Annotatio CXXII
”The houses of the Levites, which are in the cities, may always be redeemed.” — Leviticus 25:32
Origen, near the beginning of homily 15 on Leviticus, seems to think that Christ forbade to clerics the possession of temporal things,1 saying thus: “The law of Christ, if we follow it, permits us to have neither possessions on earth, nor houses in the cities. And why do I say houses? It grants [us] not even several tunics, nor to possess much money. For ‘having food and clothing,’ he says, ‘let us be content with these.’”2 Consult Annotation 106 of book 6.