Sermon for the Thursday after the Second Sunday of Lent (coinciding with the Feast of St. Matthias), February 24, 1622, concerning the danger which all Christians live in of refusing to receive the grace of salvation, the danger of even specially favoured souls falling from God and being damned, why we must always have a great fear of damnation, even in the religious life, the avarice of the evil rich man, two kinds of avarice and especially that of clinging to what we possess, using God for one's own benefit, non-material avarice, using riches vs. idolizing riches, the avarice and treachery of Judas, the beginnings of spiritual downfall, the salutary fear of sin, availing ourselves of the grace to mortify our evil inclinations, the replacement of those who die or defect from the Apostolic College or from the religious life, and the choice of St. Matthias to replace Judas.
Today I thought I would preach on some connections between what happened in the lives of the sinful rich man [Lk. 16:19-31] and Judas, and in the lives of Lazarus and St. Matthias. I find a great similarity between the vocation, growth and decline of the sinful rich man and of Judas, and between the vocation, growth and end of Lazarus and of St. Matthias. Such a comparison is very time-consuming. Therefore, I will concentrate principally on the vocation of St. Matthias.
We will find great reason to fear because of these words of the Gospel: many are called, the elect are few [[Matt. 20:16; 22:14]. We will also find here a reason for condemning those who censure and speak unjustly against Divine Providence, and are unwilling to adore or approve its effects and events which bear upon the election of the good and the reprobation of the wicked. For when the rejection of the latter is considered, human prudence begins to search for motives and reasons for their fall, and instead of looking at the kind Providence of God, it concentrates on the lack of grace, saying, "If this sinner had received what the just received, he would not have experienced such a fall." Now, such people would be correct if they said only that grace is not offered to sinners in the same way as to the just. But if they continue and question why the first do not receive this grace in the same way as the second, certainly they would have to admit that it is not the lack of grace that is the cause of their loss, for grace is never wanting. God always gives sufficient grace to whoever is willing to receive it. This is an established truth and all theologians are in agreement with it. The Council of Trent has declared that grace is never lacking to us, but that it is we who are lacking to grace, being unwilling to receive it or to consent to it. The damned will surely have to acknowledge, as St. Denis the Areopagite writes, that it is through their own fault and not that of grace that they have been thrown down and condemned to the eternal flames, because they were wanting to grace and not because grace was wanting to them. This they will know very clearly, and this knowledge will greatly increase their torments.[1]
Now, if it is always we who are wanting to grace and never grace lacking to us, and if we see in every kind of state, condition and vocation, so many reprobate and so few elect, who among us will consider himself secure, and live without fear of losing grace or of refusing his consent to it? Who will not fear failure in rendering to God the service due to Him, each one according to his duty and obligation, when we find a Lazarus and a St. Matthias among the elect, but this rich man in the Gospel and Judas among the reprobate? Was not the sinful rich man called to the same vocation us Lazarus, and Judas to the same as St. Matthias? Yes, without a doubt. This is quite clear in the Gospel, for the sinful rich man was a Jew, since he called Abraham his father. "Father Abraham," he said, begging him to send Lazarus to him. He was circumcised, and God had shown him that He loved him by giving him the joy of great wealth, and many possessions. For the Mosaic Law is not like the Law of Grace, where poverty is so highly praised and recommended. Our Lord had not yet said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit." [Matt. 5:3]. So at that time God favoured His friends by letting them share in riches and temporal goods, obliging them thereby to serve Him.
It is clear, then, that this rich man was called by God as Lazarus was, and that he had an even greater obligation to observe the divine commandments than Lazarus. Not that Lazarus was not also bound by them, but since the rich man had been favoured with so much more wealth than he, he had a greater duty to serve his Lord. That is why if Lazarus had not served Him, he would not have been as reprehensible as the sinful rich man. Doubtless he would have been blamable, but much less so than the rich man. Nevertheless we see in today's Gospel that of these two men, equally called by God, he who had received more and who is more obliged to serve Him, does not serve Him, but rather lives and dies miserably, while the poor Lazarus serves God faithfully and dies happily. One was carried to the bosom of Abraham the other to the depths of Hell. But let us leave this sinful rich man there and turn our attention to the vocation of Judas and of St. Matthias, both Apostles of Our Lord.
