61!i GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XVIII.
commandments,Thou shalllovethyneighbouras thyself,how
was itthatwhen he heard,Go and sellallthatthouhast,
and giveto thepoor,he went away sorrowful? BEDB. Or
we must not think him to have lied,but to have avowed
thathe had livedhonestly,thatis,at leastin outward
Mark things,elseMark couldneverhave said,And Jesusseeing
him lovedhim.
TIT.BOST.Our Lord next declares,thatthough a man
haskeptthe oldcovenant,he isnot perfect,sincehe lacks
to followChrist.Thou yet lackestone thing,Sellallthat
thouhast,fyc.As ifHe says,Thou askesthow to possess
eternallife;scatterthy goodsamong the poor,and thou
shaltobtainit. A littlethingisthatthou spendest,thou
Athan.exreceivestgreatthings.ATHAN. For when we despisetheSUa°fUgaeworld,we must notimaginewe haveresignedany thinggreat,
forthewholeearthincomparisonoftheheavenisbuta span
long; thereforeeven shouldtheywho renounceitbe lords
of the whole earth,yet stillitwould be nothingworthin
comparisonofthekingdom ofheaven.BEDE. Whoever then
wishesto be perfectmust sellallthathe hath,not a part
only,asAnaniasand Sapphiradid,butthewhole.THEOPHTL.
Hence when He says,All thatthouhast,He inculcatesthe
most completepoverty.For ifthereisany thingleftover
Basil.in orremainingtothee,thouartitsslave.BASIL.He doesnot
inL92. tellus tosellour goods,becausetheyareby natureevil,for
then theywould not be God'screatures; He thereforedoes
notbidus castthem away asiftheywerebad,butdistribute
them ; norisanyone condemnedforpossessingthem,butfor
abusingthem. And thusitis,thattolayoutour goodsac
cordingtoGod'scommand both blotsoutsins,and bestows
Chrys. thekingdom. CHRYS.God mightindeedfeedthepoorwith-
22.ini. out our takingcompassionupon them, but He wishesthe
adCor. giversto be bound by the tiesof loveto the receivers.
Basil.in BASIL.When our Lord says,Give to thepoor,itbecomes
disj,3"ada man no longerto be careless,but diligentlyto disposeof
int.9. allthings,firstofallby himselfifin any measurehe isable,
ifnot,by thosewho areknown to be faithful,and prudent
in theirmanagement; forcursedishe who doetkthework
oftheLord negligently.CHRYS. But itisasked,how does
.Win'i Christacknowledgethe givingallthingsto the poortobe
ailCor.