Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Last Sunday of the Church Year

Giambattista Tiepolo, The Crucifixion

And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him. But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!’ Then they will begin ‘to say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” ’ For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?” There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots. And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.” The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.” And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:27–43)

The superscription is written and placed above, not below the cross, because the government is upon His shoulders. What is this government if not His eternal power and Godhead? When asked, “Who are you?” He replied, “The beginning, who also speaks to you.” Let us read this superscription. “Jesus of Nazareth,” it says, “The King of the Jews.” The superscription is fittingly above the cross because Christ's kingdom does not belong to His human body but to His divine authority. The superscription is fittingly above the cross, because although the Lord Jesus was on the cross, He shines above the cross with the majesty of a king.

Ambrose, Exposition of the Gospel of Luke 10.112

Let us see, then, why one who is guilty of such misdeeds is so quickly promised paradise by the Savior while others with their many tears and frequent fasting only barely obtain the remission of their sins. The reason why, brethren, is significant and many-faceted. In the first place, this thief was so quickly converted by the fervor of his faith that he despised present suffering and prayed for future pardon, and he believed that it would be more beneficial to him to make a request with respect to eternal judgment than to petition concerning temporal punishment. For, remembering his misdeeds and acting penitently, he began to be anxious for what he hoped rather than to feel what he suffered. For, once believing in Christ, he would have been quite able to petition concerning present punishment, except that he had given more thought to the future. And then it is more meritorious from the point of view of grace that he believed in Christ the Lord on the cross; and the suffering, which constitutes a stumbling block for others, served to increase his faith. For the suffering of the cross was a stumbling block to many, as the Apostle says: But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block indeed to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles.

Rightly, then, does he merit paradise who considered the cross of Christ to be not a stumbling block but power, for the same Apostle says: to those Jews who have been called, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Rightly indeed does the Lord also give paradise to him because on the gibbet of the cross he confesses the one whom Judas Iscariot had sold in the garden. This is a remarkable thing: the thief confesses the One whom the disciple denied. This is a remarkable thing, I say: the thief honors the One who suffers, while Judas betrayed the One who kissed him. Flattering words of peace are peddled by the one and the wounds of the cross are preached by the other, for he says: Remember me, Lord, when you come in your kingdom.

Maximus of Turin, Sermon 74: On the Thief 1–2

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost

“Because behold, the day comes, burning as a furnace, and it will consume them and all foreigners, and all the ones who do evil will become like straw, and the coming day will burn them up,” says the Lord Almighty. “And neither a root nor a branch will be left of them. And the sun of righteousness will rise for you, the ones fearing my name, and there will be healing in its wings. And you will come and leap like little calves from the band spreading forth. And you will trample the evil ones, because they will be like ashes under your feet, on the day that I will make,” says the Lord Almighty. “And behold, I am sending to you Elijah the Tishbite before the great and famous day of the Lord comes, who will restore the heart of a father to a son and the heart of a person to his neighbor, lest I should come and strike the land entirely. Remember the law of my servant Moses, as I commanded him in Horeb with all Israel, with commandments and decrees.” (Malachi 4:1–6 LXX)

This applies both to the first coming of our Savior and the second: in the first He rose like a kind of sun for us who were seated in darkness and shadow, freed us from sin, gave us a share in righteousness, covered us with spiritual gifts like wings, and provided healing for our souls. In the second coming for those worn out in the present life He will appear either in accord with their will or against it, and as a just judge He will judge justly and provide the promised good things. Just as the material sun in its rising awakens to work those in the grip of sleep, so in His coming He raises up those in the grip of the long sleep of death.

Theodoret of Cyrus, Commentary on Malachi 4.2

But since the Savior was the beginning of the resurrection of all people, it was fitting that the Lord alone should rise from the dead, by whom too the judgment is to enter the whole world, that they who have wrestled worthily may be also crowned worthily by Him, by the illustrious Arbiter. That is, He Himself first accomplished the course, and was received into the heavens, and was set down on the right hand of God the Father, and is to be manifested again at the end of the world as judge. It is a matter of course that His forerunners must appear first, as He says by Malachi and the angel, “I will send to you Elijah the Tishbite before the Day of the Lord, the great and notable day, comes; and he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, lest I come and smite the earth utterly.” These, then, shall come and proclaim the manifestation of Christ that is to be from heaven; and they shall also perform signs and wonders; in order that people may be put to shame and turned to repentance for their surpassing wickedness and impiety.

