De increpatione Pharisaorum et Legisperitorum
The Pharisee's Banquet and the Call to Interior Purity
Jesus accepts a Pharisee's invitation but uses the occasion to rebuke their obsession with outward rituals over inner holiness.
When the Lord had already finished what was mentioned above, a certain Pharisee asked him to dine with him. The Pharisees didn't invite the Lord to refresh him, but to trap him, accuse him, and destroy him. That’s why he wouldn't enter a Pharisee's house unless he was invited, yet he would gladly go to a tax collector's banquet even without an invitation. We can assume that after his sermon, the Lord left the house where he had been staying and teaching, honored his Mother as was proper, and then went to the Pharisee's house, intending more to refresh others than to be refreshed himself. Cyril says: "But Christ, who knew the wickedness of the Pharisees, condescended out of a spirit of dispensation, eager to warn them—much like the best physicians who apply their skills to those who are most seriously ill." Upon entering the house, he reclined and rested—that is, he sat down to eat. He omitted washing his hands to correct the error of those who believed that this washing was necessary for salvation, as if an interior cleansing from sins were achieved through it, and to demonstrate that eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person. So the Pharisee murmured to himself and considered it a great fault that, according to the traditions of the Jews, he had not washed before the meal. What incredible foolishness! He criticizes the Son of God for not following human rules, even though He wasn't subject to human traditions. The Lord answered his thought, showing by this that He is God, to whom the secrets of the heart are naked and open; and He rebuked the Pharisees themselves, who cleaned what was on the outside with outward rituals, but did not clean what was on the inside from the stain of greed, wickedness, and fraud. They were very anxious and diligent about outward cleanliness in their vessels and bodies, but negligent and careless about the inner cleanliness of the mind itself, even though it should have been the other way around, because inner cleanliness is a necessity, while outward cleanliness is only a matter of propriety, and so the latter can be omitted without sin, but the former cannot. Christ therefore omitted the outward washing so He might have an occasion to rebuke the Pharisees, who cared only for outward cleanliness and neglected the inner, simulating justice and holiness on the outside while retaining wickedness and iniquity on the inside. But, O Pharisee, clean first what is inside—that is, your heart and soul—from fraud and evil desires, so that what is on the outside may become clean, and you may truly show holiness through your outward deeds! For He who made both natures of man, namely body and soul, desires both to be cleaned. Bede says on this: 'This is against those who detest bodily sins—namely fornication, impurity, lust, theft, robbery, and other such things—as if they were the gravest, yet treat as trivial the spiritual sins which the Apostle condemns no less: bitterness, anger, indignation, clamor, blasphemy, pride, and greed, which is the worship of idols.' By this, those who make a great fuss over minor things but care little about major ones are also rebuked. Just as some religious people weigh the breaking of silence, or something of that sort, more heavily than the unjust burdening of a neighbor, or even other transgressions of God's commandments. Similar to the Pharisees are those clergy who approach the altar with a well-shaven head and tonsure, in white and clean vestments, yet are full of greed, iniquity, and various other impurities on the inside, putting aside God's Law and carefully observing the traditions of men in outward matters.
True Almsgiving and the Mercy of the Heart
The Lord teaches that true almsgiving begins with mercy toward one's own soul through repentance and charity.
Then the Lord, like a good teacher, shows how we ought to cleanse the contagion of our body, saying: "Nevertheless, I give you a counsel of salvation: give as alms what is left over—that is, what remains after making restitution to others. Restitution must come first, and then the distribution of alms from what remains; or, as Bede suggests, from what is left over after providing for necessary food and clothing." For you are not commanded to give alms in such a way that you consume yourself in poverty, but rather that, once your own bodily needs are met, you sustain the needy as much as you are able. And behold, all things are clean to you, because almsgiving has great power for the remission of sins. Hence it is said in Daniel: "Redeem your sins with alms." Or, nevertheless, I give you a counsel and remedy for what remains and is left over after such great sins: give alms, that is, give them in an orderly way, so that you begin with yourself. This must be understood this way: a person should first give alms to himself by cleansing himself interiorly through faith and Baptism, believing in Christ. If, after Baptism, his innocence has been stained by impurity, he should cleanse his conscience through penance. Whoever wishes to give alms in an orderly way—that is, to perform an act of mercy—must begin with himself and give it to himself first. For almsgiving is any work of mercy; hence it is said in Ecclesiasticus: "Have mercy on your own soul, pleasing to God." For no work of a person can please God unless the person himself first pleases Him. This is why we read in Genesis that God looked upon Abel before He looked upon his offerings. And then it remains that whoever helps his own misery should also help another's by giving alms that proceed from need and love; and so, through mercy toward oneself and one's neighbor, all things are clean, and nothing stains the mind or makes it unclean. Therefore, mercy and the removal of sin are promised to all who show mercy. What is said here—'give alms'—applies to everything done with helpful compassion. For it isn't just the person who gives food to the hungry and other things of that kind who gives alms, but also the one who grants forgiveness to a sinner and prays for him. And the one who corrects, and who punishes with other corrective discipline, also gives alms. Hence Augustine says: 'To give alms is to show mercy.' If you understand this, begin with yourself. How can you be merciful to others if you're cruel to yourself? Listen to Scripture, which says: "Have mercy on your soul, pleasing God." Look into your conscience, whoever you are who lives badly or unfaithfully, and there you'll find your soul begging; you'll find it needy, poor, and wretched—perhaps not even begging, but struck dumb by its own poverty. Whenever you find your soul like this within your heart, give it alms first. Give alms to your soul with judgment and charity. What is judgment? Be displeased with yourself. What is charity? Love God, love your neighbor. If you neglect this alms, no matter how much you love, you do nothing, since you do not do it with yourself. Augustine.
