Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

[icarlytradcath]

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

By Udalricus Campiliensis († c. 1358)

(AI Translation)

In Matthew V it is read that the Lord commands not only not to kill, but not even to be angry. It is to be noted here that anger is a sudden movement of the soul, proceeding to deeds, from which destruction is generated. And of these movements, some arise from faint-heartedness, some from despair, some from sin, and some from carnality. But he who possesses faith, hope, charity, fortitude, and chastity will not fear these irascible impulses. For anger, in so far as it is a mortal sin, is to be avoided: because it inflicts harm upon the body, because it blinds the eye of the mind, because it makes one a slave of the devil, and because it brings with it eternal and spiritual death. All anger inflicts evil upon men and things, whether by brotherly hatred, by injury committed, by homicide or by the theft of one's reputation or any other good.

Old Testament (Left)
In Genesis XLIX it is said that Jacob spoke: "Simeon and Levi are vessels of war against their son; my soul shall not enter into their council." Just as the Lord does with the wrathful, so did Jacob not want the sons of fury to ever become princes. Jacob is the supplanter, that is, Christ, who supplants all things unto Himself, who ascended the heavens and supplants the evils from us when He helps us with His grace to be helped. His sons, that is, sinners or those who act precipitously, are all those Christians who are vessels of fury warring against one another, that is, showing no piety among themselves; for Simeon (meaning "one who hears of sorrow") and Levi (meaning "added") are so interpreted. That is, they shall hear the sorrow of mourning, and they add and add unto their own sin, being characterized by wrath, and therefore the Lord is never named in their council.

Old Testament (Right)
In Genesis XLV it is read that Joseph said to his brothers after he had manifested himself to them: "Do not become angry on the way." Just as the Lord commanded the disciples not to fret over vessels, so Joseph told his brothers not to fret on the journey, showing them how to control the movement of the soul. Joseph means "increase" and signifies Christ, who daily increases the number of those to be saved by His grace; and here, used by His brothers for all the faithful, He snatches them and imposes the final requirement that, in the way we live and walk through this present exile, we should in no way, through any matter of grumbling or detraction, rise up against ourselves or our neighbors in any manner, lest we fall into vices, violence, and lastly Gehenna, according to the evangelical sentence.

Nature (left)
Basil the Great says that the camel hides its anger for a long time until it can take revenge at an opportune moment. Thus does Christ act, who long dissembles His wrathful vengeance against the impious, yet afterwards harshly condemns those who are unwilling to convert. Hence, let no one neglect the mercy of God.

Alternatively, the camel signifies the hardened and long-suffering sinner who, unable to immediately repay an offense committed against him, patiently dissembles it; and when in time he gains power or opportunity, he takes his revenge, at no point forgetting or desisting from his evil purpose. This type of revenge makes the irate man himself suffer for a long time; may all be especially wary of this sickness and self-inflicted torture.

Nature (right)
Aristotle and the Experimentator say that children will play with monkeys, but when the monkey grows tired and the opportunity arises, it kills the child. So, too, do children—that is, the foolish and the weak—often instigate and play with their anger, so that by indulging in back-biting, calumny and exaggeration, what first seemed to them a light and trivial offense, grows and grows until it finally engenders in them hatred of their neighbour and desire for revenge, killing their soul.