Tell me: Where are the kings? Where are the princes? Where are the rich? Where is their gold and their splendor? “All has passed like a shadow.” Their gold, their silver and their pomp have remained in the world, while they are endlessly tormented in hell, where their worm will never die and their fire will never go out, since it is written, “The powerful will be severely tormented.” Down there they will live forever in darkness, in a dwelling without light. Down there the miserable will be with the miserable, the proud with the proud, murderers with murderers, adulterers with adulterers, the impious with the impious, liars with liars, those who commit sacrilege with others like them—all will be tormented together, forever, in hell.

“Their destiny will be of no benefit to them,” because what is of benefit is not the mere fact of sitting in the presbytery but living a life worthy of that position, as the Word demands. The Word requires a good life from both you and from us, but if it is true that “the mighty will be mightily tested,” then more is demanded of me than of a deacon, more of a deacon than of a layperson, and of the one entrusted with ecclesial power, even more is demanded.

“The powerful will be severely tormented” and “To one whom much has been given, much will be required.” This refers in particular to priests. If they do not want to listen, guarding their hearts so as to glorify the Lord’s name by their good conduct, but instead people curse his name because of them, God will deprive them of every good and turn their blessing into a curse. Those who abuse their health in licentious behavior and corrupt their good name with sordid conduct change God’s blessings into curses.

The prophet Isaiah says, “Then the wolf and the lamb will pasture together. The leopard will lie down with the kid. The ox, the lion and the lamb will eat hay together. And a little child will guide them.” And David says, “See, the kings of the earth have assembled and joined together. They saw and were amazed.” And again he says, “Who is like the Lord our God, who lives on high and looks down on earthly things? Who raises the indigent from the earth and lifts the poor from the dust, to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people?” And also Solomon says, “He has made the small and the great, and he cares for all alike.” And he says further, “Wisdom has built her house, with seven pillars as its foundation. She has sacrificed her victims, prepared her wine in its cup and spread her table. She has sent out her servants, calling out and saying, ‘Come, eat my bread and drink the wine that I have prepared for you.’ ” The Lord confirms this in the Gospel, with the parable of the banquet prepared by the powerful rich man for his son. “He sent his servants to tell those who had been invited to come, and they excused themselves. One said, ‘I have bought a field and I am going to see it, please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I have bought five pairs of oxen.’ And another, ‘I have just taken a wife.’ ” In these three excuses we have “the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes and worldly show,” which detained the Jews and kept them from coming to Christ’s table, to which they had been invited. “Go,” says the father, “into the plazas and the streets and bring to me those whom you find.” The pagans were thus brought in. “There is still room,” says the servant. The father responds, “Go along the hedgerows and the byways, and force those you find to come in.” Among these are the rich, kings and certain heretics who have left the Lord’s flock, who are constrained to come by him who says, “No one can come to me if the Father who sent me does not draw him.” And to those who come he says, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.” The apostle Paul shows who these are when he says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, nor slave nor free person, nor man nor woman. All of you, in fact, are one person in Christ Jesus.” The verses of the Sibyl, which we cited above, confirm this: “I will lower the hills and raise the valleys from their depths. There will no longer be anything sublime or exalted among what is human.” Maro, in agreement with the Sibyl, says, “Nor will the herds fear the great lions.”

The rich person does not easily attain riches of the soul, that is, the virtues of this world. He who says, “It is more difficult for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven” is clearly saying that it is easier for a poor person to do so. So that the poor person does not imagine that he has been excluded from God’s care because of his poverty, the prophet testifies, saying, “I created the poor and the rich, and I care for all alike.” “God does not make distinctions between persons.” And it does not say that he cares only for the rich with respect to worldly goods but for everyone. He cares for the poor as well, and he will reward anyone who has been humble in riches or patient in poverty.

How truly precious is the Holy Spirit, the good sovereign! Thus we receive baptism in the Father, in the Son and in the Holy Spirit! He fights against many demons who attack those who are still burdened by the body with beastly ferocity. But that demon whom so many are unable to bind with iron chains has often been conquered by the recitation of a single prayer, through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within: the mere breath of the exorcist, like a fire, puts him to flight, and he disappears. God, therefore, has given us a mighty ally for the battle, a true protector—a great Teacher for the church, a great defender for each of us. We need not fear demons or the devil, because the one who fights for us is stronger. Let us open the door that he would come to meet us, “seeking those who are worthy of him” and desiring to give us his gifts.

