Augustine, Sermones 341-346 (Classis IV, de Diversis)

unless He had lit the lamp for you, He to Whom it is said: Thou wilt light my lamp, O Lord? (Ps. 17:29). So now you have found it, since He lit the lamp for you. See why you would lose it. For what has been found so carefully is not to be lost at random. He does not say, Whoever loses it shall find it; but, Whoever loses it for My sake. If perhaps you look upon the body of a shipwrecked merchant on the shore, you shed tears in pity, and you say: Woe to this man! For gold he lost his soul. You lament rightly, you pity rightly. Render weeping to him to whom you do not also render help. For although for gold he could lose his soul, for gold he could not find it. For the loss of his soul he was fit; for gaining it he proved less fit. For one must not consider what he lost, but why he lost it. If on account of avarice, see, there lies the flesh: where is what was dear? And yet avarice commanded, and for gold the soul was lost; and for Christ the soul does not perish, nor may it perish. Fool, do not hesitate: hear the counsel of the Creator. He Himself instructs you that you may be wise, He Who made you before you were someone to be wise. Hear: do not hesitate to lose your soul for Christ. To a faithful Creator you entrust what you are said to lose. You indeed will lose it: but He receives it, for Whom nothing perishes. If you love life, lose it that you may find it: for when you have found it, there will no longer be anything for you to lose, there will be no reason for you to lose it. For that life is found which is found in such a way that it can in no way perish. For Christ too, Who by being born, by dying and by rising gave you an example, rising from the dead now dies no more, and death shall no longer have dominion over Him (Rom. 6:9).

Sermon 345. On contempt of the world.

1. The present life is to be despised in the hope of the future life. To the rich this life is a dream. Let me speak to your Charity, brothers, about what pertains to contempt of the present age, to hope of the age to come. If you ask what you should despise: every martyr despised the present life; if you ask what you should hope for, I say the resurrection, because today the Lord rose again. O man, if you stagger in the reality, be firm in hope; and if the labour troubles you, let the reward itself raise you up. The Apostle too admonishes us, when he instructs Timothy, saying: Instruct the rich of this world not to be proud-minded, nor to hope in the uncertainty of riches, but in the living God, Who furnishes us with all things. Let them be rich in good works, let them give readily, let them share, let them treasure up for themselves a good foundation, so that they may lay hold of true life (1 Tim. 6:17–19). And the rich above all ought to hear this. Hear, you rich, who have gold and silver, and yet burn with greed: when the poor look upon you, they murmur, they groan, they praise and they envy; they long to be made equal, and they grieve that they are unequal; and amid their praises of the rich they mostly say this: These alone exist, they alone live. On account of these words, with which men of slender means flatter the rich when they say, These alone live, lest you be lifted up into pride, O you rich, rather hear the Apostle, the healer of disease, and not the flatterer in speech.

This life is your sleep: these riches flow away as in dreams. Paul says, that they may lay hold of the true life. Listen to Paul, and do not be proud. Listen also to the Psalm, O you rich man most poor; what do you have, if you do not have God? Or what do you not have, if you have God? Concerning the rich the Psalm says, They have slept their sleep, and all the men of riches have found nothing in their hands (Ps. 75:6). Sometimes a beggar too, lying on the ground and shivering with cold, overtaken by sleep, dreams of treasures; he rejoices, exults, grows proud, and disdains to look at his ragged father. What you see is in dreams, O you beggar, who sleep and rejoice. Yet until he wakes, he is rich: when he has slept, he finds something to grieve over for certain. The rich man, then, when dying, is like that poor man sleeping and dreaming of treasures. For that rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen, neither named nor to be named, the despiser of the poor man lying before his gate, feasted sumptuously every day; afterwards he died, and was buried: he woke up, and found himself in the flame (Luke 16:19–24). He slept his sleep, and after his sleep he found nothing; because he had worked nothing with his hands, that is, with his riches.

