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¹ But let it not be so, servants of Christ, friends and brothers—let us not so estrange ourselves from God, who draws all men to himself by his goodness, while we, through pride, push almost everyone away; let us not make our thrones a seat of malice, nor the height of our office a tower of vanity (for this, to my mind, is what strife for the sake of glory and self-regard really amounts to); but rather, insofar as we are strong, let us bear the weak, and, if physicians, heal the broken. And if we ourselves should also crush them further, I am reluctant to say it, but I will say it nonetheless: that is the work of robbers, not of physicians.

² This, then, is for you also, against the arrogant and the contemptuous, who will accomplish nothing at all, says the Holy Spirit. And you, the banker who has received the talent, see that you return the interest in due time — which is, in my judgment, that you yourself add to it whatever the Spirit gives to the diligent. Strengthened by his grace, may we ourselves proclaim him purely and without adulteration, according to the definitions of the Fathers, and teach others to do the same, in God the Father, who teaches man knowledge, and in Christ Jesus our Lord; to whom be glory to the ages. Amen.