The Lord Jesus, having called together His disciples, and drawn them apart from the crowd, went up with them into Mount Tabor, about two leagues from Nazareth, that He might impart to them His Doctrine ; for it was fitting that He should teach them first and before others, as He was about to make them the masters and guides over others. Then He instructed them in many things, in a sermon full of beauty and richness ; and no marvel, for the mouth of the Lord delivered it He taught them the Beatitudes, and about prayer, fasting, and alrasdeeds, and many other truths concerning virtues, which you can find in the Gospel itself. 1 You should read it diligently and frequently, and commit to memory the record of it, for it is the essence of all that is spiritual. I do not intend here to go through the whole of it, because it would be too long ; nor would such a mode of exposition fall in with the purpose of these meditations. I shall, however, for your edification intersperse some moral reflections here and there, both as they occur to me, and as quotations from the Saints suggest them. Let it suffice here to remark, that the Lord at the very beginning of this Sermon speaks of poverty, giving us to understand thereby, that poverty is the primary foundation of all spiritual discipline. By no means, then, can any one truly follow Christ, the mirror of poverty, when he is loaded with earthly riches. He is not free, but a slave, whose mind is under the dominion of temporal things. Therefore He says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” etc. For of the thing which I affectionately love, I make myself, of my own will, the slave. ‘For love, as S. Augustine says,1 is a weight of the soul, and bears it whither it is carried itself. And nothing should be loved except God or for God. Truly, therefore, it is said, “Blessed are the poor,” for they set no value on anything for God’s sake, and thus their union with Him is very close. But of this poverty S. Bernard2 says thus : “Poverty is a sort of powerful wing, with which we can swiftly fly to the kingdom of Heaven. For in the other virtues which follow, the promise points to some future time ; but with poverty it is not so much a promise as a gift, for it is said of the poor, “theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Again he says, “For we see some who are poor, who, were they truly so, would not be found so pusillanimous and depressed, when they might be kings, yea, kings of heaven. But there are some who are willing to become poor, but only with the provision that they are to want for nothing, and who love poverty, only that they might not suffer distress.” Elsewhere the same Saint says,3 “‘And I, if I be lifted up, will ’ — I boldly assert — ‘draw all to Me.4 4 For I do not rashly adopt the speech of my Brother, if I am clothed with His likeness. And if this be so, let not the rich of this world think that the brethren of Christ only have heavenly treasures, because they hear Him say, ‘ Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ For these poor possess the earth ; as, indeed, having nothing, and yet possessing all things; not begging as in a condition of wretchedness, but possessing as lords, and the more lords, the less they covet anything. To a faithful man, the whole world is a store of riches ; the whole, I say, for both its adversity and its prosperity are alike subservient to him, and work together for his good. The avaricious man hungers for earthly possessions, like a beggar ; the faithful man despises them, as a lord. The one, by possessing them, becomes a beggar; the other, by despising them, preserves them. Question any one of those, who with insatiable longing pant after worldly gain, as to what he thinks of those who sell all their goods and give them to the poor, that they may gain the kingdom of heaven for their earthly substance; whether he judges them to act wisely or not ? Wisely, he will without doubt decide. Ask him then why he does not himself follow the course of which he has expressed his approval ? ‘ I cannot/ he will say. But why ? Surely, because avarice, as a mistress, will not permit him ; because he is not free, he has no right to the things which he seems to possess, nor can he call them his own. If they are indeed yours, turn them to account, and exchange earthly for heavenly treasures. If you say, ‘ I cannot/ I shall say, then you are not the master of your wealth, but it is your master ; you are its steward, not its proprietor.” Thus far S. Bernard.
But let us return to our meditation. Behold, then, and observe the Lord Jesus humbly sitting on the ground on the mountain, and His disciples round Him ; how He was among them, as if one of them ; and how affectionately, kindly, beautifully, and effectively He speaks to them, attracting them to the acts of the several virtues of which He speaks. And on every occasion, as I have before advised, try to contemplate His Face. Regard, too, His disciples, how humbly, reverently, and with what fixedness of mind they behold Him, and hearken to His wondrous words, and commit them to memory, and see what delight they enjoy in His every utterance and glance. In this contemplation, you try to share that sweetness of communion with Him, as if you yourself saw Him speaking, and were ready, at His bidding, to draw closer to His side, and to stay as long as the Lord permits you.
At the end of the sermon, behold the Lord Jesus, together with His disciples, coming down from the mount ; and how, as He went on His way, the crowd of poor people in flocks follow Him, not in any formal procession, but as the hen is followed by her chickens, so that, whoever was able, might get near Him, and hear the better what He was saying. See also the crowds coming lovingly to meet Him, and bringing their sick to be restored. “And He healed them all.”
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