We who have been justified in Christ, who, through faith in him, have obtained communion with the Holy Spirit, must be careful not to mix with those of perverse mind and impious spirit who do not have the true faith. They are in fact foreigners; they speak a different language and say perverse things2. If someone mixes with them, he too will be contaminated, since it is written, “One who handles pitch blackens his hand.” Therefore, if it is possible to bear fruit in the churches of Christ, why would anyone want to associate with those on the fringe or have anything to do with the impure congregations, provoking against oneself the God of the universe?

All in the church who are sinners, who “have tasted the word of God” and transgress it, justly merit punishment, but each will be tormented according to his position. A leader of the church who sins will undergo greater punishment. Does not the faithful catechumen deserve more indulgence than a leader? Is not the lay person more worthy of pardon than a deacon, and the latter, in turn, more worthy of understanding than a priest? And even if I do not describe them, you know the other scenarios. Fearing God’s judgment, then, and with my gaze always fixed on that series of judgments contained in the Scriptures, the phrase comes to mind, “Do not take on yourself a burden beyond your strength.” And the other, “Do not seek to be a judge if you are not capable of rooting out injustice.” What good would it be for me to sit on the cathedra, my head lifted high, receiving the homage of the great, but being unable to perform actions that are fully worthy of my charge? Would I not be afflicted by an even greater suffering because the honor due the just is given to me by all, though I am a sinner?

When Jesus has shown in advance and rightly defined who those that love him are and of what blessings they will partake, he at once proceeds to treat of others who have not yet chosen to love him. “For they will not keep my words,” he says, for this is the meaning of the saying, “He will not keep my word,” spoken as if it was about one man, even though it has a broad and generic signification. And what he says here has a very apt connection with what precedes. For, if the keeping of his commandments or his word is a clear proof of love toward him, surely the converse of this will be true. For treating his bidding as of no account and thrusting his commandment aside will be a sign that we refuse to love him, since these are the acts of people inured to evildoing. But just as he promised that together with God the Father he would abide with those who keep his laws, for the same reason, I think, he will pass away from and wholly abandon those who do the reverse. For thus the truth of Solomon’s saying will be seen: “Into the soul of the one who makes iniquity wisdom will not enter or dwell in the body given over to sin.” For in common life you can observe that a similar result follows: for does not a person gain a reputation by conversing with those who are like-minded and who choose the same path of life, rather than with others? And “every creature loves his own,” according to the saying, and “people will seek union with his own kind.” And if it seems most desirable even among ourselves to live with those of similar habits to ourselves, how can we escape the reflection that this is still more the case with God? For as he is good by nature and the beginning and source of all virtue, he takes up his abode not in the lovers of wickedness but in the workers of virtue and disdains the impure.

Is there anyone who has been found to live next door to a rich person who has not been robbed or even reduced to a state of permanent poverty? This is because as the powerful continue to encroach, the weak lose their possessions, or even themselves along with their possessions. The Word of God traces the profile of both with this most appropriate phrase, “The wild ass is the lion’s prey in the desert; so also the poor are devoured by the rich.” But it is also true that it is not only the poor who endure such tyranny but nearly the entire human race. What other dignity, after all, is there for those of high rank if not the power to confiscate the assets of the citizens? Concerning some, whose names I will not mention, what is a political position except a kind of plunder? For there is no worse pillaging of the poor than that which occurs among those in political power. Government positions are bought by the few and paid for by the ravaging of the rest of the citizenry. What can be more scandalous and evil than this? The poor pay the price for positions that are not for them. They do not know the meaning of buying, they only know the meaning of paying. The world is turned upside down for just a few individuals. The elevation of one person brings about the general ruin of everyone else.

He also says, “And your face is beautiful.” If it refers to that face of which Paul says, “We shall all then with unveiled face,” and again, “But then face to face,” then you will understand whether it is this or the face of the soul that is praised by the Word of God and is said to be beautiful. It is, without a doubt, the face that every day renews itself in the image of the one who created it, the one who in itself finds no spot or wrinkle but is holy and immaculate, which Christ has presented to himself as the church, that is, the souls who have come to perfection who altogether form the body of the church. Such a body will appear beautiful if the souls who compose it remain in every grace of perfection. In fact, just as an angry soul distorts the face of the body and disturbs it but when it is found in a state of tranquility and peace renders a countenance that is peaceful and mild, so also the face of the church in relation to the attitudes and the feelings of believers is defined as graceful or ugly, according to what we read written: “A cheerful countenance is the token of a heart that is in prosperity,” and again, “The face of the light hearted is filled with laughter, but it is morose if the heart is found in sadness.” Therefore the heart is happy when it has the Spirit of God in itself, whose firstfruit is love and whose second is joy. Thus I believe that some sages of this world have formed the opinion that only the sage is beautiful, while all the fools are only ugly.