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Homilies on the Gospels

St Gregory the Dialogist, tr. Burke, 1960; selections

10. The Lost Sheep and the Lost Groat (abridged)

Now the publicans and sinners drew near unto him to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying: This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them. And he spoke to them this parable, saying: What man of you that hath an hundred sheep, and if he shall lose one of them, doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after that which was lost, until he find it? And, when he hath found it, lay it upon his shoulders, rejoicing? And, coming home, call together his friends and neighbours, saying to them: Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost? I say to you that even so there shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that doth penance, more than upon ninety-nine just who need not penance. Or, what woman having ten groats, if she lose one groat, doth not light a candle and sweep the house and seek diligently until she find it? And, when she hath found it, call together her friends and neighbours, saying: Rejoice with me, because I have found the groat which I had lost. So I say to you, there shall be joy before the angels of God upon one sinner doing penance.
Lk. xv, 1-10.

Homilia XXXIV in Evangelia.

You have seen, dearly beloved, in reading this Gospel, that the publicans and the sinners approached our Redeemer and were received, not only to converse, but also to eat with him. And the pharisees, seeing it, were indignant. From this fact, we can deduce that true justice feels pity, while that which is false feels indignation, although it does sometimes happen that the just rightly feel anger against sinners. But action prompted by pride is one thing, while that which springs from zeal for good is quite another. Those who have this zeal are indignant, but not enraged: they despair, but are not without hope: they instigate reprisals, but through love, for although outwardly they seem to exaggerate their rebukes and corrections, inwardly they conserve that mildness which is the fruit of charity. In their hearts they have a greater love for those whom they reprove than for themselves: they consider those whom they discipline as their betters. By this course of action, they keep their subjects in order, and themselves in humility. On the contrary, those who are motivated by a false sense of justice, usually despise others and have no pity for the weak. Through their presumption in thinking themselves sinless, they sink lower than those whom they disdain. The pharisees were men of this type: they judged Christ because he received sinners; in their sterile hearts, they rebuked the very Fount of all mercy.

Since these sinners were sick people who were unaware of their illness because they did not know themselves, the heavenly physician sought pleasant remedies to cure them. In order to arrest that tumour in their heart, he propounded for their consideration a moving comparison. So he says: “What man of you that hath an hundred sheep, and if he shall lose one of them, doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after that which was lost, until he find it?” Notice the wonderful example of mercy which Jesus gives in this parable, mercy which man might find in himself, yet which belongs in a particular manner to the Creator of men. As one hundred is a perfect number, God had one hundred sheep when he created angels and men. But one sheep was lost: for man sinned and abandoned the pastures of life. But their shepherd left the ninety-nine in the desert: he left all those lofty choirs of angels in heaven. How can heaven be called a desert, unless it is because it was deserted? Man deserted it when he sinned, but the ninety-nine sheep remained in the desert while God went to seek the straying one here on earth. The number of rational creatures, that is of angels and men, which had been created to see God, was diminished when man fell: and so that the perfect number of sheep might be maintained in heaven, God followed the lost human race down to earth. But where Luke tells us, “in the desert”, Matthew, in the same context, says: “in the mountains”, as if to indicate that the ninety-nine which did not stray remained in the heights, that is, in heaven. “And, when he hath found it, lay it upon his shoulders, rejoicing”. He put the sheep upon his shoulders because, taking on himself our human nature, he bore our sins. “And, coming home, call together his friends and neighbours, saying to them: Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.” When he has found the sheep he returns home: because our shepherd returned to heaven, once man had been redeemed. There he finds his friends and neighbours, the choirs of angels. They are his true friends, whose constancy in carrying out his will has never wavered. They are his neighbours, moreover, because they enjoy clear vision of him by their unceasing attendance. It is noteworthy that he does not say: “Rejoice with the sheep restored”, but, “Rejoice with me”, because his joy is our life and when we are restored to heaven, the fullness of his joy will be achieved.