Consider, first, how the vocation and election of Judas had more advantages than that of St. Matthias. Judas, the most wicked of men, was called to be an Apostle by the very mouth of Our Lord, who a thousand times called him by name. Like the other Apostles, he was instructed by Our Lord he heard Him speak and preach. He was witness of the wonderful works that He did and of how He confirmed His doctrine by wonderful miracles. His dear Master had offered him many special graces which St. Matthias did not receive, who was not called to be an Apostle by Our Lord nor during His lifetime, but rather by the Apostles after His Ascension [Acts 1:15-26], so that he came as one born out of due time [cf. 1 Cor. 15:8] to succeed this miserable Judas. He was not instructed by the Saviour Himself, nor did he see His miracles, for he was not one of the Apostles who followed Him.[2] Nevertheless, he persevered faithfully and died a saint. Judas, on the contrary, the most traitorous and disloyal man there ever was, from being an Apostle became an apostate, committing the most abominable sin and the greatest treachery in selling his good Master.
All our ancient Fathers point out the seriousness and gravity of this sin. But though they stress its greatness, they can never sufficiently state its enormity. Speaking of Judas, Our Lord calls him "son of perdition" [Jn. 17:12], the same title St. Paul gives Antichrist [2 Thess. 2:3]. This is a Hebrew phrase. When the expression "child of consolation" is used it means "of greatest consolation" or "of very great consolation"; "son of joy" means "of greatest joy" or "of very great joy." In the same way, when Judas fell into that iniquity of selling his Lord and Master and is called son or child of perdition, it means of the greatest or very great perdition, such as that of devils, for he was worse than a devil. He now burns with them in eternal flames. See how, of these two Apostles, he who had been the most favoured apostatized, while the other, who was called to be an Apostle after Our Lord's death, persevered. Great reason to fear in all states and vocations, for there is danger everywhere!
When God created the angels in heaven He established them in His grace. It seems they ought never to fall from this grace. Nevertheless, Lucifer revolted. He and all his followers refused to render to the Divine Majesty the submission and obedience of their will, saying that they absolutely would not submit. This refusal was their ruin. Lucifer drew with him into Hell a third of the angels [Apoc. 12:4], a countless number. Those who had been in the very midst of glory itself became devils, condemned to eternal pains. You see, there was danger even in heaven.[3] And did not man fall from the earthly paradise where God had placed him in grace? Eve listened to the serpent, took the forbidden fruit and presented it to her husband. He ate it, contrary to the will of his Creator[4] [Gen. 3:1-6].
Certainly, Solomon's fall is also an appalling thing—he, the wisest of all men, to whom God had so abundantly given His Spirit, His wisdom and knowledge of all things; who was able to penetrate in knowledge even to the depths of the earth, treating skilfully all that he found there; who mounted even to the heights of the cedars of Lebanon; who spoke with great wisdom, not only of material things but also of spiritual ones! [3 Kgs.(1 Kgs.) 3:11-12; 5:9-13; Wis. 7:7, 17-24]. We see this wisdom in that admirable Book of Ecclesiasticus [Sirach] and in Proverbs, both of which are filled with sentences of such wisdom that we can easily conclude that no one was ever as gifted as Solomon. Others may have said less with more fervour or eloquence, but he has surpassed them all in wisdom, both in passing as well as in spiritual matters. Nevertheless, he resisted grace, as we shall soon see, and fell into sin, despite the fullness of the divine Spirit which he had received [3 Kgs. (1 Kgs.) 11:1-8; Neh. 13:26].
