210 Love produces mutual confidence. EPHES. will therefore commit evil actions; and he who commits evil actions, knows not what it is to love. IV. 3. MORAL. Let us therefore follow after charity; it is a safeguard which will not allow us to sustain any injury. Let us bind ourselves together. Let there be no deceit amongst us, no hollowness. For where friendship is, there nothing of this sort is found. Ecclus. This too another certain wise man tells us. Though thou 22, 21. 22. drewest a sword at thy friend, yet despair not: for there may be a returning again to favour. If thou hast opened thy mouth against thy friend, fear not; for there may be a reconciliation: except for upbraiding, or disclosing of secrets, or a treacherous wound: for for these things a friend Hvor will depart. For disclosing, saith he, of secrets. Now if we be all friends, there is no need of secrets; for as no man has any secret with himself and cannot conceal any thing from himself, so neither will he from his friends. Where then no secrets exist, separation arising from this is impossible. For no other reason have we secrets, than because we have not confidence in all men. So then it is the waxing cold of love, which has produced secrets. For what secret hast thou? Dost thou desire to wrong thy neighbour? Or, art thou hindering him from sharing some benefit, and on this account concealest the matter? But, no, perhaps it is none of these things. What then, is it that thou art ashamed? If so, then is want of confidence a sure token of this. Now then if there be love, there will be no revealing of secrets, much less any upbraiding. For who, tell me, would ever upbraid his own soul? And suppose even such a thing were done, it would be for some good; for we upbraid children, we know, when we desire to make them feel. And so Christ too on that occasion Luke10, began to upbraid the cities, saying, Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! in order that He might deliver them from upbraidings. For nothing has such power to lay hold of the mind, or can more strongly arouse it, or brace it up when relaxed. Let us then never use mere upbraiding to one another. For what? Wilt thou upbraid thy friend on the score of money? Surely not, if at least thou possessest what thou hast in common. Wilt thou then for his faults? No nor 3. Love is with difficulty secured, and easily takes flight. 211 IX. this, but thou wilt rather in that case correct him. Or, as it goes HoMIL. on, for a treacherous wound; who in the world will kill himself, or who wound himself? No one. Let us then follow after love; he saith not simply let us 1 Cor. 14, 1. love; but let us follow after love. Great is the eagerness required: she is soon out of sight, she is most rapid in her flight; so many things are there in life which injure her. If we follow her, she will not outstrip us and get away, but we shall speedily recover her. The love of God is that which united earth to Heaven. It was the love of God that It was the love of God seated man upon the kingly throne. HOMILY X. EPHES. CHAP. iv. 4. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye IV. 4. are called in one hope of your calling. 5. 6. When the blessed Paul exhorts us to any thing of special importance, so truly wise and spiritual as he is, he grounds his exhortation upon things in Heaven: this itself being a lesson he had learned from the Lord. Thus he saith also ch. 5, 2. elsewhere, Walk in love, even as Christ also hath loved us. Phil. 2, And again, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. This is what he is doing here also, for whenever the examples he is setting before us are great, he is intense in his zeal and feeling. What then does he say, now he is inciting us to unity? There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling: Ver. 5. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. 56. Now what is this one body? The faithful throughout the whole world, both which are, and which have been, and which shall be, and again, they that before Christ's coming pleased God, are one body. How so? Because they also John 8, knew Christ. Whence does this appear? Your father Abraham, saith He, rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it, John 5, and was glad. And again, If ye had believed Moses, He saith, ye would have believed Me, for he wrote of Me. And the prophets too would not have written of One, of whom they knew not what they said; whereas they both knew Him, and worshipped Him. Thus then were they also one body. 46. The body is not disjoined from the spirit, for then would it not be a body. Thus it is customary also Members of the body care for themselves, in caring for each other. 213 X. with us, touching things which are united, and which have HOMIL. any great consistency or coherence, to say, they are one body. And thus again, touching union, we take that to be a body which is under one head. If there be one head, then is there one body. The body is composed of members both honourable and dishonourable. Only the greater is not to rise up even against the meanest, nor this latter to envy the other. They do not all indeed contribute the same share, but severally according to the proportion of need. And forasmuch as all are formed for necessary and for different purposes, all are of equal honour. Some indeed there are, which are more especially principal members, others less so for example, the head is more a principal member than all the rest of the body, as containing within itself all the senses, and the governing principle of the soul. And to live without the head is impossible; whereas many persons have lived for a long time with their feet cut off. So that it is better than they, not only by its position, but also by its very vital energy and its function. Now why am I saying this? There are great numbers in the Church; there are those who, like the head, are raised up to a height, who, like the eyes that are in the head, survey heavenly things, who stand far aloof from the earth, and have nothing in common with it. Whilst others occupy the rank of feet, and tread upon the earth; of healthy feet indeed, for to tread upon the earth is no crime in feet, but to run to evil. Their feet, saith the Is. 59,7. Prophet, run to evil. Neither then let these, the head, saith he, be high-minded against the feet, nor the feet look with evil eye at them. For thus the peculiar beauty of each is destroyed, and the perfectness of its function impeded. And naturally enough; inasmuch as he who lays snares for his neighbour will be laying snares first of all for himself. And should the feet therefore not choose to convey the head any where upon its necessary journey, they will at the same time be injuring themselves by their inactivity and sloth. Or again, should the head not choose to take any care of the feet, itself will be the first to sustain the damage. However, those members do not rise up one against the other; it is not likely, for it has been 214 A religious will surpasses in dignity an Angelic nature. EPHES. SO ordered by nature that they should not. IV. 4. how is it possible for him not to rise up against man? No one, we know, ever rises up against Angels; since neither do they rise against the Archangels. Nor, on the other hand, can the irrational creatures proudly exalt themselves over us; but where the nature is equal in dignity, and the gift one, and where one has no more than another, how shall this be prevented? And yet surely these are the very reasons why thou oughtest not to rise up against thy neighbours. For if all things are common, and one has nothing more than another, whence this mad folly? We partake of the same nature, partake alike of soul and body, we breathe the same air, we use the same food. Whence this rebellious rising of one against another? And yet truly the being able by one's virtue to overcome the incorporeal powers, that were enough to lead to arrogance; or rather arrogance it would not be, for with good reason am I high-minded, and exceedingly high-minded against the evil spirit. And behold even Paul, how high-minded he was against that evil spirit. For when the evil spirit was speaking great and marvellous things concerning him, he made him hold his peace, and endured him Acts 16, not even in his flattery. For when that damsel, who had the spirit of divination, cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation, he rebuked him severely, and silenced his forward Rom. 16, tongue. And again he elsewhere writes, and says, God shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. 16. 17. 20. Will the difference of nature have any effect? Perceivest thou not that the difference between natures has no effect whatever, but only the difference of purpose? Because of their principle therefore they are far worse than all. Well, a man may say, but I am not rising up against an Angel, because there is so vast a distance between my nature and his. And yet surely thou oughtest no more to rise up against a man than against an Angel, for the Angel indeed differs from thee in nature, a matter which can be neither an honour to him, nor a disgrace to thee: whereas man differs from man not at all in nature, but in principle; and there is such a thing as an Angel too even amongst men. |