201. Therefore, the one who buys a house is estranged from the kingdom; for those who bought and sold in the time of Noah, as you have read, were overwhelmed by the flood (Luke 17:21), and the one who chooses the yoke of the law rather than the gift of grace, and the one who makes excuses for not marrying a wife; for it is written: If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father, mother, and wife, he cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:21). Indeed, if the Lord renounces his mother for your sake, saying, 'Who is my mother, or who are my brothers?' (Matthew 12:48), why do you desire to prefer yourself to your Lord? But the Lord neither commands to ignore nature, nor to serve nature: but to indulge nature in such a way that you may worship the creator, and not stray from the love of God as a parent.
202. (Vers. 21-23.) Therefore, after despising the pride of the rich, he goes to the Gentiles and commands both the good and the bad to enter, in order to increase the number of the good and to change the disposition of the bad into something better. This is to fulfill what was read today: Then the wolf and the lamb will feed together (Isaiah 65:25). He invites the poor, the weak, and the blind, showing us that no physical weakness excludes anyone from the kingdom, and that those who are seduced by sin are rare if the allurements of sin are absent. Or it may be that the weakness of sinners is forgiven through the mercy of the Lord, so that one is redeemed from guilt not by works but by faith, and thus whoever boasts, let him boast in the Lord.
203. Therefore, he sends messengers to the exits of the roads, for prudence is sung at the exit. He sends to the streets because he sent to sinners, so that they may come from broader paths to the narrow one that leads to life. He sends to the paths and around hedges, because those who are fit for the kingdom of heaven, being occupied with no present desires, hasten towards future things, being established on a certain path of good will. They know how to separate the good and bad things, and to protect themselves against the temptation of spiritual wickedness by offering the defense of faith. Finally, the Lord, in order to show that he had fortified his vineyard, said, 'I have surrounded it with a hedge and dug a trench around it' (Matthew 21:33). And the Apostle says that the middle wall of partition has been removed, which interrupted the continuation of the fortification (Ephesians 2:14). Therefore, faith and reason are sought after, and they are sought after in the streets, that is, in the depths of the inner self; for it is written: 'Let your springs be dispersed in the streets' (Proverbs 5:16).
204. However, this is not enough, that someone is called to come unless he has the bridal garment, that is, unless he has faith and charity. And therefore, whoever does not bring peace and charity to the altars of Christ, will be taken, with feet and hands bound, and cast into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. XXII, 13). What are the outer darkness? Are there also prisons and punishments to be undergone there? No. But whoever acts outside the promises of heavenly commandments is in outer darkness; for the commandments of God are light. And whoever is without Christ is in darkness; for Christ is the light in darkness.
Therefore, there is neither a physical grinding of teeth, nor a perpetual fire of physical flames, nor is there a physical worm. But these things are mentioned because just as fevers and worms arise from a lot of impurity, so if someone does not purge their sins, but rather mixes sins with sins, as if they contracted a certain impurity of old and recent offenses, they will be burned by their own fire and consumed by their own worms. Therefore Isaiah says: Walk in the light of your fire, and in the torches that you have kindled. This is the fire that is generated by the sadness of sins: it is a worm, because the irrational sins of the soul prick the mind and senses, and some consume the depths of conscience: these are born from each one as worms, as from the body of a sinner. Finally, the Lord declared this through Isaiah, saying: And they shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men that have transgressed against me: and their worm shall not die and their fire shall not be extinguished.
206. Also, the grinding of teeth reveals the feeling of indignation; because it is late to repent, it is late to groan, it is late to be angry with oneself, because one has sinned with such stubborn wickedness.
(Chap. XV. — Vers. 4.)
(Chapter 15, Verse 4) Which one of you, he said, if he has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the one that has gone astray?
207. Didiceras in superioribus ablegare negligentiam, vitare arrogantiam, devotionem sumere, saecularibus occupationibus non teneri, caduca non praeferre perpetuis: sed quia fragilitas humanafirmum nequit in tanto saeculi lubrico tenere vestigium, etiam adversus errorem remedia tibi bonus medicus demonstravit, spem veniae judex misericors non negavit. Itaque non otiose sanctus Lucas (Vers. 8 et seq.) ex ordine tres parabolas posuit: ovis quae perierat, et inventa est: drachmae quae perierat, et inventa est: filii qui erat mortuus, et revixit; ut triplici remedio provocati, vulnera nostra curemus; spartum enim triplex non corrumpetur.
208. Who are these, father, pastor, woman? Isn't God the Father, Christ the shepherd, and the Church the woman? Christ carries you with his body, who has taken your sins upon himself, the Church seeks, the Father receives. Like a shepherd gathers, like a mother inquires, like a father clothes. The first is mercy, the second is intercession, the third is reconciliation. Each corresponds to the other: the redeemer helps, the Church intercedes, the author reconciles. The same mercy of divine work, but a different grace for our merits. The weary sheep is called back by the shepherd: the lost coin is found: the son returns to the Father following in his footsteps, and full of repentance, he returns from his condemned error. Hence it is well written: You will save men and animals, O Lord (Psalm 35:8). What are these animals? The prophet said: The seed of Israel in the seed of men, and Judah in the seed of animals (Jeremiah 31:27). So Israel is saved like a man, like a sheep Judah is gathered. Therefore, I would rather be a son than a sheep; for a sheep is sought by the shepherd, but the Son is honored by the Father.
