but when she begins to pour the oil of charity into the vessels of others, that is, into all her neighbours and kinsfolk, and absolutely all men, then she can both suffice for herself and be freed from all debts. And truly, brethren, such is the nature of holy love and true charity, that it grows by giving out; and the more it is expended upon others, the more abundantly it is heaped up in itself. If you wish to give bodily food to the needy, what you have given him you cannot, for the present, have yourself: but if you give the bread of charity to a hundred men, it remains whole: if you wish to bestow it on the whole world, nothing fails you: nay, not only does it not fail, but the gain of all those on whom you have bestowed it grows for you manifoldly.
For example, you had one bread of charity; if you had given it to no one, you would have that one alone: you gave to a thousand men, you have acquired a thousand breads; because so great is the possession of charity, that it is both wholly present to each one, and can be entire for all. Therefore you both gave to others, and you yourself lost absolutely nothing: nay, not only did you not lose, but, as I have already said, whatever was bestowed by you upon others, you have acquired a hundredfold. Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, recognize that the widow was absolved by her creditors by nothing else but oil; and understand that the Catholic Church was freed from her crimes by nothing else but the oil of God's mercy. 4. The vessels of charity, men, are filled when they are loved.
But attend to this, brethren, that as long as that woman had vessels into which to pour the oil, so long the oil increased. For she said to her son, 'Bring me a vessel.' And he answered, 'I have none.' And the Scripture says the oil stood still, after she found no place where she might put it. So, most beloved brethren, so long is charity increased, as long as it is bestowed. And therefore we ought even with diligence to seek vessels, into which we may pour the oil: because we have proved that while we pour into others, we have the more. The vessels of charity are men. If we wish to abound in the oil of charity, we ought to love not only the good, but also the evil: the good, because they are good; the evil, that they may become good.
For the oil of charity has this virtue, that it both makes the good better, and leads the evil back from the darkness of sins to the light of truth. 5. Who acts with the door shut or open. But that the Scripture says that widow poured the oil into the vessels with the door shut; this signified that each one should do his almsgiving with the door shut, that is, for the love of God alone; not that he may be praised by men, but that he may deserve to find grace with God. For he who does almsgiving for human praise, does it with the door open; because what is open lies exposed to all. But he who does good works for the sake of eternal life alone and for the remission of sins, even if he does them publicly, does them with the door shut:
because from that almsgiving he seeks not that which is seen, but that which is not seen. For human praise is seen; the eternal reward is not seen. But hear what the Apostle says: 'For the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal' (II Cor. IV, 18). Let each one, therefore, securely do his almsgiving, only let him not seek human glory for it. 6. The Shunammite woman, passing from barrenness to fruitfulness, a type of the Church. After these things we heard that, while blessed Elisha was passing through Shunem, a certain great woman received him, and said to her husband: 'I perceive that this man is a man of God: let us make him a chamber, and let us set for him in it a bed, a table, a stool, and a candlestick;'
'that when he comes, he may stay there.' And that woman was barren, but when Elisha prayed, she bore a son. So also the Church, before Christ came, was barren. And as she, when Elisha prayed, bore a son; so also the Church, when Christ came to her, bore the Christian people. But the son of that woman, while Elisha was absent, died: so also the son of the Church, that is, the people of the Gentiles, before Christ came, was dead in sins. When Elisha came down from the mountain, the widow's son is restored to this life; when Christ came down from heaven, the son of the Church, that is, the people of the Gentiles, is raised: but let us see in what manner this was done. 7. What the precept of not returning a greeting in Scripture forbids.
As the boy of Elisha, so neither could Moses restore life. For when her son had died, that woman went and prostrated herself at the feet of holy Elisha. But blessed Elisha gave his staff to his servant, and said to him: 'Go, and lay my staff upon the face of the boy. If a man greet you, do not greet him in return' (IV Kings IV). In this place, brethren, see to it that no impious thought steal upon anyone, and say that blessed Elisha wished to observe an augury; and that therefore he commanded his servant not to return the greeting of one who greeted him on the way. Frequently we read this in the Scriptures:
but it was said for the sake of speed, not commanded on account of any superfluous and sacrilegious observance; as if he said, 'Walk so swiftly that you presume not to be occupied or delayed by any idle talk on the way.' The servant, then, went, and laid the staff upon the face of the boy; and he did not rise at all. This boy held the type of blessed Moses. For God sent him with a staff into Egypt: but the staff without Christ could scourge Egypt; but from original or actual sin it could not free or raise up. For, as the Apostle says, 'the Law brought nothing to perfection' (Hebr. VII, 19). It was needful that He who had sent the staff should Himself come down. The staff without Elisha availed nothing; because the cross without Christ could do nothing. 8.
