391 part ii: meditations for more solemn feasts Therefore, should you find this treasure, hide, conceal, and do not show it. [f.124v] 2. “who, on finding one pearl180 of great value,” etc. (Mt 13:46). Consider how Jesus, according to His customary way of speaking in parables, compared the religious vocation to a pearl of great price in a beautiful simile. He says that a man who was occupied with seeking pearls, having found one of great price, sold all his possessions and bought this pearl. Who else is that merchant who quite urgently seeks the Kingdom of Heaven, if not a Christian? Having found the way of attaining it, namely with his divine vocation, which is like the most precious jewel, he immediately sells all that he has and then submits himself to the yoke of religious life like a slave, so that he may delight in this jewel of incomparable price (his vocation), and may be saved in accordance with it. O you, the blessed one, who have found this one pearl of great price! But you shall be more blessed if you do not lose it and do not stain it with defects contrary to your state. 3. “sorted the good into vessels but threw away the bad” (Mt 13:48). Consider that God is not the cause of anyone’s damnation, and thus each of us is the author of our salvation or of our eternal death. For you hear what the heavenly Truth says about those saved and about the condemned: “[They] sorted” He says, “the good into vessels, but threw away the bad.” It is as if He were announcing a verdict: all the righteous shall be saved; all the wicked shall be cast into eternal fire. But since each man is evil on account of himself and not because God created him so, then it is he who condemns himself by his malice; for God, Who is the highest goodness, cannot create evil. As for you, flee from evil, do good in your life, and undoubtedly you shall not be able to lose your everlasting salvation. 180 It is to be noted that the reason for choosing the Scripture passage about a “pearl” here seems to be the fact that the name “Margaret,” corresponding to the Latin Margarita, means a “pearl.”
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