Friday, July 15, 2022

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

O Lord, hear my voice, wherein I cry;
One thing I ask from the Lord; this I will seek,
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
And behold the delights of the Lord,
And visit His temple.

My heart speaks to You; my face seeks You;
Your face, O Lord, I will seek. (Ps 27:4, 8 LXX)

He says that he has asked one thing of the Lord, and he expounds it later. But let us examine if he has asked for one thing rather than for everything. It is indeed one in number, but numerous in the various objects for which it is useful. The request is restricted, but the reward extended. The plea is in few words, but the response is on a large scale. So it is the habit of good men to beg merely for the Lord’s house, because all good things are contained in it, whereas evil men are torn in their earthly wants, and in seeking health of body, in begging for riches, in demanding the destruction of enemies they weary in their pleading and sometimes seek things which will not endure.

This is the one request for which he begged earlier. Note that he who has walled himself in with such a defense must fear no camp, no battle; for what state is comparable to, what army is stronger than dwelling in the Lord’s house, where nothing human or devil-sent is clearly to be feared? And this is for no short period, but for all the days of his life. So when, I ask, is he to fear, when his entire life is safe? He who sees the will of the Lord understands His commands, for he has surrendered himself with all his mind to His purity. The prophet asks to be protected by the temple of Christ’s body, from which we obtain support for faith and invincible strength of protection, for through virtue of mind he had attained what he did not yet behold in appearance.

The heart reveals its silent longing, to which the Godhead listens more than to the most thundering voices of nations. He said to Moses: Why do you cry out to me? although we do not read that Moses had said anything. So the faithful man said that his heart was speaking to the Lord, since he seemed to offer his thoughts by this means. The man who lives a holy life seeks the face of the Lord; of such men Scripture says: Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. He duplicates his statement with the words: Your face, O Lord, will I seek. The content is the same but the prayer is repeated, for he knew how precious was the fact of his praying so many times with fervent zeal.

Cassiodorus, Explanation of the Psalms 26.4, 8

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