Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

“I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” Then He also said to the multitudes, “Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is. And when you see the south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is. Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?” (Luke 12:49–56)

Spiritual understanding is at work in every passage of the Gospels. In the present case, fearing that the rigidity of a simple explanation may offend someone, the sequence of the sense is to be qualified by spiritual depth.… We will believe that the Lord took care to advise reverence for the Godhead at the same time as the grace of piety. He said, “You will love the Lord your God, and you will love your neighbor.” Is the present so changed as to erase the names of close kin and set affections at variance? Are we to believe that He has commanded discord within families? How is He our peace, who has made both one? How does He himself say, “My peace I give to you, my peace I leave with you,” if He has come to separate fathers from sons and sons from fathers by the division of households? How is he cursed who dishonors his father and devout who forsakes him? If we observe that the first is because of religion and the second through piety, we shall think this question is simple. It is necessary that we should esteem the human less than the divine. If honor is to be paid to parents, how much more to your parents’ Creator, to whom you owe gratitude for your parents! If they by no means recognize their Father, how do you recognize them? He does not say children should reject a father but that God is to be set before all. Then you have in another book, “He that loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.” You are not forbidden to love your parents, but you are forbidden to prefer them to God. Natural children are true blessings from the Lord, and no one must love the blessing that he has received more than God by whom the blessing, once received, is preserved.

Ambrose, Exposition of the Gospel of Luke 7.134–36

People focus their attention on things of this kind. From long observation and practice they tell beforehand when rain will fall or violent winds will blow. One especially sees that sailors are very skillful in this matter. He says that it would be suitable for those who can calculate things of this sort and may foretell storms that are about to happen to focus the penetrating eyes of the mind also on important matters. What are these? The law showed beforehand the mystery of Christ, that He would shine out in the last ages of the world on the inhabitants of the earth and submit to be a sacrifice for the salvation of all. It even commanded a lamb to be sacrificed as a type of him who died towards evening and at lighting of lamps. We might now understand that when, like the day, this world was declining to its close, the great, precious and truly saving passion would be fulfilled. The door of salvation would be thrown wide open to those who believe in him, and abundant happiness be their share. In the Song of Songs, we also find Christ calling to the bride described there. The bride personally represents the church, in these words, “Arise, come, my neighbor, my beautiful dove. Look, the winter is past, and the rain is gone. It has passed away. The flowers appear on the ground. The time of the pruning has come.” As I said, a certain springlike calm was about to arise for those who believe in Him.

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke Homily 95

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Second Sunday after Pentecost

Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!” For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness. Jesus asked him, saying, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him. And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss. Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain. So they begged Him that He would permit them to enter them. And He permitted them. Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned. When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed. Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. And He got into the boat and returned. Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.” And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him. (Luke 8:26–39)

Did not the devils know the real nature of this name? It is fitting that the heretics should be found guilty, not by the teachings of the apostles but by the mouth of demons. The latter often exclaim, “What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” The truth drew out this reluctant confession, and being forced to obey, their grief testifies to the strength of this nature. This power overcomes them, since they abandon bodies that they have possessed for a long time. They pay their tribute of honor when they acknowledge the nature of Christ. In the meantime, Christ testifies that he is the Son by his miracles as well as by his name. O heretic, where do you find the name of a creature or the favor of an adoption among those words by which the demons admit who he is?

Hilary of Poitiers, On the Trinity 6.49

Christ asked him and commanded him to tell what his name was. He said, “Legion,” because many devils had entered him. Did Christ ask this because he did not know it, and like one of us, wished to learn something that had escaped him? Is it not perfectly absurd for us to say or imagine any thing like this? Being God, he knows all things and searches the hearts and inner parts. He asked for the plan of salvation's sake, that we might learn that a great crowd of devils shared the one soul of the man, giving birth a wretched and impure madness in him. He was their work. They certainly are wise to do evil, as the Scripture says, but they have no knowledge to do good.

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke Homily 44

It says, “The herdsmen saw this and fled.” Neither professors of philosophy nor leaders of the synagogue can offer any cure when people perish. Christ alone takes away the sins of the people, provided they do not refuse to submit to healing. He does not want to cure the unwilling and soon abandon the weak for whom it seems that his presence is a burden, like the peoples of the Gerasenes. They went out from that country, which appears to be an image of the synagogue, and begged him to depart from them, because they were very afraid.… Why does Christ not accept the healed man but advise him to return home? Perhaps this occurs to avoid a cause of boasting and give an example to unbelievers, although that home may be an inn by nature. Since he received the healing of his mind, Christ commanded him to depart from the tombs and the graves and to return to that spiritual home. He who had in him the grave of the mind became a temple of God.

