Sermon

A sower went out, et cetera. Holy Mother the Church is a vineyard and a field, for the spiritual fruits of the Church, which are the works of justice, are wine as well as bread. (In ST II-II.80, Thomas enumerates the virtues that are connected with justice, among which is eucharistia. The Sermon is preached at morning Mass.) Wine, because these fruits make joyful: for wine makes joyful, as Psalm 104:15 reads and in Proverbs 13:9 it says: the light of the just ones makes joyful. They are bread, because they make us strong; Psalm 104:15: and bread strengthens a man’s heart. And in Proverbs 12:12 we read: the root of the just ones will not be shaken.

There is one winegrower, one farmer of this vineyard and field, namely, Christ. I am the true vine, he says insofar as he is a man, (Cf. Aquinas, Commentary on John, at 15:1, ch. 15, lect. 1.) and my Father is the winegrower (John 15:1); and insofar as I am God, I am the winegrower with him; (For, insofar as Christ is God, he is equal to the Father; cf. ST I.39.2 and 42.) that is to say, as Augustine says: this winegrower is the whole of the Trinity who plants this vineyard and this field. (Cf. Augustine, Tractates on the Gospel of John, tract. 80, para. 2 (CCSL 36:528; PL 35:1839–40). Ad extra: that is, in creation, God is acting as one: the three Persons of the Trinity do not act independently from one another in creation; that “God” creates, loves, and heals is understood as that the triune God creates, loves, and heals; cf. ST I.45.6; III.23.2. Hence, calling the Father the Creator is not giving an exclusive name to the Father as if only the Father is the Creator and not also the Son and the Spirit. The name Creator is appropriated to the Father, because the word “father” is more associated by us with “source,” or “beginning,” than is “son” or “spirit”; cf. ST I.39.7–8. Likewise, “love” is a name of God which signifies the essence of the triune God; this name is usually appropriated to the Spirit, because love is as elusive as the wind. “Healer” is appropriated to the Son as well as to the Spirit, depending on how the healing takes place: if the person to be cured is touched, it is said to be the work of the Son, but if the cure is formulated as a healing flow, it is appropriated to the Spirit (cf. ST I.39.8, obj. 3, on Luke 6:19: a power went out from him). The basis of appropriation is Scripture.) Thus it says in Jeremiah 2:21: I have planted you as a chosen vineyard, every seed.

Bernard says: let us sow an example for the people through good works, out in the open, as we read (in Matt 5:16): ‘thus may your light shine before the people, that they may see your good works (and praise your Father in heaven).’ (Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons, “In natali sancti Benedicti,” para. 10 (PL 183:380D).) For, on account of the hidden sighs and the like which are only known to them, the joy of God’s angels is great over one sinner who repents, as Luke 15:10 says.

Because of this the Apostle said in Romans 12:17 (Vg): ‘caring for doing good things not only before God but also before the people.’ He said, ‘before God,’ meaning: before the ones who serve in the sight of God. (The angels; cf. Job 1:6, Daniel 7:10; cf. ST I.112.2, obj. 4.) For it pleases them to the highest extent when they see us pray in secret or go over a certain psalm again and again or do something like that. You too, sow! Because many before you have sown. O descendants of Adam, how many have sowed in you and how precious the seed; how disastrously will you perish, and how justly, if so great a seed perishes in you together with the effort of the sowing. You will be handed over to this destruction by the farmer (cf. Matt 3:10, John 15:2), if these seeds perish in you altogether (cf. Luke 8:5b–7). The whole Trinity has sown on our earth, the angels have sown in like manner, and the apostles, the martyrs and the confessors, and the virgins have sown. (Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons, “In natali sancti Benedicti,” para. 10 (PL 183:380D–381A).)

