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ousness, we be unable to attain to the kingdom of CHRIST. For no unclean person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of CHRIST and of God.

EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. Lesson of the Holy Gospel according to S. Matthew.

Lesson VII. Chap. xxii.

AT that time: The Pharisees came to JESUS: and one of them, who

A Homily of S. John Chrysostom.

They are corrupt, and become abominable in their doings. And again: The love of money is the root of all evil, which while some have coveted they have erred from the faith. And: If a man love Me, he will keep My words; the head and root of which is: Thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and thy neighbour as thyself.

Lesson IX.

IF, therefore, to love God is to love

one's neighbour, (for, If thou

was a doctor of the law, asked Him a question, tempting Him, and saying: lovest me, O Peter, He says, feed My Master, which is the great command-sheep), if also the love of thy neighment in the law? And that which bour causes thee to keep the comfollows. mandments, He rightly says that on these hang all the law and the prophets. And as in the words that precede, when He was questioned about the Resurrection, He taught them more than they sought when they tempted Him: so in this place, when questioned concerning the first commandment, He of His own accord brought forward the second as greatly inferior to the first; For the second is like unto the first. Thus He covertly intimated that they were incited by hatred to ask the question. For charity, He saith, envieth not.

Homily 72 on S. Matthew. When the Sadducees had been put to silence, the Pharisees again assail Him; and when they ought to have been silent, they would argue, and they put forward a lawyer, not being desirous to learn, but to tempt Him: and they put this question: Which is the first commandment in the law? For since the first is this: Thou shalt love the LORD thy GOD; they, supposing that He would adduce reasons for correcting this commandment by adding something, since He made Himself GOD, questioned in this wise. What, then, does CHRIST say? In order to show that they had made this attempt because they had

no love in them, but were consumed

with the rancour of envy, Thou shalt love the LORD thy God, He says; this is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Lesson VIII.

AND wherefore is the second like

unto it? Because the first involves it, and by it in its turn is firmly established. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light. And again: The fool hath said in his heart, There is no GOD. Then follows:

not

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through the mighty waters, as if they

TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. were the hollows of the mountains? Lesson of the Holy Gospel according

Is not this He who brought down the waves of the sea under the feet of Peter, that He might make a firm path for human steps over the liquid

waters?

Lesson VIII.

to S. Matthew. Lesson VII. Chap. xxii.

AT that time: JESUS spake unto the

chief priests and Pharisees in parables, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king which made a marriage for his son.

AND how is it that He refuses in And that which follows.

His own case to make the sea His servant, so that He crosses over a narrow lake in a hired ship? He entered into a ship, it says, and crossed over. And what is there for us to wonder at in this, my brethren? CHRIST came to take upon Himself our weaknesses, and to bestow upon us His strength, to seek for Himself human things, to give divine things; to receive injuries, to give honours in return; to bear weariness, to impart healing; for the physician, who does not bear weaknesses, knows not how to heal, and he who has not felt weakness with the weak, cannot bestow healing on the weak.

Lesson IX.

CHRIST, therefore, if He had abode in His own perfections, would have nothing in common with men : and had He not fulfilled the conditions which belong to flesh, the taking of flesh would in His case be without result. He entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into His own city. Creator of all things, Lord of the world, when He had for our sakes straitened Himself in the bonds of our flesh, He began to have a human country, to be a citizen of the Jewish state began to have parents, though Himself the parent of all parents: that love might invite, that charity might attract, that affection might attach, that gentleness might persuade, those whom tyranny had driven away, whom fear had scattered, whom violence had driven into exile.

A Homily of S. Gregory the Pope.

Homily 38 on the Gospels.

I remember having often already said that very frequently in the holy Gospel the present Church is called the kingdom of heaven; the congregation of the just is called the kingdom of heaven. For the LORD says by the prophet, Heaven is My seat; and Solomon says, The soul of a just man is the seat of wisdom. Paul also says, that CHRIST is the power of GoD and the wisdom of GOD. We ought clearly to conclude, that if GOD is wisdom, and the soul of a just man the seat of wisdom, while heaven is called the seat of GoD, therefore the soul of a just man is heaven. Hence it is said by the psalmist concerning holy

preachers: The heavens declare the glory of God.