The Weightier Matters of the Law
Jesus condemns the hypocrisy of those who tithe trivialities while neglecting justice, charity, and humility.
Because the Pharisees, out of hypocrisy, not only sought outward cleanliness but also put on a show of justice, paid tithes, and gave alms, they thought Christ spoke in vain, as if He were addressing people who didn't give alms; in their hearts, they mocked Him. They paid tithes not only on wheat, wine, and oil, but even on trivial things—like cumin, rue, mint, and the like—and gave alms from what remained, which is something few Christians do easily. They did this to appear righteous, as if they wanted to fulfill God's command to pay tithes even on the smallest things, so that they might be seen as very willing to follow God's commandments, even though they were transgressors in greater matters. They wanted it said of them by those watching that they tithed everything, since they didn't even neglect to tithe their herbs. The Lord, however, knowing their thoughts, added: "Woe"—that is, condemnation—"to you Pharisees, who tithe mint, rue, and every herb"—meaning the small and trivial parts of your produce—"and pass over the weightier things of the Law, namely judgment and justice, by subverting them, and by omitting charity, the works of mercy." Doing this is not showing mercy and almsgiving: for these things—namely, judgment and charity—ought to have been done first, because they are commandments for the honor of God; and those things—namely, tithing and almsgiving—ought not to have been omitted, as they are for the needs of the priests and one's neighbor. Do those things, and prioritize these. For those who remain in iniquity cannot buy impunity through almsgiving. By tithing and giving alms, they were cleansing the outside; but because they left behind judgment and charity, they were not cleansing the inside. Judgment and charity are best joined together, because judgment without charity verges on cruelty; charity without judgment is... Judgment leads to forgiveness; when love is joined with judgment, it leads to fairness. This point about tithing can be understood in two ways. One way concerns the Pharisees themselves: although the ministers of the temple received tithes from the people, they still paid tithes to the high priest from what they had received from the people and from what they had gained through their own labor; and so, to feign holiness, they paid tithes on the smallest things. They also did this out of greed, so that by their own example they might lead the people to pay them tithes on everything, down to the smallest items. It can be understood in another way regarding others, whom they pressured through their teaching to pay them tithes strictly. The remark added about the omission of the weightier matters of the Law is likewise understood in two ways: one way regarding themselves, because they neglected things of great necessity; and another way regarding others, because they were negligent in leading them to observe such things. Similarly, today's Church priests and prelates act this way, anxious about their subjects paying tithes and similar things owed to them, while caring little if they themselves are caught up in major sins. Since honor is the reward of virtue, and a desire for unearned honor stems from a desire for the appearance of justice, he rebukes the arrogance and ambition of the Pharisees, threatening them with woe and eternal punishment by saying: 'Woe'—meaning that eternal damnation hangs over you Pharisees who love the places of honor in the synagogues. He doesn't say 'you who have the seats,' but 'you who love them'; for to crave them is a matter of ambition, but to accept them when assigned is a matter of love. In this, he suppresses every disordered desire for honor and instructs us to be free from ambition and not to seek after high positions in the Church. Woe? Woe, then, to those wretched people to whom the vices of the Pharisees have passed; they do not fear to aspire to high positions or to fight for them, during the brief and uncertain course of this life in which they ought to have been humbly lamenting their sins. They didn't just want to be teachers and masters in the synagogues, wanting to be called 'Rabbi' by everyone; they also sought greetings in the marketplace regarding legal and business matters, which shows they were masters in the synagogue and lawyers in the marketplace. But it isn't fitting for those committed to divine service to attend to lawsuits; for no one serving as a soldier for God entangles himself in secular business. Hence Rabanus says: 'Those who desire to be called masters in the chair of Moses and of the synagogue are not free from guilt if they attend to lawsuits in the marketplace.' And because hidden sins will be punished all the more severely the more those sinners desire to be preferred to others in honors, He subsequently rebukes their hypocrisy, threatening them with the woe of eternal punishment, because they were like graves that do not appear—that is, outwardly, just as they are inwardly; for sometimes they are adorned on the outside, while being filled with stench on the inside, and people walking over them do not know what they are like within. So, anyone deceived by the teachings of the Pharisees and hypocrites who imitates them walks unknowingly as if over graves. He rightly compares them to the graves of the dead, because the soul is dead within the body of the hypocrite and the sinner. A grave is called, in a sense, 'half-beautiful,' and that is what hypocrites are: bright on the outside, but foul on the inside. Such people are not children of the Bride—the Church—who says, 'I am black' outwardly, 'but I am beautiful' inwardly. These people are the exact opposite. Here, any false pretense of holiness is rebuked so that we might abstain from it. Cyril says, 'Through the very things He uses to rebuke them, He makes us better. He wants us to be free from ambition and not to hunt for appearances more than for true existence, which is what the Pharisees were doing at that time.' Chrysostom adds, 'It is not surprising that the Pharisees were such people.'
The Burden of the Law and the Trap of Injustice
The Lord rebukes the experts in the Law for their pride and injustice, while the text reflects on the danger of bad habits and corrupt leadership.
