Saturday within the Octave of Pentecost
“Blessed is the rich man that is found without blemish, and hath not gone after gold.”
— Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 31:8
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart… and thy neighbour as thyself.”
— Matthew 22:37, 39
As Holy Church concludes the octave of Pentecost, the sacred liturgy turns our attention to the fruits of the Holy Ghost, especially as manifested in the just man: one in whom divine charity takes root and matures into an integrated life of virtue. On this Saturday within the Octave, the pairing of Sirach 31:8–11 and Matthew 22:29–40 offers us a striking picture of holiness—not merely in thought or aspiration, but in deed, in the hard-won harmony of justice, temperance, and love.
1. The Virtue of the Just Man: The Reward of God
The passage from Sirach extols the rare figure of the wealthy man who remains unsullied—who does not let the love of riches cloud his devotion to God. It is not wealth that is condemned, but the disorder of desire. “Who is he?” the inspired text asks, “and we will praise him.” Indeed, such a one shall be “blessed among men” (v.9), for he has not been overcome by his possessions, but rather has overcome them.
St. John Chrysostom comments in his Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew that true greatness lies not in having, but in using rightly. He writes:
“A man is not great because he possesses much, but because he desires little and gives much.”
This accords with Sirach‘s praise of the man “whose soul hath not been overcome in riches” (v.10). The just man is one whose exterior abundance is matched—and indeed, governed—by interior discipline. In this way, he becomes a reflection of divine wisdom, which orders all things sweetly.
2. The Twofold Commandment: The Burning Fire of Charity
In the Gospel of St. Matthew, Our Lord is tested by the Pharisees with a legal question: Which is the greatest commandment? He answers with the Shema of Israel—“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart…”—and immediately joins it with the second: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” On these two commandments, He says, hang all the Law and the Prophets.
St. Augustine, preaching in Tractate 83 on John, writes:
“Love, and do what you will. If you hold your peace, do it out of love; if you cry out, do it out of love; let the root of love be in you, nothing can spring from it but good.”
Here we see the true fulfillment of Pentecost: not merely the external signs of the Holy Ghost—the tongues of fire or the mighty wind—but the inward gift of divine charity poured into the hearts of the faithful. This charity is not sentimental but sacrificial; it seeks God above all, and for His sake, embraces all others in their proper order.
St. Thomas Aquinas remarks in his Commentary on Matthew that the love of neighbor must be animated by the love of God, else it becomes mere philanthropy and not a theological virtue. He writes:
“The love of neighbor is perfected when it flows from the love of God, for what we love in our neighbor is the image of God.”
3. Pentecost’s Fruit: A Life Inflamed Yet Ordered
Within the octave of Pentecost, the Church has celebrated the descent of the Holy Ghost as the completion of Christ’s Paschal mystery. But what are its lasting signs? Not only tongues or prophecy, but the settled habit of virtue. The man praised in Sirach is the man in whom the Spirit reigns. He has not been overtaken by the flesh, nor swayed by the glitter of the world. His deeds are remembered not because they were mighty in appearance, but because they were rooted in divine charity.
St. Gregory the Great, in his Moralia, teaches that the Holy Ghost works silently in the soul, ordering affections, strengthening the will, and directing all to the glory of God. He writes:
“The Holy Spirit makes the hearts of the faithful His harp, that through them He may pour forth the music of virtue.” (Moralia in Job, XXIX)
Thus, Pentecost does not end with the octave. It begins. The Spirit comes not to dazzle us momentarily, but to transform us gradually. The commandments Christ gives are not burdens, but the roadmap to a life aflame with holy love—love of God first, love of neighbor rightly, and all governed by the Spirit’s inner law.
A Final Prayer
O Holy Ghost, Divine Fire,
Inflame our hearts with the love of God,
That, like the just man praised in Scripture,
We may be found without blemish, even amidst abundance;
And that, loving Thee above all things,
We may love our neighbor for Thy sake,
And so come at last to the fullness of the Law,
Which is Charity.
Veni Sancte Spiritus. Amen.