The Father has sown peace from heaven; the Son, truth; and the Holy Spirit, love. (Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons, “In natali sancti Benedicti,” para. 10 (PL 183:381B). Since the name “sower” does not signify God’s essence, these attributions are not called appropriations; it is an attribution according to figurative speech. The basis for the attributions here is found in Scripture: respectively, Romans 1:7 (among others), John 14:6, and Galatians 5:22. Note that such attributions are not strict: on the basis of Romans 1:7 and other texts, Jesus Christ can be called the sower of our peace as well; because of John 16:13 (“the Spirit of truth”), the Spirit can be called the sower of truth (as in ST I-II.106.4, obj. 2; II-II.1.9, s.c.); in John 3:16 the motive for sending the Son is called love, which links “sowing love” also with the Father.) The angels have also sown, because they have stood by others who were falling (cf. 1 Kgs 19:5, 7–8). (Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons, “In natali sancti Benedicti,” para. 11 (PL 183:381B).) It is obvious that the martyrs have sown strength; the confessors, the justice which they have followed during their whole life; and the virgins, temperance, because they have scorned lust. (Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons, “In natali sancti Benedicti,” para. 12 (PL 183:382D).)

Now there are three things that must be considered here:

first, this seed;

second, who the sower is;

and third, the sowing, what and of what nature it is. (Thus the method is this: from (1) the effects to (2) the author—which is also the order in the Prima Pars of the ST, for example, I.2.3—and then (3) what this means for our task of collaborating with him.)

1. So first we must pay attention to the question what that seed is. Well, we cannot say that this seed is anything else than what the Lord says: the seed is the word of God (Luke 8:11). Note that [Jesus] distinctly says: his seed, that is, the seed of the Son of God. This is good seed. The seed that is not his, is bad seed, of which Isaiah 17:10 speaks: tares, as it is called in the Gospel (Matt 13:25–30).

We must carefully consider what that seed is because it saves us from sin. Thus we read in 1 John 3:9: everyone who is born from God does not sin, because the seed of God is in him.

But how can we know whether it is [God’s] seed? I say in the same way as we know that a certain seed is a seed of a particular herb. Well, we know this in three ways:

(1.1) first, because that seed is coming from that herb;

(1.2) second, because the seed is borne in it;

(1.3) third, because it brings forth such an herb.

Hence the seed of Christ is from Christ, which has also appeared in Christ and makes someone similar to Christ, or which leads to Christ. Therefore, the seed of Christ is the seed that is from him as well as in him as well as leading towards him.

1.1. Let us look at the first. I say that the seed of a certain herb is the seed that comes from it. Thus we read in Genesis 1:11: let the earth put forth the green plant which produces its seed according to its own kind. But what seed is coming from the Lord Jesus Christ? I say that the word of wisdom is coming from him. Hence it says in Sirach 1:5 (Vg): the fountain of wisdom is God’s Word in the highest. (Also 1 Corinthians 1:23–24, where (the crucified) Christ is called the wisdom of God; cf. ST III.3.8, 10.4.) Hence whatever pertains to the heavenly wisdom that is in the highest, is a word of wisdom or a seed of God.

But St. James says in 3:15 that there is a wisdom that is not from above; it is earthly, beastly, diabolic. (Cf. ST II-II.45.1, obj. 1.)

Earthly wisdom is the wisdom that is totally occupied with acquiring earthly things. So if you are confronted with a word that stimulates you to acquire earthly things, it is not a seed of God.

Furthermore, beastly wisdom is totally focused on pursuing the pleasure of the body. So, if you are confronted with such a doctrine, you know that it is not a seed of God and that you should not believe it. It is said in Malachi 2:15: what does one look for, but where the seed of God is?

And which is the diabolic knowledge? Job 41:34 reads, it is king over all the children of pride. So the wisdom that is totally focused on being proud is diabolic. (Thomas indicates pride as the beginning of every sin on the basis of Sirach 10:15 (ST I-II.84.2) and Genesis 3 (frequently quoted in ST II-II.162–65).) So if someone confronts you with such a doctrine, it is not a seed of Christ. Hence the Apostle says: my words and my preaching do not come from error or uncleanness (2 Thess 2:3). (Cf. 1 Corinthians 2:4.)

Of what kind, then, is the wisdom that is in the highest, whose fountain of wisdom is the Word of God in the highest?

