Sermon XXIX, continuation and conclusion

Latin (Borgnet)English

p. 133

ut bonum operemini: perfecta, ut in utroque confirmemini.

IV. Voluntas enim Dei est, ut in cælo glorificemur. Joan. vi, 40: Hæc est autem voluntas Patris mei, qui misit me: ut omnis, qui videt Filium, et credit in eum, habeat vitam æternam. Bene dicit, et credit in eum: si autem scire desideras, utrum vere credas in Christum, attende quod dicit, Marc. xvi, 17 et 18: Signa autem eos, qui crediderint, hæc sequentur: In nomine meo dæmonia ejicient: linguis loquentur novis: serpentes tollent: et si mortiferum quid biberint, non eis nocebit: super ægros manus imponent, et bene habebunt.

1. Dæmonia sunt peccata, quæ de corpore ejicere debemus. Unde de Maria Magdalena ejecta sunt septem dæmonia, id est, secundum Gregorium, universa vitia atque peccata.

2. Linguæ novæ sunt verba ædificatoria et bona. Linguæ enim antiquæ fuerunt verba nociva et prava. I Reg. ii, 3: Recedant vetera de ore vestro.

3. Serpentes sunt motus seu concupiscentiæ sensualitatis. Væ ei, qui serpenti consentit, quia paradisum perdit ut Eva! Serpentes tollimus, quando concupiscentias refringimus.

4. Mortiferum autem est quodlibet scandalum, quælibet injuria, quæ non solum facto, sed dicto nobis infertur, unde Jac. iii, 8, de lingua dicitur: Est enim inquietum malum, plena veneno mortifero. Si ergo accepta injuria non inflamur per superbiam, non suffocamur per invidiam, non disrumpimur per iracundiam: tunc utique mortiferum bibimus, et non nobis nocet: bibe pro Christo, quod pro te bibit Christus. Matth. xx, 22: Potestis bibere calicem, quem ego bibiturus sum? etc. Sed quidquid afflictionis terrena propinat adversitas, leve erit, si inspiciamus quid biberit ad crucis patibulum, qui nos invitat ad cælum.

5. Manus imponent, sunt adjutoria charitatis, remedia pietatis, ex quibus sæpe convalescunt, vel qui spiritualiter, vel corporaliter ægri sunt.

Vides ergo, quod dæmonia sunt vitia voluntatis, linguæ novæ sunt verba utilitatis, serpentes sunt concupiscentiæ sensualitatis, mortifera sunt injuriæ adversitatis, manus imponentes sunt adjutoria charitatis. Voluntas ergo Dei est, ut qui sic per signa prædicta credit in Filium Dei, habeat vitam æternam. Joan. x, 27 et 28: Oves meæ vocem meam audiunt..., et ego vitam æternam do eis. Ad quam nos perducat, etc.

that you may work what is good; perfect, that you may be confirmed in both respects.

IV. For the will of God is that we be glorified in heaven. John 6:40 says: This is the will of my Father, who sent me: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life. He rightly says, and believes in him; but if you desire to know whether you truly believe in Christ, attend to what Mark 16:17 and 18 says: These signs shall follow those who have believed: In my name they shall cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it shall not harm them; they shall lay hands upon the sick, and they shall be well.

1. Demons are sins, which we ought to cast out from the body. Hence from Mary Magdalene seven demons were cast out, that is, according to Gregory, all vices and sins.

2. New tongues are edifying and good words. For the old tongues were harmful and crooked words. 1 Kings 2:3: Let old things depart from your mouth.

3. Serpents are motions or concupiscences of sensuality. Woe to him who consents to the serpent, because he loses paradise like Eve. We take up serpents when we break the concupiscences.

4. But anything deadly is any scandal, any injury, which is brought upon us not only by deed but by word; hence concerning the tongue James 3:8 says: It is an unquiet evil, full of deadly poison. Therefore if, when an injury has been received, we are not inflamed through pride, are not suffocated through envy, are not torn apart through anger, then indeed we drink what is deadly and it does not harm us. Drink for Christ what Christ drank for you. Matthew 20:22: Can you drink the chalice that I am about to drink? and so forth. But whatever affliction earthly adversity offers, it will be light if we look upon what he drank at the gibbet of the cross, he who invites us to heaven.

5. They shall lay hands means the helps of charity, the remedies of piety, from which those who are either spiritually or bodily sick often recover.

You see, therefore, that demons are vices of the will; new tongues are words of usefulness; serpents are concupiscences of sensuality; deadly things are injuries of adversity; those laying on hands are helps of charity. Therefore the will of God is that one who thus believes in the Son of God through the aforesaid signs should have eternal life. John 10:27 and 28: My sheep hear my voice..., and I give them eternal life. May he lead us to it, and so forth.