The Sermons of Johannes Tauler · 68 of 124

First Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Trinity

Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven. Give, and It shall be given to you; good measure and pressed down and shaken together and running over shall they give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you sha'l mete withal, it shall be measured to you again. — Luke vl, 36-38.

In this Gospel two things are taught ns by our Lord — one to be done, the other to be omitted, namely, to be merciful and not to judge others. Children, yesterday I instructed you how dangerous a thing it is and how distressing to sit in judgment on our neighbor, a sin to be most carefully guarded against, for the lips of truth itself tell us: “With the same measure you shall mete withal, it shall be

This mercy one must cultivate in his interior soul, cherishing a deepseated pity for his neighbor in his time of suffering, whether his pain be inner or outer, heartily praying God to grant him comfort. Canst thou give him bodily assistance? Do so generously, helping him with good advice and with material aid, as well with words as with worts,, as far as lies in thy power. Canst thou do little? Do that at least with a pitiful heart and with kindly words, and herein thou shalt have done thy part, and inayst expect to meet a merciful God.

Now as to the other lesson: “Judge not, and yon shall not be

If we would adopt the right plan, it is to take the beam out of our own eye before noticing the mote in our brother’s eye. Look at home; study thy own defects and no one else’s. If it happens that thou art appointed judge over another by thy office, then administer justice affectionately and mildly, with gentle looks and kind words, as St. Gregory admonishes us. To priests especially, set, as they are, to be judges in Holy Church, it is strictly forbidden to punish with severity, bearing in mind their own accountability to God and to men. Beai in mind that thy own life and works are one day to pass under God’s judgment; and take heed to thy sentence on thy neighbor lest God shall in turn pronounce against thee an awful sentence. Injurious gossiping is so common that it is a lamentable evil, men thereby losing God’s grace and their eternal happiness. Think three times before thou openest thy mouth to speak once, so that thy words may be for God’s honor and thy neighbor’s good, conducive to thy own interior and exterior peace. Do you know why the holy founders of religious orders have prohibited talking so strictly everywhere in convents except in one single place, and allowing it there only after special permission? It is because incalculable injury results from talking, far more than it is possible to reckon.

This Gospel speaks also of giving good measure. Now, the measure is a man’s own soul. God is measured by our soul, if we will only have it so. Ah, dear children, that is indeed a noble measure. But it is too often sadly in need of cleansing, that it may be a fit receptacle for Him, for the foul things of this life pollute it. Wilt thou turn to God in holy prayer? Then must thou give thy soul to Him in pawn,

How can God enter in when the love of created things is the doorkeeper and holds Him back? If thou prayest without sincerity it is all tasteless to thee, it wearies thee, and thy soul presently run nest away after distractions. Dear child, redeem thy soul from the pawn shop of creatures, by love, by intention, by occupation; then God shall enter in and creatures shall go out. Hold thyself free from vain occupations. Fire does not burn upwards so naturally, nor birds fly into the air so lightly, as a really detached soul ascends to God. If we would be absorbed in the depths of the Godhead, the least that we can do is to go down into our own depths to begin with. Sunk down with real humility, we then come forth bearing all our sins and imperfections, and we lay them sorrowfully at the door of God’s mercy, that ' He may melt them away and destroy them. As to what virtues and graces we may happen to find in our soul’s depths, these also let us offer at the gates of His loving kindness, so that He may melt and absorb them into His gentle love.

And when thou hast with all thy might cut off the love of creatures and all entanglement with them, then thou must do more: thou must hinder even the thoughts and images of creatures from lodging in thy soul. If thou dost not at first succeed well in this, nevertheless keep up a constant endeavor, abandon thyself to God, stay at home with thyself, plead most humbly with Him: O dear Lord, have pity on me. Lord, come to my help. Lord, I beg Thee to force Thyself into my soul. And stand fast to that practice, begin no other, for I have no manner of doubt but that thy trouble will thereby right itself. I have noticed how silver is mined. The ore is pounded fine and all mixed with water, and then the water is poured through it and finally drawn off with the dust and dirt, leaving the precious metal behind, which pays all the expense of this process and gives great profit besides. So must it be with the dust and dirt of all foul images in thy mind, which are there against thy will. The waters of sorrow and suffering will finally cleanse them all out and away from thee, amply repaying thee for thy patience, and leaving great gain to thee. Our Lord will say to thee: O well-beloved man, thou art an honor to Me, and I praise thee for having been mindful of My passion and borne the weight of My heavy cross with Me; for in struggling with thy imperfections thou hast taken part in My sufferings. Behold, I shall now be thy reward exceeding great.