“I say to you that even so there shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that doth penance, more than upon ninety-nine just who need not penance.” We must consider, brethren, why our Lord says that there is more joy in heaven for converted sinners than for the perseverance of the just. Is it not our common experience that many who do not have to bear the weight of sin upon their conscience, who tread the path of justice and are strangers to the illicit, nevertheless do not feel any great anxiety to reach their heavenly home? They allow themselves the use of what is lawful all the more freely since they know they have done nothing unlawful. Very often they are slow to practise the most important virtues, because they are sure of never having committed a grave sin. Sometimes, on the other hand, those who are conscious of having committed sin are touched by their own remorse, and, enkindled with the love of God, they practise the greatest virtues. They face all difficulties with a most holy courage; they abandon all worldly things; they flee all honours; they rejoice in the contempt they receive from others; they are on fire with heavenly desires and a longing to attain their everlasting home; realising that they have strayed from God so far, they make up for their former offences by the profit they earn later. There is more joy, then, in heaven for the return of a sinner than for the constancy of the just man; as in a battle the captain will prefer the soldier who, having fled, returns to attack the enemy more courageously, to him who never ran away, but who never performs a deed of valour. So also the labourer esteems more highly that ground which once produced only thorns and now brings forth rich fruit, than that which has no thorns but which does not give a fertile harvest.

In spite of all this it cannot be denied that in the lives of some just men there is cause for joy such as cannot be counted as less than that felt upon a sinner’s return. There are many who know that they are not guilty of any sin, and yet they mortify themselves as if guilty of all the sins in the world. They reject all comforts, even what is lawful; they welcome the scorn of others; they will not allow themselves the least pleasure but abstain from enjoying even those things which have been permitted them; they despise material things and are enkindled with desire for what is unseen; they find their joy in suffering and humble themselves in everything; and as some weep for their sins of action, they bewail the sins of thought. How can I describe them? Just penitents, who humble themselves in penance for sins of thought and always remain upright in their actions. So we can imagine God’s joy on seeing the humble tears of the just man, when there is such rejoicing in heaven for the sinner who makes good, by penance, the evil he committed.

The Gospel continues: “Or, what woman having ten groats, if she lose one groat, doth not light a candle and sweep the house and seek diligently until she find it?” This woman and the shepherd have a common significance: for they both stand for God and God’s wisdom. Since the groat is a coin which bears an image, the woman lost the groat when man, created in the image of God, strayed by sin from this resemblance to his Maker. But the woman lights her lamp, for the wisdom of God appeared among men. A lamp is simply a light placed upon a stand, but here the light is the divinity made man. And he who is Wisdom, in the words of the psalm, says of the lampstand of his body: “My strength is dried up like a potsherd”.¹ For, as the clay is hardened by fire, his strength is dried up like that clay; that is to say, that by the sufferings of his passion he fortified the flesh he had assumed for the glory of the resurrection. The lamp once lit, however, the house is ransacked, for as soon as his divinity appeared in the flesh, the conscience of man was upset by the realisation of its great guilt. The word evertere which means to overturn is not dissimilar to the word emundare meaning to sweep, for if the degraded intelligence is not overturned first by fear, it will never be cleansed of its habitual vices. When the house has been ransacked the groat is discovered, because when man’s conscience is disturbed, he recovers the image of his Maker. “And, when she hath found it, call together her friends and neighbours, saying: Rejoice with me, because I have found the groat which I had lost.” Who are those friends and neighbours, if not those heavenly powers of whom we spoke before? These are always near the divine wisdom because the grace of its continual presence enlightens them. But, thinking of these things, let us not forget the reason why this woman, who represents God’s wisdom, is said to have had ten groats, of which she loses one and finds it again after a search. God made angels and men in order to know him, and in giving them eternal life, undoubtedly he formed them to his image. The woman had ten groats: because there are nine choirs of angels. But so that the number of the elect might be complete, man was created. He was not lost to his Creator even after his transgression, because God’s eternal wisdom, shining for all to see in the miracles he performed on earth, repaired that sin by the light of his bodily presence, as a lamp on a lampstand.