If, however, we are considered worthy to become temples, but suddenly become graves containing nothing but stench, that is the height of misery. It condemns. A certain expert in the Law, however, twisted what Christ said against the Pharisees into an insult against the experts in the Law, saying, 'Teacher, in saying these things, you insult not only the Pharisees but also us, the experts in the Law, who are your superiors.' This expert in the Law was ignorant of the Law of truth, because correcting a fault isn't an insult to a person; and whoever is ashamed of being corrected should stop sinning, and let it be his own wickedness, not the charity of the one correcting him, that offends him. Bede says on this: 'How miserable is the conscience that, upon hearing the Word of God, thinks it is being insulted; and, when the punishment of the faithless is mentioned, realizes it is always destined for condemnation!' Therefore, for me and those like me, only one remedy remains: to pray to the Lord with the Prophet, 'Oh that my ways may be directed to keeping your statutes; then I shall not be put to shame when I look upon all your commandments.' So says Bede. Generally, the Scribes and experts in the Law were teachers of the Law, resolving questions of the Law; the Pharisees, however—that is, the priests of the Jews—were set apart from others and appeared to be religious. The Lord, however, the most free corrector of vices, didn't fear the status of the experts in the Law; rather, he rebuked them because their sins were public and manifest, and therefore, by rebuking them publicly, he wasn't insulting them as that expert in the Law claimed. But our leaders today don't act like that; they take people into account when they correct them. Hence Augustine says: 'Our leaders publicly rebuke and shame poor people who commit offenses, but they don't even nod at the rich who commit greater ones.' That is why Anaxagoras compared the laws of leaders to spiderwebs, which catch small creatures but let the large ones pass through. Chrysostom says: 'If it were possible to take vengeance on the rich, you would see all the prisons filled with them; but wealth has this evil quality, that it rescues those who sin in their malice from punishment.' Valerius Maximus also tells how Socrates laughed when he saw a man being led to the gallows, and when asked why, he replied: 'I see great thieves leading a small thief to the gallows.' Small sacrileges are punished, but great ones are celebrated with triumphs. Hence Augustine also says: 'When justice is removed, what are kingdoms but great robberies?' And robberies, what are they but small kingdoms? When Alexander the Great once captured a pirate, he asked him, with elegant and truthful intent, why he made the sea a place of danger. The pirate replied with bold candor: "Why do you make the whole world a place of danger?" "Because I do it with a small ship, I'm called a pirate; because you do it with a great fleet, you're called an emperor." And it's truly so—alas! It is the same today; for the lowly and the poor are severely punished for a slight transgression, but the great and the powerful suffer nothing, even for enormous crimes. But let them not boast because they remain untouched in the present; for in the future, they will receive their due penalties with interest. Then, for the powerful who here wrongly judged innocent, poor people, there will be no court and no tribunal; instead, those whom they judged here with their own perverse judgment—and whom they often condemned—will stand in judgment over them. Oh, how many injustices are committed today in a single city, for which it would be no wonder if it and the entire country were reduced to nothing! They judge strangers differently than their own, those of lower status differently than those of higher, those related by blood differently than those who are distant, and the poor differently than the rich—all of which is clearly and entirely against the Law of the Most High God. They ignore the written law when they judge, instead passing various sentences based on their personal attachments to different people, saying, 'This is how it seems to me,' rather than, 'It is written this way or that in the Law.' How great! However, the evil that injustice brings is clear from the good things that justice has accomplished. Regarding these, Cyprian says: 'Justice is the king's peace, the protection of the people, the safeguard of the country, the unity of the populace, the defense of the nation, the cure for ailments, the joy of men, the moderation of the sea, the serenity of the air, the fruitfulness of the earth, the comfort of the poor, the inheritance of children, and for the king himself, the hope of future blessedness.' Concerning these. The opposites of all these are to be feared and expected from injustice, because in both the Old and Evangelical Law, we read that nations were punished for their evil judgments. And, alas! Injustice and the habit of evil have grown so much in many places that they can barely be rooted out. . Because a bad habit leads to many evils, it has become a common saying among the Lombards that it is better to set a city on fire than to set a bad habit in it. Everyone rushes to put out a fire, but when it comes to a bad habit, they all intend to make it grow. Everyone intends to make it grow. But they should follow the teaching and advice of Seneca, who says this about habit: 'A good habit ought to strike down what a bad one has brought in.'
The Final Rebuke and the Call to Prayer
Jesus delivers his final rebukes to the experts in the Law, leading to their increased hostility, followed by a prayer for the reader's own transformation.