But if thou wouldst become an interior man, thou must give God an overflowing measure. Whatever outward thing hinders thy inward recollection must be given up. Study thyself. Carefully scrutinize thy conduct, affections, intentions, words, works, clothing, adornments, friends, property, honors, lodging, pleasure, manners. Look into thy Whole life. Find out every single thing that hinders God’s dwelling within thee; relentlessly cut it all off. For this is an absolute condition of thy becoming an interior man. So must thou also study over those of thy external religious exercises that are of the more showy kind — stop any of them that may interfere with thy interior spirit. And dost thou ask why I do not recommend thee severe fasts and vigils? I answer that these are of great help in the spiritual life if one has the necessary strength. But if one is of weak bodily constitution, or if he has a weak head (in this country men have very weak beads), and finds that watching and fasting injures and may destroy his health, then let him dispense with these practices, and when a fast day comes obtain dispensation from his father confessor, or if he is not accessible, let him presume on hiB permission and tell him of it as soon as possible. Holy Church does not mean that we should destroy our health by obeying her law of fasting. Dear children, my whole teaching is very simple: whatsoever hinders thee from the shortest road to perfection, get rid of it — whether it be in thy soul or in thy outward life, and no matter what name it may go by. Follow this rule steadily, and, dear children, be assured that you will become perfect souls.

Yet further, our Lord requires a measure pressed down and shaken together. Dear children, mind what I am going to say. When one has systematically taken up this way, when he has cut off all hindrances to his spiritual life, then it happens that many wonderful sweetnesses come to him, pouring through both his soul and body a joy far above any known to this earth. Then what follows? After some time has passed all this joy suddenly vanishes away. It seems to a man that he has gained nothing at all by his mortification and his love of God — the measure — that is to say, his soul — is pressed down so hard into its own very self, that all pleasure in life is quite gone out of it. Now, if one will attain to true peace, he must yield himself up to this spiritual destitution; he must make nothing of it; he must in all singleheartedness resign himself to the holy will of God,

But, 0 children, how unbearable is this oppression. The whole world is too narrow for that poor soul’s misery. He seems to be withering up with this pain, the pain of losing a heavenly light so sweet and so perfectly happy. Well, there are some who fail, who will not be patient under this trial; for they are too deeply attached to their own spiritual joys. This lack of patience comes from two causes. One is that the soul is not essentially and at bottom dead to self. The other cause is that God is not absolutely trusted. Dear child, stand fast in thy confidence in God, stand fast in holy fear and in humility; for God will, without fail, release thee from thy sorrow. Lift up thy hands to God, to the very essence of God, thinking of nothing less than the infinite God. Do not act like one who receives a jewel from a friend, and forthwith becomes so absorbed in its beauty, and so vain of wearing it as to forget the giver. Hold thyself towards whatever may minister to thy joy like a man asleep — be awake only to God Himself. Whether thy joy be natural or supernatural, cleave not to it. Press thy measure down in all humility till it reaches thy own nothingness, holding fast to God’s blessed will in all detachment of spirit. You know that our Lord’s disciples were required to give up His blessed bodily presence among them, that presence so consoling and so divine. They were required to make that sacrifice in order to be transformed into new beings. So says St. Paul: “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended. But one thing I do: forgetting the things that are behind, and stretching forth myself to those that are before, I press towards the mark, to the prize of the supernal vocation of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil, iii: 13-14).

But now our poor man seems hemmed in by high walls, denied relief or rest anywhere. Dear child, give up to God, try not to escape, all will yet be well with thee. Have no desire except that God’s will be done in thee — let Him afflict thee as long as He pleases and in whatever manner. When our Lord perceives thy fidelity in the midst of misery and suffering— for on that everything depends — then will He come to thee with His overflowing measure of relief, namely, the gift of Himself. He will pour Himself into thy soul, Himself who is essentially all joy and all good, immersing thee in the abyss of the deity. He pours Himself out to thee, yet He remains filled with gifts to impart them continually to thee. Thy soul will be filled with Him as a cnp is filled with the exhaustless waters of the ocean, filled beyond all that thou has ever desired.