We have said that there is a ninefold order of angels, because from Holy Scripture we know that there are angels, archangels, virtues, powers, principalities, dominations, thrones, cherubim and seraphim. Almost all the pages of Scripture attest that there are angels and archangels. We all know that the books of the prophets speak of cherubim and seraphim. And the apostle Paul, writing to the Ephesians, quotes the names of four ranks of them: “Above all principality and power and virtue and dominion”;² and writing to the Colossians he declares: “Whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers”.³ When he wrote to the Ephesians he names the powers, dominations and principalities, but speaking to the Colossians in the same context he adds the thrones, of which he said nothing to the Ephesians. When we add these latter, we have five orders which are indicated in a special way in Holy Scripture. Adding these five to the angels, archangels, cherubim and seraphim, we find nine choirs of angels. So that the prophet says to the first angel created: “Thou wast the seal of resemblance, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. Thou wast in the pleasures of the paradise of God”.⁴ We should note in this passage that he is not said to be made merely in the likeness of God, but the very seal of that likeness, to show that, as his nature is more subtle, the resemblance is more complete. And the same prophet adds: “Every precious stone was thy covering: the sardius, the topaz and the jasper, the chrysolite and the onyx and the beryl, the sapphire and the carbuncle and the emerald”. Notice that nine classes of stones are cited, as there are nine orders of angels. That first angel was adorned and beautified with the nine orders as he was esteemed above all the other angels: uniting all their virtues in one, he outshone the rest.

But now that we have stopped to consider the angelic orders which exist, should we not mention the different functions of each? In Greek the angels are called “messengers”, and the archangels “supreme messengers”. We know that this name refers to their office, not to their nature. In that divine fatherland the holy spirits are indeed always spirits, but they cannot be called angels always, since they are such only when through them something is announced. So the psalmist says: “Who makest thy angels spirits”,⁵ as if to say: “Who, when he wishes, makes angels of those who serve him as spirits”. Those who bring messages of less moment are called angels; those who bring the more important are called archangels. That is why not just any angel, but the archangel Gabriel was deputed to bring tidings to our Lady; for it seemed fitting to send a higher angel to carry out that important duty of heralding the greatest of all good news. The angels are also given specific names, to show by them what is the particular work of each. In that supreme city illumined with all the knowledge which comes from the vision of God, they do not need names in order to be distinguished from each other; but when they come to discharge some function among us, they take the name of the function itself.

So, Michael means: “who is like unto God”; Gabriel, “strength of God”, and Raphael, “medicine of God”. And whenever some deed is wrought of extraordinary strength, we say that Michael has been sent, to show that, in that action and by the use of that name, no one can do as much as almighty God. So the ancient enemy who, incited by pride and wishing to make himself like unto God, said: “I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit in the mountain of the covenant, in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the height of the clouds. I will be like the most High”,⁶ while at the end of the world he will be left to linger in his eternal torment, is represented as having battled with the archangel Michael. As we are told by John: “There was a great battle in heaven. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon”.⁷ Thus he who proudly thought himself like to God should learn from his defeat by Michael that no one becomes like God through pride. Mary was visited by the archangel Gabriel, who is called the strength of God. He came to herald him who deigned to appear in great lowliness in order to subdue the wicked angels. Of him the psalmist says: “Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates: and the King of Glory shall enter in. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord who is strong and mighty: the Lord mighty in battle”.⁸ And in the same place he says: “The Lord of hosts, he is the King of Glory”. Then it was proper that the Lord of hosts, strong and mighty in the battle he had come to wage upon the wicked angels, should be heralded by the “strength of God”. Raphael’s name, as we said, means medicine of God; and we see that he cured the blindness of Tobias by touching his eyes. He who was sent to heal is rightly called the medicine of God. We have touched on the interpretation of the angels’ names; it remains now to deal briefly with their offices.

