Page:Ninety-nine homilies of S. Thomas Aquinas upon the epistles and gospels for forty-nine Sundays of the Christian year (IA ninetyninehomili00thom).pdf/62

 do ..... that they may have glory of men...... They have their reward.” Whence it is manifest that the seed must be guarded from the “birds of the air,” from the evil spirits, that it may bring forth fruit an hundredfold, which fruit is the joy of eternity. To which may we be brought.

In this Epistle we are invited to the exercise of charity, and it is manifoldly commended to us chiefly for five reasons. Firstly, for its preciousness—“ Charity, which name signifies what is dear and precious.” Secondly, the loss in its absence—“ I am become as sounding brass,” &c. Thirdly, its value in this present life—“ Charity sufiereth long, and is kind.” Fourthly, its eternity—“Charity never faileth.” Fifthly, its dignity—“ The greatest of these is charity.” Now mention the first two points.

I. On the first head it is to be noted that charity is precious on four accounts. (1) It can only come from One, and it must be given by the highest good—Rom. v. o, “ The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.” (2) It belongs only to the good. S. Austin says, “ Charity is a peculiar fountain ; a stranger does not communicate with it.” (3) Possessing it, all good things are possessed. S. Austin says, “Mark, how great a good is charity, which being absent renders all other good things vain, but he to whom it is present has all things. (4) The possessor of charity is most dear to God, for it is of that nature that they who possess it are called dear, whence the Lord calls those living in charity the most beloved—Cant. v. 1, “Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.”

II. On the second head it is to be noted that the absence of charity entails a threefold loss, as the Apostle here points out. (1) The best part of our nature is wasted—“lam become as sounding brass.” In time the brass is worn away by giving out the sound, just as the rational creature without