When King Assuerus beheld his Queen Esther standing pale and frightened before him, he reached her his golden sceptre, rose up from his throne and embraced and kissed her, and then promised her to grant her wish, were it for half of his kingdom. So will Qod the Father treat the faithful soul bowed down before Him, blanched with fear, stricken with grief, totally desolate. He will, as it were, reach to it His divine sceptre of power and joy, and embracing it most lovingly, He will make room for it on His throne, instantly relieving it of all its misery. And now what wonders are wrought in that soul. The gift of the divine sceptre is the only begotten Son, and the kiss of love is the unspeakable sweetness of the Holy Ghost, making the soul queen of earth and heaven, sharing Qod’s own royal sway, imparting to it by grace a share of the divinity that is His by nature. This overflowing measure of divine favor makes such souls as receive it the highest glory of all God’s creatures. Without the presence of these elect bouIs amid the Christian people, the world would not survive one hour, for their deeds are much greater in God’s sight than those of all the rest of the world put together, because it is in God Himself that they do them. As far as God is above creatures so far are His works in these souls above the works of all other men — yea, they are above the comprehension of men and angels. Here, then, is the truest peace and joy, that of which St Paul said that it surpassed all understanding.

Dear children, to take lot and part with God is not so dreadful a thing as you hare fancied. Whosoever treads this road steadfastly will at last come happily to the end of all his troubles; and whosoever goes not by this road will not arrive at the ever-living truth. He may attain to the knowledge of spiritual things that is gained by the strivings of human reason, but this is aB far different from the divine reality as shining brass is different from precious gold. Such knowledge gives forth a deceitful appearance, but the living truth must be sought and found only as I have explained to you. The man that would plant his vineyard on the shady side of a high mountain where the Bun never shines would be a fool, as would be the man who looked for the sun with his back turned to it. And among a hundred men, men, too, who would be thought good, you will find hardly one who squarely and honestly turns his face to the light of the living truth that God is. May God grant us the grace to turn ourselves full and direct towards the truth, so that we may be given good measure, full to overflowing. Amen.

to many additional works of religion and penance and a higher degree of virtue — These shall be judged by their inner fidelity rather than by their outward conformity — Nor does this mean a barren intellectuality of religion, but deeply-lying simplicity of intention — Various comparisons — the supremacy of loving Ood in a career of perfection.

Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not condemned. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven. Give, and It shall be given to you; good measure and pressed down and shaken together and running over shall they give into your bosoms. For with the same measure that you shall mete withal, it shall be measured to you again. — Luke vl, 80-38.

Children, it is a pitiable thing how alien to some men’s hearts is the beautiful virtue of mercy. Every man is bound to be merciful to hiB neighbor in all his needs, and that not only in temporal matters; for he is bonnd to have a pitiful heart for his moral and spiritual defects. But, alas, everybody strikes at his neighbor with his condemnation. If any misfortune happens him we add the weight of our accusation, attributing the basest motives we can think of. Blessed be God that He does not do the like. What untold misery comes from an evil tongue, which hurries in with its condemnations without a moment’s consideration. I beg thee, my dear man, for the sake of thy eternal welfare, to pause awhile, and come to an understanding with thyself, carefully weighing both thy thoughts and thy words about thy neighbor. It is a shameful thing and almost blasphemous, thoughtlessly to sit in judgment on thy neighbor, and to launch against him injurious words, spiritually murdering him in the minds of thy hearers.

Hence those words of Christ: “Judge not, that yon may not be judged. For with what judgment yon judge, you shall be judged; and with what measure yon mete, it shall be measured to you again” (Matt, vii: 1-2).

And now, children, let us consider the Lord’s words: “With the same measure that you shall mete, it shall be measured to you again.” Devout teachers understand four kinds of measures here — good, full, pressed down, and flowing over. The first means a pious Christian life with God’s grace, ending in eternal life. The full measure means God’s gift to us of a glorified body at the last day. The measure pressed down means the blessed companionship granted us among God’s saints and angels in everlasting bliss. And the overflowing measure is our possession of God Himself in perfect happiness and in the fulness of every desire.

