit fratrem suum, homicida est.
III.
Concerning the third, note that six kinds of human beings need a Savior. The first are those upon whom the savagery of waves is threatening. The second are those whom the distress of hunger and thirst presses. The third are those whom the trouble of infirmities vexes. The fourth are those who have fallen among a multitude of enemies. The fifth are those who, wandering, have entered dangerous byways. The sixth are those who already have begun to perish through a conflagration of fire.
1. Therefore first, those need a Savior upon whom the savageries of waves are threatening. Hence it is said in the present Gospel that when a great movement had been made in the sea, so that the little ship was covered by waves, his Disciples approached him and woke him, saying: Lord, save us; we are perishing 2.
Note that today in the sea of this world the waves are vices, with which the devil wonderfully harasses and attacks the ship of holy Church. Hence Hosea 4:1 and 2: There is no truth and no mercy and no knowledge of God on the earth. Cursing and lying and homicide and theft and adultery have flooded, and blood has touched blood.
There is no truth on earth, because few are those who pursue truth in words and deeds. And there is no mercy on earth, because few are those who, as they would be bound, have mercy on the poor. And there is no knowledge of God on earth, because few are those who look upon the passion of Jesus with the eyes of compassion. Hence it is said in Psalm 53:5: They have not set God before their sight. But that true knowledge is to recall the passion of Jesus with devotion, the Apostle testifies, writing thus in 1 Corinthians 2:2: I did not judge that I knew anything among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
Therefore since truth and mercy and knowledge of the Lord are not on earth, what is on earth? cursing. For cursing has prevailed so much in the world that human beings curse their beasts and maidservants and even their children many times in a day. And what shall I say about children? They even curse their Creator himself very many times. Hence he himself says through Jeremiah 15:10: All curse me.
Lying. For with truth abandoned, almost all today embrace lying. Hence Jeremiah 9:5 says: They taught their tongue to speak a lie. There the Gloss says: "Practice makes a master; custom is another nature."
Homicide also abounds on the earth, and although homicide is not done by all with the hand, nevertheless it is done by countless persons with mouth and heart. He commits homicide with the hand who bodily destroys and kills a human being. He perpetrates homicide with the tongue who detracts from his neighbor and overturns his good works. He exists as a homicide in heart who hates his brother. Hence it is said in 1 John 3:13: Everyone who hates his brother is a homicide.
Furtum etiam inundat in terra. Per furtum intelligitur omnis contrectatio rei alienae invito Domino rei. Istud furtum prohibuit Dominus, Exo. xx, 15, ubi dicit: Non furtum facies. Ibi dicit Glossa ex Augustino: "Furti nomine intelligitur omnis contrectatio rei alienae." Furtum igitur inundat, quia simoniae, rapinae, usurae, et multiplices doli sive fallaciae nimis excreverunt in terra.
Adulterium etiam inundat in terra. Per adulterium vero notatur luxuria quibuscumque modis expleatur, sive cum soluta, sive cum conjugata, sive consanguinea, vel femina Deo dicata, sive naturaliter peccetur, sive etiam peccatum innaturaliter attentetur. De tam multiplici adulterio dicitur Jerem. xxiii, 10: Adulteris repleta est terra.
Sanguis sanguinem tetigit. Sanguis etiam hodie sanguinem tangit in terra: quia peccatores super unam iniquitatem aliam apponunt iniquitatem, et ita exaggeraverunt iniquitates suas: quae sicut onus grave gravatae sunt super ipso 3. Convenienter autem per sanguinem intelligitur iniquitas, quia sicut per sanguinem vestis inquinatur, ita etiam per iniquitates anima maculatur. Cum igitur fluctus iniquitatis inundet in terra, et graviter naviculam Ecclesiae concutiat: necesse habemus, ne ab his fluctibus in profundum inferni detrahamur, ut Dominum devotis precibus et assiduis excitemus, ut videlicet ipse in adjutorium nostrum exsurgens imperet ventis et mari, et sic fiat tranquillitas magna.
Per ventos, daemones intelliguntur, et per mare tentationum adversitas figuratur. Sicut enim per ventos mare inquietatur, et per daemones tentationes contra animam sive Ecclesiam agitantur. Si igitur Dominus lacrymosis precibus nostris excitatus daemonibus imperaverit, et tentationes sedaverit, fiet intus in anima nostra tranquillitas magna. Ut autem Dominus Ecclesiae naviculam a daemonibus et tentationibus absolvat et defendat, propterea in cujuslibet horae canonicae inceptione, hocque septies in die dicimus: Deus in adjutorium meum intende 4.
Rogate ergo Dominum, ut sic nos a daemonibus et a peccatis tueatur, ut quilibet nostrum eum in gloria sua laetanter intueri mereamur. Amen 5.
Theft also floods the earth. By theft is understood every handling of another's thing against the will of the lord of the thing. The Lord prohibited this theft in Exodus 20:15, where he says: You shall not commit theft. There the Gloss says from Augustine: "By the name of theft is understood every handling of another's thing." Therefore theft floods, because simonies, plunders, usuries, and manifold deceits or frauds have grown exceedingly on the earth.
Adultery also floods the earth. By adultery is marked luxury in whatever ways it is carried out, whether with an unmarried woman, or with a married woman, or with a blood relative, or with a woman dedicated to God, or whether one sins naturally, or even attempts sin unnaturally. Concerning such manifold adultery Jeremiah 23:10 says: The earth is filled with adulterers.
Blood has touched blood. Blood also today touches blood on the earth, because sinners add one iniquity upon another iniquity, and so they have increased their iniquities, which, like a heavy burden, have been made heavy upon him 3. But by blood iniquity is fittingly understood, because just as a garment is stained by blood, so also the soul is stained by iniquities. Therefore, since a wave of iniquity floods the earth and gravely strikes the little ship of the Church, we have need, lest we be dragged by these waves into the depth of hell, to rouse the Lord with devout and constant prayers, namely that he himself, rising up to our aid, may command the winds and the sea, and thus a great calm may be made.
By the winds demons are understood, and by the sea the adversity of temptations is figured. For just as the sea is disturbed by winds, so temptations against the soul or the Church are stirred up by demons. Therefore if the Lord, aroused by our tearful prayers, commands the demons and calms temptations, a great calm will be made inwardly in our soul. But so that the Lord may free and defend the little ship of the Church from demons and temptations, for this reason at the beginning of any canonical hour, and this seven times in the day, we say: O God, attend to my help 4.
Therefore pray to the Lord that he may so protect us from demons and sins that each of us may merit to look upon him joyfully in his glory. Amen 5.
Notes
- Matthew 8:23. (Matth. viii, 23.) ↩
- Matthew 8:24 and 23. (Matth. viii, 24 et 23.) ↩
- Psalm 37:5. (Ps. xxxvii, 5.) ↩
- Psalm 69:2. (Ps. lxix, 2.) ↩
- The end of the explanation of the third question and the entire explanation of the fourth question of this sermon will be found in the following sermon. (Finis explicationis tertii quaesiti, et explicatio integra quarti quaesiti hujus Sermonis invenientur in Sermone sequenti.) ↩
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