Just as the Lord previously rebuked the Pharisees, so now He also rebukes the experts in the Law for many things. . First, He rebukes them for their excessive domination and disordered severity, threatening them with damnation because they imposed unbearable burdens on others, while they themselves would not lift a finger to help carry them—meaning they did not even perform the smallest parts of what they imposed on others. They were severe with others but far too lenient with themselves; they wanted others to do things they refused to do themselves, contrary to natural law. They spoke but did not act; they taught great things but did not practice the lesser ones. They held different standards, weighing their own actions one way and the actions of others another. As Theophilus says: 'Whenever a teacher does what he teaches, he lightens the burden by offering himself as an example.' But when he does nothing of what he teaches, the burdens seem heavy to those receiving the instruction, as they are things that even the teacher cannot carry. These men represent those in authority who impose heavy and great burdens on others yet do little or nothing themselves. Hence Gregory of Nyssa says: 'Such are the judges of our time.' They are severe toward those who sin and weak as contenders; they are intolerable legislators and poor burden-bearers, unwilling to approach or even touch the honesty of life that they relentlessly demand from their subjects. He then rebukes the experts in the Law, condemning them. They were condemned for their feigned devotion and false religion, because they only pretended to hate and condemn the deeds, sins, and treachery of their ancestors—the prophets' tombs that their fathers had killed—out of a desire for popular favor, not out of true piety, while they magnificently built and decorated those tombs as if they were mourning the dead. They were not innocent. They grieved for the prophets and said that if they had lived in the days of their fathers, they would not have been partners in the blood of the prophets, so that they might appear more righteous than their fathers who killed them; yet by their very actions they testified to how much they agreed with their fathers' wickedness by persecuting Christ, the Lord of the prophets, who had been promised to them and foretold by the prophets themselves. They saw the faults of others, but not their own. For, as Chrysostom says, it's easy to understand someone else's fault, but difficult to see your own. In the literal sense, they did this to appear to hate the cruelty of their fathers; and those who verbally detest vices, so they might appear immune to them to those who don't know better, do the same. Next, He rebukes the experts in the Law, condemning them for their corrupt and perverse interpretation of the Scriptures; they boasted that they possessed the knowledge of the Law and the Prophets—which Christ calls the key of knowledge—and through this knowledge they could have entered into the faith and truth of Christ. But blinded by malice, they took away this key—the words of the Law and the Prophets—either by cutting them up, or by perversely understanding and explaining them, and by denigrating the teachings and works of Christ, so that they themselves wouldn't enter into the understanding of the truth and the faith, nor would they allow others who desired to enter to do so, because they hindered them by the perversity of their own teaching. The key of knowledge, therefore, is the authority to teach, by which true understanding, lying hidden within, ought to be opened; yet they, on the contrary, were closing it by interpreting it perversely and leading others into error, as is clear regarding the commandment about honoring parents, which they were emptying of meaning through their own teaching, just as, according to Bede, they did with many other of the Lord's commandments. Furthermore, any teacher who builds up his listeners with his words but scandalizes them with his example neither enters the kingdom of God himself nor lets those who could enter do so. You'll find more on these previous rebukes of the Scribes and Pharisees below, on the Tuesday after Palm Sunday, where many similar things are set down, though they aren't the same, because they were spoken at different times. Finally, he highlights the wickedness and stubbornness of the Pharisees and experts in the law, who weren't improved by Christ’s words but rather made worse; for when the Lord spoke these things to them, they were offended by the truth and began to pursue the Teacher of truth and lay traps for him in their deceit. They began to press him hard—that is, to resist and insist, and to silence his mouth, which means to interrupt his teaching in many places or to slander his words. They lay in wait for him on many counts and sought many things from him deceitfully, so that they might frighten and stun him, because those who are agitated see less clearly. In this way, through various questions and objections, they hoped to extract something slanderous from his lips and catch him in his words, so that they could accuse him. Thus, those who should have been made better by the teaching of the truth were instead made worse by it. Hence Bede says: “They themselves bear witness to how truly they heard the crimes of their own perfidy, hypocrisy, and impiety, for when such a storm was thundering, they didn't repent, but instead labored to attack the Teacher of truth with their traps.” PRAYER: Lord Jesus Christ, before this spiritual meal—that is, before receiving the holy Eucharist—grant that I may be spiritually baptized and washed through a pure confession, so that, with you protecting me, I may be freed from the traps and accusations of my enemies. Grant that I may avoid all hypocrisy and pretense, all arrogance and ambition, so that I don't sin against you or my neighbor through a lying claim to perfection, through an excellence of singularity, through the rashness of unjust judgment, or through the wickedness of any lie; let me not share in the vanity of the Pharisees, but with you, the Truth, leading me, may I mercifully arrive through you, the Way, to you, the Life. Amen.
Read the original Latin
— Cum autem Dominus jam praemissa /0queretur, rogavit eum quidam Pharisa>us ut pranderet cum illo. Invitabant Pharisaei Dominum non ut reficerent ; sed ut comprehenderent, accusarent, et perderent. Unde ad domum Pharisaeorum non intrabat nisi rogatus; sed ad convivium Publicanorum bene ibat etiam non invitatus. Supponendum est quod Dominus post sermonem exiens de domo, in qua hospitatus fuerat et docuit, locutus est Matri, decentem honorem exhibens ei; et deinde ivit ad domum Pharisaei, magis intendens reficere, quam refici. Unde Cyrillus : « Sed Christus qui Pharisaeorum nequitiam noverat, dispensative condescendit, satagens commonere eos, ad similitudinem optimorum medicorum , qui gravius infirmantibus afferunt remedia suae industriae. » Et ingressus, domum, recubuit, et requievit, id est ad comedendum se posuit. Omisit autem lavare manus, ut illorum errorem corrigeret, qui credebant quod illa lotio ad salutem necessaria esset, quasi per eam interior mundatio a peccatis fieret; et ut demonstraret quod non lotis manibus manducare, non coinquinat hominem. Unde Pharisaeus intra se murmuravit, et reputavit magnam esse culpam quod secundum traditiones Judaeorum non esset lotus ante prandium.
Mira stultitia! Filium Dei arguit, quia praecepta hominum non servat, qui traditionibus hominum subjectus non erat.