Those spirits are called virtues by whose agency signs and miracles are most frequently performed. Those are called powers whose order has received more power than the others, so that the malignant spirits are subject to their dominion, and are restrained by them from tempting man as far as otherwise they would. The principalities are those who preside over the good angels, and give them orders when something has to be done in fulfilment of the divine service. Dominations are those which are superior to the principalities; for to be a prince is to be the first among others: but to dominate is to have others as one’s subjects. That is why those heavenly hosts which surpass the others in strength, in that the others owe them obedience, are called dominations. The thrones are those celestial hosts presided over by God when he executes his judgments. In Latin the thrones are called seats, and those spirits are called thrones of God which so abound in divine grace as if God rested on them to carry out his judgments by means of them. So the psalmist says: “Thou hast sat on the throne who judgest justice”.⁹ The cherubim are also called the fullness of knowledge. Those sublime hosts are called cherubim because they enjoy a perfection of knowledge in proportion to their nearness to the brightness of God. As far as creatures can, they know all things, because, by the merit of their rank, they see God most clearly. The seraphim are those heavenly hosts which, by reason of their closeness to God, burn with an extraordinary love for him. Seraphim means burning, or enkindled. These, because they are so near God, for no other spirit exists between him and them, are fired all the more to love him by that proximity. Love is the flame which animates them, for seeing that unsullied splendour so closely, their love burns most ardently.

But of what use is it to dwell upon the gifts and graces with which the angels are blessed unless, by apt reflection, we draw some profit to ourselves? That heavenly city is inhabited by angels and men. There, as we believe, will enter only those numbers of the human race which equal those of the angels who remained faithful to God. For it is written: “He appointed the bounds of people according to the number of the angels of God”.¹⁰ Therefore we must say something of the distinctions which exist between the different citizens of heaven, hoping that we ourselves may increase in virtue by these reflections. We believe that the number of men who are to reach heaven will be equivalent to that of the angels who remained loyal to God. Therefore it is necessary that those men who advance towards their heavenly home should imitate upon the way, to some extent at least, the virtues of their fellow-citizens. For the different occupations of men resemble those of the different angelic orders, and each man is allotted to his class by that characteristic similarity of occupation. There are many who have only little capacity for understanding; nevertheless, they use what they have well, so that their brothers profit by their teaching. These will be classed among the angels. There are others who, aided by divine grace, understand and expound the most supreme mysteries of God, and to these we must assign a place among the archangels. There are others who have the gift of working miracles and performing marvellous deeds: where are these to be set, if not among the virtues? There are some who can make the evil spirits flee in terror, who banish them from the bodies they possess, by virtue of their prayers and the heavenly power they enjoy. Having regard to their great merit, must we not consider these people as kindred to the heavenly powers? There are a few who, by the virtues which they received, transcend the worth even of the elect: since they are better than the good, they preside over their brothers in justice. What will be their lot, if not a place among the principalities? And yet others are in such control of themselves, in their vices and their desires that for their purity of life they are called gods among men; so it was said to Moses: “I have appointed thee the God of Pharao”.¹¹ These are surely numbered among the dominations. Some who, by watchful care, dominate themselves and solicitously examine the rectitude of their intention and cleave constantly to a filial fear of God, receive, as a reward for their virtue, the capacity of clear-headed judgment of others. As their mind is clarified by the divine contemplation, God presides there as from his throne, and judges others’ actions and enacts his will through them. These are the thrones of their Maker; they guide and rule his church, and often judge even the elect for their faults of weakness. So also there are many people who are so filled with love for God and for their neighbour, that truly they may be classed as cherubim. As we have said, cherubim means fullness of knowledge, and from St. Paul we learn that: “Love is the fulfilling of the law”.¹² Therefore those who have greater love of God and of their neighbour than have others, are worthy to be ranked among the cherubim. Lastly come those who burn with the fire of supernatural contemplation. Seeking only union with their Maker, they no longer look for anything of this earth; loving only the things of eternity, they despise all that is worldly. Their thoughts rise above all temporal goods, they love and are inflamed with love, finding rest among those flames. Alight with love, their speech sets fire to others: those to whom they speak soon feel the ardour of God’s love. What shall I call them, if not seraphim? Their heart becomes a fire and gives light and heat, for it enlightens the eyes of the understanding to supernatural things, inspiring it with tears of compunction, which clean the soul of all its vices. Is it not among the seraphim that those who are so inflamed with love of God reach their destiny?

