This is chapter 7 of St. Thomas' book, On the Perfection of the Spiritual Life. (The link takes you to an incomplete translation of the work, but it's still very good.) The book's primary aim is to consider the religious life and priesthood, etc., but much of it can be applied to the ordinary lay Christian as well. In this work, St. Thomas lists three different ways by which one might attain perfection. In this particular passage, he speaks of the first way.
The First Way to
Perfection, Which is the Renunciation of Temporal Things
AMONG temporal goods the first we should renounce are external goods, which are
called riches, and the Lord counseled this when he said, “If you would be
perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have
treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” (Matt. 19:21). The utility of this
counsel is shown by what follows. The first evidence for this is what in fact
happened next. For when the young man who was asking about perfection heard
this response, he went away sad. And as St. Jerome says in his commentary on
Matthew, “The cause of his sadness is stated: "He had many
possessions," which were thorns and thistles that choked the seed of the
Lord’s words.” And St. Chrysostom, explaining the same passage, says that,
"those who possess little are not hindered in the same way as are those
who abound in riches; for the increase of wealth enkindles a greater fire [of
desire for wealth], and avarice grows stronger.” St. Augustine, too, says in
his letter to Paulinus and Therasia that “we are more firmly fetterd by love
for the earthly things that we possess, than by desire for the things we seek;
for why did this young man go away sad, except because he had many possessions?
For it is one thing not to want to acquire things that we do not have, but
quite another to give up the things we already have. For these things may be
repudiated as extrinsic to ourselves, but to give up those things we already
have is [experience] like giving up the limbs of our body.
The
utility of this counsel is secondly manifested by the words the Lord goes on to
say, "It will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven."
For as St. Jerome says, “It is because it is hard to despise the riches that we
have. Our Lord did not say that it is impossible for a rich man to enter the
kingdom of heaven, but that it is hard. When he affirms difficulty, he does not
indicate that it is impossibile, but shows the rarity of it.” And, as St.
Chrysostom says on the Gospel of St. Matthew, the Lord goes further, proving
that it is impossible, when he says “It is easier for a camel to pass through
the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” “From
these words,” says St. Augustine, “the disciples understood that all who covet
riches are included in the number of the rich; otherwise, since the number of
the wealthy is small in comparison with the multitude of the poor, the
disciples would not have asked, “Who then can be saved?” (Questions on the
Gospel)
From
these two sayings of Our Lord it is clearly shown that it it hard for those who
have riches to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. For as the Lord himself says
elsewhere, “The cares of this world and the delight in riches choke the word,
and it becomes unfruitful” (Matt. 13:22). Indeed it is impossible for those who
love riches inordinately to enter heaven, and much more impossible than for a
camel to pass through the eye of a needle. For the latter feat is impossible
because it is contrary to nature, while the former is impossible because it is
contrary to divine justice, which is more powerful than any created nature.
From this, then, the reason for this divine counsel becomes evident; for a
counsel is given concerning that which is more useful, according to what St.
Paul says, “In this matter I give my advice, for this is useful for you” (2
Cor. 8:10). But to attain eternal life, it is more useful to give up riches
than to possess them; for those who possess wealth will with difficulty enter
the kingdom of heaven, since it is difficult for one's affection not to be
bound to the riches that one possesses, which attachment to riches makes it
impossible to enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore the Lord's counsel to
renounce riches was a salutary counsel.
But
someone might object, against the foregoing, that St. Matthew and Zaccheus had
riches, and yet entered the kingdom of heaven. But St. Jerome answers this
objection, saying, “We should consider that at the time when they entered, they
had ceased to be wealthy.” But Abraham never ceased to be rich; he died a rich
man, leaving his riches to his sons, as we read in Genesis. According to what
was said he seems not to have been perfect, and yet the Lord said to him, “Be
perfect” (Gen. 17:1). This question could not be resolved if the perfection of
Christian life consisted in the very renunciation of wealth. For it would
follow that no one who possessed riches could be perfect. But if we consider
the Lord's words carefully, he does not locate perfection in the very giving up
of wealth, but shows that this is a certain way to perfection, as his very way
of speaking shows, “If you would be perfect, go, sell all that you possess and
give to the poor, and follow me,” indicating that perfection consists in the
following of Christ, while the renunciation of riches is a way to perfection.
Hence St. Jerome says on the Gospel of St. Matthew, “Since giving up our
possessions is not sufficient, Peter adds that wherein perfection consists,
when he says, ‘And we have followed you.’” Origen, too, says on the same
passage, “The words, ‘if you would be perfect’ are not to be understood as
though a man becomes immediately perfect when he has given his goods to the
poor, but that from that time, the contemplation of God begins to lead him to
all virtues.” It can therefore happen that a rich man is perfect, clinging to
God with perfect charity. And in this way Abraham, who possessed riches, was
perfect--his soul was not entagled in riches, but was totally united to God.
And this is what the words of the Lord spoken to him signify, “Walk before me
and be perfect,” showing that his perfection lay in walking before God, and in
loving Him completely, even unto the contempt of himself and of all that
belonged to him. And he showed this especially in his readiness to sacrifice
his son. Hence the Lord said to him, “Because you have done this, and for my
sake have not withheld your son, I will bless you” (Gen. 22:16).
But
if anyone wants to argue from this that the Lord's counsel about renouncing
wealth is useless, because Abraham was perfect, though he possessed riches, the
response to him is evident from what has been already said. For the reason the
Lord gave this counsel was not because rich men cannot be perfect, or cannot
enter the kingdom of heaven, but because they cannot do so easily. The virtue
of Abraham was therefore very great, that although he possessed wealth, his
soul was detached from wealth. In a similar way Samson's strength was great,
since armed only with the jawbone of an ass, he slew many enemies; and yet
counsel is not uselessly given to a soldier to take up arms in combat with his
foes. Neither, then, is it useless to counsel those who desire perfection to
renounce their earthly goods, although Abraham was perfect with all his wealth.
[Practical]
conclusions are not to be drawn from wonderful deeds; for the weak are more
capable of wondering at and praising such deeds than of imitating them. Hence
we read in Sirach 31:8, “Blessed is the rich man who is found without stain,
and who has not gone after gold, nor put his trust in money or in treasures.”
This passage shows that the rich man who does not contract the stain of sin by
the affection for riches, who does not go after gold by covetousness, nor extol
himself over others by pride, trusting in his riches, is indeed a man of great
virtue, and adhering to God with perfect charity. Hence St. Paul says to
Timothy, “Charge the rich of this world not to be high-minded, nor to trust in
the uncertainty of riches” (1 Tim. 6:17). But the greater the blessedness and
the virtue of rich persons of this kind, the smaller is their number. Hence
[the passage of Sirach] continues, “Who is he, and we will praise him? for he
has done wonderful things in his life.” For truly he who while abounding in
riches has not set his heart upon them has done wonderful things, and if there
is such a person, he has without doubt been proven perfect. Hence it continues,
“Who has been tried therein,” i.e., as to whether he can live a sinless life
while possessing riches, “and found perfect?” as though it were to say: “such a
man is rare," and for him "it will merit for him eternal glory,”
which is in harmony with the saying of the Lord, that "it is hard for a
rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven."
This,
then, is the first way for reaching perfection, that someone, out of the desire
to follow Christ, renounces riches and chooses poverty.
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