Ambrose, Exposition of the Gospel of Luke 6.50, 53

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Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the First Sunday in Lent

Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ” Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’” Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time. (Luke 4:1–13)

So, look at the arms of Christ with which He conquered for you, not for Himself. For He who showed that stones could, through His majesty, be changed into bread by the transformation into a different nature, teaches that you must do nothing at the devil's behalf nor for the purpose of manifesting virtue. At the same time, learn from the temptation itself the ingenious cunning of the devil. The devil tempts that he may test. He tests that he may tempt. In contrast, the Lord deceives that He may conquer. He conquers that He may deceive. For if He had changed nature, He would have betrayed its Creator. Thus He responded neutrally, saying, “It is written, ‘That man lives not by bread alone, but by every word of God.’” You see what kind of arms he wields, to defend humanity, surrounded and protected against the inducements of appetite, against the assault of spiritual wickedness. For He does not wield power as God—for what good would that be to me? So, as man, He summons common help for Himself, so that eager for the food of the divine Word, He neglects the body's hunger and obtains the nourishment of the heavenly Word. Eager for this, Moses did not desire bread. Eager for this, Elijah did not feel the hunger of a long fast. For he who follows the Word cannot desire earthly bread when he receives the essence of the heavenly Bread. There is no doubt that the divine surpasses the human, as the spiritual the physical. Therefore he who desires true life awaits that Bread which through its intangible substance strengthens human hearts. At the same time, when He says, “Man lives not by bread alone,” He shows that the man is tempted, that is, His acceptance of our flesh, not His divinity.

Ambrose, Exposition of the Gospel of Luke 4.19–20

Of the Mystical Feast of the Altar of the Lord

In very truth it is a marvelous thing that God rained manna on the fathers, and fed them with daily food from heaven; so that it is said, “So man did eat angels’ food.” But yet all those who ate that food died in the wilderness, but that food which you receive, that living Bread which came down from heaven, furnishes the substance of eternal life; and whosoever shall eat of this Bread shall never die, and it is the Body of Christ.

Now consider whether the bread of angels be more excellent or the Flesh of Christ, which is indeed the body of life. That manna came from heaven, this is above the heavens; that was of heaven, this is of the Lord of the heavens; that was liable to corruption, if kept a second day, this is far from all corruption, for whosoever shall taste it holily shall not be able to feel corruption. For them water flowed from the rock, for you Blood flowed from Christ; water satisfied them for a time, the Blood satiates you for eternity. The Jew drinks and thirsts again, you after drinking will be beyond the power of thirsting; that was in a shadow, this is in truth.

If that which you so wonder at is but shadow, how great must that be whose very shadow you wonder at. See now what happened in the case of the fathers was shadow: “They drank, it is said, of that Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were done in a figure concerning us.” You recognize now which are the more excellent, for light is better than shadow, truth than a figure, the Body of its Giver than the manna from heaven.

Ambrose of Milan, On the Mysteries 8.47–49

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’ ” (Luke 17:5–10)

From the mustard seed we spoke above; now it is mulberry that must be treated. I read: a tree; I do not believe, however, that it is a tree: for what reason, what profit for us, that a tree, made to give fruit to the toilers who toil, is uprooted and thrown into the sea? Doubtless we believe it possible, by virtue of faith, that insensible nature obey perceptible orders; yet what does this species of tree mean? I read, it is true: "I was a shepherd of goats, grazing blackberries" (Amos 7:14), and I think the Prophet wanted to mark us that he was from the flock of sinners, sinner him himself, and withdrew from it. It is also fitting that, in order to prophesy to the nations, he sought fruits on the bushes, drew his food from the bushes. He was going to settle the Gentiles' dark and smelly flocks, the peoples of the nations, into the pastures of his writings, where they would fatten with spiritual nourishment, while he would draw from the sinner converted the spiritual milk. But, as in another book of the Gospels (Matt 17:19) is spoken of a mountain - whose bare silhouette, deprived of fertile vineyards and olive trees, barren in harvests, conducive to the dens of animals, troubled by the incursions of wild beasts, seems to translate the haughty elevation of the evil spirit (2 Cor 10:15), as it is written: "I speak to you, corrupt mountain, who corrupts the whole earth (Jer 51:25) - there is reason to believe that in this passage again we are shown faith expelling the foul spirit. Especially as the nature of the tree fits with this opinion: because its fruit is white at first in its flower, then once formed blushes, maturing becomes black. The devil too, fallen from his prevarication of the white flower of the angelic nature and the scarlet of his power, took the horrible blackness and odor of sin. See the One who says to the mulberry tree: "Rip yourself and throw yourself into the sea": when He hunts a Legion of a man, He allows him to pass into pigs, who, carried away by the diabolical impulse, have drowned in the sea (Luke 8:30 ff). This passage is therefore an exhortation to the faith; in the moral sense he teaches us that even what is most solid can be destroyed by faith. But from faith come charity, from charity hope, and they come back to one another as by a sacred circle.

