Page:Ninety-nine homilies of S. Thomas Aquinas upon the epistles and gospels for forty-nine Sundays of the Christian year (IA ninetyninehomili00thom).pdf/57



FOUR things are noted in these words. Firstly, the goodness of the Lord: “ He went out” for the salvation of His people. For the going out of Christ to lead men into His vineyard was an act of infinite goodness—Habak. iii. 13, “ Thou wentest forth for the salvation of Thy people.” Secondly, the foolishness of man: “ Saw others standing idle in the market-place.” Nothing is more foolish than for man, who ought in this present life so to work that he may live eternally, to live idly—Ecclus. xxii. 2, “ The sluggard is pelted with the dung of oxen, and everyone that toucheth him will shake his hands.” Thirdly, the necessity of working in the Lord’s vineyard—“ Go ye also into the vineyard;” 2 Thess. iii. 10, “If any would not work, neither should he eat.” Fourthly, the profit of the labour—“ Whatsoever is right I will give you." Rev. xxii. 12, “ Behold,- I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give to every man according as his work shall be.” I. On the first head it is to be noted that Christ is said to have had five goings out—(1) In the beginning of the world, as a Sower, sowing His creatures—S. Luke viii. 5, “ A Sower went out to sow His seed.” (2) In His Nativity, enlightening the world—Isa. lxii. 1, “Until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth;” S. John xvi. 28, “I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world.” (3) In His Passion, saving His own from the power of the Devil, and from all evil—Isa. li. 5, “My righteousness is near, My salvation is gone forth.” (4) In providing, as a householder, for His family and affairs—“ The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.” (5) He will go out in judgment, in a threefold way. Firstly, as a Visitor, making a severe inquisition upon the wicked—Isa. xxvi. 21, “ Behold, the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the in-