St. James says in 3:17: the wisdom that is from above is first of all modest. Next, it is peaceful; it does not bring about disagreements. Hence whatever brings about disagreements and is against peace and wisdom from above, is not a seed of God. And it is certain that whenever a teaching leads to rectitude of the virtues, (ST II-II.45.6, obj. 3: therefore, people who have received the gift of wisdom and live in accordance with it are called “children of God,” in accordance with the seventh Beatitude.) it is a teaching of Christ, whereas if it leads towards the corruption of the good, it is not a teaching of Christ. Therefore, it says in Proverbs 8:8: all my words are just, and nothing in them is crooked or perverted. (Cf. ST II-II.34.3, obj. 1, s.c., where Thomas explains this verse by saying that hate towards a neighbor is a perversion, citing 1 John 2:9 and 3:15.)

So, first, a seed of something is what comes from it.

1.2. Second, a seed of something is what is in it. Hence it says in Genesis 1:11: let the earth put forth the green plant which produces its fruit whose seed is in itself. So any teaching that is in Christ is the seed of God. Psalm 109:3 (Vg): in the splendor of the saints I brought you forth from the womb before daybreak. (Psalm 110:3. Thomas’s text reads Lucifer, the Vulgate text lucifer, that is, the carrier of (the) light.) The splendors of the saints are the radiance of the virtues. Well, every radiance of the virtues is derived from the Son of God, just as an example is from the exemplar, for in him all treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden (Col 2:3). (ST I-II.68.1; III.7.2.)

But you could say: “this does not apply to me, for I cannot see the Word in its eternity.” Therefore, it is sufficiently provided for us: that Word has become man, and this [Word that has become man] shows us the example of each teaching of his, whence we read in John 1:14: the Word has become flesh and dwelt among us. Augustine comments on this: God’s wisdom itself is made an example in a man whom it has taken on: an example for the people of returning up above and abiding with the angels. (Augustine, Consensus of the Evangelists, bk. 1, ch. 35, para. 53 (CSEL 43:59; PL 34:1069). Thus Thomas says at the beginning of the Summa theologiae that Christ, insofar as he is a man, is for us the way into God (ST I.2.1, intr.), an implicit reference to John 14:6, where Jesus Christ says that he is the way.) So if someone came and confronted you with a doctrine whose exemplar is not in Christ, it is not a seed of God.

Jovinian came to Rome and preached that being married must be regarded as equal to virginity, (Cf. Aquinas, An Apology for the Religious Orders (Contra impugnantes), ch. 6; On the Perfection of the Spiritual Life (De perfectione spiritualis vitae), ch. 13; Refutation of Teaching that Deters from Religious Life (Contra retrahentes), ch. 1; Jerome, Adversus Iovinianum, I, 3 (PL 23:224B).) although Christ wanted to have a virginal mother and chose her, and although he loved the virginal disciple to the highest extent. (The virginal disciple is John. Especially to religious who take the vow of chastity, this John was presented as a great example: ST II-II.186.4, ad 1 and III.45.3, ad 4.) The heretic Vigilantius preached in France that the state of the rich who give alms is equal to poverty. (Cf. An Apology for the Religious Orders, ch. 6, ad 2; On the Perfection of the Spiritual Life, ch. 13; Contra retrahentes, ch. 1; Quodlibet III, q. 5, a. 2, ad 2.) This teaching is [also] not in Christ, who became very poor for our sake (cf. 2 Cor 8:9).

Augustine says in the book The Christian Struggle: someone who contemplates the things Christ said and did does not miss this perversion; he loves (For Thomas’s terminology of love, see Sermon 1, He Who Is Desired, note in section 3.3.) and thoroughly examines the things said and done by that man, in whom the Son of God offers himself as the example for our life. Thus all men and women, every age and dignity have run to the hope of eternal life: some have run to the divine things, as they do not care about temporal things. Others proceed by their virtues: they practice them and praise what they cannot fulfill. A few, however, murmur and are tormented by too much envy: either they seek after things for themselves in the Church, although they seem to be Catholics, or they are heretics who seek honor in the very name of Christ. (Augustine, The Christian Combat, bk. 11–12 (CSEL 41:116–117; PL 40:298); ST III.42.2, obj. 1.)