Hippolytus, On the Antichrist 46

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.… But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. (2 Thessalonians 2:1–8, 13–17)

Such is Paul's account. And we have reached the “falling away.” Men, that is, have fallen away from the true faith. Some proclaim the identity of Father and Son. Others dare to assert that one should believe Christ has come into existence out of nonexistence. Formerly heretics were quite evident, but now the church is full of masked heretics. For men have deserted the truth and want to have their ears tickled. Make a plausible case, and everyone is ready to listen to you. Talk of changing one's life, and everyone deserts you. The majority have fallen away from the sound doctrines and are readier to choose what is bad than to prefer what is good. So there you have the “falling away,” and the coming of the enemy is to be expected next. Meanwhile, he has begun to send out his forerunners here and there, so that the spoil may be prepared for him when he comes. Therefore, brothers, look to yourselves. Watch over your souls carefully.

The Antichrist just mentioned by Paul will come when the destined period of the Roman Empire has run its course and the subsequent end of the world is drawing near. Ten claimants to the empire will arise simultaneously, I suppose in different parts, but all wearing the purple at the same time. Antichrist will form an eleventh after them, having seized the imperial power by the use of magic arts. He will humble three of those who came to power before him and cause the remaining seven to be Caesars under him. At first he will feign mildness and will appear to be a learned and understanding man, with pretended prudence and kindness. Then he will take in the Jews, by making them suppose him to be their expected Messiah, by false signs and wonders produced by magical trickery. And afterwards his character will be written large in evil deeds of inhumanity and lawlessness of every kind, so as to outdo all wicked and godless men that were before him. He will display a murderous, most absolute, pitiless and unstable temper toward all people, but especially toward us Christians. He will act insolently for only three and a half years. Then he will be defeated by the second glorious coming from heaven of the only-begotten Son of God, our Lord and Savior Jesus, the true Christ. He will destroy Antichrist “with the spirit of his mouth” and commit him to the flames of hell.

Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 15.9, 12

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to All Saints' Sunday

A hallelujah.

Sing to the Lord a new song.
        His praise is in the assembly of holy ones.
Let Israel be gladdened in the one who made him,
        and let the children of Zion rejoice exceedingly in their King.
Let them praise his name in dance;
        with tambourine and harp let them sing psalms to him,
because the Lord is well pleased with his people,
        and he will raise up the humble in salvation.
Holy ones will boast in glory,
        and they will rejoice exceedingly in their beds,
the heights of God in their throat
        and double-edged swords in their hands,
to enact vengeance among the nations,
        reproof among the peoples,
to bind their kings in fetters
        and those held in esteem among them in iron handcuffs,
to enact among them written judgment.
        This is glory to all his holy ones. (Psalm 149:1–9 LXX)

My brothers and sisters, my children, O seedlings of the Catholic Church, O holy and heavenly seed, O you that have been born again in Christ and been born from above, listen to me—or rather, listen to God through me: Sing to the Lord a new song. “Well, I am singing,” you say. Yes, you are singing, of course you’re singing, I can hear you. But don’t let your life give evidence against your tongue. Sing with your voices, sing also with your hearts; sing with your mouths, sing also with your conduct.

Sing to the Lord a new song. You ask what you should sing about the one you love? For of course you do want to sing about the one you love. You are asking for praises of his to sing. You have been told, Sing to the Lord a new song. You are looking for praise songs, are you? His praise is in the Church of the saints. The praise of the one to be sung about is the singer himself. Do you want to sing God his praises? Be yourselves what you sing. You are his praise if you lead good lives.

His praise, you see, is not to be found in the synagogues of the Jews, nor in the madness of the pagans, nor in the errors of the heretics, nor in the applause of the theaters. You ask where it is to be found? Look at yourselves, you be it. His praise is in the Church of the saints. You ask what to rejoice about when you are singing? Let Israel rejoice in the one who made him, and all he can find to rejoice about is God.

Augustine of Hippo, Sermon Preached at Carthage at the Ancestors 34.6

For the Lord has conferred benefits on his people. What greater benefit could he bestow than to die for the impious? What greater kindness than to blot out with his own blood the decree that stood against a sinner? What greater favor than to say, “I do not care what you have been. Become now what you were not”? The Lord has conferred benefits on his people by forgiving sins and promising eternal life. He is beneficent in turning back to himself one who is turned away, in aiding one who does battle, in crowning one who conquers. The Lord has conferred benefits on his people.