Who, then, will not tremble? Will there ever be a society, religion, institute, congregation or manner of living which can be so secure and which can be said to be exempt from the fear and apprehension of falling over the precipices of sin? What company, assembly or vocation will we find exempt from danger? O God, none whatsoever![5] Everywhere there is every reason to fear and to keep oneself in great lowliness and humility. Hold fast to the tree of your profession, each one according to your calling [1 Cor. 7:20). But fail not to walk in fear, feeling your way all during your life, lest, wishing to walk with too great sureness and boldness, you fall into the ruins of sin. Job, as St. Gregory says, remaining just among the wicked, received a great grace from God, for ordinarily we are like those with whom we converse. But since God kept him good among the impious, he had great reason to praise the Lord. It is a perilous thing to live in the world and in conversation with the wicked. Thus, to remain good among them, without felling from grace, is a very special favour from God. It is for this reason, according to St. Jerome, that God calls some from the world into the desert, where they do not associate with the wicked.
Now, those whom He has placed in some good and suitable vocation truly have great reason to praise and thank Him, for they have received a special blessing in being separated from the company of the wicked and associated with the good. But are they out of danger? Oh no! Why? Because it is not enough to be in this holy vocation and to be with good people, if we do not persevere in it [Matt. 10:22; 24:13; 2 Pet. 1:10].
Now, this grace of perseverance is very great indeed, since when we fail in grace in such a holy way of life the fall is more grave and perilous, as was that of the angels in heaven, that of Adam in Paradise and that of Judas in the company of Our Lord. Extraordinary—that in the Church Triumphant (not triumphant then, but angelic), among such pure spirits, gifted with so noble and excellent a nature, among such a holy company, where there was no occasion of danger, nor temptation, nor suggestion from the wicked spirits (for they did not exist then), there should have been so small a number of angels who persevered, and that a third of them would rebel against God and be cast into Hell! Frightening also that Judas, who had been called by the Saviour Himself to be an Apostle, should have committed so abominable a sin, so strange a treason as selling his Master, and that at the very time he was in His company, hearing His preaching and seeing the marvellous works He performed! These are examples which should make all types of people tremble, no matter what may be their state, condition or vocation.
But let us consider further the similarity there is in the growth of the life of the evil rich man and of Judas. The first was rich, says the Gospel, and avaricious. To better understand this, you must realize that there are two kinds of avarice. One is temporal, and it is that by which we are avid to acquire wealth, honours and the goods of this life. There are many such avaricious people in the world. They think of amassing riches, and seem to have nothing else to do here below: joining house to house, connecting meadow to meadow, field to field, vineyard to vineyard, treasure to treasure. It is to this kind of people that the Prophet says: "O fools, do you believe that the world was made only for you?" [Is. 5:8]. He means: "O miserable ones, what are you doing? Do you think you will remain forever here on earth, or that you are here only to amass temporal goods? Oh clearly, you were not created for that."
"What!" replies human prudence: "were not heaven, earth and all that is in it made for man? Does not God want us to use it?" It is true that God created the world for man, with the intention that he use the goods he finds in it, but not to enjoy them as if they were his final end. He created the world before He created man for He wished to prepare a palace, a house, a dwelling place in which man could live. Then, He declared man master of all that is in the world, allowing him to use it, but not as if it were his final end. For He created him for a higher end, Himself. Nevertheless, covetousness and greed have so confused the heart of man that, according to St. Augustine, he has come to the point of wishing "to enjoy that which he ought to use and to use the things he ought to enjoy."[6]
Those who feel the pulse of the greater part of the worldly and closely observe the movements of their hearts are moved to compassion. For it becomes clear that they want to enjoy the world and what it contains, but are satisfied to use God! Hence comes all their activity for the preservation of temporal things; they do hardly anything to attain eternal happiness. If they pray at all, or if they keep the commandments or practise some other good works, it is only because they fear that God might chastise them with some disaster or misfortune; or it is so that God will spare them their house, their fields, their vineyards, their wife, their children—all of God as a means for this or similar ones. It is from this that all our evils come. If I were preaching elsewhere I would say more on this kind of avarice, but those to whom I am speaking have nothing to do with it.