209. Let us therefore rejoice, because that sheep which was lost in Adam is raised up in Christ. The shoulders of Christ are the arms of the cross. There I have put off my sins, there I have rested on the noble neck of the gallows. That sheep is one in kind, not in species: For we are all one body, but have many members. (I Cor. X, 17); and therefore it is written: But you are the body of Christ, and members of member (Ibid., 15). The Son of man came to save what was lost (Luc. XIX, 10); namely, all. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive (I Cor. XV, 22).
210. Therefore, the rich shepherd of whom we all are a hundredth part possesses both Angels and Archangels, Dominions, Powers, Thrones, and countless other hosts whom he has left in the mountains. And since they are rational, it is not without reason that they rejoice in the redemption of humanity. Although this also promotes the incentives of goodness, if each person believes that their conversion will be pleasing to the assemblies of angels, whose protection they should either seek or fear offending. And let the angels of joy rejoice at your return.
211. It is not insignificant that the woman rejoices when the lost coin is found. This coin is not of little value, for it bears the image of the king. And therefore, the image of the king is the wealth of the Church. We are the sheep, let us pray that He may be pleased to place us by the waters of refreshment. We are the sheep, I say, let us seek pasture: we are the coins, let us possess value: we are the children, let us hasten to the Father.
212. And let us not be afraid, because we have advanced in earthly pleasures, of having lost the received spiritual inheritance of dignity, which the Father, in the Son he had, bestowed as a treasure. The census of faith is never depleted: although he has given everything, he has everything; because what he has given, he does not lose. And do not be afraid that he will not receive you: For God is not pleased with the destruction of the living (Wisdom 1:13): even when he meets you coming, he will fall upon your neck: For the Lord raises up the fallen (Psalm 145:8). He will give a kiss which is a pledge of affection and love. He will command that a stole, a ring, and shoes be brought forth. You still fear injury, he restores dignity: you fear punishment, he offers a kiss: you dread reproach, he adorns a feast. But now let us discuss the parable itself.
(Vers. 11, 12.)
There was a certain man who had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of property that will belong to me.'
213. You see that the divine inheritance is given to those who seek it. And do not think that it is the fault of the father, that he gave it to a younger son: no age is weak in the kingdom of God, nor is faith burdened by years. Certainly, he judged himself suitable who requested it. And I wish he had not departed from the father, he would not have known the obstacle of age: but after he left his homeland and went abroad, he began to be in need. Therefore, he rightly wasted the inheritance, who departed from the Church. After leaving home, he said, he left his homeland.
(Vers. 13.)
(Verse 13.) He set out on a journey to a distant region.
214. For what can be more distant than to depart from oneself; not to be separated by regions, but by customs: to be discerned by pursuits, not by lands; and as if there were an intervening heat of secular luxury, to have divisions of actions? For indeed, whoever separates himself from Christ is an exile from his homeland, a citizen of the world. But we are not aliens and strangers, but citizens of the saints and domestic of God (Ephesians 2:19); for we who were far away have been made near by the blood of Christ (Ibid., 2:13). Let us not envy those returning from a distant region; for we also were in a distant region, as Isaiah teaches, saying: Those who sat in the region of the shadow of death, a light has arisen for them (Isaiah 9:2). Therefore, the distant region is the shadow of death: but we, to whom the Spirit of Christ is Lord, live in the shadow of Christ. And for this reason, the Church says: I have desired to sit in his shadow, and I have sat (Song of Solomon 2:3). Therefore, he, living luxuriously, has consumed all the ornaments of nature. Wherever you, who have received the image of God, who have his likeness, do not consume it with irrational abominations. You are the work of God, do not say to a piece of wood: 'You are my father' (Jer. II, 27); do not accept the likeness of wood; for it is written: 'Let those who make them become like them' (Psalm CXIII, 8).
(Vers. 14.)
(Verse 14) A famine occurred in that region.
215. Hunger is not for feasts, but for good deeds and virtues, which are more pitiable than fasting. Indeed, whoever departs from the word of God, hungers: For man does not live by bread alone, but by every word of God (Matthew IV, 4). Whoever departs from the source, thirsts: whoever departs from the treasure, lacks: whoever departs from wisdom, dulls: whoever departs from virtue, dissolves. Therefore, he rightly began to lack, because he abandoned the treasures of wisdom and knowledge of God, and the height of heavenly riches. Therefore, he began to need, and to suffer hunger, because nothing is enough for prodigality. He always suffers hunger, who does not know how to be satisfied with constant nourishment.
(Vers. 15.)
(Verse 15.) So he went away and clung to one of the citizens.