And he will lift up the gentle to salvation. The proud are uplifted too, but not to salvation. The gentle are raised up to salvation, but the proud in death, for, while the proud exalt themselves, the Lord humbles them, but the gentle humble themselves, and the Lord exalts them. He will lift up the gentle to salvation.

Augustine of Hippo, Expositions of the Psalms 149.9

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to Reformation Sunday

For the end, a psalm in the name of the sons of Korah, because of the hidden ways.

Our God is a place of refuge and strength,
        a helper when afflictions find us exceedingly.
On account of this, we will not fear when the earth is troubled
        and the mountains are transferred in the hearts of the seas.
Their waters roared and were stirred up;
        the mountains were troubled in his might.

Musical interlude

The torrents of the river gladden the city of God.
        The Most High sanctified his habitation.
God is in the midst of her. She will not be shaken.
        God will help her with his countenance.
The nations were stirred up; kingdoms fell.
        He gave his voice; the earth was afflicted.
The Lord of powers is with us.
        The God of Jacob is our helper.

Musical interlude

Come, see the works of the Lord,
        which he set as wonders upon the earth.
Removing wars until the ends of the earth,
        he will crush bow and shatter weapon,
        and he will burn shields with fire.
“Cease from action, and know that I am God.
        I will be lifted high among the nations.
        I will be lifted high in the earth.”
The Lord of powers is with us.
        The God of Jacob is our helper.

(Psalm 45 LXX [Psalm 46])

Do not flee, then, what you do not need to flee, and do not have recourse to him to whom it is unnecessary. But, one thing you must flee, sin; and one refuge from evil must be sought, God. Do not trust in princes; do not be exalted in the uncertainty of wealth; do not be proud of bodily strength; do not pursue the splendor of human glory. None of these things saves you; all are transient, all are deceptive. There is one refuge, God. ‘Cursed be the man that trusteth in man,’ or in any human thing.

Therefore, ‘God is our refuge and strength.’ To him who is able to say: ‘I can do all things in him,’ Christ, ‘who strengthens me,’ God is strength. Now, it is the privilege of many to say: ‘God is our refuge,’ and ‘Lord, thou hast been our refuge.’ But, to say it with the same feelings as the prophet is the privilege of few. For, there are few who do not admire human interests but depend wholly upon God and breathe Him and have all hope and trust in Him. And our actions convict us whenever in our afflictions we run to everything else rather than to God. Is a child sick? You look around for an enchanter or one who puts superstitious marks on the necks of the innocent children; or finally, you go to a doctor and to medicines, having neglected Him who is able to save. If a dream troubles you, you run to the interpreter of dreams. And, if you fear an enemy, you cunningly secure some man as a patron. In short, in every need you contradict yourself—in word, naming God as your refuge; in act, drawing on aid from useless and vain things. God is the true aid for the righteous man. Just as a certain general, equipped with a noble heavy-armed force, is always ready to give help to an oppressed district, so God is our Helper and an Ally to everyone who is waging war against the wiliness of the devil, and He sends out ministering spirits for the safety of those who are in need.

Since God is in the midst of the city, He will give it stability, providing assistance for it at the first break of dawn. Therefore, the word, ‘of the city,’ will it either Jerusalem above or the Church below, ‘The most High hath sanctified his own tabernacle’ in it. And through this tabernacle, in which God dwelt, He was in the midst of it, giving it stability. Moreover God is in the midst of the city, sending out equal rays of His providence from all sides to the limits of the world. Thus, the justice of God is preserved, as He apportions the same measure of goodness to all. ‘God will help it in the morning early.’ Now, the perceptible sun produces among us the early morning when it rises above the horizon opposite us, and the Sun of justice produces the early morning in our soul by the rising of the spiritual light, making day in him who admits it. ‘At night’ means we men are in this time of ignorance. Therefore, having opened wide our mind, let us receive ‘the brightness of his glory,’ and let us be brightly illumined by the everlasting Light, ‘God will help it in the morning early.’ When we have become children of light, and ‘the night is far advanced for us, and the day is at hand,’ then we shall become worthy of the help of God. Therefore, God helps the city, producing in it early morning by His own rising and coming. ‘Behold a man,’ it is said, ‘the Orient is his name.’ For those upon whom the spiritual light will rise, when the darkness which comes from ignorance and wickedness is destroyed, early morning will be at hand. Since, then, light has come into the world in order that he who walks about in it may not stumble, His help is able to cause the early morning. Or perhaps, since the Resurrection was in the dim morning twilight, God will help the city in the morning early, who on the third day, early on the morning of the Resurrection gained the victory through death.