There is another kind of avarice which clings to what it has and is unwilling to part with it for anything. This is highly dangerous and steals in everywhere, even into religion and into spiritual things. We may indeed restrain ourselves from the first kind of avarice, for there are many persons who are not ambitious for amassing much property, fields and houses. But they are few who easily part with what they possess. We find married men with children and a family, for whom they should acquire some things so as to provide for their needs, but who are nevertheless not at all concerned to do this. They squander and dissipate all their substance, and remain poor, weak and miserable all their lives. Yet, they are so avaricious for their freedom, which is their treasure, their wealth, and the noblest thing they have, that they cling to it tenaciously and will surrender it for nothing else in the world. They will never give it up, but want only to enjoy it by living according to their fancies, and revel in all kinds of pleasures and luxury. There are wealthy people who do not have this first kind of avarice—to amass treasure upon treasure—but they so plunge their heart into what they have, so as better to preserve it, that it is almost impossible to detach them from it. An evil man will love sensual pleasure so much and consider it so precious that he will not quit the delight he takes in it for all the wealth and honours in the world.
There are even spiritual souls who possess what they have with such attachment and take such pleasure in seeing and reflecting on what they do, that they commit a kind of idolatry, making and adoring as many idols as they have actions. St. Gregory Nazianzen said that he easily gave up the wealth and honours of this life, so that he had neither ambition nor temptation to acquire these things. But there remained in him so great a desire to know and to study that all kinds of riches were nothing to him in comparison with the desire he had to study literature. So dear was this desire that he found nothing as difficult to give up for God. He would have more easily forsaken and more willingly surrendered all the wealth and pleasures of the world, if he had had them, than this passion for learning. It seemed as if God left it in him as the last and principal object of his renunciation. Nevertheless, so pleased was God with the resolution that St. Gregory had taken to abandon all for Him, that He placed him in a situation where he could study, and at the same time give up his desire without giving up his studies. So he dedicated himself to studies because his Sovereign Master had placed him in a situation where it was lawful for him to do so. So, in learning, he acquiesced to the divine will.
Judas and the evil rich man were avaricious with these two kinds of avarice which we have just treated. They were avid to amass riches, to obtain money and more money, but they also concealed and clung so strongly to the goods they had, and loved them so excessively, that they adored them and made them their god. Holy Scripture speaks of them in this way: The avaricious man makes a god of his gold and silver [Eph. 5:5; Col. 3:5], and the voluptuous makes a god of his body [Phil. 3:19]. There is a great difference between drinking wine and becoming intoxicated, between using riches and adoring them. He who drinks wine out of necessity does no evil; but he who takes it to such an excess that he becomes intoxicated offends God mortally, loses his judgment, drowns his reason in the wine he drinks, and if he happens to die in this state, is damned. It is as if he said while drinking, "If I die I wish to be lost and damned eternally." There is also a difference between using riches and adoring them. To use riches according to one's state and condition, when it is done as it should be, is permissible.[7] But to make idols of them is to be condemned and damned. In a word, there is a great difference between seeing and regarding the things of this world, and in wishing to enjoy them as if our happiness consisted in them. The first way is good, the last damnable.
Now, that wicked man Judas (to speak only of him and to leave aside the evil rich man) was very avaricious and greedy to amass money, far beyond what was necessary for the upkeep of Our Lord and His Apostles. Very little was really needed for them, since the Saviour established His ministry on poverty and since He was to send His disciples after Him to preach His Gospel with the order to carry neither purse, nor travelling bag, nor walking staff [Matt. 10:9-10; Mk. 6:8], and to make no provision for the morrow, but rather to confide in their heavenly Father, who would nourish them by His Providence [Matt. 6:25-34; Lk. 12:22-31]. Such was the novitiate of the Apostles, and all the rest of their life was to be founded on this beatitude: Blessed are the poor in spirit [Matt. 5:3].