Such are God’s measures to us. And now let us inquire what are our measures to God, given by that power of loving which we call the will, by which we weigh out all our words and works and life — the will, to whose properties we cannot add nor take away. And let us ever bear in mind that with what measure we mete here in this life, it shall be measured to us again in life eternal.

First, what is our good measure? It is a hearty turning to God, with a sincere purpose to observe God’s commandments and those of holy Church; that we hold fast to the true faith; that we devoutly receive the sacraments; that we interiorly detest our sins and totally give them up; that we live a life of penance, trusting securely in God’s mercy and grace. Alas! It seems as if nobody at all gives God this good measure nowadays, nor lives in His holy fear. But whosoever does follow this true Christian life will without doubt enter into eternal joy. And it is the indispensable rule of our religion for all and every one. There are men from whom God requires no more; it is their good measure. And it may, therefore, happen that some upright souls who thus conform to God in this life, shall go straight to Heaven, escaping all purgatory. And yet it is the very lowest degree of the divine service.

Other men God invites to a much higher degree; and these may, nevertheless, have their purgatory, because before their death they have not perfectly conformed to the will of God in their case — and their pains shall be great beyond expression. But that being done and over, they will be raised very high above the others in Heaven,

And what is our full measure? It refers to those whom God calls to a life of holy observances, many prayers and kneelings, and much fasting, and other such devout practices. They give God a full measure, if they will but cultivate an interior spirit of real fervor together with their outward piety, seeking God within their soul and finding His kingdom there. This life is as different from the other two kinds as running is different from sitting.

Ah, dear children, how happy is the man whose outward piety is no obstacle to his interior progress in perfection — happy, indeed, and holy, for two good things are better than one. If, therefore, thou perceivest that any outward observance hinders thy inward recollection, give up the outward and concentrate thy soul upon the interior life with all thy might. This pleases God better. Do as we priests do in our monasteries at Easter and Pentecost; for then our vocal prayers are greatly shortened, in order that the holy interior spirit of these festivals may be the better enjoyed. Thus do you, when God invites you to the high festival of His inner visitation, so that leaving off some of your external devotions, you may be the more intently engaged with Him in your soul’s inmost depths — there He will accomplish His dearest will with you. In such case thou mayest confine thyself to those outward exercises of religion that are required of thee, as, for example, by the rule of thy order, and boldly cut off all the Test — suposing them to impede thy interior recollection. I declare to thee that this interior life is most divine, most sweet, most fruitful of virtue, if thou wilt but hold steadfastly to it. To this end turn to account the best aid thou canst have. And that is to contemplate the blessed life of our Lord Jesus Christ. Study His bitter death and count His blessed wounds streaming with His precious blood. Or meditate even on the eternal Godhead itself and the holy Trinity, God’s eternal wisdom, infinite power, and His merciful goodness to thyself and to all mankind in life and in death.

Whichever of these divine subjects arouses most thy pious sentiments, turn inwards and ponder it, full of humility and gratitude, sinking deep into the divine abyss, and there awaiting God’s coming. Now this method, if followed faithfully, produces more aptitude for receiving God than all outward devotions whatsoever, for the interior life is far better than the exterior. All exterior virtues draw their

But it sometimes happens that men can think deeply of our Lora in their interior soul, but yet are spiritually superficial — like a wide stretch of water of scarcely a finger’s depth. Now, the reason is that they are deficient in real humility, and they lack a universal love for their fellowmen. Says St. Augustine: “The blessedness of one’s life consists not in the length of time given to pious exercises, nor in doing many good works; but it consists in the greatness of love.” Take an example from poor farm laborers. They raise the best ot wheat and of wine, but not for their own benefit — they eat only brown bread and drink only water. Such is the case with men who do good works without deep interior dispositions.

Let us now consider the measure that is pressed down and overfiowing. This means superabundant charity, drawing into a great heart all good works, all painful trials, all that is good in the whole world, whether done by God’s servants or by His enemies. A man of this degree of love is more truly the proprietor of the good works of others than they are themselves — as long as those persons are lacking in such high charity — so strong is the attraction of love. Consider the many recitations of the divine office, the many masses offered, the many sacrifices made for God — the good of all this is more theirs who have this great heart of love than the ones who actually did all these holy things — supposing them not to have this same fulness of divine love. For I assure you that God will not acknowledge any good works of which He is not both the beginning and the end; according to St. Paul: “And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it proflteth me nothing” (I Cor. xiii: 3).