Basil of Caesarea, Homilies on the Psalms 18:1–2, 5

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

After rising up that night, he took his two wives and the two maidens and his eleven children, and he crossed over the ford of Jabbok. And he took them and crossed over the brook and carried across all his things. Jacob remained alone, and a person wrestled with him until the morning. He saw that He could not prevail against him, and He touched the broad part of his thigh, and the broad part of Jacob’s thigh became numb when He wrestled with him. And He said to him, “Send me away, for the dawn has come.” He said, “I will not send You away, if You do not bless me.” He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.” And He said to him, “No longer will your name be called Jacob, but your name will be ‘Israel’ because you prevailed with God, and you are mighty with people.” Jacob asked and said, “Reveal to me Your name.” And He said, “Why do you ask My name?” And He blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of that place “Form of God,” for “I saw God face to face, and my life was spared.” (Genesis 32:22–30 LXX)

A man, Scripture says, wrestled with Jacob. If he is a mere man, who is he? Where did he come from? Why does he struggle and wrestle with Jacob? What had come between them? What had happened? What was the cause of so great a conflict and struggle as that? Moreover, why is it that Jacob proves to be the stronger even to the holding of the man with whom he was struggling? And why still, because the morning star was rising, is it he who, on that account, asks a blessing from him whom he held? It can only mean that this struggle was prefiguring that future contention between Christ and the sons of Jacob, which is said to have had its completion in the Gospel. For Jacob’s people struggled against this man and proved to be more powerful in the conflict, because they obtained the triumph of their own unrighteousness over Christ. Then, on account of the crime they had perpetrated, they began to limp very badly in the gait of their own faith and salvation, stumbling and slipping in their course. Though Jacob’s people proved superior by their condemnation of Christ, they still need His mercy and still need His blessing. Now, this man who wrestled with Jacob says to him. “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” And if Israel is a man who ‘sees God,’ then the Lord was showing in an elegant manner that he who wrestled with Jacob was not only man, but also God. Undoubtedly, Jacob saw God with whom he wrestled, though it was a man whom he held in his grip. That there might not remain any doubt, he himself gave the interpretation when he said: “For you have prevailed with God, and with men you are powerful.” That is why this same Jacob, understanding now the meaning of the prefiguration and realizing the authority of him with whom he had wrestled, called the name of the place where he had wrestled “Vision of God.” Furthermore, he added his reasons for giving his interpretation of God: “I have seen God face to face, and my soul has been saved.” For he saw God with whom he wrestled, as though he were wrestling with a man; but while as if victor he held the man, as an inferior he asked a blessing of him, as one would of God. Thus he wrestled with God and with man. Now if this struggle was then prefigured and has been actually fulfilled in the Gospel between Christ and Jacob’s people—a struggle in which the people proved superior, yet were found to be inferior because of their guilt—who will hesitate to acknowledge that Christ in whom this figure of a struggle was fulfilled was not only Man but also God, when that very figure of a struggle seems to have proved that He is both God and Man?

Novatian, On the The Trinity 19.8–14

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops. Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things. Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained. Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. This is a faithful saying:

For if we died with Him,
We shall also live with Him.
If we endure,
We shall also reign with Him.
If we deny Him,
He also will deny us.
If we are faithless,
He remains faithful;
He cannot deny Himself. (2 Timothy 2:1–13)

What is the world but a sort of arena of continual strife? Wherefore also in the Apocalypse the Lord says, To him that overcomes will I give a crown of life; and Paul says, I have fought a good fight; and in another place, No man is crowned except he strive lawfully. He who institutes this combat is Almighty God. Now he who in this world offers a combat, does he not first provide all things which are necessary thereto, and prepare the chaplets of victory before he summons the athletics to contend for the prize; and all this that the conqueror may not suffer delay, but retire from the contest crowned with his reward? Now the rewards of man are the fruits of the earth and the lights of heaven; the former for the use of this present life, the latter for the hope of life eternal.

