§15Ceterum quae talis es nec operari in ecclesia potes: egentem [enim] et pauperem non uident oculi superfusi nigrore, tenebris et nocte contecti.
But you who are such cannot perform works in the church; for eyes smeared over with blackness, covered with darkness and night, do not see the needy and the poor.
locuples et diues dominicum celebrare te credis quae corban omnino non respicis, quae in dominicum sine sacrificio uenis, quae partem de sacrificio quod pauper obtulit sumis? intuere in euangelio uiduam praeceptorum caelestium memorem, inter ipsas pressuras et angustias egestatis operantem, in gazophylacium duo quae sola sibi erant minuta mittentem, quam cum animaduerteret Dominus et uideret, non de patrimonio sed de animo opus eius examinans et considerans, non quantum sed ex quanto dedisset, respondit et dixit: amen dico uobis quoniam uidua ista omnibus plus misit in dona Dei.
Do you, wealthy and rich, believe that you celebrate the Lord's supper, you who do not respect the corban at all, who come into the Lord's house without a sacrifice, who take a part of the sacrifice which the poor man offered? Look in the gospel at the widow mindful of heavenly precepts, performing works amidst the very pressures and straits of poverty, casting into the treasury two mites which were her only possessions, whom when the Lord noticed and saw, examining and considering her work not from her patrimony but from her heart, reflecting not on how much but from how much of her store she had given, He answered and said: "Amen I say to you, that this widow has cast in more than all into the offerings of God.
omnes enim isti ex eo quod abundauit illis miserunt in dona Dei. haec autem de inopia sua omnem quemcumque habuit uictum misit. multum beata mulier et gloriosa quae etiam ante diem iudicii meruit iudicis uoce laudari.
For all these have cast into the offerings of God out of that which abounded to them; but she out of her poverty has cast in all her living, whatsoever she had." A very blessed and glorious woman, who deserved to be praised by the voice of the Judge even before the day of judgment!
pudeat diuites sterilitatis adque infelicitatis suae.
Let the rich be ashamed of their barrenness and unhappiness.
uidua et inops [uidua] in opere inuenitur, cumque uniuersa quae dantur pupillis et uiduis conferantur, dat illa quam oportebat accipere, ut sciamus quae poena sterilem diuitem maneat, quando hoc documento operari etiam pauperes debeant.
A widow and a needy woman is found in work; and though all things which are given are contributed for orphans and widows, she gives who ought to have received, so that we may know what punishment awaits the barren rich man, when by this proof even the poor ought to work.
adque ut intellegamus haec opera Deo dari et eum quisque haec faciat Deum promereri, Christus illud dona Dei appellat et in dona Dei uiduam duos quadrantes misisse significat, ut magis ac magis possit esse manifestum quia qui miseretur pauperis Deo faenerat.
And that we may understand that these works are given to God, and that whoever does these things earns God's favor, Christ calls that the gifts of God, and indicates that the widow cast two quadrants into the gifts of God, so that it may be more and more manifest that he who has pity on the poor lends to God.
§16Sed nec illa res, fratres carissimi, a bonis operibus et iustis refrenet et reuocet christianum quod excusari se posse aliquis existimet beneficio filiorum, quando in inpensis spiritalibus Christum cogitare qui accipere se professus est debeamus nec conseruos liberis nostris, sed Dominum praeferamus ipso instruente et monente: qui diligit, inquit, patrem aut matrem super me non est me dignus, et qui diligit filium aut filiam super me non est me dignus. item in Deuteronomio ad corroborationem fidei et dilectionem Dei paria conscripta sunt.
But neither let that thing, dearest brethren, restrain and recall a Christian from good and righteous works, that someone thinks he can be excused by the consideration of his children; since in spiritual expenditures we ought to think of Christ, who has professed that He receives them, nor should we prefer our fellow-servants to our children, but prefer the Lord, He Himself instructing and warning us: "He who loves," He says, "father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." Likewise in Deuteronomy, for the strengthening of faith and the love of God, similar things are written.
qui dicunt, inquit, patri et matri: non noui te, et filios suos non agnouerunt, hi custodierunt praecepta tua et testamentum tuum seruauerunt. nam si Deum toto corde diligimus, nec parentes nec filios Deo praeferre debemus.
"Those who say," it says, "to father and mother: 'I do not know you,' and have not acknowledged their own children, these have kept your precepts and observed your covenant." For if we love God with all our heart, we ought to prefer neither parents nor children to God.
quod et Iohannes in epistula sua ponit caritatem Dei aput eos non esse quos uideamus operari in pauperem nolle.
This also John puts in his epistle, that the love of God is not in those whom we see to be unwilling to work for the poor.
qui habuerit, inquit, substantiam mundi et uiderit fratrem suum desiderantem et cluserit uiscera sua, quomodo caritas Dei manet in illo? si enim Deus eleemosynis pauperum faeneratur et cum datur minimis Christo datur, non est quod quis terrena caelestibus praeferat nec diuinis humana praeponat.
"Whoso," he says, "hath this world's goods, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" For if God is lent to by the alms of the poor, and when it is given to the least it is given to Christ, there is no reason why anyone should prefer earthly things to heavenly, nor put human things before divine.