"He who is of God hears the words of God,
Therefore you hear them not, because you are
not of God.” - John 8:47
A word is accepted or rejected for
three reasons: because of the person who speaks it, because of the word that is
spoken, because of those who hear it. For this word to be honored and accepted,
the one who is speaking it must be a good man, a virtuous man, one worthy of
being believed. Otherwise, rather than being accepted, it will be rejected,
despised. Further, what is said must be good and true. Finally, those who
hear it must be good, prepared to receive it; if not, it will be neither
accepted, honored, nor kept.
This is what Our Lord teaches us in the
Gospel Holy Church offers us today, in which He reproaches the scribes and pharisees
for not receiving His words-for which they are to blame. [In. 8:46-59]. He
says: "Why do you not believe the truth I teach?" Their nonbelief
thoroughly astonished Him is as though He meant to say: "You really have
no excuse, for which one of you can convict Me of sin? Why then do you not
believe Me, since what I am telling you is truth itself? I cannot err.
Therefore your disbelief must stem from your own wickedness and sinfulness.
Certainly neither I nor the word I teach is to blame."
Thus, it is necessary that the one
proclaiming God's word be irreproachable, and his life congruent with his
teaching. If this is not the case, the word will be neither honored nor accepted.
For this reason God forbids sinners to announce His word [Ps. 49 (50):16-17].
He seems to say: "Miserable one, how dare you teach My doctrine with your
lips and dishonor it with your life? How can you possibly expect it to be
accepted from a mouth so full of infectious sin? I will not permit such a one
to proclaim My will." Thus He has forbidden sinners to announce His sacred
word, fearing it will be rejected by those who hear it.
Be careful here. It is not all sinners
who are forbidden to preach, but only notorious ones. Otherwise, who could announce
God's word, since we are all sinners? Whoever says the contrary is guilty of
grievous untruth. [1 In. 1:8]. Even the Apostles were sinners. Those who allege
never to have sinned are guilty of a very great delusion indeed. The contrary
is actually clear at the very moment they allege it. St. Augustine teaches this explicitly when he
writes that the daily petition in the Lord's Prayer, "forgive us our
trespasses" [Matt. 6:12],
is not only a word of humility but also one of truth because, due to our frail
humanity, we commit offences at every turn.
All are sinners, but not all are to be
silent and refrain from teaching God's word, but only those who live a life wholly
contrary to this divine word. Yet even if this word is preached to us by
evildoers, we ought not reject it, but accept it, doing as the bees do who gather
honey from almost all the flowers of the fields. Even though some of these flowers
are harmful and poisonous, they skillfully draw out honey, a celestial dew
untainted by poison.
As confirmation of what I say, I will
gladly relate a beautiful example found in the life of the great St. Ephrem. He
was indeed a great man, not only because he was a deacon to two illustrious
Doctors of the Church, but because he too was a great Doctor, having written
very beautiful teachings which truly delight those who read them. This great
saint was reared very carefully and nourished from his earliest years on the
eremitical life. After many years in the desert, he was inspired by God one day
to go to Edessa,
his native city. He had always left his heart open and receptive to the Divine
Majesty, eager to receive the precious dew of heavenly inspiration, and he had
always faithfully accepted them in obedience. Thus he readily embraced this one
too.
He went promptly to the city. As he
drew near, he was convinced that God must have something important to teach him
in calling him from his hermitage. Falling on his knees, he prayed most
fervently for the grace to meet someone in the city who would serve as his
director and lead him to God's will. Full of confidence that the Lord would
hear him, he got up. When he reached Edessa
he came upon a prostitute. Disturbed, he said to himself: "My God, I asked
You to let me meet someone who would teach me what Your good pleasure wants of
me. Instead, I meet this unfortunate woman." Eyeing her disdainfully, he
noticed that she too was looking at him attentively. Enraged at her boldness,
he demanded: "Why, miserable woman, do you look at me so?" She
responded very cleverly and learnedly: "I have the right to look at you,
but you have no right to look at me. You know that woman was drawn from the
side of man. [Gen. 2:21-23]. Therefore, I am only looking at the place of my origin.
But man was created from the earth [Gen. 2:7], so why are you not continually
looking down at the earth, since that is the place from which you were
drawn?"
This great saint truly valued the
teaching of the wretched woman, received it humbly, and even warmly
acknowledged his gratitude to her. From that moment on, he so valued that
lesson that not only did he always keep his bodily eyes lowered to the ground,
but even more so his interior and spiritual eyes, which he kept riveted on his
nothingness, his vileness and his abjection. In this way he made continual progress
in the virtue of most holy humility all the rest of his life.
This story teaches us how we should
honor and esteem God's word and good teachings even if they are presented by
persons of ill repute. After all, the Lord desired that a prophet should be
instructed by an ass [Num. 22:28-30],
and that wicked Pilate should announce the great truth that our divine Master
is Jesus [Matt. 1:21] --
that is, Savior -- a title which he even placed above the Cross, insisting:
"Such is the case, it is I who have said so." [In.
19:22]. Caiphas, the most miserable among men, pronounced this word of truth: It
is expedient to have one man die for the salvation of the people. [In.
11:49-50; 18:14].
This makes it clear that although we
must never esteem nor approve the evil lives of wicked and sinful people, yet we
ought never to despise God's word that they may offer us. Rather, we must
profit from it as did St. Ephrem. A great Doctor has taught that we ought not
care whether the person who shows us the way of virtue is good or bad. All that
is important is that it be indeed the true way. If so, we ought to follow it
and walk in it faithfully. What does it
matter whether they give us balm in an earthenware vessel or in a precious
vase? It is enough that it cures our wounds.
Let us not consider the goodness or its
absence in one who is our preacher or teacher, but only what he says to us.
God's word is not made good or bad because of him who explains or teaches it.
It is goodness itself and never partakes of the evil of him who announces it.
Holy Scripture in its wisdom also teaches this when it has even beasts, be they
weak or brutal, teach us what we ought to do, instructing us that we can learn
even from ants how to care for what we have. [Prov 6:6-8; 30:25]. They gather while the weather
is good so that they might have sufficient food on those days which are not
favorable for gathering. Did not Our Lord Himself tell us to imitate the
prudence and cunning of the serpent and the simplicity of the dove?
[Matt.10:16]. Scripture gives hundreds of such examples.
All this notwithstanding, generally
speaking, one who teaches ought to be good if he wants his teaching to be accepted
and valued. His evil life might otherwise cause his teaching to be rejected and
despised as being, like himself, bad and despicable. Surely we ought to benefit
spiritually from God's word no matter who presents it. Nevertheless, hardened
sinners who persevere in their wickedness offend greatly in teaching God's word
and in proclaiming the praises of the Sovereign Majesty, since they lay this
divine word wide open to contempt on account of their bad conduct.
1 comment:
Thank you fro posting this. As good for the feast of St. Joseph, 2013, as it was for Passion Sunday, 1622.
Father told us at Mass this AM that we could have chocolate today---think I will have some really good dark chocolate!
Mempoit
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