HOMILY 35
HOMILY 35
ON PSALM 108 (109)
II NTO THE END, a psalm of David.'! 'Unto the end' is a sign that the message of the psalm pertains not to the present but to the future. If, moreover, the prophet speaks of the future, the prophecy is of Christ.
'0 God, be hot silent in my praise.'2 Christ is saying:
'Judas betrayed Me, the Jews persecuted and crucified Me and thought that they were doing away with Me unto the end, but You, 0 God, be not silent in my praise.' The whole
Church throughout the world praises the Lord every day and fulfills the Lord's prayer: 0 God, be not silent in My praise.
Appreciate the dignity of the priesthood! Priests speak, and in priests it is God praising His Son.
'For they have opened wicked and treacherous mouths against me.' Let us reflect upon the traitor Judas and his treacherous malice against the Lord. He comes to the Lord deliberately to betray Him, and calls Him Rabbi,s Master.
Here, we have a perfect example of the malicious mouth of a sinner, the lips of a treacherous man. In My compassion I want to save him, and I respond to his kiss of greeting, so great is My longing to overcome his malice, but he persists in his treachery and betrays Me. In particular, this is the story of Judas; in general, it is that of the Jews. At the time when they were crying out: 'Crucify him! Crucify their lips were the lips of a sinner condemning their Lord.
1 Cf. Ps. 108 (109).1.
2 Ibid.
3 Cf. Matt. 26.49.
4 John 19:6.
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From the verse that follows you may conclude that the psalmist is speaking of all the Jews, for what does it say?
'They have spoken to me with lying tongues.' I was being crucified for them, and they were hurling insults at Me. My wounds were for their healing and they looked upon Me in derision. 'With words of hatred they have encompassed me.'
They had no intention of believing, only of attacking and crushing Me. 'They attacked me without cause.' There is a twofold connotation to the word 'gratis.' It may mean
'without cause': I had committed no crime and, therefore, I was not deserving of their assault. What excuse did they have to fight against Me? Because I had healed their sick?
Because I had raised the dead to life? Because I had performed other miracles? Look, how they fought against Him without a single provocation I The second meaning is 'without thanks': They wanted to blot out and destroy My name, and they could not. When a man conspires in hatred against another without success or any satisfaction, he persecutes for nothing.
'In return for my love, they slandered me, but I prayed.'
In return for the kindness that I had lavished upon them, they slandered Me. Yet what did I do? I prayed. That is the Lord's weapon; that is our weapon, too, prayer. If ever anyone should persecute us and hate us, let us say likewise:
In return for my love, they gave me calumny. But I, what did I do? I prayed. In order to get the better of them?
God forbid; does the Lord pray for one in order to vanquish him? Why did He say: 'but I prayed'? What was His prayer? 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.'s 'They repaid me evil for good.' When I was hung on the cross, I pleaded for those who were crucifying Me, and they jeered at Me: 'Thou who destroyest the temple, and in three days buildest it up again, save thyself. The Father who 5 Luke 23.34.
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loveth thee, let him come now and deliver thee.'6 For their sake I rose [rom the dead, and they say: 'His disciples came by night, and stole him."
'Hatred for my love.' Ponder well, o Christian; ponder well, 0 monk; if the Lord received His deadly conspirator and traitor with a kiss and prayed for those who were persecuting Him, what is our duty toward our brethren?
'Raise up a wicked man against him.' Since I prayed for them on the cross and they saw My wounds and I gave them opportunity to repent, but they are not repentant and do not want Me for their king, let them have the devil as king.
They do not want King Jesus; let them have King Barabbas, Barabbas whose name means 'son of the father,' and that means son of the devil. This Barabbas, who was he? A seditious wretch and a robber. Truly, do they have Barabbas for king-even to this day-a rebel and robber, the murderer of the Jews themselves. Barabbas, the thief who reveled in blood, had been imprisoned before the Lord was betrayed.
They rejected the Lord, but released Barabbas. From that moment, Barabbas began to hold them in his power; and that demon that had been cast out from the man and from that generation and was wandering about in the desert and could not find a place, took with him seven other devils worse than himself, and entered into the synagogue, and the last state of that man became worse than the first. 8 In fact, before the synagogue of the Jews crucified the Lord, it was certainly sinful, but with only one devil. It crucified the Lord, and immediately eight more devils entered it; hence, the Scripture is fulfilled that said: 'Raise up a wicked man against him.'
'Let the devil stand at his right hand.'9 Because the devil stood at their right hand, the synagogue had a withered right hand, as it is written in the Gospel.1° 6 Cf. Matt. 27.39·44.