Elisha, bowing himself down, raised the boy; Christ, humbling Himself, raised the world. Blessed Elisha therefore came, and went up into the upper chamber; because Christ was to come, and to ascend the gibbet of the cross. Elisha bowed himself down, that he might raise the boy; Christ humbled Himself, that He might lift up the world lying in sins. Elisha laid eyes upon eyes, hands upon hands. See, brethren, how that man of perfect age contracted himself, that he might fit himself to the dead and prostrate little one. For what Elisha prefigured in the boy, this Christ fulfilled in the whole human race. Hear the Apostle saying, 'He humbled Himself, being made obedient unto death' (Philipp. II, 8).
Because we were little ones, He made Himself little; because we lay dead, the merciful Physician bent down to us; for indeed, brethren, no one can lift up one who lies fallen unless he is willing to bend down to him. But that the boy yawned seven times signifies the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit, which is bestowed upon the human race at the coming of Christ, that it may be raised again. Concerning this same Spirit the Apostle says, 'If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His' (Rom. 8:9). This same Spirit the Lord also gave to His disciples when He breathed upon them and said, 'Receive ye the Holy Spirit' (John 20:22). For He set mouth, as it were, upon mouth when, by breathing, He gave the Spirit.
Let us therefore give thanks to our most merciful Redeemer, who raised us up though no merits went before us; and who not only rescued us from everlasting death, but also, by the help of His grace, if we live well, has promised us eternal rewards in return—which may He Himself deign to grant, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, God, unto ages of ages. Amen. SERMON XLIII. On Naaman the Syrian. 1. When Naaman, the commander of the king of Syria, had been afflicted with leprosy, and, smitten by the spotted contagion of that dreadful plague, had become an object of horror both to himself and to all, the king of Syria grieved that he was deprived of the aid of such a man—by whom he had waged so many wars, subdued nations, achieved victories, and delivered the people of the Syrians from the hand of their enemies.
Then Naaman heard that among the people of Israel there was Elisha, a most holy prophet, endowed with wondrous powers and renowned for astounding works, through whom he might be delivered from the peril of his malady and cleansed of that deadly disorder. At once he set out to his king, and asked that he be commended by letters to the king of the Israelites. Immediately the king sent letters to that other king in this manner: 'I have sent,' he said, 'my servant Naaman to thee, that thou mayest cure him of his leprosy.' 2. When the king received and read these letters sent from the king, he rent his garments, saying: 'See,' he said, 'see how this man seeks a quarrel: for he has sent a man to me, that I should cure him of his leprosy. Am I God, that I should be able to kill or to make alive?'
O the faith of Naaman the prince! O the perfidy of this king! Naaman the Syrian faithfully hastens to God; and the faithless king rends his garment. Those who knew Him distrust; and those who knew Him not, believe. The household resists; and the foreigners hasten. The king of Syria believes that what he had heard can be done; and the king of Israel does not believe that what he had known can come to pass. Strangers run to help; and his own deny the heavenly gift. He who ought to have proclaimed, tears down; and he who could have torn down, made haste—so that the glory should be the greater among foreigners in proportion as the perfidy had become known. 3. Then, when the king's agitation had come to Elisha's ears: 'Send,' he said, 'send Naaman the Syrian to me, that he may know that there is a God in Israel.'
And so Naaman the Syrian is brought to the door of the man of God with chariots and horsemen and a magnificent train of power. To him came out the man of God, saying: 'Go, and be baptized in the Jordan seven times; and thou shalt be cleansed.' On hearing this, Naaman, offended, tore himself away, saying: 'I said that the man of God would come out to me, and lay his hand upon me, and call upon the Lord his God; and would cure me of my leprosy. For if I must be cleansed with waters, are not the waters among us better?' Then one of his own said to him: 'Is the word difficult, which the Prophet has spoken to thee? Why dost thou not do what he said?' Then Naaman returned, and went down into the Jordan; and being baptized seven times, he came up thence washed clean: and
his flesh became like the flesh of a little child. Then Naaman marvels, then he is astonished, then he beholds the Prophet, then he looks toward heaven. He marvels that by a single command the power was present, he marvels that God has worked, he marvels that a defect of so long a time is wiped away, he marvels that he is changed in body and in mind. The deadly contagion is driven from him, and the health he longed for is restored. The whole man is given back to nature; for perfect virtue works in the most holy Prophet. Naaman rejoices, the Prophet is glad; by both the Lord is praised together. Naaman rejoices that he has obtained what he had longed for, and that he has found what he had lost. The Prophet rejoices in the work; and the people are glad in the power. Judea rejoices, that it furnishes help to those who come to it.