The following shows that no one should boast of his works, since it is in justice that we owe the Lord our service. For if you do not say to a servant who has plowed or grazed the sheep, go on (here), put yourself at the table - where you hear that no one sits down if he does not pass first: Moses first began to move to see the great vision (Exod 3:3) - so if you not only do not say to your servant: sit down to table, but you claim from him another service and do not 'Do not thank it, so the Lord does not admit that you are giving Him a single work or work; for as long as we live, we must always work. Recognize, therefore, that you are a servant of many services. Do not worry about being called a child of God - you must recognize grace, but without forgetting nature - do not boast if you have served well: you had to do it. The sun does its work, the moon obeys, the angels do their service; the instrument chosen by the Lord for the Gentiles says, "I am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I have persecuted the church of God" (1 Cor 15:9); and in another place, after having shown that he is not aware of any fault, he adds: "But I am not justified for that reason" (1 Cor 4:4). So we, too, do not pretend to be praised for ourselves; do not anticipate the judgment of God; let us not prevent the judge's judgment, but reserve it for his time, for his judge.

Ambrose, Homilies on Luke 17

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Third Sunday in Lent

He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’ ” (Luke 13:6–9)

If you look closely, you will find that the laws of this species deviate from those of other trees. The others carry their flower before their fruit, and announce the fruits to come by the promise of the flower; only this one produces from the beginning fruits in place of flowers. In others the flower falls and fruits are born; in this one the fruits fall to give place to the fruits. Thus, these first trials of fruits grow as flowers; and to have, in their early birth, misunderstood the order of nature, they can not preserve the benefit of nature. Indeed, it is at the point where usually the bud grows from the middle of the bark that the small fruits of this species come to dawn. It is from them that we read, in the Song of Songs, "the fig tree grows its first fruits" (2:13). Thus, when the other trees are white in early spring, the only fig tree can not bleach by its flowers, perhaps because there is no maturity to expect from these kinds of fruits. For others arise, and these, as degenerates, are rejected; their weak stem dries up, and they give way to those for whom the sap will be more useful. There are, however, some, very rare, that do not fall, having had the good fortune to emerge on a short stem, between two palmettes: thus doubly covered and protected, as in mother nature, a more abundant sap fed them and developed them. These, helped by the clemency of the air and the temperature, having had more leisure to form, become, once stripped the natural wild of their primitive juice, preferable to the others by their beauty and the approval of their maturity. Now consider the manners and dispositions of the Jews: they are like the first fruits of the little fertile Synagogue; as the first fig falls, they have fallen, to make room for the fruits of our race that will remain forever. For the first people of the synagogue, weakly rooted in parched works, failed to draw the rich sap of natural wisdom: so it fell, like a useless fruit, so that on the same branches of the tree the fruit of ancient religion produced the new people of the Church. Thus he who was ceased to be, so that he who was not begin. Yet the best of Israel, those who wore a more vigorously conformed branch, in the shadow of the Law and the Cross, and within them, were stained with a double sap, and, as the first fig came to mature, these beautiful fruits outweigh all others. It is to them that it is said: "You shall sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matt 19:28).