7 Matt. 28.13.
8 Cf. Luke 11.26.
9 Cf. Ps. 108 (109).6.
10 Luke 6.6.
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Let us pray that the Lord may stand at our right side, the devil at our left. It is written in Zacharia: 'Then he showed me Jesus the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, while Satan stood at his right hand to accuse him:'ll If the devil is standing on the right hand of the Lord, how now does the psalm say of Judas: 'let the devil stand at his right hand'? But notice what it means. The devil stood at Jesus' right hand in order to accuse Him; in other words, he wanted to resist His right hand. This psalm, however, does not mean that the devil wanted to oppose Judas, but that he had already conquered him. In Zacharia, the devil wants to contend against Jesus' right hand, but here he is already master of Judas' right hand.
We must be sure to take into consideration the fact, moreover, that the devii was standing at the right hand of the Lord to accuse Him at the time when Jesus' garments were filthy, for Zacharia says: 'Now Jesus was clad in filthy garments.'12 As long as the Lord Jesus has filthy garments, that long does the devil stand at His right; as long as He wears upon Himself our sins, in our sins the devil is His adversary.
But when Zacharia says: 'Take off his filthy garments, and clothe him in festal garments,'13 straightway Jesus says to the devil: 'May the Lord rebuke you, Satan; may the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke youl'14 We have explained all this because it is written in the psalm: 'let the devil stand at his right hand.'
'When he is judged, let him go forth condemned.' Do not let him come into the court of judgment, but let him come into condemnation, for where there is a judicial investigation, there is still uncertainty; but where there is condemnation, the sentence has already been passed and is published. 'May his plea be in vain.' The repentance of Judas became worse than his sin. How so? He went out and committed suicide n Cf. Zach. 3.1; cf. Against Jovinian 2.4, PL 23.302 (328).
12 Cf. Zach. 3.3; d. Letter 53.8, PL 22.547 (278).
13 Cf. Zach. 3.4.
14 Zach. 3.2.
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by hanging himself; he who became the betrayer of God became his own hangman. In regard to the clemency of the Lord, I say this, that Judas offended the Lord more by hanging himself than by betraying Him. His prayer should have been repentance, but it turned into sin. You see the heretic at prayer; you see the Jew praying; you see Manichaeus pray; even though they fast, even though they pray, nevertheless, their prayer turns into sin.
'May his days be few.' His days decreased, but his nights increased, for he was taken from life in the midst of his days.
The sun has passed out of his life, and behold for him darkness has intensified. 'May another take his office.' The explanation of this is clearly revealed in the Acts of the Apostles.15 Not only does the saying hold true in the time of Judas, but even today. If Judas lost his office of apostle, let priest and bishop be on guard lest they, too, lose their ministry. If an apostle fell, more easily is it possible for a monk to fall. Virtue is not lost, even though man falls and perishes.
The Lord continues to lend out His money at interest; if the man who receives it does not double it, it is taken away from him and given to another who already has some. The Lord's money cannot lie idle.
'May his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.'
Note the mysteries here revealed. Whom do you suppose are the sons of Judas? The Jews. The Jews take their name, not from that Juda who was a holy man, but from the betrayer.
From the former, we are spiritual Jews; from the traitor came the carnal Jews. As a matter of fact, there are two apostles called by the name of Judas: the eleventh, Judas, the son of Jacob; the twelfth and last, Judas Iscariot. From that Judas, son of Jacob, we are called Judaeans; from this Iscariot, they are called Judaeans. Judas, our father, is called the son of Jacob, that is, Judas, son of the. supplantor, for we have supplanted the people of the Jews and have received their birthright. They, on the other hand, are said to be of Iscariot,
15 Acts 1.20.
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though It IS not certain whether the name indicates Judas' father or his hamlet. Be that as it may, no matter how you interpret it, Iscariot means money and price.16 This Judas, therefore, who was going to betray the Lord and collect the price, received his name from the word 'price.' Granted, he did return the ransom to the priests; nevertheless, they condemned him because they did not want to take the money that was the price of blood.
Mark the inconsistency of the Pharisees and the wretchedness of Judas. If you have purchased the blood of Christ at a good bargain, why do you not take back your money? If you do not want to accept the money because it is the price of blood, you show that it is with injustice and iniquity that you have spilled blood. Note what they do. They do not deposit the money in the treasury, but buy a field with it, and call it Haceldama,17 or the Field of Blood. Why do they buy it? To use it as a cemetery for strangers. We are the beneficiaries for whom the field is purchased with the price of the Lord's blood.
'His wife a widow.' The synagogue which first became the wife of God, about which He said: 'I gave her a bill of divorce, and 1 took her back again, and 1 said to her, Return to me';18 that synagogue was divorced by the Savior and became the wife of Judas, the betrayer. Then what happened?
