Chapter 10
[Luke 10:1] -- After these things, the Lord appointed another seventy-two. Just as the twelve apostles clearly represented and foreshadowed the role of bishops, it is to be understood that these seventy-two represented the figure of presbyters, that is, priests of the second order. Although in the earliest times of the Church, as the Apostolic Scripture bears witness, both groups were called presbyters, and both were called bishops. One term signifies the maturity of wisdom, the other the diligence of pastoral care. The fact that seventy-two are sent out is appropriate. Either because the Gospel was to be preached to the same number of nations in the world, just as twelve tribes of Israel were to be embodied with respect to foreign peoples, or that by the very number of preachers, the whole world was to be illuminated by the Gospel of the supreme and indivisible Trinity. Just as it is established that the sun breathes its light's course upon the world through seventy-two hours over three days. For indeed, the Lord Himself calls Himself the day, and His apostles the hours, saying: "Are there not twelve hours in a day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble" (John XI). And it is well commanded in the Psalms: "Declare His salvation from day to day" (Psalm XCV), that is, light from light, true God from true God (John I). Moreover, in many places in Holy Scripture, the mystery of the Trinity is shown through three days, especially because the Lord rose from the dead on the third day. And in the Old Testament, the people arriving at Mount Sinai received the law on the third day. Similarly, they crossed the Jordan River, to which the grace of baptism is commended, on the third day after they reached it.
[Luke 10:1] -- And he sent them two by two before his face into every city and place where he himself was about to come. For there are two precepts of charity, namely, the love of God and of neighbor, and charity cannot be less than between two (for no one properly says he has charity for himself, but his love reaches out to another, so that charity may exist). The Lord sends the disciples two by two to preach, so that he may silently imply to us that anyone who does not have charity towards another should by no means undertake the duty of preaching. But it is well said that he sent them before his face into every city and place where he himself was about to come. For the Lord follows his preachers, because preaching goes before, and then the Lord comes to the habitation of our mind. Words of exhortation precede, and through these, the truth is received in the mind.
[Luke 10:2] -- And he said to them: The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest that he send laborers into his harvest. The great harvest signifies a multitude of peoples. The few laborers signify a scarcity of teachers. These are the laborers spoken of by the Psalmist: Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. Going forth they went and wept, carrying their seeds. But coming back they will come with exultation, carrying their sheaves (Psalm 126). And to speak more clearly, the great harvest is the whole crowd of believers. The few laborers are the apostles and their imitators who are sent into the harvest.
[Luke 10:3] -- Go, behold I send you as lambs among wolves. He calls the wolves the scribes and Pharisees, who are the clergy of the Jews.
[Luke 10:4] -- Do not carry a purse, nor a bag, nor sandals, and greet no one on the road. Such must be the preacher's confidence in God that, though he does not foresee the necessities of this present life, he must most certainly know that they will not be lacking for him. So that, while his mind is occupied with temporal matters, he may be less able to foresee the eternal for others. It is also permitted for him to greet no one on the road, to show how urgently he must continue on his journey of preaching. If anyone wishes to understand these words even allegorically, in the purse money is enclosed. Hidden money is hidden wisdom. Therefore, he who has the word of wisdom but neglects to dispense it to his neighbor is as if he holds money tied up in a purse. And it is written: "Hidden wisdom and hidden treasure, what use is there in both?" But what does the bag signify if not the works of the world? And what do sandals signify in this context if not the examples of dead works? Therefore, he who undertakes the office of preaching is not worthy to carry the burden of worldly affairs, lest, while this weighs down his neck, he fails to rise up to preach the heavenly matters. Nor should he look at the examples of foolish works, lest he believes that his own works, as if from dead skins, are fortified. Anyone who greets on the way greets from the occasion of the journey, not from the pursuit of obtaining that same greeting. Therefore, he who preaches salvation to listeners not out of love for the eternal homeland but out of greed for rewards, greets as if on a journey, since he wishes salvation to listeners out of occasion and not out of intention.
