Caesarius of Arles

In his own words on Deuteronomy

• Deuteronomy 16:19

  Those who hear cases should decide them justly and not accept bribes at the expense of the innocent, "for gifts blind the hearts of the wise and change the words of the just." Otherwise, while they are acquiring money, they may lose their soul. No one obtains unjust profit without a just loss. Where the gain is, there is the loss: a gain in the money coffer but a loss in the conscience.

  SERMONS 13.2

• Deuteronomy 22:4

  You are commanded to pull out the ass or the ox which is lying in the mud. Do you then see a Christian like yourself, who was redeemed by the blood of Christ, lying in the sewer of drunkenness and wallowing in the mud of dissipation, and remain silent? Do you pass by and not stretch forth the hand of mercy? Do you merely shout at him or rebuke him or instill fright in him?

  SERMON 225.4

• Deuteronomy 30:19

  As he himself said … "Behold before you are fire and water, death and life. Choose life, that you may live." Everything we mentioned above, that is, good and evil, is contained in these two. For heaven and hell, Christ and the devil, height and depth are proposed to us in them. Through his grace God has put it into the power of each one to choose and to stretch out his hand to whatever he wishes.

  SERMON 149.1

• Deuteronomy 30:19

  Behold, man, you have before you "water and fire, life and death, good and evil," heaven and hell, the legitimate king and a cruel tyrant, the false sweetness of the world and the true blessedness of paradise. Power is given to you through the grace of Christ: "Stretch forth your hand to whichever you choose." "Choose life, that you may live"; leave the broad way on the left which drags you to death and cling to the narrow path on the right which happily leads you to life. Do not allow the wideness of that road on the left to keep you or give you pleasure.

  SERMON 151.5

• Deuteronomy 32:2

  Behold the nature of the rain which is given only to the just and denied to sinners. Therefore the rain is the Word of God. Only the just are prepared to receive it. Lovers of the world, however, who are proud, dissolute or avaricious are unwilling to receive the rain of God's Word even if it is forced upon them. Why is this? Because they are unwilling to hunger or thirst after justice. Those who are saturated with the filth of dissipation do not deserve to be refreshed with the rain of God's Word.

  SERMON 105.2

• Deuteronomy 32:2

  All of us wish to have refreshing waters in our gardens. If there are no waters in them, we draw them from the sea with great effort in order to provide vegetables for our bodies. If so how much more solicitous should we be for the Lord's garden, that is, the church of God, that the dry places be watered and the hard places softened by the rivers of sacred Scripture and the spiritual streams or fountains of the ancient Fathers, so that afterwards what is harmful may be uprooted and what is useful planted?

  SERMON 1.15