However, since they would not be sent except after having received the Holy Spirit, and since they lived altogether with Our Lord, He permitted them to have some little things for their use to provide for their daily necessities, but not by way of private ownership. He desired rather that one of them should carry the purse and take care of the expenses. For He, who was the model of all perfection and holiness, did not involve Himself with that. Oh, no, He did not wish to think about it, nor to handle the money with His divine hands. This is what the great St. Bernard remarks when giving a word of warning to a pontiff: "Our Lord, the Sovereign Pontiff and Head of the Apostolic College," he said, "never busied Himself even with permissible material goods nor with those things necessary for His apostolate. Thus, it was necessary to have a general procurator who took care of the affairs, and this was Judas" [Jn. 12:6; 13:29].
The Saviour, then, handed over to him the responsibility for temporal affairs. And there would have been no wrongdoing at all in carrying the purse and managing the money if he had done as he should, but this disloyal and miserable man did not conduct himself as a faithful procurator, but rather as a thief and a miser. So he sought continually to amass money and more money, not for the support and upkeep of the community under his care, but to satisfy his avarice and cupidity. So that from being an Apostle that he was, he became a devil and sold his Master for money.
All the holy Fathers, as I have said, greatly underscore this fault, although some say that Judas did not intend, in selling Our Lord, to deliver Him to death. Although the Jews paid Judas for this purpose, nevertheless, they say, this miserable man believed that He would work a miracle to deliver Himself from their hands. By this means he thought to act like a clever thief and robber. After receiving the money from the Jews, he would mock them, since his Master would not in fact die. But it is quite certain that Judas is guilty of the greatest treachery and betrayal that could be imagined and is in no way excusable. The Saviour Himself testified to this at the Last Supper when He said of him, succinctly: One of you is about to betray Me [Matt. 26:21]. And who among the Apostles will be the one to betray his Lord? It is he who keeps the purse and who, to fill it with money through ambition and avarice, will sell Him and deliver Him to death.
Now to be avaricious in the religious and apostolic life is to be like Judas; and it is the greatest defect which can be found in an ecclesiastic and in a religious, just as the greatest fault in a soldier is cowardice. He will never tolerate being called a coward. If you call him a thief, he is not offended. If you say he is debauched it does not bother him. He laughs about it. But if you call him a coward he will take offence and will not endure it, knowing well that this is the greatest injury that can be inflicted upon him, since cowardice is altogether contrary to his profession. If we accuse the wealthy of this world of being avaricious, they care little. But to see avarice in the apostolic life and to accuse a religious of this vice is a very great reproach, for to be avaricious in religion is to sell Our Lord. And why? Because avarice is altogether contrary to the religious profession.
Some ask what was the cause of the fall of Judas, and how it began. This is my third point. It is very difficult to declare what initiates the fall of sinners. It is nevertheless very certain, as theologians say, that it is not that grace fails them, but rather it is they who fail grace. But to know how they began to fail—that is very difficult.
Some ancient Fathers say that this could happen at the rejection of a warning, an inspiration. For though this rejection may be only a venial sin, which does not take grace away, nevertheless it places an obstacle in its course, fervour diminishes, and one grows weak in combating vice. If today you fail grace, refusing it your consent and committing this venial sin, you dispose yourself to commit another very soon, and by the multitude of venial sins to fall little by little into mortal sins, and in this way lose grace.[8] O God, how terrible a thing is sin, however small and slight it may be! It is this which made that great St. Bernard say, "Go forward always, careful not to stop; always advance, for it is impossible to remain in the same state in this life [Job 14:2]. Whoever does not advance, must of necessity go back."[9] So the Holy Spirit gives these warnings: Let him who is standing take care not to fall! [1 Cor. 10:12]. Hold fast to what you have [Apoc. 3:11]. Take care and labour, that by good works you may make sure your calling [2 Pet. 1:10]. These warnings ought to make us live in great fear and humility in whatsoever place and state we may be, and make us turn our hearts often to the divine Goodness to invoke His help, raising our minds to God as often as we can, sighing after Him with frequent prayers and supplications.