As a wrestler therefore he enters the lists last of all; he raises his eyes to heaven, he sees that even the heavenly creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. He sees that the whole creation groaneth in pain together, waiting for redemption. He sees that labor awaits us all. He raises his eyes, he sees the circlets of lights, he surveys the orbs of the moon and stars: For the just, who overcome, shall be as the stars in heaven. And he chastises his body, that it may not be his enemy in the combat, he anoints it with the oil of mercy, he exercises it with daily trials of virtue, he smears himself with dust, he runs to the goal of the course but not as uncertainly, he aims his blows, he darts forth his arms, but not into empty space, he strikes the adversary whom he sees not, for he has respect to Him alone to Whom all enemies give way, even those who are invisible, in Whose Name the powers of the air were turned aside. It is he therefore who poises the blow, but it is Christ Who strikes, it is he who lifts up his heel, but Christ Who directs it to the ground. Lastly, although Paul saw not those whom he struck, he was not as one that beats the air, because by the preaching of Christ he wounded those evil spirits which assaulted him. Rightly therefore did man, for whom a race was prepared, enter the course last, that he might be preceded by heaven which was to be, as it were, his reward.

Ambrose of Milan, Letter to Horontianus 43.4–5

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

The message that the prophet Habakkuk saw.
How long, O Lord, will I cry aloud,
        and you will not listen?
After being wronged, I will cry to you,
        and you will not save?
Why did you show me troubles and toils,
        to look upon distress and impiety?
A judgment has come against me,
        and the judge is receiving.
On account of this, the law has been rejected,
        and judgment is not brought to an end,
because an impious person oppresses the righteous;
        for this reason the judgment will come forth perverted.

I will stand firm on my watch,
        and I will go upon a rock,
and I will keep watch to see what he will say to me
        and what I should answer against my rebuke.
And the Lord answered me and said,
“Write a vision, and clearly onto a tablet,
        in order that the one who reads might pursue the things.
Because there is still a vision for the time,
        and he will appear at an end, and not in vain;
if he is late, wait for him,
        because one coming will be present, and he will not tarry.
If he draws back, My soul does not find pleasure in it,
        but the righteous one will live by My faith. (Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4 LXX)

The all-merciful and beneficent Father has [a heart for] those who fear him, and kindly and lovingly He bestows His favors upon those who come to Him with a simple mind. Therefore let us not be double-minded; neither let our soul be lifted up on account of His exceedingly great and glorious gifts. Far from us be that which is written, “Wretched are they who are of a double mind and of a doubting heart; who say, ‘These things we have heard even in the times of our fathers, but, behold, we have grown old, and none of them has happened unto us.’” You foolish ones! Compare yourselves with a tree; take the vine. First of all, it sheds its leaves, then it buds, next it puts forth leaves, and then it flowers; afterwards comes the sour grape, and then follows the ripened fruit. You perceive how in a little time the fruit of a tree comes to maturity. Of a truth, soon and suddenly shall His will be accomplished, as the Scripture also bears witness, saying, “Speedily will He come, and will not tarry,” and “The Lord shall suddenly come to His temple, even the holy one, for whom you look.”

Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 23

Do not offer the words only to those now uncertain about these matters; instead, transmit the record of them in writing also to those coming later, since what will be said is applicable to the latter rather than the former, the prophecy taking effect after a long time. He then urges them also to look forward to the fulfillment, and have no qualms about the lapse of time beforehand. The import of the prophecy is true, so have no doubts, even if you do not see the fulfillment for a long period of time; it will definitely come to pass and not remained unfulfilled. The victim of a wavering attitude to the promises made by Me is unworthy of My care, whereas the one who believes in what is said by Me and lives a life in keeping with that faith will reap the fruit of life. Realize this, therefore, and accept in faith what is revealed to you.

Theodoret of Cyrus, Commentary on Habakkuk 2

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Woe to those who disdain Zion,
        and to those who trust in the mountain of Samaria.
They picked the rulers of the nations,
        and they entered.
O house of Israel, walk, all of you, and see,
        and pass through from that place to Hamath Rabbah,
        and go down from that place to Gath of foreigners,
the nobles from all these kingdoms,
        if their borders are greater than your borders.
Those who are coming to a bad day,
        who are drawing near and holding false sabbaths,
those laying down to sleep upon beds of ivory
        and living luxuriously upon their beds,
and eating kids from the flocks
        and suckling little calves from the midst of herds,
those clapping to the music of the instruments,
        since they considered them as having stood and not as fleeting,
those drinking filtered wine
        and those anointing themselves with first-rate myrrh,
and they would not suffer anything
        because of the ruin of Joseph.
On account of this, now they will be captives
        from the beginning of the mighty ones,
and the neighing of horses
        will be removed from Ephraim. (Amos 6:1–7 LXX)