Ambrose Commentary on Luke 13

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Seventh Sunday after Epiphany

Joseph then said to his brothers, “I am Joseph; does my father still live?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were stunned in his presence. But Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me.” So they came near. Then he said, “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. Now therefore, do not be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to save life. For this is the second year of famine in the land, and five years still remain in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. For God sent me before you to preserve you as a remnant on the earth, and to sustain you as a great remnant. So now, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. “Hurry then and go up to my father, and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, “God made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not tarry. You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near to me, you and your children, your children’s children, your sheep and oxen, and all you have. There I will provide for you, lest you and your household, and all you have, come to poverty; for five years of famine still remain.’ ” And behold, your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see it is my mouth that speaks to you. Therefore, you shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all you have seen; and you shall hurry and bring my father down here.” Then he fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. Moreover he kissed all his brothers and wept over them, and after this his brothers talked with him. (Gen 45:3–15)

“Come to me,” because I have come near to you, yes, even so far that I made myself a sharer in your nature by taking on flesh. At least do not flee a partaker of your fellowship, if you do not know the Author of your salvation. “And they came to him and he said, ‘I am Joseph your brother whom you sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved, and let it not seem to you a hard case, that you sold me here; for God sent me before you for life.’” What fraternal devotion! What a good brotherly relation! He would even excuse His brothers’ crime and say that it was God’s providence and not man’s unholiness, since He was not offered up to death by men but was sent by the Lord to life. What else is the meaning of that intervention made by our Lord Jesus Christ, who excelled all His brothers in holiness? When He was on the cross, He said in behalf of the people, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” What other meaning is there either in that holy appeal made in the midst of the disciples? For He said, “Peace to you! It is I, do not be afraid.” And when they were startled and panic-stricken and thought they saw a spirit, again He said to them, “Why are you disturbed and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and feet, that it is I myself. Feel and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” And so, even then these future mysteries were revealed to later times.

Indeed they are expressed in the same words, so that we may know that He is the same who spoke before in Joseph and afterward in His own body, seeing that He did not change even the words. For at that time He said, “Be not grieved,” and later, “Go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph: God has made me master of the whole land of Egypt.’” And in the Gospel Christ says, “Do not be afraid. Go, tell my brothers to go into Galilee, and there they shall see me.” And later He says, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me,” which is to say, “This was the doing of God’s design in order that I might receive power, and not the work of human cruelty.” He who is counting out the reward does not reproach the crime. Now as to what appears in Genesis, “for God sent me before you to life,” Christ repeats this in the Gospel when He says, “Teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” For this is the recompense and the life of the saints, that they have also brought about the redemption of others. And notice that the following, too, was not written without purpose in Genesis, “And you will be near me, you and your sons and your sons’ sons.” For this is what Christ said in the Gospel, “Behold, I am with you all days, even unto the consummation of the world.” How clear also is that mystery! For when every commandment had been fulfilled, so to speak, Joseph embraced his brother Benjamin and fell upon his neck. Likewise, when the Gospel is brought to completion, Christ embraces Paul in the arms of His mercy, as it were, so as to lift him up into heaven once the latter has shown submission by inner belief as if by bending his neck.

Ambrose of Milan, On Joseph 12.68–73

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

Eugène Burnand

And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’” (Luke 17:5–10)

For if you do not say to a servant who has plowed or grazed the sheep, go on, put yourself at the table—where you hear that no one sits down if he does not pass first: Moses first began to move to see the great vision—so if you not only do not say to your servant: sit down to table, but you claim from him another service and do not thank it, so the Lord does not admit that you are giving Him a single work or work; for as long as we live, we must always work. Recognize, therefore, that you are a servant of many services. Do not worry about being called a child of God—you must recognize grace, but without forgetting nature—do not boast if you have served well: you had to do it. The sun does its work, the moon obeys, the angels do their service. The instrument chosen by the Lord for the Gentiles says, “I am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I have persecuted the church of God;” and in another place, after having shown that he is not aware of any fault, he adds: “But I am not justified for that reason.” So we, too, do not pretend to be praised for ourselves nor anticipate the judgment of God; and let us not prevent the judge’s judgment, but reserve it for his time, for his judge.

Ambrose, Exposition of the Gospel of St. Luke 8

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.” So He spoke this parable to them, saying: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:1–10)

Let us rejoice, therefore, that this sheep, which was lost in Adam, is raised up in Christ. The shoulders of Christ are the arms of the Cross: it is there that I deposited my sins, it is on the noble neck of this gallows that I rested. This ewe is unique in gender, not specifically; for “all of us are one body,” but many members, and that is why it is written, “You are the body of Christ, and members of his members." For “the Son of man came to save what had perished,” that is to say, all, since “as all die in Adam, so in Christ all receive the life.” He is therefore a rich shepherd, since all of us are one hundredth of His share.

