Third objection: church dues; Gregory on the hypocrite’s love of temporal goods

But third, as a principal objection, it is objected, by appeal toobicitur per: it is objected, by appeal to this: that, granted this teachingsentencia: CONTEXTUAL: teaching / sentence, every exaction of what is owed to the churchecclesia: church would be taken away, and every law of suit among the clergy would be extinguished, since a debtor could pretend that the churchman was not worthy, or not such as might so claim the goods of the church; and as to excommunication, which is the last refuge, he would say that it does not bind.¹

To this the answer isdicitur multipliciter: is said in many ways that, if God’s lawlex dei / lex Christi / lex evangelica: God's law / the law of Christ / the gospel law were duly searched by us, we should not contend so much about the goods of the church; since it is manifest that a foreknownprescitus, -i: the foreknown man, or any clericclerus; clericus: the clergy; cleric without a performance of his ministry to compensate, who contends for, occupies or accepts the goods of the church more for the honour, pleasure or gain of the world than for the honour of God and the edification of the church, thus falsely claims and consumes what belongs to others; and consequently it is lawful to exposedetegere: to expose the cunning of such men and to resist [them] by withdrawing the goods of the poor (as was said at length in book 6, chapter ...).² Hence, under the authority of blessed Augustine, it is written in the Decrees, [causa] 8, q. 1: "There are", he says, "certain superiorsprepositi: superiors in the church of whom the apostle Paul says: Seeking their own, not the things that are Jesus Christ’s. What is 'seeking their own'? 48Not loving Christ freely, not seeking God for God’s own sake, pursuing temporal goodstemporalia: temporal goods, gaping after gains, coveting honours from men. When these things are loved by a superior, and God is served for these things, whoever is such a one is a hireling; let him not count himself among the sons."³ Hence, since we all confess that we covet such superiorships principally for the honour of God and the spiritual profit of the church, in order to discern whether we are hypocrites we must give credence to our works, to the mirror of scripture and to the testimony of the saints.⁴ Hence Gregory, Moralia 31, chapter 9 and following, explains this matter well enough in three conclusions, supposing first that the mind of a just man, or of a true Christian, ought to be gathered within, in affection as much as in intellect, so that it leaves nothing of its own outside. This is clear from this: that otherwise it would sin against this commandment: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind."⁵ Since, therefore, it ought not to sin, it followssequitur: it follows that it ought not to be so broken up, in intellect and affection, about temporal goods; for in that way the love owed to one is dispersed about many things.

This supposed, it is clear, first, that the saints, while they so gather themselves within themselves, grasp hidden things, as much of their own state as of their neighbour’s. It is clear from this: that the true light, which cannot respect persons, of necessity shines upon such a mind according to its capacity.⁶ And this is figured in Ezekiel 8:3, where it reads thus: 49"The likeness of a hand was put forth and took me by a lock of my head: and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the vision of God into Jerusalem, near the inner gate, that looked toward the north, where was set the idol of jealousy to provoke to jealousy." The hand put forth is the divine operative will; the lock of the head is the gathered thoughts of the mind, which once had, the mind is drawn incompletely from earthly things, since it has a soul neither wholly heavenly nor wholly asleep in earthly things, but is led between earth and heaven in the vision of God into Jerusalem, because with the zeal of charitycaritas: charity it contemplates what mother church ought to be.⁷ And significantly such a soul is brought to the inner gate that looks toward the north, because by inward contemplation they discover that within the church more crooked things than right are done, while clerics on the north wall, that is, to the left of the sun, turn their eyes, and, [southern] charity removed far off, abound in the cold of vices; the cause of which is the mass of temporal goods, which the church, faithful in appearance only, worships; for hence the zeal of the church’s bridegroomsponsa / sponsus: bride / bridegroom is provoked to strike the hypocrites.⁸ Second, it is clear by what sign it is weighed whether churchmen burn for earthly things, heavenly things being passed over: for since love is the weight of the soul, and it is not possible for a man to be moved freely where the affection of his mind has not carried him, it is clear that the affection of the mind must be judged from works.⁹ If, therefore, you see that a churchman sweats more over the perpetuating, over the defence and over the loss of temporal goods than he does for spiritual ones, who doubts that he is more attached to them? Hence, as to the perpetuating of temporal goods, thus 50speaks this saint: "For, the care of their sons put aside, you may often see them gird themselves against the dangers of immense labour, cross the seas, go to the courts, knock at the doors of princes, break into palaces, take part in the wrangling throngs of the peoples." But since they do not lay out so much diligence for acquiring spiritual things, who doubts that they love these temporal ones more?¹⁰

And as to retention, the same is clear from the greatnessprioritas; majoritas: priority; greatness of the diligence we lay out for defending temporal rather than spiritual things. "The hypocrite", says Gregory, "having put on the habit of a holy manner of lifeconversacio: manner of life, deserts the keeping of his sons, and seeks to defend all temporal things, even with quarrels. He does not tremble to destroy their hearts by his example, and he fears to lose earthly patrimonies as if by negligence. The disciple slips into error, and yet the hypocrite’s heart is wounded by no grief. He sees those committed to him go into the whirlpool of iniquity, and passes these things by as if unheard; but if he feels some temporal loss lightly inflicted on himself, he suddenly blazes up from his inmost parts into the anger of revenge. And at once his patience breaks, at once the grief of his heart runs unbridled into words; because, while he bears the losses of souls with equanimity, but hastens, even with commotion of spirit, to repel the loss of temporal things, he truly shows to all, by the witness of his mind’s disturbance, what he loves. For there is great zeal for defence where there is the greater force of love."¹¹ And as to the loss of a man’s goods, there is the same indication: for without doubt whoever grieves more over the loss of a good of fortune than of a good of virtue shows himself, as such, to love temporal goods more than virtues; since it is a maxim among the philosophers that grief for what is lost and love for 51what is had correspond in their times.¹² Hence Gregory in the place cited: "The more anyone loves earthly things, the more vehemently he dreads being deprived of them. For with what mind we possess anything in this world, we are not taught except when we lose it. For whatever is possessed without love is lost without grief; but the things we love ardently when had, we sigh for heavily when taken away."¹³