“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[i] and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:43-48
While this post is admittedly long, and though I have posted excerpts of it, when I found the oration in a book online, I decided to type it out post it as a resource for readers. It’s priceless and my last piece from Gregory of Nazianzus who helped polish the Nicene Creed in Hagia Irene, the room pictured above, exactly 1,642 years ago. Enjoy ‘On the Love of the Poor’.
“Recognize to whom you owe the fact that you exist, that you breathe, that you understand, that you are wise, and, above all, that you know God and hope for the kingdom of heaven and the vision of glory, now darkly and as in a mirror but then with greater fullness and purity. You have been made a child of God, a co-heir with Christ. Where did you get all this and from whom?
Now let me turn to what is of less importance: the visible world around us. What benefactor has enabled you to look out upon the beauty of the sky, the sun in its course, the circle of the moon, the countless number of stars, with the harmony and order that are theirs, like the music of a harp? Who has blessed you with rain, with the art of husbandry, with different kinds of food, with the arts, with houses, with laws, with states, with a life of humanity and culture, with friendship and the easy familiarity of kinship?
Who has given you dominion over animals, both those that are tame and those that provide you with food? Who has made you master of everything on earth? In short, who has endowed you with all that makes mankind superior to all other living creatures? Is it not God who asks you now in your turn to show yourself generous above all other creatures and for the sake of all other creatures? Because we have received from God so many wonderful gifts, will we not be ashamed to refuse him this one thing only, our generosity? Though He is God and Lord, He is not afraid to be known as our Father. Shall we for our part repudiate those who are our kith and kin?
Friends let us never allow ourselves to misuse what has been given by God’s gift. If we do, we shall hear St. Peter say: ‘Be ashamed of yourselves for holding on to what belongs to someone else. Resolve to imitate God’s justice, and no one will be poor,’ Let us not labor to heap up and hoard riches while others remain in need. If we do, the prophet Amos will speak out against us with sharp and threatening words: ‘Come now you that say: When will the new moon be over, so that we may start selling? When will sabbath be over, so that we may start opening our treasures?’
Let us put into practice the supreme and primary law of God. He sends down rain on the righteous and sinful alike and causes the sun to rise on all without distinction. To all earth’s creatures, he has given the broad earth, the springs, the rivers, and the forests. He has given the air to the birds, and the waters to those who live in water. He has given abundantly all the basic needs of life, not as a private possession, not restricted by law, not divided by boundaries, but as common to all, amply, and in rich measure. His gifts are not deficient in any way because He wanted to give equality of blessing to equality of worth and to show the abundance of His generosity.”
Gregory of Nazianzus from his oration ‘On the Love of the Poor’ in Celebrating the Seasons: Daily Spiritual Readings for the Christian Year, compiled by Robert Atwell (Norwich: Canterbury Press, 1999) Tuesday after Epiphany 1.
While his remarks are ancient, they seem totally relevant for our modern world. Read it again. What key words stand out to you?
This is my list: Recognize. Benefactor. Dominion. Endowed. Misuse. Repudiate. Ashamed. Resolve. Equality, Abundance. Generosity.
Now ask the Holy Spirit to help you center on one word, or perhaps a few that mark the message in this oration for you. I’ve got mine. You pick yours.
Now consider what action or actions you need to take in light of that word or phrase. God help this oration not fall on deaf ears. Amen.