He possesses the innumerable herds of angels, the archangels, the dominions, the powers, the thrones, and others, which He has left on the heights. And since they are reasonable, it is not without motive that they rejoice at the redemption of men. Moreover, it is still a stimulant to be good, to know that your conversion is pleasant to the troops of angels, each of whom must seek patronage or fear disgrace. Be you also joy for the angels; they are looking forward to your return.

Ambrose, Exposition of the Gospel of Luke 7.209

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany

Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said:

“Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.

But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets.” (Luke 6:20–26)

Let us see how St. Luke encompassed the eight blessings in the four. We know that there are four cardinal virtues: temperance, justice, prudence and fortitude. One who is poor in spirit is not greedy. One who weeps is not proud but is submissive and tranquil. One who mourns is humble. One who is just does not deny what he knows is given jointly to all for us. One who is merciful gives away his own goods. One who bestows his own goods does not seek another's, nor does he contrive a trap for his neighbor. These virtues are interwoven and interlinked, so that one who has one may be seen to have several, and a single virtue befits the saints. Where virtue abounds, the reward too abounds.… Thus temperance has purity of heart and spirit, justice has compassion, patience has peace, and endurance has gentleness.

Although there are many charms of delights in riches, yet there are more incentives to practice virtues. Although virtue does not require assistance and the contribution of the poor person is more commended than the generosity of the rich, yet with the authority of the heavenly saying, he condemns not those who have riches but those who do not know how to use them. The pauper is more praiseworthy who gives with eager compassion and is not restrained by the bolts of looming scarcity. He thinks that he who has enough for nature does not lack. So the rich person is the more guilty who does not give thanks to God for what he has received, but vainly hides wealth given for the common use and conceals it in buried treasures. Then the offense consists not in the wealth but in the attitude.

Ambrose, Exposition of the Gospel of Luke 5.62–63, 68–69

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

Preserve me, O God, because I hope in You.
I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord,
You have no need of my good things.”
To the saints on His earth,
In them He magnified all His will.
Their diseases were multiplied;
They hastened after these things;
I will not join in their assemblies of blood,
Nor will I remember their names with my lips.
The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup;
You are He who who restores my inheritance to me.
Portions fell to me among the best,
And my inheritance is the very finest.
I will bless the Lord who caused me to understand;
Moreover, until night my reins also instruct me.
I saw the Lord always before me;
Because He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.
Therefore my heart was glad,
And my tongue rejoiced exceedingly;
My flesh also shall dwell in hope.
For You will not abandon my soul to Hades
Nor allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
You made known to me the ways of life;
You will fill me with gladness in Your presence;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:1–11)

Who has ever given Him anything, since “from Him, and through Him and in Him” are all things? The fount of life is that highest Good that bestows the substance of life on all, because it has life abiding in itself. It receives from no one as though it were needy; it lavishes goods on all and borrows from others nothing for itself, for it has no need of us. It says, too, in the person of humankind: “You do not need my goods.” What is more lovely than to approach Him and cling to Him? What pleasure can be greater? What else can he desire who sees and tastes freely of this fount of living water? what realms? what powers? what riches? when He sees how pitiable are the conditions of kings, how changeable the status of their power, how short the span of this life, in how great bondage even sovereigns must live, since they live at the will of others and not their own.

Ambrose, Letter 29

Since He had said approaching His Passion, “My soul is sorrowful to the point of death,” it was right for Him to use these words to recall the Resurrection, teaching that in place of that discouragement He will be in unceasing joy, having become immune to suffering, to change, to death, even in His human nature. As God, you see, this was always the case, and of course even in His human nature once formed in the womb it was easy to provide Him with this. But He allowed the nature He had assumed to travel through the sufferings so as by these means to loose the sway of sin, put a stop to the tyranny of the Devil, undo the power of death, and proved all people with the basis of a new life. So as man He assumes both incorruption and immortality.