Also St. Gregory says: there are several people in the Church who not only do not do good things, but even counteract the good things in others and detest the things in others which they themselves neglect to do. Their actions do not come from weakness or ignorance, but they do this because they are determined to do so. (Gregory the Great, Morals on the Book of Job, bk. 25, ch. 11, para. 28 (CCSL 143B:1254; PL 76:339C); cf. Matthew 12:31; ST II-II.14.1; in other words, the passage here is speaking of rejecting out of contempt the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which prevent us from sinning.) When done with determination, it is a sin against the Holy Spirit, as the teachers say.

1.3. Third, we know whose seed it is when it leads to the same thing. The seed of a tree has the strength to produce a similar tree. (Cf. Aquinas, Commentary on Matthew, at 13:3, ch. 13, lect. 1, n. 1085.) Hence it says in Genesis 1:11: let the earth put forth the green plant which produces its seed according to its own kind. The strength of a species to bring forth is located in the seed, (ST I.78.2, obj. 2; I.92.3, ad 2; I.118.2, obj. 3; I-II.17.9, ad 3; I-II.81.1, ad 4; I-II.81.4; I-II.114.3, ad 3; III.32.1, ad 1; cf. III.31.5, ad 3 (semen feminae).) whence it says in John 10:35: he has called them gods to whom God’s words were spoken. When you hear God’s words with your ear and you love them with your heart and actually fulfill them with works, then God’s words were spoken to you (cf. Matt 13:23, Luke 8:15). But it is true that the life of the saints is slandered, as we read in Wisdom 5:4–5: we, foolish, considered their lives madness and their end without good. But behold how they are reckoned among the children of God. It proceeds: hence, we have strayed from the way of truth (Wis 5:6). I come to the conclusion: therefore you ought to imitate Jesus Christ, so that you may become like him (cf. Song 1:8 [Vg]).

Hence Augustine says, in The Christian Struggle: if you have a high opinion of yourself, may you not scorn imitating him who will be called Son of the Most High. If you think little of yourself, dare to imitate the fishermen and the tax-collectors who have imitated Christ. (Augustine, The Christian Combat, ch. 11, para. 12 (CSEL 41:116; PL 40:298). So if you think imitation of Christ is aiming too high, you can still follow him by imitating the poor sinners who followed him. Cf. Thomas’s explanation of Jesus’s call “follow me” (Luke 5:27), in ST II-II.184.3, obj. 1.)

So the first point is clear, the one about the seed.

2. Now it remains to speak about the second thing, namely, the sower, because it is said that a sower went out.

Who is the one who went out? With certain authority it is Christ, in whose service all teachers are. Isaiah 32:20 says about them: happy are you who sow beside the waters. (Cf. Psalm 1:3 and 23:2, and Ezekiel 47:12.)

This sower, Christ, went out because he wanted to sow. Thus other preachers must go out. There is, however, a difference between Christ and these preachers.

For Christ went out in one single movement in order to teach thereupon, whereas a preacher ought to go out time and again. Christ went out from the hidden bosom of the Father. He says: I have gone out from the Father, not because he had left the Father behind, but because he was made visible, and I have come into the world (John 16:28), although he was there already, but now he appeared as visible. (See Sermon 5, Behold Your King, note in section 0.1; cf. Commentary on Matthew 13:3; Catena Aurea on Luke, at 8:5, ch. 8, lect. 2; Bede, On Luke, bk. 3 [at 8:4] (CCSL 120:173; PL 92:429D–430A); Chrysostom, Homilies on Matthew, homily 44 [45], para. 3 (PG 57:467).) But when? Early in the morning. (Thomas explains this further on, in section 2.2.) Hence it says in the Gospel that the paterfamilias went out early in the morning, at the first hour, to hire workers for his vineyard (Matt 20:1).