She did not receive a dowry, but gave a dowry to her husband. That miserable Judas who betrayed the Lord wants, however, nothing of the vicious dowry, and returns to his meretricious wife the dowry of sin that he received from her.
What does he say? You displeased your first husband; he repudiated you and cast you out and gave you a bill of divorce; 1 do not want to have you for my wife. You gave me a price, and you deceived me; and you who have killed your Lord, have killed me, too. This, then, is my interpreta16 Cf. Commentary on Matthew 10.4, PL 26.63 (57).
17 Cf. Matt. 27.3-10.
18 Cf. Jer. 3.8-12.
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tion of the versicle, for I cannot find anywhere III the Scriptures that Judas had either wife or sons.
'May his children be roaming vagrants and beggars: Listen carefully, for there are difficulties ahead. From the time of the Lord's crucifixion, from that time, the Jews are constantly on the move; they have no permanent home of their own.
Furthermore, Scripture says of Cain: 'Cain went out from the face of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Naid.'19 Now the translation of Naid is 'wandering.' Because Cain had been banished from the presence of God, naturally, he dwelt in the land of Naid, became a fugitive. The Jews, too, because they crucified God and their Lord, wander to and fro begging their bread. They are not in their own land, but are dispersed throughout the world. 'Begging' here refers to spiritual riches, for they have no prophets, no law, no priests, no sacrifice; they have become beggars in the true sense.
, 'May the usurer ensnare all his belongings.' You gave him money, Lord, You gave to Him just as You gave to others, but what did he do with it? He did not wrap it up in a napkin, bury it in the ground, and forget about it. No, indeed, while he held in his charge a talent, the money of the Lord, he accepted a price from the Lord's enemies and sold his Lord. That is why I am warning You, Lord, to exact interest for Your money from that fellow. 'Strangers plunder the fruit of his labors.' The usurer of the Lord obviously has died, and what has happened? 'Strangers plunder the fruit of his labors.' This holds whether we understand in general of all the Jews that they were ravaged by the Romans, or whether, more properly
Judas, in particular, was torn asunder by demons-and the people as well.
'May there be no one to do him a kindness, nor anyone to pity his orphans.' At that time the Jews had no one to help them. Answer me, 0 Jews. You were in Babylonia; you had there prophets, Daniel, Ezechiel; and what were you but idolators? You were in captivity for seventy years and after19 Cf. Gen. 4.lG.
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wards came back into your own land. Behold, now four hundred years have passed; why has no prophet been sent to you? In those days you were idol worshipers and God took pity on you. Now, however, you are not worshiping idols; why has the Lord abandoned you? Just think, four hundred years ago!20 Then, indeed, you abandoned the Lord and worshiped idols, but now you have crucified and slain the Lord. That is why there will be no one to take your part.
'In the next generation may their name be blotted out: 0 prophecy, 0 divine mystery of prophecy! Before a generation passes away, their name will be wiped out completely! After the Passion of the Lord, forty-two years transpired, and that people met with destruction-forty years constitute a generation. In the forty-second year after the Passion of the Lord,
Jerusalem was destroyed. See how in one generation their name was blotted out! In this destruction, nevertheless, there is also the compassion of the Lord. The Jews crucified Him and for forty-two years He gave them opportunity to repent.
I am simply saying that He destroyed them forty-two years later, for not one of those who crucified the Lord survived.
Judas is cursed, that in Judas the Jews may be accursed.
'May the guilt of his fathers be remembered by the Lord.'
They sinned in the desert and He forgave them; now He imputes to them the sins they then committed, for they have crucified the Lord. Or let us interpret this verse in another way. He imputes to them the cruelty of their murderers, and forgives them nothing. 'Let not his mother's sin be blotted out.' Who is the mother of Judas? Jerusalem that rejoices in blood, that kills the prophets and the Lord Himself.
'Because he remembered not to show kindness.' Learn how great is the graciousness of the Lord! He sees Judas coming with the guards and officers; He sees him coming with clubs, and offers him a kiss. He comes to betray, and the Lord offers him a kiss, so that he who has no fear of the Master may be vanquished, indeed, by kindness.
20 Cf. Letter 129.7, PL 22.1106 (975).
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'But persecuted the wretched and poor.' 'Who, although he was rich, he became poor for our sakes.'21 The Lord calls
Himself a pauper and a beggar; who, then, has any right to glory in his wealth? Be comforted, you who are poor, the Lord is poor with you. 'And the brokenhearted, to do them to death.' What does it mean to do the brokenhearted to death? The same as He said in the Gospel: 'My soul is sad, even unto death';22 and again: 'Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me.'23 Or it may mean: I was grieving, and I was in deep sorrow for My persecutors because they refused to repent. I was hanging on the cross and with My blood I washed away their stains, and they refused to do penance. This was My grief, this My brokenheartedness, that I was unable to save those who were persecuting Me.