Theodoret of Cyrus, Commentary on the Psalms 16.8

Poor to make Others Rich

So [Elijah] arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.” And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” So she said, “As the Lᴏʀᴅ your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lᴏʀᴅ sends rain on the earth.’” (1 Ki 17:10–14)

Bread for food also failed Elijah, that holy man, had he sought for it; but it seemed not to fail him because he did not seek it. Thus by the daily service of the ravens bread was brought to him in the morning, meat in the evening. Was he any less blessed because he was poor to himself? Certainly not. No, he was the more blessed, for he was rich toward God. It is better to be rich for others than for oneself. He was so, for in the time of famine he asked a widow for food, intending to repay it, so that the bin of flour did not fail for three years and six months, and the oil jar sufficed and served the needy widow for her daily use all that time also.

Ambrose of Milan, On the Duties of the Clergy 2.4.14

While Elijah became poor to make the widow rich, Jesus became poor for the sake of many (2 Co 8:9).

Note for 1 Kings 17:10–11, Orthodox Study Bible

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to Sunday

Resurrection of the Flesh by Luca Signorelli

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.  For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.  For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.  Therefore encourage one another with these words.  (1 Thess 4:13-18)

Here he proceeds now to start his discourse concerning the Resurrection.  And why? … Resurrection was sufficient to comfort him that was grieving.  But that which is now said is sufficient also to make the Resurrection eminently worthy of credit.… Therefore to afflict yourselves for the departed is to act like those who have no hope.  And they justly, for a soul that knows nothing of the Resurrection, but thinks that this death is death, naturally afflicts itself, and bewails and mourns intolerably as for lost ones.  But you who expects a resurrection, on what account do you lament?  To lament then is the part of those who have no hope.

John Chrysostom, Homilies on First Thessalonians

All men rise again, but let no one lose heart, and let not the just grieve at the common lot of rising again, since he awaits the chief fruit of his virtue.  All indeed shall rise again, but, as says the Apostle, “each in his own order.”  The fruit of the Divine Mercy is common to all, but the order of merit differs.  The day gives light to all, the sun warms all, the rain fertilizes the possessions of all with genial showers.

We are all born, and we shall all rise again, but in each state, whether of living or of living again, grace differs and the condition differs.  For, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, the dead shall rise incorruptible and we shall be changed.”  Moreover, in death itself some rest, and some live.  Rest is good, but life is better.  And so the Apostle rouses him that is resting to life, saying: “Rise, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.”  Therefore he is aroused that he may live, that he may be like to Paul, that he may be able to say: “For we who are alive shall not precede those that are asleep.”  He speaks not here of the common manner of life, and the breath which we all alike enjoy, but of the merit of the resurrection.  For, having said, “And the dead which are in Christ shall rise first,” he adds further, “And we who are alive shall together with them be caught up in the clouds to meet Christ in the air.”

Ambrose, On Belief in the Resurrection 2:92-93

Pay Attention!

Continuing my posts of patristic texts coinciding with this Sunday’s Psalm study.

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How can a young man keep his way pure?
    By guarding it according to your word.  (Psalm 119:9)

Let us listen, then, to the master of precaution: “I said, I will pay attention to my ways”; that is, “I said to myself: in the silent biddings of my thoughts, that I should pay attention to my ways.”  Some ways there are that we ought to follow; others as to which we ought to pay attention.  We must follow the ways of the Lord and pay attention to our own ways,  lest they lead us into sin.  One can pay attention if one is not hasty in speaking.  The Law says, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God.”  It is not “speak” but “hear.”  Eve fell because she said to the man what she had not heard from the Lord her God.  The first word from God says to you, Hear! If you hear, pay attention to your ways; and if you have fallen, quickly amend your way.  For how does a young person amend his way; except by paying attention to the word of the Lord?  Be silent therefore first of all, and listen, so that you do not fail in your tongue.

Ambrose, Duties of the Clergy 1.2.7

Psalms: Sing for Pleasure, Learn for Profit

What is more pleasing than a psalm?  David expresses it well: Praise the Lord, for a song of praise is good: let there be praise of our God with gladness and grace.  Yes, a psalm is a blessing on the lips of the people, a hymn in praise of God, the assembly’s homage, a general acclamation, a word that speaks for all, the voice of the Church, a confession of faith in song.  It is the voice of complete assent, the joy of freedom, a cry of happiness, the echo of gladness.  It soothes the temper, distracts from care, lightens the burden of sorrow.  It is a source of security at night, a lesson in wisdom by day.  It is a shield when we are afraid, a celebration of holiness, a vision of serenity, a promise of peace and harmony.  It is like a lyre, evoking harmony from a blend of notes.  Day begins to the music of a psalm.  Day closes to the echo of a psalm.