Others say we fall into the ruins of sin because of the evil inclinations inherent in man. It is true that we all have inclinations to evil: some are prone to anger, others to sadness, others to envy, others to vanity and vainglory, others to avarice; and if we live according to such or similar inclinations we are lost. "But," someone will say to me, "I have a strong inclination toward sadness." Now then, you must labour to rid yourself of it. Another will say, "I am so joyous that I laugh at every turn." Well, are you lacking God's grace to mortify this inclination to laugh inordinately? Examine your heart well—it is there that these passions of joy, sadness, vanity or anger dwell. Labour with the help of God and you will arrange them all according to reason. "But I have so many bad inclinations!" And who is there who has not? Do you not have divine grace to resist them? There are others who excuse themselves because of their natural disposition. "Oh!" they say, "we can never do anything worthwhile, we have such a bad disposition." But is not grace higher than nature? St. Paul was naturally sharp, rude and harsh. Nevertheless, the grace of God transformed him and, taking hold of this natural harshness, it made him so much more resolute in the good he undertook, and so courageous and invincible in all kinds of pains and labours, that nothing could shake his courage, so that he became a great Apostle, such that we honour him today. In short, neither natural temperament nor inclinations can hinder us from arriving at the perfection of the Christian life, when we are willing to avail ourselves of the grace to mortify them and subject them to reason.[10] But when we live according to these evil inclinations, we are lost. Now Judas had, among others, that of avarice, and he was lost because he yielded to it.
Many inquire into the cause of Solomon's fall, and there are different opinions about it. Among all the reasons set down about it I am satisfied with touching on the one that he himself gave: Nothing that my eyes desired to look upon did I deny them [Eccles. 2:10], as if he meant: "I was a great king. I had many things which were pleasing to behold— magnificent and sumptuous palaces which belonged to me, tapestries, a variety of rich garments. In short, I refused nothing to my eyes of all they desired to see." From this we may conclude that death entered through his eyes [cf. Jer. 9:20] and that this was the cause of his fall, for concupiscence enters through the eyes, and with it all kinds of evil. But, O God, I think I have gone beyond the hour!
Now then, Judas fell from grace. From being an Apostle he became an apostate, and recognizing his fault, he despaired and hanged himself [Matt. 27:4, 5; Acts 1:18]. And, like the evil rich man, he was buried in the depths of Hell. The Apostles were assembled by the order of God and, after many ceremonies, elected another to take his place. There are still four things to say about this. St. Peter, the head of the Apostles, made them reunite with the Lord's disciples, who were in all one hundred twenty [Acts 1:15]. The purpose was to choose one of the one hundred twenty, or rather one of the one hundred and nine, for the Apostles who were eleven were not to be included. Then St. Peter, speaking to the disciples, said, "We must choose one of you to become an Apostle in the place of Judas, who left us and became an apostate."
We are, then, taught that although Judas left the college of the Apostles, nevertheless, the College of Apostles did not dissolve for that reason. It remains in existence always. For the College of the Apostles remained not only during the life of Our Lord, who had called them and received them; but after His death they elected another to replace the traitor. This is sufficient to confound the Huguenots, who say that the College of the Apostles dissolved when the Apostles died. This is very false, for although the Apostles died, the College of Apostles did not die. Just as St. Peter and all the other Apostles and disciples gathered together and chose one of them to succeed Judas, this one could choose another, and this other still another, and so on continuously. In this way the College of Apostles has passed down to us and will last until the end of the world. From all this we should draw a warning: to work assiduously to secure our vocation—lest, falling, another be put in our place. If you leave religion, religion will not for that reason fail, for divine Providence will send another to occupy your place. But if you do leave, where will you go? I do not know. There is a great danger that in giving up the place you had in religion you might in consequence lose that which had been prepared for you in Heaven, and, like Judas, you may have a place in Hell. For that reason, hold fast to what you have and watch, lest another take it away. Preserve your call and take care that another does not take it from you. Attend to your exercises continually, observe carefully your way of life, serve God faithfully in this vocation lest it escape you. For if you lose it, it will not for that reason be lost, but another will succeed you and inherit it.