As I speak to you of these things, dearly beloved, recollect yourselves, and examine your merits inwardly. See whether your good actions are sincere; see whether you find the fulfilment of your present conduct among those hosts of angels of whom I have spoken, although briefly. Unhappy is that soul which cannot find in itself any of those virtues which we have mentioned. But more pitiable still is its state if it sees itself lacking in them and does not weep. The man who reacts in this fashion, brethren, is to be pitied, because he does not pity himself. Let us think, then, of these gifts and graces which adorn the just, and put all our energies into the attainment of such good fortune. Let him bewail himself who finds no grace within him. But the man who finds in himself some virtue, however slight it may be, must not covet the great virtues with which others abound; for those supreme ranks of angels are so created that some are given pre-eminence over others. It is told that St. Dionysius the Areopagite, an ancient and venerable father, used to say that, for the discharge of any office one or more of the inferior angels were sent, either visibly or invisibly; for in order to console man angels or archangels are sent from heaven. The higher ranks never leave the inner sanctum, for those which are more excellent are not employed in outward tasks. This seems to contradict the words of Isaias, who says: “And one of the seraphims flew to me: and in his hand was a live coal, which he had taken with the tongs off the altar. And he touched my mouth”.¹³ But when reading this passage of the prophet, it must be understood that those spirits which are sent receive their name from the office they fulfil. So the angel who burns away the sins of the tongue carries a coal from the altar and is called seraphim, as that word means fire. This is the sense we should give to Daniel’s words: “Thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand stood before him”.¹⁴ It is one thing to minister, and another to stand in his presence. Those minister to God who leave heaven as his messengers but those stand before him who so enjoy the intimate vision of him that they are sent very seldom upon any outside mission.

But although we learn from certain passages of Scripture that the function of the cherubim differs from that of the seraphim, for lack of conclusive proof, we do not wish to affirm whether they perform their office themselves or discharge it through other angels, as has been affirmed. However, we do know with certainty that some spirits command others to fulfil the divine wishes. The prophet Zacharias testifies to this when he says: “And, behold, the angel that spoke in me went forth: and another angel went out to meet him. And he said to him: Run, speak to this young man, saying: Jerusalem shall be inhabited without walls”.¹⁵ When one angel says to another: “Run and speak”, it is clear that one commands the other; and if that is so, then some angels are superior to others. And with regard to those angels who are sent to us, we are sure that, while they come in the performance of an outward service, they do not fail to discharge their inward office of contemplation. So they are sent and at the same time they stand in the presence of God, because, although the angelic spirit is limited, the supreme spirit, God himself, is infinite. The angels, then, are sent, yet stand in his presence: because no matter where they go, they continue to move in him.

It is noteworthy, too, that the angels are frequently given the name of the order or group which follows. We said that the thrones, that is, the seats of God, form a special order of blessed spirits; nevertheless, the psalmist says: “Thou that sittest upon the cherubims; shine forth”.¹⁶ As the cherubim are very close to the thrones, God is represented as seated upon the cherubim by reason of their equality with the others. For in the eternal city each one of the angelic orders has its particular distinctions, which yet are common to the others. So, what each enjoys in a particular way is the undiminished property of the other orders also. But all the orders are not given the same name, for each is to be designated by the name of the peculiar ministry which it more specifically fulfils. So we said that seraphim signifies fire, but yet all the angels burn with the love of their Creator. The cherubim represent the fullness of knowledge, and yet of what is any angel ignorant, in that very place where together they see God, the source of all knowledge? The thrones are those in the midst of whom the Creator reigns, but none can enjoy eternal happiness, unless his Creator reigns within him. Therefore, what is in fact the property of all is attributed especially to those who receive it as a specific office to discharge. For if there is anything in some which the others cannot have, as in those properly called dominations and powers, all belongs to each, because through the charity of the spirit, each one enjoys whatever the others have.

