Page:Ninety-nine homilies of S. Thomas Aquinas upon the epistles and gospels for forty-nine Sundays of the Christian year (IA ninetyninehomili00thom).pdf/154

 fourth leper is the avaricious man, who is ever infected with an immoderate desire of possessing: this was the leprosy of Gehazi: “ Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards.the leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever,” 2 Kings v. 26, 27. (5) The fifth leper is the proud man, who with a swelling mind exalts himself against’the Lord and Christ. Such was Naaman, King of Syria, and being very rich, and “also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper,” 2 Kings v. 1. (6) The sixth leper is the ambitious man, who desired honours and dignities: such an one as Uzziah, who took upon himself the honour of High Priest: “ He transgressed against the Lord his God, and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense .... and while he was wroth with the priests the leprosy rose up in his forehead before the priests,” 2 Chron. xxvi. 16-20. (7) The seventh leper is the hypocrite or vainglorious, who foolishly prides himself on his good things: such was the leprosy of Simon the Pharisee: “ When Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,” S. Matt. xxvi. 6. (8) The eighth leper is the sensual man, who contaminates creatures with the issue of his uncleannesses : “ What man soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper, or hath a running issue, he shall not eat of the holy things until he be clean,” Levit. xxii. 3. (9) The ninth leper is a homicide : such as was Joab, upon whom the wrath of God came because he slew Abner: “ Let there not fail from the house of Joab one that hath an issue, or that is a leper,” 2 Sam. iii. 29. (10) The tenth leper is he who is obstinate and desperate, and who finally sins: “When the plague of leprosy is in a man .... if the rising be white in the skin, and it have turned the hair white .... it is an old leprosy,” Levit. xiii. 9-11. S. Jerome observes, that he who despairs of pardon for sin is more bound by his desperation than by the sin which he has committed. Desperation increases despair, and is a greater tyrant than any sin. He who wishes to be cured from sin’s leprosy runs to the fountain of precious blood, which the ineffable charity of our Lord Jesus Christ opened for us: Who washed us in it, and will cleanse all those who fly unto Him from the leprosy of all sin. “ Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood .... to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” Rev. i. 5, 6.