[Luke 10:5] -- In whatever house you enter, first say: Peace be to this house. And if a son of peace be there, your peace will rest on him. But if not, it will return to you. The peace which is offered from the mouth of the preacher either rests in the house if there is a son of peace there, or it returns to the same preacher, for everyone is either predestined to life and follows the heavenly word that he hears, or if no one wants to listen, the preacher himself will not be without fruit, because the peace returns to him, since it is recompensed to him by the Lord for the labor of his work. Behold, however, he who prohibited carrying a purse and bag, grants expenses and sustenance from the same preaching. For it follows:
[Luke 10:7] -- In the same house, remain, eating and drinking what things they have. If our peace is received, it is fitting that we remain in the same house, eating and drinking what things they have, so that we may receive earthly provisions from them, to whom we offer the rewards of the heavenly homeland. Therefore Paul, also receiving these things as of little value, says: If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things (1 Corinthians 9)? And it should be noted what follows:
[Luke 10:7] -- For the worker is worthy of his wages. Because now the wages of the work itself are the supports of sustenance, so that here the reward of the labor of preaching begins, which there is perfected by the vision of truth. In this matter it is considered that two rewards are due for one work of ours, one on the journey, the other in the homeland: one that sustains us in labor, the other that rewards us in the resurrection.
[Luke 10:8] -- And into whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat what is set before you, etc. Having described the various entertainments of different houses, he teaches what they ought to do even in cities, namely, to communicate with the pious in all things, but to separate themselves entirely from the society of the impious.
[Luke 10:11] -- Into whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, going out into its streets, say: Even the dust that clings to us from your city, we wipe off against you. Either as a witness to the earthly labor they undertook for them in vain, or to show that they sought nothing earthly from them, to the extent that they would not allow even the dust from their land to adhere to them. Alternatively: The feet of the disciples signify the very work and journey of preaching. The dust with which they are sprinkled is the lightness of earthly thought, from which even the highest teachers cannot be exempt when they incessantly attend to the healthful cares for the listeners, and as if along the roads of the world, they gather the dust of the earth scarcely with a single heel. Therefore, those who receive the word turn the afflictions and cares of the teachers, which they endured for them, into a testament of humility. But those who spurn the teaching transform the labors and dangers and weariness of the solicitude of the teachers into a testimony of their condemnation. And this is the dust that is wiped off against those who scorn the Gospel, and from which the feet of the evangelists are commanded to be washed by good listeners, or even narrated to be washed by the Savior himself.
[Luke 10:12] -- But I say to you that it will be more bearable for Sodom in that day than for that city. The Sodomites, indeed, amidst so many flagrant vices of flesh and soul, with which they insatiably burned, were also inhospitable, as testified by Ezekiel, but they had no such guests among them as the prophets among the Jews, nor apostles. And Lot indeed was just in sight and hearing, but he is not reported to have taught anything or performed any signs there. And therefore, to whom much is given, much will be required from him (Luke 12), and the powerful will suffer powerful torments (Wisdom 6).
[Luke 10:13] -- Woe to you, Chorazin, woe to you, Bethsaida. Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, also Tiberias, which John names, are cities of Galilee, situated on the shore of the lake of Gennesaret, which is formed by the flowing Jordan, and even by the evangelists is also called the sea of Galilee, or the sea of Tiberias. The Lord therefore laments the cities which, after so many miracles and powers, did not repent. And worse than the Gentiles, who destroyed only the natural law, after the contempt of the written law, did not fear to trample also on the Son of God, and to despise grace with ingratitude.
[Luke 10:13] -- For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented sitting in sackcloth and ashes. We see today the fulfillment of the Savior's saying, because indeed Chorazin and Bethsaida did not want to believe with the Lord present. Tyre and Sidon, however, were once friendly to David and Solomon, and later believed in the disciples of Christ who were preaching. And they accepted the faith with such devotion, that all the citizens of Tyre, accompanying Paul the apostle as he was leaving, with their wives and children, followed him outside the city, and in a most beautiful spectacle, such a multitude of people escorted a very few guests, but the most illustrious for Christ's faith, up to the ships to bid farewell. But why the gospel was not preached to those who could believe earlier, truly it is to know for those to whom it was preached, while the Jews did not want to believe, it is to know for Him, whose all ways are mercy and truth (Psalm XXIV). Surely what the Lord says: Sitting in sackcloth and ashes they would have repented: in sackcloth, which is woven from goat hairs, signifies the harsh memory of the pricking sin, with which the left part is to be dressed on the day of judgment; in ashes, however, demonstrates the consideration of death, through which the whole mass of the human race is to be reduced to dust. Moreover, in the sitting denoted the humiliation of own conscience. Of which the Psalmist: Arise after you have sat (Psalm CXXVI), which is to say: Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you in the time of visitation (1 Peter V).