Dominus autem cogitationi illius respondit, ostendens per hoc se esse Deum, cui nuda et aperta sunt secreta cordium; et arguit ipsos Pharisaeos, qui quod foris erat * «ordibus erterioribus mundabant, et quod intus erat, a macula rapmee, et iniquitatis et fraudis non mundabant; quia de munditia exteriori in vas» et corporibus suis erant multum solliciti et diHgentes, et de munditia interiori ipsius mentis negligentes, et non curantes; cum tamen meritb deberet esse e converso, quia interior munditia est necessitatis, exte•rior autem solummodo honestatis, unde non interior, sed exterior sine peccato omitti potest. Et ideo Christus exteriorem lotionem omisit, ut haberet cvccasionem arguendi Pharisaeos, de exteriori munditia tantum curantes, et interiorem negligentes > exterius simulantes justitiam et sanctitatem, intus retinentes nequitiam et iniquitatem. Sed, o Pharisaee , munda prius quod intus est, scilicet cox et anhnam a fraude et malis desideriis, ut mundum fiat quod est deforis, ut foris per opera veraciter sanctitatem ostendere possis! Qui enim utranaque hominis naturam, scilicet corpus et animam fecit, utramque mundari desiderat. Ubi Beda ; <c Hac contra illos qui corporalia peccata , fornicationem videlicet, immundLtiam, libidinem, furtum, rapinarri et cetera talia, quasi gravissirma detestantur; spiritualia vero quae non minus damnat Apostolus, hoc est amaritudinem, iram , indignationem * clamorem^ biasphemiam, superbiam et avaritiam, quas est idolorum servitus, ut levia contemnunt : » haec Btda. Per hoc etiam arguuntur ilii qui de minoribus magnam vim faciunt,et de majoribus parum curant. Sicut aiiqui religiosi pkis ponderant fractionem silentii, vel aliquid ejusmodi, quam injustum gravamen proximi, vel aliam etiam transgressionem praeceptorum Dei. Pharisaeis etiam similes sunt clerici, qui bene tonso capite et rasa corona in veste alba et nrunda, et krtwrnanibus accedimt ad altare, intus pleni avarrtia et rniquitate, alHsque imimmditiis rmiltifarie, ac Legem ©efi postponentes, et traditkmes hominum in exterioribus soflicite custodientes.
Dehlde Dominus, quasi bonns prece— ptor, docet qualiter nostri contagium corporis mundare debemus^ dicens : Verumtamen do vobis salutis consilium, scilicet quod superest, id est de eo quod superest post aliorum restitutionem, daie eleemosynam, <quia jarimo dehet fieri restitutio, et de eo quod remanet eleemosynarum elargitio; vel, secundum Bedam, de eo quod superest victuiet vestitui necessario. Neque enim ita facienda jubetur eleemosyna, ut teipsum consumas inopia; sed ut tui eiara corporis expleta, inopem quantum vales sustentes. Et ecae omnia munda sunt vobis, quia eleemosyna magnam habet virtutexn ad peccatorum remissionera. Unde in Danie&e dkitur i Peccaia tua eleemosynis redime. Vel, vermniamen, consilium et remedium, quod superest et restat post tanta scelera, do vobis, hoc scilicet ; date eleemoxynam, sciHcet ordinate,ut iocipiatis a vobis. <Quod dictum sic e*t intelligendmm, ut prius homo sibi faciat eieemosynam mundando se interius per fidem et Baptisrnunv, credeodo in Christum; et si post Baptismum immunditia inhocentia Jiuerit faedata, emundet conscientiam per poemitentiam ; qui enim vult ordinate eleemosynam dare, id est misericordiam facere, a seip&o debet incipere, et eam primo sibi dare. Est enim eleemosyna omne opus misericordiae, Unde in Ecclesiastico dicitur : Miserere CtTUmce tuat plactns Deo. Niilium enim opcts hominis Deo placere potest, nisi ipae prins piaceat.
Unde in Genesi legimus, quod Deits prius respexit ad Abel quam ad munera ejus. Et tunc superest, ut qui propriae subvenit miseriae, subveniatet alienae dando eleemosynam procedentem ex nde et caritaie ; et sic per misericordiam sui et proximi omnia munda sunt et nulla mentem inquinant, et immundam faciunt. Ergo misericordia et abolitio peccati promittitur omnibus misericordiam facientibos. Quod itaque hic dicitur, date eleemosynam, ad omnia quae Utili miseratione iiunt, valet. Noa enim solum qui dat esurienti cibum, et cetera hujusmodi ; verumetiam et qui dat veniam peecanti, atque orat pro eo; . et qui corripit, et aiia emendatoria poena pkctit, eleemosynam dat. Unde ait Augustinus : « Facere eleemosynam est facere misericordiam. Si intclfigis, a te incipe.
Quomodo enim misericors es aheri, si crudeUs es tibi? Audi Scripturam dicentem : Miserere animte tu<r placens Dea. Redi ad conscientiam tuam quicunque male aut inndeliter vivis, et ibi invenies mendicantem animam tuam, invenies egentem, pauperem, aerumnosam invenies , fbrte nec egentem, sed egestate obmutescentem; quancjo inveneris animam talem intus in cordetuo, illi fac prius ekemosyaam. In judicio et caritate fac eleemosynam cum anima tua. Quid est judicium } Displice tibi. Quid est caritas? Dilige Deum, diHge proximum. Hanc eleemosynam si praetermittis, quantumvis ames, mhil facis, quando tecum non facis : » hax.
Augustinus.