The Gentiles also say that in Israel there is what they cannot find among themselves. The glory of God is sown among the Gentiles. He who was cured proclaims; he who felt it announces; nor is that any longer held doubtful which is spoken, when Syria bears witness to what it beholds in Naaman. 4. Then joyful Naaman offers gifts to Elisha; then he entreats, by his vow for health, that he would accept the offerings. 'Accept,' he says, 'accept the gifts which I offer thee: what I give, I bestow gladly; take it up. For this which I bestow is not the price of my cure; nor with this bounty do I purchase the health I have received: since the health I have merited could neither be bought with a price nor obtained by any gift.' 'For my part,' says Elisha, 'what thou offerest I do not accept; what thou pressest upon me, as a stranger's thing I refuse.'
For it was not I who bestowed on thee the health in which thou rejoicest; nor did I myself correct the deadly defect in thee, nor, as thou supposest, did I restore thee to nature: but there is a God mighty in the heavens, at whose command I serve, whose office I obey, in whose service I persist; to Him alone should thy soul be dedicated, thy mind prepared, thy service rendered. For if there thou shalt serve Him alone, or if thou shalt devote to Him the homage due to Him, consider how great things thou shalt merit—thou for whom, before thou didst know Him, so great a healing was won. 5. Presently Naaman renounces the divine rites once his own, and cuts off his superstitions. Presently he declares that he worships God, and professes to detest the idol. Presently he proclaims that he now worships as Lord Him whom he has acknowledged, and abhors the figments he had worshipped.
'Now,' he says, 'I have known that the Lord alone is to be worshipped. Now for the first time I have learned that there is but one God to be venerated: for the other gods of the Gentiles can neither save nor harm; inasmuch as, being themselves in need of human aid, they cannot furnish aid themselves. For they cannot preserve, who are themselves preserved, nor grant life, who do not live, nor make any of their worshippers whole, who cannot deliver themselves from those who do not worship them.' Then Naaman sets out for Syria rejoicing, then he hastens to his own people made whole. All rejoice who had come with him in sorrow; those gird themselves with joy who had shuddered at his sickness; among themselves they tell the mighty works of God, and all together recount His virtues one to another.
6. At once Gehazi, the Prophet's servant, says to himself: 'Since my master would take nothing from Naaman the Syrian, I will go, that I may take what he refused.' He goes speedily, he runs in haste; and when the servants of the Syrian saw him hastening after them, and reported it to their lord, Naaman at once halts his chariots, draws back his vehicles, turns his animals, and himself, prompt and hasty, comes back to meet him, and inquires the reasons, demanding the grounds of his haste to him. That dissembler and deceiver frames a lie, composes a falsehood: he says that a command has been given him by the Prophet, as though he should send some silver, which he might bestow on the sons of the prophets who had come to him.
Straightway Naaman gave the servant double what he had asked—that which he himself, though a suppliant and entreating, had not been able to give to the Prophet. Having received it and deposited it in a secret place, Gehazi appeared before Elisha, and, as was his custom, took his stand in his sight. 'Where,' says the Prophet, 'hast thou been, or what business and affair hast thou transacted?' 'Nowhere,' he says, 'have I departed hence; nowhere have I been absent from thy sight.' Then the most holy Prophet bursts forth into speech: 'Was not my heart,' he says, 'with thee? I know how Naaman hastened to meet thee, from whom thou hast received silver: and thou shalt possess from it fields, and vineyards, and olive-groves, servants and handmaids; and the leprosy of Naaman the Syrian shall cleave to thee and to thy seed for ever.'