The love of .God is a virtue above all virtues, drawing into the bosom of love all the good deeds done by the grace of God in heaven and earth. The evil that is in a man is his own; all the good he has is to be attributed to divine love. As the grain that is poured into a measure is all pressed together and held into one mass by the sides of the measure, so does love press together into unity all the saints and angels in Heaven and all their merits, as well as all the pains suffered on earth for God, — which but for love we should have neglected and lost. Hence the teaching of certain holy commentators of Scripture: “In everlasting life so deep a love shall the elect have higher contemplation than himself, this will be to him as much happiness as if he himself had merited it and were now enjoying it”

In proportion to one’s share of this overflowing love in this life, so shall be his enjoyment of it in the life to come. Hence it is that the evil one hates these men. And he tempts such a one by insinuating a sense of sel f-righ teousness, and by inducing dislike for his neighbor. The devil leads him to sit in judgment on his neighbor’s conduct, to rate his good works and his devotions as hypocritical. If he consents to this uncharity, he has fallen from his holy state of love. He condemns others right and left, and his tongue shoots out poisoned arrows that wound the souls of men un+o eternal death. And by the same stroke of false and rash judgment, thou hast stripped thyself of all the merits and virtues thou hadst gathered by thy overflowing measure of love. Thou art now distracted and distressed, peace has fled away from thy soul, and thou art come into a very dangerous state. O, I counsel thee in all fidelity, that thou guard thy tongue most vigilantly, if thou wouldst continue to be called and to be a friend of Qod.

It often happens that the evil spirit will cause thee to dislike a good pious Christian, and if thou yieldest to this and speakest it out, then God withdraws from thee thy share of that man’s graces in the practice of virtue, as well as thy part in the enjoyment of His own holy love. As the prophet spoke of the oil of consecration flowing down from the head of Aaron even upon his beard, so does God’s love in a holy man’s soul flow out upon all who love Him — it is the overflowing of God’s love and all the virtues that belong to it. Whosoever shuts out any one from the spirit of universal love, is himself deprived of his own share of God’s love. Bee to it carefully, dear children, that you cling fast to this divine virtue; hold all mankind in good favor; be sure to avoid contention; profane not that temple of God that every man is, a temple consecrated by the Supreme Pope and Father of Christendom, namely, God; take care lest you fall under the ban of the eternal God.

Alas, that our poor human nature should be so turned against true brotherly love. If one happens to see his neighbor fall into mortal sin, he lets him lie there and perhaps says the worst things about him. Look carefully to your own faults. How do you stand before God in reference to love? And learn diligently the fear of God while you

And now God comes and touches with His finger the well-filled vessel of his graces, and immediately it overflows and is poured back again into the divine being out of which all its treasures originally came. The soul now is united to God without intermediary and loses itself in Him — will, knowledge, love all overflow into God and are lost in Him and made one with him. The eternal God loves Him — self in this soul, all of whose works are done by Him. But this flow and overflow of God into the soul cannot be limited to itself alone, which most longingly petitions our Lord, and says: Ah, dear Lord, have mercy on all mankind, and forgive them their sins; and especially have pity on all those who once did good deeds and then fell away from Thy grace; give them, beloved Lord, the crumbs that fall from Thy table; convert them from their sinful ways and save them through the fires of purgatory; give them the well-filled measure of thy grace, that by Thy merits they may be saved.

These elect souls thus turn back again into God’s bosom all their gifts whatsoever, their own selves included, and all created things. They embrace within their souls all that happens in holy Chruch everywhere in the world, offering all up in a happy, humble and selfdenying spirit to the eternal heavenly Father, for themselves and for all men whether bad or good. Their love bars out nobody still living in this time of grace, for they constantly join themselves in spirit to the whole human race. And if we in our days did not have among us men of this godlike character, our lot would be an evil one indeed. Therefore let us pray the merciful God that we may be granted this overflowing measure of His love. Amen.