[Luke 10:15] -- And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to hell. There is a double meaning in this sentence. Either you will be brought down to hell because you have most arrogantly resisted my preaching; or because, having been exalted to heaven by my residence, from my signs and miracles having had such privilege, you will be punished with greater torments, since you refused to believe even these. And lest anyone think that this rebuke applies only to those cities or persons who, seeing the Lord in the flesh, despised Him, and not to all who even today despise the words of the Gospel, He added, saying:
[Luke 10:16] -- He who hears you hears me, and he who despises you despises me. So that anyone, by hearing or despising the preacher of the Gospel, would learn that he is not scorning lowly persons, but the Lord the Savior, and indeed the Father Himself. For it follows:
[Luke 10:16] -- But he who despises me despises Him who sent me. For without doubt the master is heard in the disciple, and the father is honored in the son. It may also be understood this way: He who despises you despises me. He who does not show mercy to one of my least brothers, does not do it to me, because I too took the form of a servant and the condition of a poor person for their sake. But he who despises me, unwilling to believe in God, and trampling on the Son of God, despises Him who sent me, because I and the Father are one.
[Luke 10:17] -- Now the seventy-two returned with joy, saying: Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. They indeed confessed rightly, giving honor to the name of Christ, but because they were still rejoicing in the miracles with weak faith, see what they hear.
[Luke 10:18] -- And he said to them: I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Not only do I see it now, but I saw it before, when he fell. What he said, "like lightning," either signifies a precipitous fall from high to low, or because, having been cast out, he still transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore, because he saw the disciples elevated over their performance of signs, he frightens them by example and recalls them to humility by one who first fell by pride, so that they, remembering him cast out of heaven for pride, may understand that they, made from the earth, will be much more humbled if they become proud.
[Luke 10:19] -- Behold, I have given you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you; that is, the power to cast out every kind of unclean spirit from possessed bodies. Although, even literally, it can be rightly understood; for instance, Paul, attacked by a viper, suffered no harm. And John, as history reports, being given poison, was not harmed. I indeed reason that this distinguishes between serpents, which harm with their bite, and scorpions, which harm with their tail; that serpents openly rage, while scorpions secretly lay traps, signifying either men or demons. Serpents, who present the poison of wicked persuasion against the virtues at the outset; scorpions, who seek to corrupt consummated virtues at the end.
[Luke 10:20] -- However, do not rejoice in this that the spirits are subject to you. They are forbidden to rejoice over the subjection of spirits, being flesh, because casting out spirits, like performing other virtues, is sometimes not a merit of the one doing it, but the invocation of Christ's name does this, given for the condemnation of those who invoke, or for the benefit of those who see and hear it, so that although men may despise those who perform the signs, they still honor God, at whose invocation such great miracles are done. For also, in the Acts of the Apostles, the sons of Sceva appeared to cast out demons, and Judas the apostle, with the intention of a traitor, is narrated to have performed many signs among the other apostles.
[Luke 10:20] -- Rejoice that your names are written in heaven. If Satan (he said) through pride lost the seat of heaven with his companions, it is not fitting for you to rejoice over their humiliation, but over your own exaltation, so that where they fell from, humbled, you may ascend. Additionally, it must not be foolishly supposed that God inscribes the good in heaven and the wicked on earth as a remedy for forgetfulness, as Jeremiah says: All who abandon you shall be ashamed; those who turn away shall be written in the earth (Jer. XVII). But it must be understood beneficially that whether celestial or terrestrial deeds one has performed, he is, as it were, recorded by these deeds, eternally fixed in the memory of God.
[Luke 10:21 ] -- At that very hour, he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said: I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. Confession does not always signify penitence but also thanks, as we very often read in the Psalms. Let those who falsely claim that the Savior was not born but created hear that he calls his Father the Lord of heaven and earth. For if he were also a creature, and a creature could call its creator father, it would have been foolish not to similarly call his own and the Lord of heaven and earth Father.
[Luke 10:21] -- Because you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them to infants. He gives thanks, rejoices in the Father, that he has revealed the mysteries of his arrival to the apostles, which the scribes and Pharisees, who consider themselves wise and prudent, and wisdom justified by her children (Luke VII), have ignored. Where he beautifully opposed infants, that is, the humble, to the wise and prudent, not as foolish and dull but to show he condemned pride, not intellect. For this is the key about which he says elsewhere: You have taken away the key of knowledge, that is, the humility of faith in Christ, by which you could have arrived at the recognition of his divinity, but you preferred to despise and reject it.