And immediately he departed from him a leper, white as snow (2 Kings 5). O the admirable power of God! O the sublime merit of Elisha! Here at one moment a twofold power is displayed, and a double authority proclaims the most holy Prophet. Naaman the Syrian is cured; and the servant Gehazi is drenched with leprosy. To the Syrian faith brought glory; and to the servant perfidy brought punishment: the one, coming from Syria, received what he desired; the other, going out from the Prophet's house, acquired for himself a plague from his perfidy. Naaman is cured and rejoices; Gehazi is wounded and weeps. The one is restored whole to his own; the other is shown stained before all: the one is displayed as an example of virtue; the other is shown as the desert of deceit. He who had been stained is cured by faith;
and he who had been whole is stained by perfidy. Naaman invites men to God; Gehazi is set forth as an example to each one. Through Naaman the Lord is praised; through Gehazi the heavenly judgment is feared. From the one salvation is born, from the other dread: from the one glory is sought, from the other the affliction of fraud is dreaded—so that by these examples both the reward of faith and the punishment of perfidy might be shown to all nations. SERMON XLIV. On Elisha and the servant Gehazi. 1. Elisha prefigured the Lord, Gehazi Judas or the Jews. The avaricious are lepers. Frequently we have suggested to your Charity, most beloved brethren, that blessed Elisha bore the type of the Lord and Saviour:
but his disciple Gehazi is not unfittingly understood to have prefigured Judas the traitor, or the people of the Jews. Just as Gehazi served blessed Elisha for this reason, that he might acquire money; so also Judas had attached himself to the Lord and Saviour for this purpose, that he might commit fraud and gather earthly riches. Whence it is thus written of him in the Gospel: 'Because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bore what was put therein' (John 12:6). For Gehazi, who could have merited the grace of his master, even as his lord had obtained that of blessed Elijah, being overcome by covetousness, deserved to be drenched with cruel leprosy for ever. But Judas, for the love of money, both lost the grace of the apostolate, and ended his life by a noose.
And thus we understand that all the avaricious and covetous are, within, in the soul, drenched with the leprosy of sin. 2. Naaman prefigures the people of the Gentiles assenting to the girl's prophecy. But Naaman, the commander of the army, who was a leper, and came to be healed by blessed Elisha at the suggestion of a maidservant, prefigured the people of the Gentiles. That girl who had been led captive from Judea, and who had suggested to her mistress that if her lord went to blessed Elisha he would recover his health—that girl, I say, bore the image of prophecy: for although in that time the grace of prophecy flourished in Judea alone, yet it could not be but that that blessed knowledge should also reach the neighbouring nations. Naaman therefore heard the girl, and came to Elisha:
the people of the Gentiles heard the prophecy, and came to Christ. Naaman, coming to Elisha, is healed of his leprosy: and the people of the Gentiles, coming to Christ, are cleansed of all the leprosy of sins. 3. The Jews then smitten with leprosy, when the Gentiles were freed from it. It can also be, as I have already said, that Gehazi prefigures the Jewish people, who are smitten with the leprosy of sin at that very time when the Gentile people is freed from it. In short, thus the wretched Jews cried out at the Lord's Passion: 'His blood be upon us and upon our children' (Matt. 27:25). For they then deserved to be drenched with the leprosy of sin, when with sacrilegious mouth they cried out against the heavenly Physician, 'Away, away with Him, crucify Him' (John 19:15).
Therefore at that time the leprosy remained upon them, when grace passed over to us. In short, so also the Apostle Paul spoke to them, saying: 'It was necessary,' he said, 'that the word of God should first be spoken to you; but seeing you judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles' (Acts 13:46). When the doctrine of the apostles passed over to the Gentiles, then upon the wretched Jews the leprosy of sin remained. 4. A figure of the calling of the Gentiles to faith through Baptism. Yet let us see what blessed Elisha commanded Naaman the Syrian. 'Go,' he said, 'and wash seven times in the Jordan.'
But that Naaman, on hearing that he should wash seven times in the Jordan, was indignant, and would not consent, and, after receiving counsel from his friends, acquiesced that he should wash, and was cleansed—this signifies that the people of the Gentiles, before Christ was crucified, did not of itself believe Christ speaking to it; but afterwards, when the Apostles preached, came faithfully to the sacrament of Baptism. Elisha told Naaman to wash seven times in the Jordan. See, brethren, Elisha sends Naaman to the river Jordan; because Christ was about to send the people of the Gentiles to Baptism. But that Elisha did not himself touch or baptize Naaman;
this was signified: that Christ did not come in His own person to the people of the Gentiles, but through His Apostles, to whom He said: 'Go, baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit' (Matt. 28:19). And mark this too: Naaman, who prefigured the people of the Gentiles, received his health in that river which afterwards Christ consecrated by His own baptism. But that Naaman, on hearing that he should wash seven times in the Jordan, was indignant, saying: 'Are not the rivers of my own region better, the rivers of Damascus, Abana and Pharpar, that I might wash in them and be cleansed?'—when he said this, his servants gave counsel that he should acquiesce in the Prophet's advice. But what this signifies, brethren, attend diligently.