Now for a preacher it is necessary to go out in a twofold way:

2.1. in the first way, by leaving the state of guilt, because it must not be so that a preacher preaches to others what he is not doing himself. (A golden rule for preaching; otherwise, he denies his own preaching: 1 Timothy 4:12, Titus 2:7b, as in Luke 11:39–52; cf. ST II-II.97.1, ad 3; II-II.100.3, obj. 2; II-II.187.5, ad 5; III.40.3; III.41.3, ad 1.) Psalm 50:16 reads: yet, to the sinner God has said: ‘why do you speak of my justice?’ Why do you preach that we must not steal, if you are stealing yourself, and that we must not commit adultery, if you are committing adultery? (Romans 2:21–22.) Therefore, we ought to leave the state of guilt, as the Apostle says: go out from their midst and separate yourself from their situation and do not touch anything unclean (2 Cor 6:17). (Cf. ST I-II.102.5, ad 4.)

But whither should we go out when we leave sin? Certainly to Christ, that is, to the Passion of Christ. As the Apostle says: let us go out to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach (Heb 13:13), that is, his cross. (This refers to the desire to be united with the suffering Christ through our own sufferings. This union is desirable, since his suffering is redemptive; we share in his sufferings so that we may share in his glory; cf. Galatians 2:19–20 and Colossians 1:24. The stigmata are a most extraordinary form of such a participation in the Passion.) The Apostle says that the old man is crucified with him, so that the body of sin may be destroyed (Rom 6:6).

When should we go out? Early in the morning. Therefore, it is said, in time of trouble, rise early in the morning (e.g., 1 Sam 29:10), (Cf. Hosea 6:1–3.) and elsewhere: do not hesitate to be converted to the Lord, and do not delay it day after day (Sir 5:7), and in Sirach 21:1: have you sinned? Do not turn to it again.

2.2. The other going out that is necessary for a preacher is leaving the world. (Exitus de mundo or Fuga mundi (cf. ST I-II.39.3). This is the image traditionally used for entering religious life, also for Dominicans and other mendicants who left their monasteries regularly to preach in the city or in the country.) And this is signified in John 4:28–29, where it says that the woman left her water jar and went to announce Christ. Augustine expounds this, saying that someone who wants to preach ought to leave the water jar behind, meaning the cupidity of the world, at least the affections that accompany it, so that he does not love the cupidity either because of the affection or because of its effect. (Augustine, Eighty-Three Questions, q. 64, para. 8 (CCSL 44A:146; PL 40:59); Augustine, Tractates on the Gospel of John, tract. 15, para. 30 (CCSL 36:162; PL 35:1520–21); cf. Aquinas, Catena Aurea on John, at 4:28, ch. 4, lect. 6; Commentary on John, at 4:28, ch. 4, lect. 3, n. 625.)

About this going out, the Lord says in Genesis 12:1 to Abraham: leave your land and your kindred and your father’s house, meaning: let go of whatever is earthly and can be loved, and come into the land that I will show unto you. It is remarkable that he says this, for the law does not lead anyone to perfection (cf. Heb 7:19), and the way of the counsels had not yet been shown.

Therefore, the Lord has said to someone who had observed the commandments: one thing is missing for you; if you want to be perfect, go and sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have a treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me (Matt 19:21). (Mark 10:21; cf. Contra retrahentes, ch. 1.) Come into the land (Gen 12:1): certainly that is the land of vision or contemplation, which is characteristic of the religious life.

But when should we come into that land? Early in the morning, that is, in our youth. Psalm 5:3: early in the morning I will stand before you and I will see you. Jerome’s translation from the Hebrew text reads: and I will contemplate you. (St. Jerome translated Scripture from the original Hebrew and Greek into Latin. The version of the Psalms usually cited by Thomas is the Vulgate iuxta LXX (not the iuxta Hebraica), a translation from the Greek text of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, which was also used in the liturgy. Jerome, Hebrew Psalter, on Psalm 5:5 (PL 28:1130); cf. Aquinas, Commentary on the Psalms, at 5:5.) Isaiah 50:4–5: early in the morning he excites my ear, that I may hear him as my teacher. The Lord has opened my ear, and I have not talked back. Now because a lord has the authority and a teacher has wisdom, he has opened my ear as he came to my ear.

You will say: “I may not do what is said to me, for someone might call me an unlucky, senseless boy.” (Cf. Contra retrahentes, cc. 11, 13.) Against this Isaiah 51:7 says: fear not the people’s reproaches or their blasphemies. Augustine says: let the boys who vowed modesty rejoice. (Augustine, Sermon 270, ch. 2 (PL 39:1658).)