[Luke 10:21] -- Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. In these words of the Lord, we receive examples of humility, so that we might not rashly discuss the heavenly counsel concerning the calling of some and the rejection of others. For when He mentioned both, He did not immediately give a reason but said it was pleasing to God in this way. He thus showed that it cannot be unjust what is pleasing to the Just. Hence, in rewarding the workers in the vineyard, when he made some laborers equal in reward despite their unequal work, and one who sweated more in labor sought more reward, he said: Did you not agree with me for a denarius? But I want to give to this last one as I give to you. Or is it not lawful for me to do what I wish? (Matt. XX). In all these things arranged outwardly, the hidden justice of the will is the open cause of reason.
[Luke 10:22] -- All things have been handed over to me by my Father. When you read all things, you recognize the almighty, not discolored, not degenerate from the Father. When you read handed over, you confess the Son, to whom by nature all things of one substance are rightfully proper, not granted as a gift by grace. However, all things which he says were handed over to him are not to be understood as the elements of the world, which he himself created, but as those to whom the Father revealed the sacraments of the Son, being humble in spirit, and concerning whose salvation the same Son, when he spoke these things, rejoiced in the Holy Spirit. Of all these, he says elsewhere: All that the Father gives me will come to me (John VI).
[Luke 10:22] -- And no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. This is not to be understood as though the Son could be known by no one except the Father alone, and the Father not only by the Son but also by those to whom the Son reveals him, but it refers to both when he says: And anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him, so that we may understand both the Father and the Son being revealed by the Son.
[Luke 10:23] -- And turning to his disciples, he said: Blessed are the eyes that see the things you see, etc. Not the eyes of the scribes and Pharisees, who see only the body of the Lord, but those blessed eyes that can recognize his mysteries, about which it is said: And you have revealed them to little children. Blessed are the eyes of the little ones, to whom the Son is worthy to reveal both himself and the Father.
[Luke 10:24] -- For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. Abraham rejoiced that he might see the day of Christ, and saw it, and was glad. Isaiah also, and Micah, many other prophets saw the glory of the Lord, who for that reason are called seers. But all these seeing from afar and greeting (Him) saw through a glass and in a riddle (1 Cor. 13), but the apostles having the Lord in the present time, eating with Him, and learning by asking whatever they wished, by no means needed to be taught through angels or various visions. While Luke calls many prophets and kings, Matthew more explicitly calls them prophets and the righteous. For they are truly great kings, because they know how to not succumb by giving in to the impulses of their temptations, but to command by ruling over them.
[Luke 10:25] -- And behold, a certain lawyer stood up, tempting him, and saying: Master, what shall I do to possess eternal life? The lawyer, who tests the Lord by asking about eternal life, as I think, took the occasion of testing from the very words of the Lord, where he said: But rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. But by his very temptation he declares how true is that confession of the Lord, with which he speaks to the Father: You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them to little children.
[Luke 10:26] -- But he said to him: What is written in the law? How do you read it? He answered, saying: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. As the lawyer responds, our Savior shows us the perfect path to heavenly life. To the one proposing the writings of the law about the love of God and neighbor, He says:
[Luke 10:28] -- You have answered correctly: Do this, and you will live. Then, after introducing a parable responding that the one who showed mercy to the wounded was the neighbor, He adds: Go, and do likewise, that is, remember to love and support your neighbor who needs such mercy. Very clearly declaring that love alone, and not merely shown in word but proven by the execution of deeds, leads to eternal life.
[Luke 10:29] -- But he, wishing to justify himself, said to Jesus: And who is my neighbor? What a great madness of vain glory! The lawyer, to capture the favor of the people, so that he might be seen to have responded wisely, first confesses that he does not know the command of the law, truly according to the Savior's judgment, wise and prudent in the law, but because he does not desire to humble himself with the little ones of Christ, but to justify himself, refusing to receive the blessed eyes of doves washed in the milk of innocence, with which he might see Christ's secrets. Indeed, to him the Lord thus tempered his response, teaching that anyone who shows mercy to another becomes his neighbor, and yet this same parable particularly signifies the Son of God himself, who deigned to become our neighbor through his humanity. For we should not interpret so the neighbor whom we are commanded to love as ourselves so above Christ, as to try to diminish and remove the moral teachings of mutual brotherhood under the rules of allegory.