It is not that we esteem the crimes of the poor as less serious, but a greater hatred of your crimes strikes you, whom greater wealth has magnified. For what is the point of your being more illustrious in respect to public honor and wealth? It behooved you to have a greater zeal for religion. But now you strive to be rich no less in impiety than in money. Therefore, the lamentations will lay hold of you, but serious ones. For with respect to the divine judgment, some mercy may be applied to them that are of little account, “but the mighty shall be mightily tormented.” Therefore, among such great misfortunes of the lands, which experience such things either on account of lost strength or on account of the calamities that are already invading, you trust in the defenses and fortification of your locations (namely, in Zion and Samaria) thinking that you will be guarded against the wrath of the judge. Woe to you who are wealthy in Zion, and who trust in the mountain of Samaria, you nobles, heads of the people who enter the house of Israel with a great pomp. For you have never prostituted yourself more than in the time of adversities, so great was the greed for excess that filled you. When the power of your nation was already for the most part destroyed, nevertheless you swell with opulence and are abandoned to luxury within your besieged cities.

Julian of Eclanum, Commentary on Amos 2.6

The Lord now threatens for the reasons that the prophetic message lists above: because of those who sleep on ivory beds and frolic on their couches, who eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the herd, who sing to the sound of the harp and drink wine in bowls, who anoint themselves with the best ointment. In addition to all this, they suffer in no way concerning the destruction of his people, the people begotten from the line of Joseph. And he says: Because they have done these sorts of things, now they will go away at the head of those who are transmigrating. And the meaning is: Punishment will not be put off until the future, nor is it prophesied about times far distant. What my word predicts has now fallen on them; it is about to come. They will go at the beginning of those transmigrating, that is, the princes and the powerful to whom he had said above: “Hear this word, you fat cows who are on the mountain of Samaria.” And again: “Woe to you who are wealthy in Zion and who trust in the mountain of Samaria; you nobles, heads of the peoples who enter the house of Israel with great pomp.” You who are first in riches will be the first to bear the yoke of captivity, according to what is written in Ezekiel: “Begin from my sanctuary.” Not from the holy ones, as many people think, but from the destruction of the temple, which was the holy place. For “the mighty will be tormented mightily,” and to whom more is entrusted more will also be demanded from him.

Jerome, Commentary on Amos 3.6

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Amos the Prophet by Gustav Dore

Hear now these things, you who are destroying the poor man in the morning
        and are oppressing the beggars of the land,
who are saying, “When will the month passes
        and we will do business,
and the Sabbaths,
        and we will open the treasury,
to make a small measure, to increase the weight,
        and to make an unjust yoke,
to acquire beggars with silver,
        and a humble one for sandals,
        and we will trade from every kind of produce?”
The Lord swears by the arrogance of Jacob;
        He will not forget all your works. (Amos 8:4–7 LXX)

What shall be said to this by those of us who are buyers and sellers of corn, and watch the hardships of the seasons, in order to grow prosperous, and luxuriate in the misfortunes of others, and acquire, not, like Joseph, the property of the Egyptians, as a part of a wide policy, (for he could both collect and supply corn duly, as he also could foresee the famine, and provide against it afar off,) but the property of their fellow countrymen in an illegal manner, for they say, “When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell, and the sabbaths, that we may open our stores?” And they corrupt justice with divers measures and balances, and draw upon themselves the ephah of lead. What shall we say to these things who know no limit to our getting, who worship gold and silver, as those of old worshiped Baal, and Astarte and the abomination Chemosh? …

Join with us, divine and sacred person, in considering these questions, with the store of experience, that source of wisdom, which you have gathered in your long life. Herewith instruct your people. Teach them to break their bread to the hungry, to gather together the poor that have no shelter, to cover their nakedness and not neglect those of the same blood, and now especially that we may gain a benefit from our need instead of from abundance, a result which pleases God more than plentiful offerings and large gifts. After this, nay before it, show yourself, I pray, a Moses, or Phinehas today. Stand on our behalf and make atonement, and let the plague be stayed, either by the spiritual sacrifice, or by prayer and reasonable intercession. Restrain the anger of the Lord by your mediation: avert any succeeding blows of the scourge. He knows to respect the hoary hairs of a father interceding for his children. Entreat for our past wickedness: be our surety for the future. Present a people purified by suffering and fear. Beg for bodily sustenance, but beg rather for the angels’ food that comes down from heaven. So doing, you will make God to be our God, will conciliate heaven, will restore the former and latter rain: the Lord shall show loving-kindness and our land shall yield her fruit; our earthly land its fruit which lasts for the day, and our frame, which is but dust, the fruit which is eternal, which we shall store up in the heavenly winepresses by your hands, who presents both us and ours in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory for evermore. Amen.

Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration 16.19–20