In a psalm, instruction vies with beauty.  We sing for pleasure.  We learn for our profit.  What experience is not covered by a reading of the psalms?  I come across the words: A song for the beloved, and I am aflame with desire for God’s love.  I go through God’s revelation in all its beauty, the intimations of resurrection, the gifts of his promise.  I learn to avoid sin.  I see my mistake in feeling ashamed of repentance for my sins.

What is a psalm but a musical instrument to give expression to all the virtues?  The psalmist of old used it, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, to make earth re-echo the music of heaven.  He used the dead gut of strings to create harmony from a variety of notes, in order to send up to heaven the song of God’s praise.  In doing so he taught us that we must first die to sin, and then create in our lives on earth a harmony through virtuous deeds, if the grace of our devotion is to reach up to the Lord.

David thus taught us that we must sing an interior song of praise, like Saint Paul, who tells us: I shall pray in spirit, and also with understanding; I shall sing in spirit, and also with understanding.  We must fashion our lives and shape our actions in the light of the things that are above.  We must not allow pleasure to awaken bodily passions, which weigh our soul down instead of freeing it.  The holy prophet told us that his songs of praise were to celebrate the freeing of his soul, when he said: I shall sing to you, God, on the Lyre, holy one of Israel; my lips will rejoice when I have sung to you, and my soul also, which you have set free.

Ambrose of Milan, Commentary on Psalm 1

Psalms: Precursor of the Gospel

Though all Scripture is fragrant with God’s grace, the Book of Psalms has a special attractiveness.  Moses wrote the history of Israel’s forefathers in prose, but after leading the people through the Red Sea—a wonder that remained in their memory—he broke into a song of triumph in praise of God when he saw King Pharaoh drowned along with his forces.  His genius soared to a higher level, to match an accomplishment beyond his own powers.  Miriam too raised her timbrel and sang encouragement for the rest of the women, saying: Let us sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; he has cast horse and rider into the sea.

In the Book of Psalms there is profit for all, with healing power for our salvation.  There is instruction from history, teaching from the law, prediction from prophecy, chastisement from denunciation, persuasion from moral preaching.  All who read it may find the cure for their own individual failings.  All with eyes to see can discover in it a complete gymnasium for the soul, a stadium for all the virtues, equipped for every kind of exercise; it is for each to choose the kind he judges best to help him gain the prize.

If you wish to read and imitate the deeds of the past, you will find the whole history of the Israelites in a single psalm: in one short reading you can amass a treasure for the memory.  If you want to study the power of the law, which is summed up in the bond of charity (Whoever loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law), you may read in the psalms of the great love with which one man faced serious dangers singlehandedly in order to remove the shame of the whole people.  You will find the glory of charity more than a match for the parade of power.

What am I to say of the grace of prophecy?  We see that what others hinted at in riddles was promised openly and clearly to the psalmist alone: the Lord Jesus was to be born of his seed, according to the word of the Lord, I will place upon your throne one who is the fruit of your flesh.

In the psalms, then, not only is Jesus born for us, he also undergoes his saving passion in his body, he lies in death, he rises again, he ascends into heaven, he sits at the right hand of the Father.  What no man would have dared to say was foretold by the psalmist alone, and afterward proclaimed by the Lord himself in the Gospel.

Ambrose of Milan, Commentary on Psalm 1

The Trinity in Isaiah's Vision

I have been reading the Bible regularly for almost 40 years, and the surprises keep coming.  While reading a book this past Monday, an author pointed out a fact of scripture I had read before but never connected on my own: the Trinity is found in Isaiah’s vision.

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.  Above him stood the seraphim.  Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.  And one called to another and said:
    “Holy, holy, holy is the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts;
    the whole earth is full of his glory!”
And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.  And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts!”  (Isa 6:1-5)

Adonai is sitting on the throne in grand splendor and majesty above whom seraphim are ascribing holiness and glory and identifying as YHWH.  He is the Lord God—ruler of heaven and earth and redeemer of Israel.  Isaiah recognized that he could not behold God and live (Ex 33:20), so he fears for his very existence, but the Lord upholds and cleanses him.  After being consecrated, Isaiah receives a message to deliver to the people of Israel:

Go, and say to this people:
    “Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
    keep on seeing, but do not perceive.”
Make the heart of this people dull,
    and their ears heavy,
    and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
    and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
    and turn and be healed.  (Isa 6:9-10)

The question to ask at this point is: Who or what did Isaiah see?  From his point of view, he saw YHWH in resplendent glory.  God the Father, first member of the Trinity, can rightly be said to be the source of the Trinity, in that he is the one who begets the Son and sends the Holy Spirit, but not so that the Son and Holy Spirit have a beginning, since they are all three co-equal and co-eternal.  Of this one we can rightfully say he is the “one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist” (1 Cor 8:6) and “God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Cor 1:3).