But now, speaking of the angels, we have wandered far from our exposition of the Gospel. We must aspire to their happiness, but now let us return to ourselves. Let us remember that we are flesh and blood, and postpone our talk of the heavenly secrets until our penance wipes away the dust which makes us unclean in the sight of our Creator. Divine mercy promises us: “There shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that doth penance”, and by the prophet Ezechiel: “The justice of the just shall not deliver him in what day soever he shall sin”.¹⁷ Let us reflect as far as we may on this conduct of the divine mercy. He menaces the good with punishment should they fall, while he promises the sinners mercy in order that they may take courage to rise. He terrifies the first lest they become presumptuous in their good works; he encourages and animates the second, lest they despair in their sins. Are you good? Fear God’s wrath that you may not fall. Are you a sinner? Put your trust in the divine mercy which will help you to rise. Consider that we are already fallen, that if left unaided we are utterly unable to rise, that we lie prostrate in the midst of our evil desires. But he who threatens to overthrow us if we are just, now stimulates us to overcome the sins which we have committed. He opens the bosom of his mercy, and invites us to go to him through penance. But we cannot do penance properly if we do not know how it should be done. To do penance truly is to lament those sins we have committed, and not to commit what we should lament. But he who weeps for his fault and at the same time commits another does not do penance: either he deceives himself, or else he does not know what penance is. Of what use is it to a man to repent of his sins of lust, if at the same time he is consumed by avarice? Or what benefit, if he bewail his faults of anger, when he allows himself to be dominated by envy? Therefore in order to do penance properly, we must not only repent of the evil we have committed but also refrain from committing further lamentable deeds: not only weep for our vices, but also fear to gratify them.

He who remembers his unlawful deeds should make an effort to abstain from what is lawful, as satisfaction to his Creator. He who enjoyed what is forbidden should likewise restrain himself from what is permissible, and mortify himself in small things when he knows that he has erred in big things. But all that I am saying now would be worthless, if it were not borne out by Holy Scripture. It is a fact that the law of the Old Testament forbade the coveting of another’s wife,¹⁸ but it did not forbid under any penalty that a king should order his soldiers to do difficult things or that a man should not drink water. We all know that David, overcome by his concupiscence, coveted and took the wife of another.¹⁹ This fault was followed by due punishment, and he amended it by penance. But later, when he faced the enemy troops, he longed to satisfy his thirst from a cistern at Bethlehem. Three brave soldiers, breaking through the enemy lines without suffering any hurt, brought the coveted water to their king. But he, having learned from his chastisement, immediately rebuked himself for having desired that water which had put his men in peril, and pouring it out upon the ground, he offered it to God, as it is written: “He would not drink, but offered it to the Lord”.²⁰ The spilt water thus became a sacrifice made to God, for he atoned for the guilt of his concupiscence by the penance of his self-rebuke. So the man who formerly did not fear to covet the wife of another, later was afraid of having wished for water. Remembering the unlawful thing he had done, he restricted himself austerely from what was lawful. We are truly penitent when we deplore those sins we have committed. Let us think of the great indulgence of our Creator, who saw us sin and bore with us.

He who, before we fall, forbids us to sin, does not shut the doors of pardon on us, once we have committed it. See that he whom we despise calls upon us. We turn from him, but he does not turn from us. So that Isaias tells us: “And thy eyes shall see thy teacher. And thy ears shall hear the word of one admonishing thee behind thy back”.²¹ Man is, as it were, defended in front when, born in justice, he receives the commandments of uprighteousness. But when he despised those precepts, it was as if he turned his back upon his Maker. Yet see how he follows us; and though we have despised him, he does not cease to call us back. We turn our backs on him, with contempt for his words, treading on his laws: but even then he calls us yet again through his precepts, and waits for us in patience. Think, brethren, whether if any of you were speaking to your servant and he should turn his back proudly upon you: would you, his master, fail to punish him severely for such contempt? But when we sinned we turned away from our Creator, and still he tolerates us. He gently calls us from our pride, and although he could strike us as his enemies, instead he promises a reward on our return. Let such mercy on God’s part melt the harshness of our guilty hearts; let man, who might have been severely punished for the evil he has done, at least feel shame at seeing the love with which God awaits his repentance.

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