On the Fast of the Seventh Month, Third Sermon

Dearly beloved, we know from the words of the holy prophets how much religious fasts avail in winning the mercy of God and in restoring the fortunes of human frailty. They proclaim that the justice of God, whose vengeance the people of Israel brought on themselves again and again by their wickedness, cannot be appeased except by fasting. That is why the prophet Joel warns them: “This is what the Lord your God says: Turn to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Tear your hearts and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and patient, and of great kindness, and very merciful.” And again: “Sanctify a fast, proclaim a healing, gather the people, sanctify the church.” This exhortation must be obeyed in our own day too, because we too are bound to proclaim these healing remedies, so that in keeping the ancient sanctification, Christian devotion may gain what Jewish transgression lost. [a]

But the respect paid to God’s decrees always brings a special blessing, whatever the extent of our voluntary services, so that celebrations proclaimed publicly are of a higher character than those that rest on private arrangement. For the self-restraint that each person imposes on himself at his own discretion benefits only one part of the church. But the fast that the whole church undergoes leaves no one out of the general cleansing. And God’s people are strongest when the hearts of all the faithful meet together in one common act of holy obedience, when in the camp of the Christian army there is on every side the same preparation for battle and for defense. Though the cruel enemy rages in restless fury and spreads his hidden snares all around, he will be able to catch no one and wound no one, if he finds no one off guard, no one given up to laziness, no one idle in works of devotion.

To this unconquerable strength of unity, then, dearly beloved, we are invited even now by the solemn fast of the seventh month, so that we may lift our souls to the Lord, free from worldly cares and earthly concerns. This effort is always needed, yet we cannot all hold to it without a break, and through human frailty we often fall back from higher things to the things of earth. So let us at least on these days, which have been appointed so wholesomely for our correction, withdraw from worldly business and steal a little time to further our eternal welfare. “For in many things,” as it is written, “we all stumble.” And though we are cleansed from various defilements by God’s daily gift, darker stains still cling, for the most part, to careless souls, and they need greater care to wash them out and a stronger effort to destroy them. The fullest removal of sins is gained when the whole church offers up one prayer and one confession. For if the Lord has promised to grant everything that two or three ask in holy and devout agreement, what will be refused to many thousands of people who join in one act of worship and make their common petitions with one breath? [d]

It is a great and very precious thing in the Lord’s sight, beloved, when Christ’s whole people take up the same duties together, and all ranks and degrees of both sexes work together with the same intent; when one purpose moves everyone alike, to turn away from evil and to do good; when God is glorified in the works of his slaves, and the Author of all godliness is blessed with unstinting thanksgiving. The hungry are fed, the naked are clothed, the sick are visited, and people seek not their own good but “that which is another’s,” while each one makes the most of his own means in relieving the misery of others. And it is easy to find “a cheerful giver” where what a person does is limited only by what he is able to do. By this grace of God, “which works all in all,” the benefit and the merits of the faithful are both shared in common. For those whose incomes are unlike can still think alike, and when one rejoices over another’s generosity, his feeling puts him on the same level as the one whose power to spend is on a different level. In such a community there is no disorder and no difference, for all the members of the whole body agree in one strong purpose of godliness, and the one who glories in the wealth of others is not put to shame by his own poverty. For the excellence of each part is the glory of the whole body, and when we are all led by God’s Spirit, not only are the things we do ourselves our own, but also the things others do, in whose doing we rejoice. [f]

So, dearly beloved, let us take hold of this most sacred unity in all its blessed wholeness, and let us enter on the solemn fast with the common purpose of a good will. Nothing hard, nothing harsh is asked of anyone, and nothing is imposed beyond our strength, whether in the discipline of abstinence or in the amount of alms. Each person knows what he can do and what he cannot. Let everyone pay his share, assessing himself at a fair and reasonable rate, so that the sacrifice of mercy is not offered sadly or counted among losses. Let as much be spent on devout works as will justify the heart, wash the conscience, and, in a word, profit both giver and receiver. Happy indeed, and truly to be admired, is the soul that in its love of doing good does not fear that its means will fail, and has no doubt that the one from whom it had what it spent in the past will give it money still to spend. But few have this greatness of heart, and yet it is a truly devout thing for each person not to abandon the care of his own household. So, without taking anything away from those of the more perfect sort, we lay down this general rule for you, and we urge you to carry out God’s bidding according to the measure of your ability. For cheerfulness suits the generous person, and he should manage his giving so that while the poor rejoice over the help supplied, the needs of his own home do not suffer. “And he who supplies seed to the sower will both provide bread to eat, and multiply your seed, and increase the fruits of your righteousness.” On Wednesday and Friday, then, let us fast, and on Saturday let us keep vigil all together in the presence of the most blessed apostle Peter, by whose merits and prayers we are sure that God’s mercy will be granted to us in all things, through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen. [i]