2. A life that will perish is ransomed with all one's goods: at what price eternal life must be bought. Riches are sought for the sake of life, not life for the sake of riches: how many have made terms with their enemies, so as to ransom their life alone? However much they had, they gave it all, only so as not to lose their life. Did you give the barbarians all that you had, brother? All, he says, I gave; I was left naked; even if naked, I shall live. And why? I was to be killed entirely, so I gave everything. And why did this happen to you? Do you want me to tell you? Because before the barbarian came upon you, you did not come to the aid of the poor man, so that through the poor man your alms might reach Christ? To Christ you did not give a little, and to the barbarians you gave all that you had, and you gave it with an oath besides. Christ asks, and does not receive: that man tortures, and takes away everything. If you ransomed a life that will perish at so great a price, at what price must eternal life be purchased? You who give to the enemy so that you may live a beggar, give something to Christ, so that you may live blessed. So that you may live a few days, you do what the enemy demands, and what Christ demands, do you despise? All the days of a man from infancy to old age are few: and if Adam himself were dying today, he would have lived few days, because he would have come to the end of them all; he who would indeed have lived six thousand years; and yet they would be few, because he would have come to the end of them all. You ransom a few toilsome days, full of temptations, so that you may have a small piece of land, that is, an estate. See, the enemy who had taken you captive says to you, Give me whatever you have: and to live you gave everything; ransomed today, to die tomorrow; ransomed from this one, to be slaughtered by another. See how much men suffer at the hands of barbarians for the sake of temporal life, and it irks them to suffer anything for eternal life! Let these dangers instruct us, brothers. See, you gave everything, and cast it away; and you rejoice because you live, and you say this: Though poor, naked, needy, a beggar, I rejoice because I live, and I have not lost this sweet light. Let Christ appear; let Him too make terms with you: not the barbarian who had taken you captive, but He Who was taken captive for you, Who deigned to be killed for you. He Who Himself

gave for you, He Himself says to you: Make a bargain with Me. Do you want to have yourself? Have Me too. You must hate yourself, and love Me. By losing your life you will find it, lest by holding on to it you lose it.

3. Riches, lest they perish here, are to be sent ahead into heaven. About your riches, which you love to possess, which you are ready to give for the present life, I give you counsel as to what you should do. If you love them too, do not lose them. But if you love them here, they will perish with you. If you love them, send them ahead to where you may follow; lest, while you love them on earth, you lose them either alive or dead. I have already given counsel: I did not say, Lose; but, Keep. I have already said, Do you want to lay up treasure? Good: I do not say, Do not; but I say where. Take me as a counsellor, not as a destroyer. It is written, Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where no thief approaches, nor moth nor rust destroys (Matt. 6:20). But perhaps you say: I do not see a place in heaven where I may put it. What ladder, what contrivance am I to seek, that might reach to heaven, so that I may see where to put my money? What are you saying? Do you see a place on earth where you bury it? I see it, he says. Well enough: if you are untroubled in burying it in the earth, why are you anxious about God, Who made heaven and earth? Give to God untroubled. Entrust yourself to Him, Who keeps your money for you in heaven; for He also governs you on earth, as long as you live. Do you want to keep your money? Keep it as you wish. If you find a better guardian than Christ, entrust your money to him. I entrust it, he says, to my servant. Good: how much better to your Lord? And do you set your servant before your Lord? O Christian man! Your servant will perhaps carry it off and flee: is Christ going to do this? Many servants have suddenly turned enemies to their masters, and have handed them over to enemies along with the very gold. To whom then do you entrust it? To my servant, he says. I know the faithfulness of my servant, and therefore I entrust my gold to my servant. Well enough, you prefer your servant, you entrust your gold to your servant: your soul, to whom? My soul I entrust to my God. How much better, O man, to entrust to Him your gold also, to Whom you entrust your soul too? Or is He perhaps faithful in guarding your soul, and unfaithful in guarding your money? He keeps it for you, Who keeps you too. Do you praise the faithfulness of your servant? Yes, I know the faithfulness of my servant. His whole faithfulness consists in not defrauding, not taking it away: does he see to it that he does not lose it? Look, he put it away, and it did not stay hidden; another found it, and took it. Is anyone going to do this to Christ? Shake off sloth, take counsel. Give to Christ when He hungers, lay up treasure in heaven. Is it any labour to lay up treasure in heaven? Even if it were a labour, it ought to be done in order to put your money in a fortified place, from which no one could take it away. Yet when Christ says, Lay up treasure in heaven, He does not say to you, Seek ladders, bind together contrivances, fit on wings. He says this: Give to Me on earth, and I keep it for you in heaven. That is why I came to be in need on earth, so that you might be rich in heaven. Make a transfer of funds. Perhaps you fear a swindler, lest you lose it; and you seek someone to carry it, someone to take it across. Christ is at hand for you in both respects. He will not commit fraud; moreover He will even do the carrying.

