{"id":10857,"date":"2015-08-25T06:00:49","date_gmt":"2015-08-25T05:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/?p=10857"},"modified":"2015-08-26T06:56:52","modified_gmt":"2015-08-26T05:56:52","slug":"chosen-for-the-service-of-the-lord","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2015\/08\/chosen-for-the-service-of-the-lord\/","title":{"rendered":"Chosen for the service of the Lord"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"santambrogio_mosaicosacello1\"Tuesday in the IV Week of August<\/em>
\nFrom the Treatise on the Duties of the Clergy by St Ambrose, Bishop & Doctor of the Church<\/p>\n

We do not reckon usefulness by the value of any gain in money, but in acquiring godliness, as the Apostle says: \u201cBut godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.\u201d\u00a0 Thus in the holy Scriptures, if we look carefully we shall often find that what is virtuous is called useful: \u201cAll things are lawful unto me, but all things are not profitable.\u201d\u00a0 Before that he was speaking of vices, and so means: It is lawful to sin, but it is not seemly.\u00a0 Sins rest in one’s own power, but they are not virtuous.\u00a0 To live wantonly is easy, but it is not right.\u00a0 For food serves not God but the belly.<\/p>\n

Therefore, because what is useful is also just, it is just to serve Christ, who redeemed us.\u00a0 They too are just who for his Name’s sake have given themselves up to death, they are unjust who have avoided it.\u00a0 Of them it says: \u201cWhat profit is there in my blood?\u201d that is: what advance has my justice made?\u00a0 Wherefore they also say: \u201cLet us bind the just, for he is useless to us\u201d, that is: he is unjust, for he complains of us, condemns and rebukes us.\u00a0 This could also be referred to the greed of impious men, which closely resembles treachery; as we read in the case of the traitor Judas, who in his longing for gain and his desire for money put his head into the noose of treachery and fell.<\/p>\n

We have then to speak of that usefulness which is full of what is virtuous, as the Apostle himself has laid it down in so many words, saying: \u201cAnd this I speak for your own profit, not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely.\u201d\u00a0 It is plain, then, that what is virtuous is useful, and what is useful is virtuous; also that what is useful is just, and what is just is useful.\u00a0 I can say this, for I am speaking, not to merchants who are covetous from a desire to make gain, but to my children.\u00a0 And I am speaking of the duties which I wish to impress upon and impart to you, whom I have chosen for the service of the Lord; so that those things which have been already implanted and fixed in your minds and characters by habit and training may now be further unfolded to you by explanation and instruction.<\/p>\n

Responsory.\u00a0 Exercise thyself || unto godliness: for * Godliness is profitable to all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.\u00a0 V. Godliness with contentment is great gain. * Godliness is profitable \u2026 Glory be \u2026 Godliness is profitable \u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tuesday in the IV Week of August From the Treatise on the Duties of the Clergy by St Ambrose, Bishop & Doctor of the Church We do not reckon usefulness by the value of any gain in money, but in acquiring godliness, as the Apostle says: \u201cBut godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[178],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-florilegium-patristicum"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paVypq-2P7","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10857"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10857"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10857\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10860,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10857\/revisions\/10860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}