Page:Ninety-nine homilies of S. Thomas Aquinas upon the epistles and gospels for forty-nine Sundays of the Christian year (IA ninetyninehomili00thom).pdf/114

 I. On the first head, it is to be noted, that humility is threefold. (1) Of guilt, Ecclus. xix. 23, “ There is one that humbleth himself wickedly, and his interior is full of deceit.” (2) Of punishment, Psalm cvi. 42, “ Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand.” (3) Of grace, S. Matt. xi. 29, “ Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.” The first kind of humility is to be fled from; the second to be endured ; the third to be sought for.

II. On the second head, it is to be noted, that God shows His power over the proud in three ways. (1) In resisting them ; (2) in casting them down ; (3) in punishing them eternally. Of the first, S. James iv. 6, “ God resisteth the proud, but givetli grace unto the humble.” Of the second, Psalm lxxii. 18, Vulg., “When they were lifted up Thou hast cast them down.” Of the third, Joel ii. 20, “ And his stink shall come up, and his ill-savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.” Baruck v. 7, “For God hath appointed to bring down every high mountain.” (S. Thos. reads “mind.”)

III. On the third head, it is to be noted, that man acquires a threefold profit from humility. (1) The gift of grace; (2) the gift of knowledge; (3) the gift of glory. Of the first, S. James iv. 6, God “ giveth grace unto the humble.” Of the second, S. Matt. xi. 25, “Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.” Of the third, Job. xxii. 29, Vulg., “For he that hath been humbled shall be in glory.”

Two things are noted in these words. First, the dignity of the angels—“ the angels of God.” Second, their benig-