Et quia Pfaarisaei ex hypocrisi non solum quaerebant exteriorem munditiam; sed etiam apparenfcem justitiam ac decimas dabant, et eleemosynam faciebant , putaverunt Christum inaniter loqui, quasi eis qui eleemosynam non facerent; et eum in cordibus suis deridebant. Non 6olum eaim triticum, vinum et oleum, sed etiam res contemptibiles , scilicet cyminum , rutam^ mentham, et hujusmodi decimabant; et de residuo eleemosynam faciebant , quod non facile facit Christianus aliquis ; ut per hoc apparerent justi, quasi yolendo implere mandatum Dei de decimis reddendis, etiam circa minima; ut per hoc crederentur multum voluntarii ad implendum divinamandata, cum tamen essent transgressores in majoribus ; et ut de eis diceretur a videntibus quoniam omnium decimas dant, qui etiam olerum decimas dare non negligunt. Dominus vero, cogitatum eorum sciens, subjunxit, dicens : Va* 9 scilicet damnationis, vobis Pharisceis qui decimatis mentham, et rutam, et omne olus 9 scilicet minuta et contemptibilia fructuum vestrorum , et prceteritis graviora Legis, scilicet judicium et justitiam,subvertendo, ac caritatem, opera misericordiae omittendo. Non est hocfacere misericordiam et eleemosynam : Haec, enim , scilicet judicimm et caritatem, oportuit facere, primo loco, quia haec praecepta sunt ad Dei -honorem ; et illa, scilicet decimam et eleemosynam, non omittere, quae sunt ad sacerdotum et proximi necessitatcm. Illa facite, et ista praeponite. Non enim per eleemosynam emitur impunitas in iniquitate manentibus. Decknantes igitur et eleemosynam facientes, exteriora mundabant ; sed quia judicium et caritatem relinquebant, interiora non mundabant. Optime autem conjunguntur judicium et caritas, quia judicium sine caritate vergit in crudelitatem ; caritas sine PRIMjE partis caput lxxvi.
judicio in remissionem; caritas cum judicio in aequitatem. Istud autem de decimatione potest dupliciter intelligi. Uno modo respectu sui, quia licet ministri templi acciperent decimas a populo, tamen de illis acceptis a populo, et de his quae habebant ex labore suo decimas reddebant sacerdoti summo ; et ideo ad simulationem sanctitatis reddebant eis decimas de minimis. Hoc etiam faciebant ratione cupiditatis, ut per exemplum sui inducerent populum ad reddendum sibi decimas de omnibus usque ad minima. Alio modo potest intelligi respectu aliorum, quos per doctrinam suam inducebant ad decimas stricte sibi solvendas. Illud etiam quod de omissione graviorum Legis additur, similiter dupliciter intelligitur : uno modo respectu sui, quia ista quae erant magnae necessitatis facere omittebant; alio modo respectu aliorum, quia alios ad talia observanda inducere negligebant. Similiter hodie faciunt sacerdotes Ecclesiae et praelati qui solliciti sunt circa subjectos de redditione decimarum et similium quae eis debentur, et parum curant si in majoribus criminibus involvantur.
Et quia honor est praemium virtutis, et ex appetitu apparentis justitiae, sequitur appetitus indebiti honoris ; ideo consequenter arguit arrogantiam et ambitionem Pharisaeorum, comminando eis vae et poenam aeternam, dicens : Vce, id est aeterna damnatio imminet, vobis Pharisceis qui diligitis primas cathedras in synagogis. Non dicit qui habetis cathedras, sed qui diligitis; has enim appetere, ambitionis est; injunctas suscipere, caritatis. In quo reprimit omnem indebitum appetitum honoris, et instruit nos ut ambitione careamus, et primatum in Ecclesia non ambiamus. Va? ergo miseris ad quos Pharisaeorum vitia transierunt; qui per breve et incertum hujus vitae suae curriculum quo peccata humiliter deplangere debuerunt, ad prioratum aspirare, vel pro eo certare non metuunt. Et non solum volebant esse doctores et magistri in synagogis, volentes vocari ab omnibus Rabbi; sed etiam quaerebant salutationes inforo, causarum et negotiorum, ex quo videtur quod iidem erant in synagoga magistri, et in foro advocati. Sed non Convenit ut litibus intendant qui divino officio mancipantur ; nemo enim militans Deo implicat se negotiis secularibus. Unde Rabanus : « Culpa non carent si in foro litibus intendant, qui in cathedra Moysis et synagogae magistri cupiunt appellari.
» Et quia vitia occulta punientur adeo gravius, quanto peccatores tales volunt aliis praeferri in honoribus; ideo post haec arguit eorum simulationem, comminando eis vae poenae aeternae, quia erant quasi sepulchra quae non apparent, scilicet exterius, qualia sunt interius, quia aliquando exterius ornantur, et foetore interius replentur; et homines ambulantes supra nesciunt qualia sunt intra. Sic quicunque decepti per Pharisaeorum et hypocritarum sententias eos imitantur, quasi supra sepulchra ignoranter gradiuntur. Et bene comparat eos mortuorum sepulchris, quia anima mortua est in corpore hypocritae et peccatoris. Unde sepulchrum dicitur , quasi semi pulchrum, et tales sunt hypocritae exterius nitidi, et interius foetidi. Tales non£sunt filii Sponsae, id est Ecclesiae, quae dicit : Nigra sum, scilicet exterius, sed formosa sum, scilicet interius; sed isti e contrario sunt dispositi. Hic reprehenditur quaelibet sanctitatis simulatio falsa ut abstineamus ab ea. Unde Cyrillus : « Per ea quibus illos reprehendit, nos facit meliores ; rult enim ambitione nos carere, et non plus venari apparentiam, quam veram existentiam, quod tunc Pharisaei agebant. » Unde et Chrysosiomus : « Sed quod tales exstiterint Pharisaei non est mirabile.