Holy Elisha, as we have said, bore the type of the Lord and Saviour: Naaman prefigured the people of the Gentiles. But what does it mean that he believed he would receive his health from his own rivers? This indicated that the human race presumed upon free will and upon its own merits. But one's own merits, without the grace of Christ, can have leprosy, but cannot have health. Wherefore, unless the human race, after the example of Naaman, had heard the counsel of Elisha, and had humbly received the gift of Baptism through the grace of Christ, it could not be freed from original and actual leprosy. 'Wash,' he said, 'seven times': he said this on account of the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit, which rested upon Christ the Lord.
In short, when the Lord was baptized in that river, the Holy Spirit came upon Him in the form of a dove (John 1:32). 5. Those who are baptized begin to be born. When therefore Naaman had gone down into the river in the figure of Baptism, 'his flesh,' it says, 'became like that of a little child' (2 Kings 5). See, most beloved brethren, this likeness fulfilled in the Christian people. For you know that all who are baptized, whether they be old men or young men, all nevertheless are born as infants. The first generation brings forth unto death; the second generation brings forth unto life. The first begets children of wrath; the second begets vessels of mercy: as the Apostle says, 'In Adam all die, in Christ all shall be made alive' (1 Cor.
15:22). As therefore Naaman, though he was an old man, was cleansed by washing seven times as though a little child; so he who has been made old by his old sins, and is drenched with many stains of iniquities as though with leprosy, is so renewed by the grace of Baptism that in him neither original nor actual leprosy of sin remains: and he who had been ever bent down under the weight of his crimes, is renewed by the saving laver, after the example of Naaman, as a little child; so that there may be fulfilled in him that which the Apostle says of Christ to the Church, 'That He might present to Himself a Church not having spot or wrinkle' (Eph. 5:27). 6. The great gifts of the Lord should not bring us judgment, but profit.
But that after Naaman had been cleansed, he offered gifts to blessed Elisha, and Elisha would not accept them: in this the grace of Christ was prefigured, which is called grace for this reason, that it is given freely (gratis). For thus the Lord said in the Gospel to His disciples: 'Heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons: freely you have received, freely give' (Matt. 10:8). And since we see all the sacraments and mysteries of our Lord, which had been prefigured among the Jews, fulfilled in us: even if we cannot render to God as many thanks as we ought, let us render as many as we can, to Him who deigned to bestow upon us such great goods, with no preceding good merits;
and who, for our salvation, not only sent His disciples, but also came down in His own person, and for us patiently endured the scourges and reproaches and the other injuries which we read of. He was wounded, that He might heal our wounds; He died, that He might free us from everlasting death; He descended into hell, that He might snatch us from the jaws of the most cruel dragon; He rose again, that He might grant us the hope of resurrection; He ascended into heaven, that He might show us whither we ought to follow Him.
What therefore shall we render to the Lord for these gifts which we are not able to conceive, much less able to explain to you—except that, as I have already said, continually rendering as many thanks as we can, we should strive, by His own help, that His gifts and benefits may not bring us judgment, but profit? Let us also labour to fulfil His precepts: so that when the day of judgment comes, being freed from the evil report, that desirable voice may be directed to us: 'Come, ye blessed, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world' (Matt. 25:34): to which may the Lord bring us under His protection. Amen. SERMON XLV. On Elisha, and the axe fallen into the deep. 1. A figure of the fall of the human race.
Just now, when the divine reading was being read, most beloved brethren, we heard that, as blessed Elisha went with the sons of the prophets to the river Jordan to cut wood for themselves, an axe fell into the water: and he from whose hand it fell cried out to blessed Elisha, 'Alas, my master, and it was borrowed!' After this, in the place where that axe had fallen, blessed Elisha cast in a piece of wood, and the iron floated (2 Kings 6:4-7). That Elisha, most beloved brethren, bore the type of the Lord and Saviour, we have frequently suggested to your Charity. But also in the boy who was of the sons of the prophets, from whose hand the axe slipped, Christ the Lord is not unfittingly understood. That axe which fell,
is said to have signified Adam, that is, the whole human race. The son of the prophets, then, held the axe in his hand; and our Lord and Saviour held the human race, which He had created, in the hand of His power. But just as that axe fell from the Prophet's hand into the deep; so also the human race shook itself off from the hand of God almighty through pride, and fell, and plunged itself into the river of luxury, or the whirlpool of all sins. That axe therefore lay in the deep, because the human race had fallen by a wretched ruin into the abyss of all crimes; as it is written, 'I am stuck fast in the mire of the deep': and again, 'I am come into the depth of the sea, and the storm hath overwhelmed me' (Ps. 68:3), and the rest.