Tuesday, 24 September 2013
Tuesday of the Twenty-fifth week in
Ordinary Time
 |
| Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe |
Second Reading
From a sermon by Fulgentius of Ruspe
Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe, Sermon 5, 5-6: CCL 91A, 992-923
Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe, Sermon 5, 5-6: CCL 91A, 992-923
When our Lord
gave the commandment of love for one's enemies, his hearers may have found it
bitter: I ask you, therefore to taste the sweetness of his promise to those
who obey. Let this sweet delight abide in your heart, and the difficulty of
that bitterness will be surmounted. People who love their enemies and do good
to those who hate them will be children of God!
The blessed
Apostle reveals the reward these children of God are to receive: The Spirit himself bears witness to our
spirit that we are children of God. But if we are children then we are heirs as
well: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. Pay heed, then, Christians; pay heed, children of God;
pay heed, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ: If you wish to receive your
patrimony, love not only your friends but also your enemies. Deny no one the
love which all the righteous have as a common possession. Let everyone have it
at once, and so that you may have it more fully, bestow it upon good and bad
alike. Such a sharing of good things in common is by no means an earthly
virtue: it is heavenly. There is therefore nothing in it to restrict those who
share in it.
Love increases
as cupidity decreases; moreover, love never fails to free those whom worldly
desires do not hold captive. Love is a gift of God. As the Apostle says: God's love has flooded our hearts through
the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Avarice is a snare of the devil, and not only a snare but
a sword: by means of it he captures poor wretches and puts them to death. Love
is the root of all good; avarice
is the root of all evil.
Avarice brings
ceaseless torment because it is never satisfied with its booty. Love, on the
other hand, brings joy because the more it increases the more generously it
gives. Consequently, while their acquisitions impoverish those who desire evil, charitable givers are enriched by their gifts. The greedy are troubled,
seeking revenge for injuries inflicted on them; the charitable are at peace,
delighting to forgive any harm done to them. The avaricious avoid practicing
the works of mercy, while the charitable perform them cheerfully. The object
of the avaricious is to injure their neighbors; the charitable do them no harm.
By self-exaltation the greedy sink down into hell; by humbling themselves the
charitable ascend to heaven.
But when shall
I ever be able fittingly to sing the praises of love, which is not solitary in
heaven or bereft on earth? For on earth it is fed by the words of God; in
heaven it is filled by the words of God. On earth it has the company of friends,
in heaven the fellowship of angels. It toils in the world; it finds rest in
heaven.
Responsory 1 In
4:16.7
God is love, and
those who live in love live in God, + and God lives
in them.
V. Let us love
one another, for love comes from God and knows God. + And God lives ...
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