§12Nisi si putas quia qui Christum pascit a Christo ipse non pascitur aut eis terrena deerunt quibus caelestia et diuina tribuuntur.
Unless perhaps you think that he who feeds Christ is not himself fed by Christ, or that earthly things will be lacking to those to whom heavenly and divine things are granted.
unde haec incredula cogitatio, unde impia et sacrilega ista meditatio? quid facit in domo fidei perfidum pectus? quid qui Christo omnino non credit appellatur et dicitur Christianus? Pharisaei tibi magis congruit nomen.
Whence comes this incredulous thought, whence this impious and sacrilegious meditation? What does a faithless heart do in the house of faith? Why is he who does not believe in Christ at all called and said to be a Christian? The name of Pharisee suits you better.
nam cum Dominus in euangelio de eleemosynis disputaret et ut nobis amicos de terrestribus lucris prouida operatione faceremus qui nos postmodum in tabernacula aeterna susciperent fideliter ac salubriter praemoneret, addidit post haec scriptura dicens: audiebant autem haec omnia Pharisaei qui erant cupidissimi et inridebant. quales nunc in ecclesia quosdam uidemus quorum praeclusae aures et corda caecata nullum de spiritalibus ac salutaribus monitis lumen admittunt, de quibus mirari non oportet quod contemnant in tractatibus seruum, quando a talibus ipsum Dominum uideamus esse contemptum.
For when the Lord in the gospel was disputing about alms, and was faithfully and wholesomely forewarning us that we should make friends for ourselves from earthly gains by provident action, who would afterwards receive us into eternal tabernacles, the scripture added after these things, saying: "But the Pharisees, who were very covetous, heard all these things, and they derided Him." Such people we now see in the church, whose closed ears and blinded hearts admit no light from spiritual and salutary admonitions; concerning whom we should not wonder that they despise the servant in his discourses, since we see that the Lord Himself was despised by such as these.
§13Quid tibi cum istis ineptis et stultis cogitationibus plaudis, quasi metu et sollicitudine futurorum ab operibus retarderis? quid umbras et praestigias quasdam uanae excusationis obtendis? confitere immo quae uera sunt et quia scientes non potes fallere, secreta et abdita mentis exprome.
Why do you flatter yourself with those absurd and foolish thoughts, as if you were retarded from works by fear and anxiety for the future? Why do you offer certain shadows and illusions of a vain excuse? Confess rather what is true, and since you cannot deceive those who know, bring forth the secrets and hidden things of your mind.
obsederunt animum tuum sterilitatis tenebrae et recedente inde lumine ueritatis carnale pectus alta et profunda auaritiae caligo caecauit.
The darkness of barrenness has besieged your soul, and as the light of truth departed thence, a deep and profound mist of avarice has blinded your carnal heart.
pecuniae tuae captiuus et seruus es, catenis cupiditatis et uinculis alligatus es et quem iam soluerat Christus denuo uinctus es.
You are a captive and slave to your money, you are bound by the chains and fetters of cupidity, and you are bound anew, whom Christ had already freed.
seruas pecuniam quae te seruata non seruat, patrimonium cumulas quod te, pondere suo onerat, nec meministi quid Deus responderit diuiti exuberantium fructuum copiam stulta exultatione iactanti stulte, inquit, hac nocte expostulatur anima tua.
You keep money which, though kept, does not keep you; you accumulate a patrimony which burdens you with its weight; nor do you remember what God answered to the rich man boasting of the abundance of his overflowing fruits with foolish exultation: "Fool," He said, "this night your soul is required of you.
quae ergo parasti cuius erunt? quid diuitiis tuis solus incubas, quid in poenam tuam patrimonii pondus exaggeras, ut quo locupletior saeculo fueris pauperior Deo fias? reditus tuos diuide cum Deo tuo, fructus tuos partire cum Christo, fac tibi possessionum terrestrium Christum participem, ut et ille te sibi faciat regnorum caelestium coheredem.
Whose, then, shall those things be which you have prepared?" Why do you brood alone over your riches? Why do you heap up the weight of your patrimony to your own punishment, so that the richer you are to the world, the poorer you become to God? Divide your revenues with your God, share your fruits with Christ, make Christ a partner with you in your earthly possessions, so that He also may make you a co-heir with Him in the heavenly kingdoms.
§14Erras et falleris quisque te in saecnlo diuitem credis.
You err and are deceived, whoever you are that believe yourself rich in this world.
audi in Apocalypsi Domini tui uocem eiusmodi homines iustis obiurgationibus increpantem.
Hear the voice of your Lord in the Apocalypse, rebuking such men with just reproaches.
dicis, inquit, diues sum et ditatus sum et nullius rei egeo: et nescis quoniam tu es miser et pauper et caecus et nudus.
"You say," He says, "I am rich and made wealthy, and have need of nothing; and you do not know that you are wretched, and poor, and blind, and naked.
suadeo tibi emere a me. au rum ignitum de igni ut sis diues, et uestem albam ut uestiaris et non appareat in te foeditas nuditatis tuae, et collyrio inungue oculos tuos ut uideas. qui ergo locuples et diues es eme tibi a Christo aurum ignitum, ut sordibus tuis tamquam igne decoctis esse aurum mundum possis, si eleemosynis et iusta operatione purgeris.
I advise you to buy of me gold refined by fire, that you may be rich; and white raiment, that you may be clothed, and that the shame of your nakedness may not appear in you; and anoint your eyes with collyrium, that you may see." You, therefore, who are wealthy and rich, buy for yourself from Christ gold refined by fire, so that, your dross being as it were melted away by fire, you may be pure gold, if you are cleansed by alms and righteous works.
eme tibi albam uestem, ut qui secundum Adam nudus fueras et horrebas ante deformis, indumento Christi candido uestiaris.
Buy for yourself a white garment, so that you, who had been naked according to Adam and were previously deformed and shuddering, may be clothed with the white raiment of Christ.
et quae matrona locuples et diues es ungue oculos tuos non stibio diaboli sed collyrio Christi, ut peruenire ad uidendum Deum possis, dum Deum et moribus et operibus promereris.
And you, wealthy and rich matron, anoint your eyes not with the devil's antimony, but with the collyrium of Christ, so that you may attain to seeing God, while you earn God's favor by both your conduct and your works.