Lesson VIII.

THE kingdom of heaven then is the Church of the just, because while their hearts desire nothing upon earth, by reason of their longing after things above, the LORD already reigns in them, as it were in heavenly places. It may be said, therefore, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king which made a marriage for his son. Now you understand, beloved, who that King is, Who is the Father of the King the Son: He it is to Whom the psalmist says: Give the King Thy judgments, Ŏ GOD, and Thy righteousness unto the King's Son, Who made a marriage for His Son. For GoD the FATHER made a marriage for God the SoŃ when He joined Him to human nature in the womb of the Virgin,

ousness, we be unable to attain to the kingdom of CHRIST. For no unclean person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of CHRIST and of GOD.

EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. Lesson of the Holy Gospel according to S. Matthew.

Lesson VII. Chap. xxii.

A to JESUS: and one of them, who was a doctor of the law, asked Him a question, tempting Him, and saying: Master, which is the great commandment in the law? And that which

T that time: The Pharisees came

follows.

A Homily of S. John Chrysostom.

Homily 72 on S. Matthew. When the Sadducees had been put to silence, the Pharisees again assail Him; and when they ought to have been silent, they would argue, and they put forward a lawyer, not being desirous to learn, but to tempt Him: and they put this question: Which is the first commandment in the law? For since the first is this: Thou shalt love the LORD thy GOD; they, supposing that He would adduce reasons for correcting this commandment by adding something, since He made Himself GOD, questioned in this wise. What, then, does CHRIST say? In order to show that they had made this attempt because they had no love in them, but were consumed

with the rancour of envy, Thou shalt love the LORD thy God, He says; this is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Lesson VIII.

AND wherefore is the second like

unto it? Because the first involves it, and by it in its turn is firmly established. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light. And again: The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Then follows:

They are corrupt, and become abominable in their doings. And again: The love of money is the root of all evil, which while some have coveted they have erred from the faith. And: If a man love Me, he will keep My words; the head and root of which is: Thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and thy neighbour as thyself.

Lesson IX.

IF, therefore, to love GOD is to love one's neighbour, (for, If thou

lovest

me, O Peter, He says, feed My sheep), if also the love of thy neighbour causes thee to keep the commandments, He rightly says that on these hang all the law and the prophets. And as in the words that precede, when He was questioned about the Resurrection, He taught them more than they sought when they tempted Him: so in this place, when questioned concerning the first commandment, He of His own accord brought forward the second as not greatly inferior to the first; For the second is like unto the first. Thus He covertly intimated that they were incited by hatred to ask the question. For charity, He saith, envieth not.

NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. Lesson of the Holy Gospel according to S. Matthew.

Lesson VII. Chap. ix. AT that time: JESUS entered into a

ship, and passed over, and came into His own city. And that which follows.

A Homily of S. Peter Chrysologus. Sermon 50.

To-day's lesson has shewn us that CHRIST in human acts performed divine mysteries, and in visible things

He

dealt with invisible matters. entered, it says, into a ship, and passed over, and came into His own city. Is not this He who put the waters to flight, and made bare the depths of the sea, that His people Israel might with dry feet pass

through the mighty waters, as if they TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. were the hollows of the mountains? Lesson of the Holy Gospel according Is not this He who brought down the waves of the sea under the feet of Peter, that He might make a firm

to S. Matthew. Lesson VII. Chap. xxii.

path for human steps over the liquid AT that time: JESUS spake unto the

waters?

Lesson VIII.

chief priests and Pharisees in parables, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king which made a marriage for his son.

AND how is it that He refuses in And that which follows.

His own case to make the sea His servant, so that He crosses over a narrow lake in a hired ship? He entered into a ship, it says, and crossed over. And what is there for us to wonder at in this, my brethren? CHRIST came to take upon Himself our weaknesses, and to bestow upon us His strength, to seek for Himself human things, to give divine things; to receive injuries, to give honours in return; to bear weariness, to impart healing; for the physician, who does not bear weaknesses, knows not how to heal, and he who has not felt weakness with the weak, cannot bestow healing on the weak.

Lesson IX.

A Homily of S. Gregory the Pope.

Homily 38 on the Gospels.

