Page:Ninety-nine homilies of S. Thomas Aquinas upon the epistles and gospels for forty-nine Sundays of the Christian year (IA ninetyninehomili00thom).pdf/193

 Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity. The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money.. Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest,” Micah iii. 9, 11, 12. (2) Through an issue, the flowing of carnal delights : “ Deliver me from blood-guiltiness [bloods], O God, thou God of my salvation,” Ps. li. 14. (3) Through the workings of any sin, no matter what: “ Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. Therefore shall the land mourn,” Hos. iv. 1-3.

II. On the second head it is to be noted, that penitence consists in three conditions, which are the effects of contrition. (1) In faith: “ Thy faith hath made thee whole.” “Purifying their hearts by faith,” Acts xv. 9. “A broken and contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise,” Ps. li. 17. (2) In humility, which is the preparer for confession: “ Came behind.” S. Bernard says, that for a man to make a proper confession of his sins is the ninth stage in humility: “ Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed,” S. James v. 16. (3) In the toil of satisfaction : “ Touched the hem of His garment.” “ Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance,” S. Matt, iii. 8. S. Gregory the Great observes, that anyone who returns to God with the heart, acquires by repentance a gain by so much the greater, as he had suffered loss from his sin.

III. On the third head it is to be noted, that a three-fold reward is here indicated as flowing from repentance. (1) That God turns towards the sinner, against whom He was both angry and opposed: "Thus saith the Lord of Hosts : Turn ye unto Me, saith the Lord of Hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of Hosts. Be not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the Lord of Hosts: turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the Lord. Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?” Zech. i. 3-6. (2) That the grace of God is infused into the soul: whence