Now the Apostles nominated two: one was named Joseph, surnamed Barsabas, and the other was Matthias, who had no surname, but certainly his was a beautiful name. Joseph was just and God-fearing, a man of extraordinary holiness and purity of life, so that he was held in high esteem among the Apostles and disciples. As they were both men of singular virtue, there was a little difficulty in knowing which one they should choose; so, the better to discover what was the will of God, they cast lots. (Many things could be said about casting lots, but I will not speak of them here. I will only say that this can be done when both parties are equal or when there is no great disproportion between them, as there was none between St. Joseph, for he was a saint, and St. Matthias.) The lot fell to this latter and he became an Apostle [Acts 1:23-26].
Some think that the Apostles received an inspiration or an interior word which made them understand that Matthias was chosen by God to be an Apostle, and that they all with one voice said that it should be so. Something like that happened when St. Ambrose was made bishop. The people were troubled about this election, and a little child's voice was heard to say: "Ambrose will be bishop." Then everyone cried out that Ambrose was the one. The same happened with St. Nicholas, and some others.
Now Joseph, who was just, did not lose his justice because he was not chosen to be an Apostle. His holiness remained with him to teach us that God does not always choose the holiest to govern and to have charges in His Church. Therefore, those who are called ought not to glorify themselves and presume themselves to be better or more perfect than others. And those who do not receive such offices ought not to be troubled about it, since that will not prevent them from being just and pleasing to God.
This, then, is how St. Matthias succeeded Judas, and how he became a great Apostle. And what was the end of Judas? He despaired, and, seeing what he had done, brought back the money to the priests of the Law, confessing that he had sold the Blood of the Just One. But these Mosaic priests rejected him, saying that they did not care about that, that if he had done wrong it was his damnation, but as for themselves they had nothing to do with it. [Matt. 27:4-5]. For with the Law of Moses it was not the same as with the law of Grace, under which we live. The priests of our time do not reject sinners when they come to them, since there is no sin, however great and grievous it may be, which cannot be pardoned in this life, if one confesses it. This is an article of faith. In short, Judas despaired, hanged himself and perished, and his soul was buried in the depths of Hell with that of the evil rich man. But that of Lazarus was carried to the bosom of Abraham, and from there into Heaven, where with St. Matthias, who lived and died as a great Apostle, he will enjoy forever the eternity which is God Himself, to whom be honour and glory forever and ever. Amen.
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[1] Cf. Treatise on the Love of God, Book 2, chapter 10 to Chapter 12; Book 3, chapter 4; Book 4, chapter 5 and chapter 6.
[2] Acts 1:21-22 suggests the contrary: "Wherefore of these men who have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus came in and went out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, until the day wherein he was taken up from us, one of these must be made a witness with us of his resurrection." No doubt St. Francis means that St. Matthias was not one of the original Twelve, but rather one of those who accompanied the Twelve and Jesus.
[3] The "heaven" referred to here is not the place of glory and the Beatific Vision; no sin is possible in Heaven. (Elsewhere St. Francis de Sales assures us that in Heaven we will be out of danger of sinning.) Rather, this "heaven" refers to the abode of the spirit world during their period of probation. Cf. p. 71 where St. Francis clarifies this point by stating parenthetically that before their sin the bad angels were not yet members of the Church Triumphant. Thus they had not yet attained to the Heaven of the blessed.
[4] Cf. Sermon for First Sunday of Lent.
[5] Cf. Treatise on the Love of God, Book 4, chapter 1; Spiritual Conferences, XVII, "Voting."
[6] That is, in sin, the human person confuses means and ends. The things of earth ought to be used as means to our final end, which is Heaven, not as ends in themselves; while the things of God indeed are our final end, and should not be looked upon simply as helps to make this world a more gracious place to live.
[7] Cf. Introduction to the Devout Life, Part III, chapter 14 and chapter 15.
[8] Cf. Treatise on the Love of God, Book 4, chapter 2.
[9] Cf. Treatise on the Love of God, Book 3, chapter 1.
[10] Cf. Spiritual Conferences, XVII, "Voting"; Treatise on the Love of God, Book 12, chapter 1.
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