I remember having often already said that very frequently in the holy Gospel the present Church is called the kingdom of heaven; the congregation of the just is called the kingdom of heaven. For the LORD says by the prophet, Heaven is My seat; and Solomon says, The soul of a just man is the seat of wisdom. Paul also says, that CHRIST is the power of GoD and the wisdom of GOD. We ought clearly to conclude, that if GOD is wisdom, and the soul of a just man the seat of wisdom, while heaven is called the seat of GOD, therefore the soul of a just man is heaven. Hence it is said by the psalmist concerning holy

CHRIST, therefore, if He had abode preachers: The heavens declare the

in His own perfections, would have nothing in common with men : and had He not fulfilled the conditions which belong to flesh, the taking of flesh would in His case be without result. He entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into His own city. Creator of all things, Lord of the world, when He had for our sakes straitened Himself in the bonds of our flesh, He began to have a human country, to be a citizen of the Jewish state began to have parents, though Himself the parent of all parents: that love might invite, that charity might attract, that affection might attach, that gentleness might persuade, those whom tyranny had driven away, whom fear had scattered, whom violence had driven into exile.

glory of God.

Lesson VIII. THE kingdom of heaven then is the Church of the just, because while their hearts desire nothing upon earth, by reason of their longing after things above, the LORD already reigns in them, as it were in heavenly places. It may be said, therefore, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king which made a marriage for his son. Now you understand, beloved, who that King is, Who is the Father of the King the Son: He it is to Whom the psalmist says: Give the King Thy judgments, O GOD, and Thy righteousness unto the King's Son, Who made a marriage for His Son. For GoD the FATHER made a marriage for GOD the Son when He joined Him to human nature in the womb of the Virgin,

when He wished Him Who was GOD, would not have sought health from before the ages to become man at the end of the ages.

Lesson IX.

BUT, because the marriage union

takes place between two separate persons, far be it from us to believe

that the Person of our Redeemer

JESUS CHRIST, GOD and Man, was
made up of two separate persons.
We say, indeed, that He exists of two
natures and in two natures, but we
shun as unlawful the belief that He
was compounded of two persons. It
may be said therefore more plainly
and more safely, that the FATHER
made the marriage for the King the
SON, when He joined to Him the
holy Church through the mystery of
the Incarnation. The womb of the
Virgin Mother was the bridechamber
of this Bridegroom. Whence also the
psalmist says, He hath placed His
tabernacle in the sun, and He is as a
Bridegroom coming forth from His
chamber.

TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Lesson of the Holy Gospel according

to S. John.

Lesson VII. Chap. iv.

AT that time: There was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. And that which follows.

A Homily of S. Gregory the Pope.

one whom he did not believe to be a Saviour. Wherefore then, is it said, to him who was a believer before he saw signs, Except ye see signs and

wonders, ye will not believe?

Lesson VIII.

BUT remember what he asked for, and you will plainly see that, though he had faith, he doubted; for he demanded that CHRIST should come down and heal his son. He asked therefore for the bodily presence of that LORD, Who, through the SPIRIT, is nowhere absent. His faith therefore was deficient in Him Whom he thought unable to save, unless He were present also in body. For if his faith had been perfect, he would undoubtedly have known that there was no place where GoD was not.

Lesson IX.

FOR there was a great deficiency of

faith in him, who ascribed the performance of a mighty work not to His Divine Majesty, but to His bodily presence. He sought healing for his son; and yet, though he had faith, he doubted, because, though he believed that He to Whom he had come was able to heal, he yet supposed that He

But

was absent from his dying son.
the LORD Who is entreated to go
declares that He is not absent from
the place whither He is invited : He
who created all things by His will
restored health simply by His com-
mand.

TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER

Homily 28 on the Gospels. The lesson of the Holy Gospel which you have just heard, my brethren, needs no exposition; but that we may not seem to pass it over in silence, let us say something on it Lesson of the Holy Gospel according by way of exhortation rather than of explanation. This point only, however, seems to require something from

us by way of exposition; why he who

came to seek health for his son heard the words, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. He who was seeking health for his son was ⚫ without doubt a believer; for he

TRINITY.

to S. Matthew.

Lesson VII. Chap. xviii.

AT that time: JESUS spake this

parable unto His disciples: The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king which would take account of His servants. And that which follows.

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