In the gospel bearing his name, The apostle John recounts additional information of Isaiah’s vision as he comments on the unbelief that Jesus met during his ministry:

Though [Jesus] had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
Therefore they could not believe.  For again Isaiah said,
“He has blinded their eyes
    and hardened their heart,
lest they see with their eyes,
    and understand with their heart, and turn,
    and I would heal them.”
Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.  (John 12:37-41)

We see that the one Isaiah saw seated on the throne in the temple was none other than Jesus, the Son of God and second member of the Trinity, in a theophany (i.e., pre-incarnate form).  His is the form seen seated on the throne.

What of the message itself?  Who delivered it?  Again, according to Isaiah the message to deliver came from YWHW, however the apostle Paul directs us more specifically:

And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet:
‘Go to this people, and say,
You will indeed hear but never understand,
    and you will indeed see but never perceive.
For this people’s heart has grown dull,
    and with their ears they can barely hear,
        and their eyes they have closed;
        lest they should see with their eyes
    and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
    and turn, and I would heal them.’
Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”  (Acts 28:25-28)

Notice that the message was authored and actively communicated by the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Trinity, and whose glory can also be said to be seen by the prophet as Ambrose states in his treatise On the Holy Spirit: “It is, then, the Spirit Who sent Isaiah.  If the Spirit sent him, it is certainly the Spirit Whom, after Uzziah’s death, Isaiah saw” (III.21.160).

We can see from Isaiah's vision both the distinctiveness and interconnectedness of the three persons of the divine Trinity.  When interacting with one, the interaction is with all.  To say that Isaiah saw and heard one member of the Trinity does not contradict another writer of scripture testifying that a different member was involved, for all three were present in the call of Isaiah and the delivery of the judgement message.  When one acts, all act.  Thus the three persons of the Godhead worked (and work) in unity as Gregory of Nyssa summarized:

And that “in Him dwells the fullness of the Godhead,” the mighty Paul attests: yes, moreover, through the prophet Isaiah it is attested, as to the manifestation of the Divine appearance entrusted to him, when he saw Him that sat “on the throne high and lifted up;” the older tradition, it is true, says that it was the Father Who appeared to him, but the evangelist John refers the prophecy to our Lord, saying, touching those of the Jews who did not believe the words uttered by the prophet concerning the Lord, “These things said Isaiah, when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.”  But the mighty Paul attributes the same passage to the Holy Spirit in his speech made to the Jews at Rome, when he says, “Well spoke the Holy Spirit by Isaiah the prophet concerning you, saying, Hearing you shall hear and shall not understand,” showing, in my opinion, by Holy Scripture itself, that every specially divine vision, every theophany, every word uttered in the Person of God, is to be understood to refer to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Against Eunomius, II.14

While researching this post, I quickly noticed how many over the centuries had made the same connections.  No new thought materialized, but the exhilaration of the truth coming to light in my head made my day.  The lesson to be learned: continue reading your Bible, and let the Holy Spirit bring these to light, not by virtue of placing yourself in the Bible but allowing God to speak for himself through his Word.

Holy Spirit: Equal in Power and Counsel

Today the church remembers Ambrose.

For the Spirit Himself is Power, as you read: “The Spirit of Counsel and might” (Isa. 11:2).  And as the Son is the Angel of great counsel, so, too, is the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Counsel, that you may know that the Counsel of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is One. Counsel, not concerning any doubtful matters, but concerning those foreknown and determined. … And that we may know more completely that the Spirit is Power, we ought to know that He was promised when the Lord said: “I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh” (Joel 2:28).  He, then, Who was promised to us is Himself Power, as in the Gospel the same Son of God declared when He said: “And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you.  But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49)

Ambrose, On the Holy Spirit, II.20-22