4. Christ receives what is paid out to the poor. A man's heart is with his treasure. But where do I find Christ,

he says, on earth? Where do I find Him, that I may give to Him? Since my faith holds what I hear in the Church (this I have learned, so I have believed, in this sacrament I have been instructed): He suffered, died and was buried, rose again on the third day, after forty days ascended into the heavens, sits at the right hand of the Father, and at the end will come. When do I find Him here? To whom shall I give, that he may carry it to Him? Do not fret; hear the whole: or if you have heard or read the whole, have you never heard this, that when Saul was persecuting the Church, proud, cruel, thirsting for the blood of Christians, have you not heard what He cried out to him, He Whom you confess as seated in heaven? Recall it. What then did He say? Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me (Acts 9:4)? He Whom Paul neither saw nor touched cries out in heaven, Why do you persecute Me? He does not say, Why do you persecute My household, My servants, My saints, or My brothers? He said none of these. And what did He say? Why do you persecute Me? He says, that is, My members. For these, trodden upon on earth, the head cried out from heaven: for even if someone treads on your foot on earth, your tongue cries out from the head; you do not say, You are treading on my foot; but, You are treading on me. Why then do you hesitate? What do you say? He Who said to Saul, Why do you persecute Me? Himself says to you, Feed Me. On earth Saul raged, and touched Christ in heaven: so you too, give out on earth, and you feed Christ in heaven. For this very question which troubles you the Lord Himself foretold. Those too who will be placed at the right hand will be troubled, and when He says, I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat; they will answer, Lord, when did we see You hungry? And they will hear at once, When you did it to one of the least of Mine, you did it to Me (Matt. 25:35–40). If you have heard this, say openly, I do not want to give: and you have nothing with which to excuse yourself, but only your own voice with which to condemn yourself. Concerning your riches, then, your Lord says to you, I have given counsel as to what you should do: do you love riches? I love them, you say. Then move them elsewhere, and when you have moved them, follow them meanwhile with the heart, while you live: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Matt. 6:21). But if you bury your heart in the earth, blush, because you are lying when you respond, on hearing, Lift up the heart. For it is said, Lift up the heart; and at once you respond, We have [it] to the Lord. You lie to God. For one hour in church you do not speak the truth, you lie to God, as you always do to men. You say, We have [it] to the Lord, and you keep your heart buried in the earth; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

5. The true riches of the kingdom of heaven. Earthly riches bring nothing but anxiety. To give out your goods is not enough, unless you also follow Christ If you have done with your riches what you have heard, if you have been the kind of rich man the Apostle speaks of, so that you are not high-minded, nor hope in the uncertainty of riches; that you may treasure up for yourself a good foundation for the future, that you may lay hold of true life: then ask your God and Lord, and say to Him, Behold, O Lord, I have now moved into heaven what I had; or what I have, I so have it as if I did not have it. Is the kingdom of heaven worth as much as my patrimony? It is worth more. For it is not truly of such a kind as to be worth only so much. This your Lord says, Whom you asked about your patrimony: You are to live for a time, and afterwards to die; in

My kingdom you are never going to die, but are going to live for ever. You will be truly rich there, where you will never be in want. For this is why you seek many animals for conveyance, so that you may not grow faint; for food, abundant feasts; for clothing, precious garments. Are you really rich by having many things, and is My angel poor? He has nothing; he neither uses a horse, nor rides in a carriage, nor fills a table with fine furnishings; nor is a garment woven for him, because he is clothed with eternal light. Learn, O rich man, to seek true riches. You want to have these riches so that you may have the means to eat much, because you grow faint: He makes you truly rich Who grants you never to hunger for eternity. For however much you may have, when the fifth hour has come, before you approach the table, you hunger, and you grow faint, because you are wretched. Does the angel endure this? Far from it. The angel has neither hunger nor faintness. Finally, you pant proudly after these feasts. This is not the filling of needs, but the smoke of cares. When you think about increasing your riches, see whether you sleep easily. Unless I am mistaken, where you found riches, you lost rest. When you are awake, you think about the increase of your riches; when you sleep, you dream of robbers. Anxious by day and fearful by night, always a beggar. He wishes to make you truly rich Who promises you the kingdom of heaven: and do you think that you are going to buy those true riches, that true and blessed life, at as high a price as you are ready to pay to redeem these wretched and toilsome days? Something that is much greater ought to be worth much more; for it is the kingdom of heaven.

6. The same argument is treated. And what am I to do, you say? See, holy bishop, I have heard your admonitions, I have obeyed your counsel, I have not despised the Lord's command; what I had I have given to the poor, and what I have I share with the needy; what more can I do? You still have something, you have yourself: you yourself are more, you are lacking to your possessions, you are to be added. Have you carried out the counsel of your Lord? I have, he says. Why do you lie? You have not carried it out entirely: in one part you have carried it out, the other you have not touched. Hear what He commands: Go, sell all that you have, and give to the poor. Did He let him go? And lest he should think that he was losing what he had paid out to the poor, He made him secure, saying, And you will have treasure in heaven. Is this enough? No. And what then? Come, follow Me (Matt. 19:21), He says. Do you love, and do you wish to follow Him Whom you love? He has run, He has flown: ask where. I do not know where. O Christian! do you not know where your Lord went? Do you want me to tell you by what way you may follow Him? Through afflictions, through insults, through false charges, through spittings in the face, through slaps and the strokes of scourges, through the crown of thorns, through the cross, and through death. Why are you sluggish? See, the way has been shown to you. But the way is hard, you say; who would follow Him by it? Blush, barbarian, blush: you are called a man from virtue. Women have followed, whose birthday we celebrate today. Of the Suburbitan women martyrs,