You will say: “I only have a word, but I need an example.” (After all, examples are more convincing than words: ST I-II.34.1.) May the holy boy Benedict come to mind then, who, after leaving his parents behind and temporal goods as well as his nurse, wisely retreated and took up a remote hermitage. (Cf. Gregory the Great, Dialogues, bk. 2, prol.; ch. 1 (PL 66:126AB, 128AC).) If this is not enough for you, let the saintlier boy John the Baptist come to your mind, of whom it says in Luke 1:80: the boy John grew and became strong, and he lived in deserted places until the day of his public appearance. (In the same context, ST II-II.188.8; Contra retrahentes, ch. 3.) If even that is not enough for you, let the holiest boy Jesus come to your mind, who, when he was twelve years of age, stayed behind [in Jerusalem] unbeknownst to his parents, and was found in the midst of teachers (Luke 2:41–43, 46).

But you will say: “three things warn me that I should not leave the world in my youth: (Issues concerned with entering religious life (when, how) are also treated in ST II-II.189, the last question of the Secunda Pars.)

2.2.1. the first is that one must gradually come to perfection, for no one becomes the best at once.” (Gregory the Great, Homilies in Ezekiel, bk. 2, homily 3 (CCSL 142:238; PL 76:959C); cf. Aquinas, Contra retrahentes, ch. 2; Quodlibet IV, q. 12, a. 1, obj. 2; ST II-II.189.1, obj. 2.) But, my dearest, (“Karissime.” This interjection seems to indicate that the secretary gives a very precise account of what Thomas said. Furthermore, it seems to be a sign that he was a vivid preacher. The word also shows Thomas’s sympathy with his audience.) you have less to do to come to perfection in your old age. The Apostle says: may we be brought to the perfect one (cf. Eph 4:13 and Heb 7:19). Some want to become soldiers, others house-builders, et cetera. But there is no one who eagerly desires a certain state without eagerly desiring it in his youth, if he wants to be perfect in that state. (Cf. Contra retrahentes, ch. 3; Quodlibet IV, q. 12, a. 1, ad 2.)

Hence may you from the beginning of your age start with leaving the world, because no matter how much a person makes progress, he always grows. Besides, it is easy to do the things that have become a habit for us from our youth.

Because of this it says in Lamentations 3:27: it would be good for a man, if he carried the yoke from his adolescence, and in Proverbs 22:6: train an adolescent along his way; even when he is old, he will not recede from it. (Cf. Contra retrahentes, ch. 3.)

But you will say “adolescence and pleasure, as it is said in Ecclesiastes 11:10 (Vg), are empty.” (Cf. Gerard of Abbeville, “Duplex quaestio,” in Antonianum 22 (1938): q. 1, 196.) I say that that book is written by way of conclusion, and it has two conclusions: one of the wise and one of the foolish. The conclusion of the foolish is: rejoice, young man, in your adolescence and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes (Eccl 11:9). The other conclusion leads to this advice: do not go after your lusts; if you give in to the lusts of your soul, those will hand you over to the joy of your enemies (Sir 18:30–31). This other conclusion is the one of the wise people: remember your Creator in your youth (Eccl 12:1). (Thus Thomas gives an instruction on how to read Scripture: one cannot just quote verses haphazardly in order to sustain one’s own opinion; the context and the structure of a text are important for a correct understanding of what it says.)