[Luke 10:30] -- But Jesus, looking up, said: A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. This man is understood to be Adam in the human race. Jerusalem, that heavenly city of peace, from whose happiness he fell into this mortal and miserable life. How well Jericho, which is interpreted as the moon, signifies, variously, indeed, labors of sins and errors, always uncertain.
[Luke 10:30] -- And he fell among robbers. Understand the robbers to be the devil and his angels, upon whom, because he was descending, he fell. For unless he was first internally swollen, he would not so easily fall by external temptation. For it is a very true saying, which says: Before ruin, the heart is exalted (Proverbs 16).
[Luke 10:30] -- And they stripped him. Namely, they deprived him of the glory of immortality and the garment of innocence. For this is the first robe with which, according to another parable, the prodigal son, returning through repentance, is adorned, and which the first parents lost, realizing they were naked, and clothed themselves with tunics of mortal nature.
[Luke 10:30] -- And after inflicting wounds, they went away, leaving him half-dead. The wounds are sins, by which, violating the integrity of human nature, they implanted a kind of seedbed of increasing death (so to speak), into the wearying bowels. But they went away, not ceasing from ambushes at all, but by concealing the frauds of the same snares. They left him half-dead because they could strip away the happiness of immortal life, but could not abolish the sense of reason. For in that part where he can understand and know God, man is alive. But from that part where he decays in sins and fails in misery, he is dead and defiled with a deadly wound.
[Luke 10:31] -- It happened that a certain priest was going down the same way, and upon seeing him, he passed by. Similarly, a Levite, when he was near the place and saw him, passed by. The priest and the Levite, who, seeing the wounded man, passed by, are the priesthood and ministry of the Old Testament, where through the decrees of the law the wounds of the languishing world could only be shown, but not healed, because it was impossible (as the Apostle says) for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins (Hebrews 9).
[Luke 10:33] -- However, a certain Samaritan, as he was traveling, came near him, and seeing him, was moved with compassion. The Samaritan, which means "guardian," signifies the Lord, about whom the prophet most rightly prays, so that he may not fall upon these robbers. He says, "Guard me from the snare they have set for me, and from the traps of those who work iniquity" (Psalm 140). Who, for us men and for our salvation, descending from heaven, undertook the journey of this present life, and came near to him who was languishing with inflicted wounds, that is, being made in the likeness of men and found in human form (Philippians 2), became close to us by taking on our compassion and was made a neighbor through the consolation of mercy.
[Luke 10:34] -- And approaching, he bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Sins, which he found in men, he restrained by reproving, instilling hope of pardon in those who repent, and terror of punishment in those who sin. For he binds up the wounds when he commands: "Repent," he pours oil when he adds: "for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3). He also pours wine when he says: "Every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire" (ibid.).
[Luke 10:34] -- And setting him on his own beast, he brought him to an inn, and took care of him. His beast is the flesh, in which he deigned to come to us. And he set the wounded man on it because he bore our sins in his body on the wood (1 Peter 2); and according to another parable, having found the sheep that had strayed, he placed it on his shoulders and brought it back to the flock (Luke 15). Therefore, to be set on the beast is to believe in the very Incarnation of Christ, to be initiated into his mysteries, and simultaneously to be protected from the enemy's attack. The inn is the present Church, where travelers are refreshed, returning from this pilgrimage to the eternal homeland. And rightly so, he brought him to the inn, having set him on the beast, for no one will enter the Church unless baptized, unless united to the body of Christ.
[Luke 10:35] -- And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, and said: Take care of him. The next day is after the Lord's resurrection. For even before, through the grace of his Gospel, he had enlightened those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death (Luke 1), but more so, after the celebration of the resurrection, the splendor of perpetual light shone forth. The two denarii are the two Testaments, in which the name and image of the eternal King is contained. For Christ is the end of the law (Romans 10). The two denarii were given to the innkeeper the next day: because at that time he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures (Luke 24). The next day the innkeeper received the denarii, by whose value he would heal the wounded, because the Holy Spirit came and taught the apostles all truth (John 16), so they might steadfastly teach the nations and preach the Gospel.
[Luke 10:35] -- And whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I return. The innkeeper spends more than he received in the two denarii, when the Apostle says: Concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord, but I give my advice (1 Corinthians 7). And likewise: The Lord ordained that those who preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel (1 Corinthians 9). But we did not use this power, lest we should hinder any of you (1 Thessalonians 2). To whom, returning, the debtor will repay what he promised, because the Lord, coming in judgment, says: Because you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord (Matthew 25).