Si autem nos digni reputati fieri templa, fiamus repente sepulchra solum foetorem continentia, hoc est extremae miseriae. » 6 Itia condemnat. — Quidam autem Legisperitus dicta a Christo contra Pharisaeos in contumeliam Legisperitorum retorquet, dicens : Magister, hcec dicens, non tantum Pharisaeis, sed etiam nobis, Legisperitis, qui majores sumus, contumeliam facis. Hic Legisperitus ignorabat imperittfs Legem veritatis, quia redargutio culpae non est contumelia personae ; et qui erubescit redargui, cesset a culpa; ncc offendat eum corripientis caritas, sed propria iniquitas. Ubi Beda : « Quam misera conscientia, quae, audito Dei verbo, sibi contumeliam fieri putat ; et, commemorata poena perfidorum, se semper intelligit esse damnandam ! Unde mihi meisque similibus unum superest suffragium Domino cum Propheta supplicare : Utinam dirigantur vias meas ad custodiendas justificaiiones tuas; tunc non confundar, dum respiciam in omnia mandata tua : » haec Beda. Communiter Scribae et Legisperiti erant doctores Legis, quaestiones Legis solventes; Pharisaej vero, scilicet sacerdotes Judaeorum, divisi ab aliis, quasi religiosi videbantur. Dominus autem liberrimus vitiorum correCtor, nec Legisperitorum altitudinem verebatur ; sed eos redarguit, quia peccata eorum publica et manifesta erant, et ideo, publice eos arguendo, contumeliam eis non faciebat , prout iste Legisperitus sibi imponebat.
Sed non sic hodie nostri majores faciunt, qui in corrigendo nersonas accipiunt. Unde Augustinus : « Nostri principes cum pauperes delinquentes publice arguant et confundant, divitibus majora peccantibus, nec nutum faciunt. Quapropter Anaxagoras leges principum telis aranearum comparabat, quae minora animalia capiunt, et majora transmittunt. » Unde Chrysostomus : « Si possibile esset in divites vindictam procedere, videres ex eis repleri carceres universos; sed cum omnibus suis hoc malum habent divitiae, quod in malignitate peccantes ab ultionibus eruunt. » Unde etiam Valerius Maximus narrat, quod Socrates videns unum duci ad suspendium risit, et interrogatus cur rideret, respondit : Video magnos latrones ducentes parvum latronem ad suspendium. Minuta sacrilegia puniuntur; sed magna triumphis extolluntur. Unde et Augustinus : « Remota justitia, quid sunt regna, nisi magna latrocinia ? et latrocinia, quid sunt, nisi parva regna?
» Ideo eleganter et veraciter Alexandro Magno quidam pirata comprehensus, cum ab eo interrogatus quid sibi ut mare infestum haberet ? Ille libera voce respondit : Quid tibi ut orbem terrarum? Sed quia ego exiguo navigio facio, latro vocor ; quia tu magna classe, imperator. Et revera sic, heu ! est et hodie ; nam minores et pauperes pro levi transgressione graviter puniuntur, sed majores et potentes etiam pro enormibus nihil patiuntur. Sed non glorientur, quia in praesenti sic intacti permanent; nam in futuro poenas debitas cum usura recipient. Tunc potentibus qui hic et perperam pauperes innocentes judicabant, nullum erit consistorium, nullum tribunal ; sed coram illis tunc judicio stabunt, quos hic suo perverso judicio nedum judicabant, sed et seepius condemnabant. O quot injustitiae fiunt hodie in una civitate, de quibus non esset mirum si ipsa et tota patria redigeretur in nihilum !
Aliter enim judicant extraneo quam domestico y afiter minori quam raajori, aliter per carnem conjuncto quam remoto, aliter pauperi quam drviti \ quod omnino et manifeste est contra Legem Dei altissimi. Nulkm quippe legem scriptam in judicando respiciunt, sed secundum affectiones varias quas ad diversas pertonas habent, sententias varias profeirunt, dicentes, sic vel sk mibi videtur - r nec dicunt , sic vel sic in Lege scriptum habetur. Quanta. autem mala injustitia inducit, patet ex bonis quae justitia fecit. De quibus Cyprianus src ait : a Justitia regis, pax populorum, tutamen patriae T unitas plebis , munimentum gentis , cura languorum, gaudium hominum, temperies maris , aeris serenitas , terrae fecunditas, soiatium pauperuaiy heredltas filiorum* et sibimetipsi spes futuras beatitudinis : » haec Cyprianus. Horum. omnium contraria timenda et exspectanda sunt de injustitia; quia in Lege Veteri et Evangelica, legitur popukis punitus propter mala judicia. Et, heu !
injustitia et malorum coftsuetudo in multis locis in tantum excrevit, quod vix exstirpari possit. . Unde quia mala consuetudo mulla mala induck; ideoapud Longpbardos communiter dici consuevi*, quod melius est in civitatem ignem ponere, quam malam. consuefodinem inducere T quia ad exstinguendum ignem omnes currunt, ad malam vero consuetudinem. ampliandam omnes intendunt. Sed utmarax sequerentur doctrinam et ODnsilium Senecce , qui sic dicit de consuetudine : <* Bona consuetudo ocutere debet, qued maktindvxit.
