For that reason, this is what the Lord says: “Look, I shall seek out my sheep and watch over them. Just as the shepherd seeks his flock on the day when there is darkness and a cloud in the midst of the separated sheep, so I will seek out my sheep and drive them away from everywhere they were scattered on the day of cloud and darkness. And I will bring them out of the nations and gather them from the countries and lead them into their land, and feed them on the mountains of Israel and in the valleys and in every dwelling place of the land. I will tend them in a good pasture, in Israel’s high mountain. And their sheepfolds will be there and they will sleep, and there they will rest in good delight, and they will feed in a rich pasture upon Israel’s mountains. I shall tend my sheep, and I shall give them rest, and they will know that I am the Lord.” This is what the Master, the Lord, says: “I shall seek the perishing and return the stray and bind up the crushed and strengthen the faint and guard the strong and tend them with justice.” And you sheep, this is what the Master, the Lord, says: “Look, I shall bring judgment between sheep and sheep, rams and he-goats. And was it not enough for you that you were grazing the good pasture and trampling the rest of your pasture with your feet, and drinking the stagnant water and stirring up the rest with your feet? And my sheep were grazing on the tramplings of your feet, and they were drinking water troubled by your feet!” ‘On account of this, this is what the Master, the Lord, says: “Look, I will judge between strong sheep and weak sheep. You kept pushing by your ribs and shoulders and you kept butting with your horns, and you were afflicting all the faint. But I shall save my sheep, and they will never again become plunder, and I shall judge between ram against ram. And I shall raise up one shepherd over them and he is shepherding them: my servant David; and he shall be their shepherd, and I, the Lord, shall become their God, and David a ruler in their midst; I, the Lord, have spoken. (Ezekiel 34:11–24 LXX)
We must ponder the fact that everyone, as much as he can, as much as he is in a position to, should strive zealously to make known to the Church he has undertaken to serve both the dreadfulness of the coming judgment and the sweetness of the kingdom. One who is not in a position to offer encouragement to everyone at the same time should instruct individuals, as much as he can, he should offer instruction in personal talks, he should seek for profit in the hearts of his children through simple encouragement. We must consider what was said to the apostles, and by the apostles to us: You are the salt of the earth. If we are salt, we should season the hearts of believers. You who are shepherds, consider that you are pasturing God’s flock. Of them the psalmist said: Your flock shall dwell in it. We often see a block of salt put out for brute animals; they are to lick it and be made better. A priest among his people should be like a block of salt in the midst of brute animals. A priest must be careful about what he says to individuals, to counsel each one in such a way that anyone associated with the priest may be seasoned with the taste of eternal life as if by contact with salt. We are not the salt of the earth if we do not season the hearts of those who hear us. One who does not withhold his preaching gives this seasoning to his neighbor. But then we truly preach what is right to others, if our words are revealed in our actions, if we ourselves are pierced by divine love, and if we wash away with our tears the stains of human life which we daily acquire, since we cannot live without sin. Then do we truly feel remorse if we diligently ponder the deeds of our ancestors so that when we have regarded their renown, our own lives may appear mean in our eyes. Then do we truly feel remorse, when we diligently examine God’s commandments, and strive to advance by the means we know those whom we reverence used for their own advancement.
Gregory the Great, Forty Gospel Homilies 19
No comments:
Post a Comment