[Luke 10:36] -- Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers? And he said: The one who showed mercy towards him. According to the letter, the Lord's judgment is clear: no one is more our neighbor than the one who shows mercy, if to a citizen of Jerusalem, neither the priest nor the Levite from the same people, indeed born and raised in the same city, but a resident of a foreign nation, because he showed more mercy, became a neighbor. In a more sacred understanding, since no one is more a neighbor than the one who healed our wounds, let us love him as the Lord our God, let us love him as a neighbor. For nothing is so close as the head to the members. Let us also love him who is an imitator of Christ. This is indeed what follows:
[Luke 10:37] -- And Jesus said to him: Go and do likewise. That is, so that you may truly show that you love your neighbor as yourself, perform with devotion whatever you can to help his spiritual necessity.
[Luke 10:38] -- It happened, as they were going, that he entered a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister named Mary. This reading is beautifully connected to the preceding one. For as that one designates love of God and neighbor through words and parables, this one designates it through deeds and truth. These two beloved sisters of the Lord demonstrate the two spiritual lives by which the present holy Church is exercised. Indeed, Martha represents the active life, by which we are united to our neighbor in charity; Mary represents the contemplative life, by which we long for the love of God. For the active life is to give bread to the hungry, to teach the ignorant the word of wisdom, to correct the erring, to bring back the proud to the way of humility, to take care of the sick, to dispense what is expedient to each one, and to foresee how those entrusted to us may be able to subsist. The contemplative life, however, is to retain the love of God and neighbor with the whole mind, but to rest from external action, adhering solely to the desire of the Creator, so that one no longer wishes to act but, having cast aside all cares, the soul burns with the desire to behold the face of its Creator, so that it regrets to bear the burden of the corruptible flesh and with all its desires aspires to join the hymnic choirs of angels, to be mixed with the heavenly citizens, to rejoice in the eternal incorruption in the sight of God.
[Luke 10:39] -- And she also, sitting beside the feet of the Lord, listened to His word, but Martha was distracted by frequent ministering. No one doubts that these things suit both lives. And the uniform perfection of the contemplative life is indeed to have a mind stripped of all earthly things, and, as much as human weakness allows, to unite with Christ. But the frequent ministry of active life is taught by the Master of the nations, who in the numerous statements of his Epistles, recounts his labors by land and sea for Christ, his dangers. In which, also commending the visions and revelations of the Lord, he signifies that he was also completed in the speculative virtue, which is imitable by very few. Hence he says: For whether we are beside ourselves, it is to God; or whether we are sober, it is for your cause (II Cor. V).
[Luke 10:40] -- And she stood and said: Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her therefore to help me. He speaks from the perspective of those who, still ignorant of divine contemplation, consider that the work of brotherly love alone is pleasing to God, and therefore think that all who wish to be devoted to Christ should be bound to this. And it is well described that Martha stood while Mary sat beside the feet of the Lord, because the active life toils in laborious struggle, while the contemplative life, with the tumults of vices pacified, enjoys the desired repose of the mind in Christ.
[Luke 10:41] -- And the Lord answered and said to her: Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but only one thing is necessary. And blessed David, defining this one thing necessary for man, desires to continually cling to God, saying: But it is good for me to cling to God, to put my hope in the Lord God (Psalm LXXII). And elsewhere: One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple (Psalm XXVI). Therefore, one and only theology, that is, contemplation of God, to which all merits of justifications and all studies of virtues are justly postponed.
[Luke 10:42] -- Mary has chosen the best part, which will not be taken away from her. Behold, the part of Martha is not blamed, but Mary’s is praised. For he does not say that Mary has chosen a good part, but the best, so that Martha's part may also be indicated as good. But why the part of Mary is the best is explained when it is said: Which will not be taken away from her. For the active life ceases with the body. For who will give bread to the hungry in the eternal homeland, where no one is hungry? Who will give drink to the thirsty, where no one thirsts? Who will bury the dead, where no one dies? Therefore, with the present age, the active life is taken away. But the contemplative life begins here, so that it may be perfected in the heavenly homeland. For the fire of love that begins to burn here, when it sees the very one whom it loves, burns more intensely in love. Therefore the contemplative life is by no means taken away, because it is perfected with the light of the present age being withdrawn.