2.2.2. But you will say: “another thing reminds me why I do not want to leave the world from my youth on: I do not know whether it is from the Holy Spirit, (Cf. ST II-II.189.9, obj. 1.) because the saint is usually not brought out in boys.” Well, the Holy Spirit has the freedom from the Father and the Son to blow where he will (cf. John 3:8), and you want to block his paths? Ambrose says: this Spirit is not bent back by ages, nor limited by death, and it is not excluded from the womb. (Ambrose, Commentary on Luke, bk. 1, para. 33 (CCSL 14:23; PL 15:1547B); cf. Aquinas, Contra retrahentes, ch. 13; Catena Aurea on Luke, at 1:15, ch. 1, lect. 5; 1 Samuel 3; Isaiah 49:1; Jeremiah 1:5–6; Ezekiel 37:1–14; Luke 1:15; Galatians 1:15.) Gregory: I want to consider how this Holy Spirit is a master artist, and I fail in my very consideration, because he fulfills a boy who plays the cither and makes a psalmist, he fulfills a shepherd of herds who picks mulberries and makes a prophet, he fulfills a boy who fasts, (Through Gregory, Thomas refers to David. Gregory the Great, Homilies on the Gospels, bk. 2, homily 30, para. 8 (CCSL 141:265; PL 76:1225D); cf. Aquinas, Contra retrahentes, ch. 13.) things which he mentioned in a homily for Pentecost (Gregory the Great, Homilies on the Gospels, bk. 2, homily 30, paras. 1–2 (CCSL 141:256–257; PL 76:1220A–1221B).) and which you have heard before in a sermon on the Holy Spirit. (Not found in Sermon 11, Send Out Your Spirit.)

You will say: “it is not through the Holy Spirit that boys leave the world behind, because many boys are converted, yet do not persevere in religious life; but if it had been from God, they would have stayed in the order.” (Cf. Gerard of Abbeville, “Duplex quaestio,” in Antonianum 22 (1938): q. 1, 196; Aquinas, Contra retrahentes, ch. 8; Quodlibet III, q. 5, a. 1, obj. 4–7.) Be careful, because if you understand this in a perverted way, you give way to the Manichaeans. Mani says that God is not the author of corruptible things and that what comes from God is not destroyed. This heretic (Cf. Peter Lombard, Sentences, ed. Ignatius Brady, Spicilegium Bonaventurianum 4–5 (Grottaferrata: Editiones Collegii S. Bonaventurae ad Claras Aquas, 1971–1981), bk. 3, d. 31, ch. 1, pp. 181–82 (PL 192:819–20); Aquinas, In III Sent. 31.1.1.) also says that grace once possessed cannot be lost. In answer to these things we must explain: God’s works are thoroughly corruptible; it also happens that someone receives the grace of entering religious life, but that the Lord does not give him the gift to persevere—but this does not alter the fact that it comes from God. It is true that the plan of God is not destroyed; it remains forever (cf. Ps 33:11). (Cf. Contra retrahentes, ch. 10; Quodlibet III, q. 5, a. 1, ad 7. Thomas distinguishes between, on the one hand, what is God and in God, for instance, his eternal, unchangeable plan, and, on the other hand, what is not-God, outside God, for instance, how things come to pass in time. The former is perfect as only God can be; it remains forever. Creation, including created grace, comes forth from God’s perfection, but is not God; it is imperfect, unfinished; it grows towards perfection, fulfillment, but can also be corrupted. Cf. how Thomas speaks of God’s eternal will and the execution of it in time in ST I.19.4–9.)

2.2.3. But you will say: “another thing reminds me why I do not want to leave the world behind in my youth: I am a boy, so I cannot carry arms.” (Cf. 1 Samuel 17:38–39; Gerard of Abbeville, “Duplex quaestio,” in Antonianum 22 (1938): q. 2, 200.) The arms of religious life are not the arms of Saul (cf. 1 Sam 26:7–8, 31:9–10), but the arms of David (cf. 1 Sam 17:45; cf. Ps 35:1–3, Wis 5), that is, the arms of Christ (cf. Rom 13:12, 2 Cor 10:4–5). The arms of Saul are the observances of the Old Law, which are heavy arms. Hence St. Peter says: this is a burden that neither we nor our fathers could carry (Acts 15:10). The observances of the New Law (ST I-II.107.4.) and religious life (ST II-II.189.10, ad 3.) are light arms, whence the Lord says: my yoke is sweet and my burden is light (Matt 11:30).

Therefore, early in the morning we ought to leave the world behind and come to Christ. But what will be our fruit? Certainly, attainment of the kingdom of heaven. Thus the Lord says in the Gospel: allow the little ones to come to me, for of such people is the Kingdom of heaven (Matt 19:14). (Cf. Mark 10:14. Also cited in the context of entering religious life: ST II-II.189.5, s.c.)