God, through his hidden power, impresses an impetus on the entire universe of his creatures. And it is precisely in virtue of this impetus that every creature is set in motion—when the angels carry out God’s orders, when the stars complete their orbit; when the winds blow now in one direction, now in another, when the abyss is stirred up by rushing waters and by condensed, swirling vapors in the air; when the vegetable kingdom germinates and its seeds develop, when animals are born and pass their lives according to their proper instincts; and when the wicked are allowed to torment the righteous. Thus God unfurls the ages that he had rolled up, so to speak, in the primordial creation. Those ages would not have followed their course if he who created them were to cease his providential government over them. The beings that grow and are born in time should teach us how we are to think of these things. Not without reason, in fact, does Scripture say that Wisdom “benevolently appears” to those who love her, “in their ways, and meets them with her unfailing providence.” Moreover, we should not listen to those who think that divine providence governs only the highest regions of the world, those on the outer edge of (that is, above) our atmosphere, which is denser; but that the lowest part—the earth and the sea, and the earthly atmosphere that is closer and thus permeated with humidity because of evaporation from the land and the sea (and in which winds and clouds are formed)—is rather ruled by chance, agitated by random movements. Against these the psalm speaks that, after having praised the heavenly beings, turns its attention to those of earth and says, “Praise the Lord of the earth, you sea monsters and all you deeps. Fire and hail, snow and ice, storm winds which fulfill his command.”

Having arrived at Jerusalem, Ezra, inflamed with zeal for the Law, decided first of all to purify the people of their vices, since, as the prophet said, “A wise king is the salvation of his people.” Having found the book of Moses, he showed, among other things, that the wrath of God was kindled against the people because they had married foreign wives against God’s commandment. With severity, which was his strength, he convinced them to send back their wives and their children. No longer held back by carnal delights and wanting to propitiate God, they did what was commanded of them without hesitation. In this way they symbolized the Christian people, whom the first among all priests admonishes, “If anyone leaves house, fields, wife or children because of my name, he will be repaid many times over here and will gain eternal life.”

Only God is declared to be wise. He is defined as wise because he does not receive wisdom from another, nor does he participate in the wisdom of another. Many in fact are called wise, not by their nature but by the fact that wisdom is communicated to them. God, by contrast, who did not become wise by participation in the wisdom of another or by having gotten it somewhere else, is called the only wise, who generates wisdom and makes others wise. This wisdom is our Lord Jesus Christ, who is called the power and the wisdom of God. But the Holy Spirit is also proclaimed to be wisdom. In fact, even in the books of the Old Testament it is said that Joshua, son of Nun, was full of the spirit of wisdom. Only God, therefore, is wise, in that he does not receive wisdom from another principle but makes wise and generates wisdom. He alone is wise, as opposed to the other beings who are considered wise by his gift (“An abundance of wise people is the salvation of the world,” and, further, “Those who know themselves are wise” and, finally, “If you walk with the wise, you will become wise”4). Likewise the Holy Spirit, because he does not receive wisdom from another principle, is called the Spirit of wisdom. His very being is Spirit of wisdom, and his nature is none other than Spirit of truth6 and Spirit of God.

One who must speak with wisdom, if he is unable to do so eloquently, must absolutely follow the word of the Scriptures closely. The poorer he is in himself, the more necessary it is that he be rich in the Scriptures, so as to demonstrate, using them, what he says with his own words. And one who is inferior in speaking will in some way grow, thanks to the testimony of what is superior. In fact, the one less able to delight by speaking will delight by demonstrating. One who makes an effort to speak not only with wisdom but also with eloquence will be even more useful if he is skilled in both. Willingly would I allow that a person whom I counsel to follow the masters of rhetorical art read, listen to or practice imitating the eloquent, because those who are read or listened to are known for speaking or for having spoken not only eloquently but also wisely and truly. In fact, those who speak with eloquence do so attractively, whereas those who speak with wisdom are listened to for salvation. For this reason, Scripture does not say, “An abundance of those who are eloquent,” but “An abundance of the wise is the salvation of the world.”