Sicut ergo prius Pharisaeos, sic et Legisperitos de multis nunc redarguit Dominus. . Et primo, de immoderata dominatione et inordinata austeritate» comminando eis, v<r, damnationis, quia aliis onera importabilia imponebant; et ipsi nec uno digito tangere sarcina* curabant, id est aiiis inippsita aec in minimis perficiebant ; aliis erant severi, et sibi nimis propitii ; contra jus naturale in aliis fieri vokbant quod sibi nolebant; dicebant et noa faciebant; docebant grandia et non faciebant minora. Isti diversa pondera habebant; aliter enim facta pnopria, et aliter aliena ponderabant. Ubi Theopkilus : « Quoties enim doctor facit quae docet, alieviat fasceim, tradens ad exemplum seipsuxa. Quando vero nil agit eorum quac docet, tunc graves fasces videntux eis qui doctrinam suscipiunt; ufipote quae nec a doctore possunt portari. » Per istos signantur praeiati, aliis imponentes gtavia et magna, et pauca facientes aut nulla» Unde Gregorius Nyssenus : a Tales sunt modo muifci judtces. aeveri peccan*tium et debiles agonistae ; intoicra^ biles legislatores et debites portito^ res T nec appropinquare volentes nex palpare vitae honestatem, quam irremediabiliter exigumt a subjectis.
Deillr de redarguit Legisperitos; condenanando eos. de simulata devotiom^ et faisa reiigione,, quia ob favoreoa vulgi captandum simulabant sc horrere et condemnare acta et peccata ac perfidiam patrum suaraaa, momtmenta Prophetarum quos occideruni paires, eorum per hypocrisim et non ex ptetafe, magnifice aedificando et ornando quasi dc morte. innocentum. Pcophetarum doLenteS) et dicentesi quod si fuisaeot in diebus patrum , suorum , non , essent, socii in sanguine Prophetarum, ut viderentur justiores patribus suis, qui occiderunt illos; sed ipso epere testificabantur quantum paternee nequitiae consenaerint persequendo Christum Dominum Prophetarum eis promissum, et ab ipsis Prophetis praenuntiatum. Defectufr aliorum videbant et non suos. Qum, ut dick Chrysottomms, alter atoerius culpam facile inteiligit, suam drmcile. Secundum litteraiem sensum, hoc faciebant ut viderentur horrere crudelitatem patrum suorum; et similiter faciunt qui vitia verbis detestantur, ut ab eis immunes ab ignorantibus videantur. Deinde redarguit Legisperitos condemnando eos de prava et perversa Scripturarum expositione ; quia gloriabantur se haibere notithrm Legis et Prophetarum, quam Christus vocat clavem scientiae, et per hanc notitiam potuerunt in fidem et veritatem Christi intrare; sed ipsi malitia excaecati hanc clavem abstulerunt, dicta Legis et Prophetarum, vel truncando, vel perverse intelligendo et exponendo, ac Christi dogmata et opera denigrando; ut fpsi ad intellectum veritatis et fidem non intrarent, nec alios qui intrare desiderabant, intrare permitterent, quia perversitate doctrinae suae prohibebant.
Clavis ergo scientiae est auctoritas docendi, per quam debet intellectus verus Iatens interius aperiri ; et ipsi e contrario claudebant perverse interpretando , et alios in errorem ducendo, ut patet circa praeceptum de honore parentum , quod per suarn* evacuabant doctrinam , ut etiam, secundum Bedam, circa alia plura Domini praecepta. Omnis etiam doctor qui auditores quos verbo aedificat , exemplo scandalizat; nec ipse regnum Dei intrat , nec eos qui poterant intrare permittit. De praemissis redargutionibus Scribarum et Pharisseorum habes latius infra, feria tertia post Palmas, ubi pontintur multa simi*lia, sed non sunt eadem, quia diversis temporibus dicta.
Ultimo exaggerat Pharisaeorum et Legisperitorum nequitiam et obstinationem, qui ex verbis Christi non fuenunt emendati; sed magis pejorati, quia cum, Dominus, haec, praemissa ad illos diceret, veritate offensi coeperunt dociorem veritatis persequi, et dolose sibi insidiari. Cceperunt enim haec graviter insisteve, id est resistere ac instare, et os ejus comprimere, id est sermonem ejus in pluribus interrumpere, seu verba ofis ejus calumniari; de multis insidiantes ei , et multa ab eo insidiose, qucerentes, ut eum terrerent et stupefacerent, quia conturbati minus praevident ; et sic ex variis quaesitis et objectis aliquid calumniarbile de ore ejus extraherent, et in verbis eum caperent, ut accuaare eum possent. Doctrina ergo veritatis fiebant deteriores, qui inde debuerant fieri mefiores. Unde Beda : « Quam vera perfidiae simulationis et impietatis suae crimina audierint, ipsi testantur, o^ui, tanto intonante turbine , non ipsi resipiscere, sed doctorem veritatis insidiis moliuntur aggredi . » 6 9 8 ORATIO Domine Jesu Christe, da mihi ante prandium spirituale, scilicet ante perceptionem sanctae Eucharistiae, per confessionem puram spiritualiter baptizari et lavari, ut ab inimicorum insidiis et accusationibus, te protegente, valeam liberari. Da mihi vitare omnem hypocrisim et simulationem, omnem arrogantiam et ambitionem , ne peccem in te, vel in proximum meum per mendacem usurpationem perfectionis, per excellentiam singularitatis, per temeritatem injusti judicii, vel per pravitatem cujuscunque mendacii, ne cum Pharisasis in vanitate participem, sed te veritate me ducente, per te viam, ad te vitam misericorditer perveniam. Amen.
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