'Rescue me; for I am wretched and poor.' The Lord says He is poor in order to comfort the poor. He became a poor man with men that no one might despair of salvation because of his poverty. 'My heart is pierced within me.' Note: My heart is torn in anguish. He utters a similar cry in another psalm: 'I am troubled and cannot speak:24 I am troubled in my human nature. It is a mark of great virtue and strength to rise above affliction and control anger, wherefore the Apostle says: 'Be angry and do not sin.'2fi Are you angry?
You are a man. Anger finds no lodging in you? You are a Christian.26
'I am swept away like the locust.' I had come to protect My people and I said: 'Jerusalem, Jerusaleml thou who killest the prophets, and stonest those who are sent to theel How often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathers her young under her wings.'27 I had come as the 21 Cf. 2 Cor. B.9.
22 Matt. 26.38.
23 Matt. 26.39.
24 Ps. 76.5.
25 Eph. 4.26.
26 Cf. Letter 12, PL 22.346 (27); 79.9, PL 22.731 (506); 130.13, PL 22.111B (989).
27 Matt. 23.37.
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hen to shelter them, but they received Me with hatred and malice. I had come as a mother, and they, as it were their own slaughterer, slaughtered Me. 'I am swept away.' How is that? They persecuted Me; they rejected Me. They drove
Me out of Nazareth, I went into Capharnaum; they drove Me from Capharnaum; I went into Bethsaida, and they drove
Me out of there. I went into Jerusalem; I wanted to stay with My people, and from there they drove Me out. They treated
Me just as if I were a swarm of locusts! What did I do? Was I angered? Did I defend Myself? Did I curse them? Did I abandon them? No, not any of that did I do. What did I do? I prayed for them.
'My knees totter from my fasting.' Find comfort, a monk, in your fasting, since even the Lord fasted. I maintain that when the monk fasts, he becomes stronger from the fast; when his knees tremble from fasting, then is he strongest.
'My flesh is wasted for want of oil.'28 I seem to be saying something very difficult, and I am following a literal interpretation to edify my listeners, for the strict sense edifies me, too.
It is good to fast; it is good to shun pleasures. Before I take up the spiritual sense, I am going to pause a moment longer over the literal. The man who says he does not eat rich foods, keeps far away from the other pleasures. This much
I have said because of the words: 'my flesh is wasted for want of oil.' I have given the ordinary interpretation. This is, however, what I think it means. Oil is a symbol of brightness; oil is, as it were, the food of light. Accordingly, from Me the Jews also have received oil; they have received life; they have received light. Lest anyone think that oil is used here to represent mercy, know that in Hebrew oil signifies understanding.
'Is wasted,' not in joy, but in sadness; not that I may be found more beautiful, but that I may appear more loathsome.
That is why Scripture says: 'We have seen him, and there 28 Cf. Ps. 108 (109).24.
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was no stately bearing in him.'29 Why? Because His flesh has become wasted for want of oil. There was nothing appealing about His body, only about His spirit. When we fast, when our faces are pale from fasting, when we are loathsome to look upon, let us realize that it is then that we appear more beautiful to Christ. Soldiers that are heartfree from fasting are the soldiers that Christ loves. Fasting is our food and means of our subsistence. How so? Because in fasting there is victory, and in victory, triumph. The Apostle did not glory in his abundance, but in his infirmity;
'For when I am weak, then I am strong.'30
'I am become a mockery to them.' Indeed, they called me a Samaritan and scoffed: 'By Beelzebub, the prince of devils, he casts out devils.'31 'Is not this the son of Joseph the car- / penter, and his brethren and sisters, are they not all with US?'32 Again: 'Thou who destroyest the temple, and in three days buildest it up again.'33 And once more: 'Let us see whether Elias is coming to save him.'34 He was calling Eli,
Eli,35 which means, My God, My God, and they thought He was calling upon Elias. See the ignorance of the Jews! Was the Son of God begging help from Elias? 'When they see me, they shake their heads.' Why did they shake their heads in derision? Because they had already shaken the dust from their feet.
'Save me, in your kindness.' In the Gospel, on the other hand, He says: 'I have the power to lay down my life and take it up again,'36 and: 'No one takes it from me.'37 Then how is it that He begs for mercy? He pleads for mercy and He grants mercy; as man He begs, and as God He gives.
29 Cf. Isa. 53.2.
30 2 Cor. 12.10; d. Letter 3.5, PL 22.334 (12).
31 Luke 11.15.
32 Matt. 3.55-58.
33 Mark 15.29.
34 Matt. 27.49.
35 Matt. 27.46.
36 John 10.18.
37 Ibid.
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'And let them know that this is your hand; that you, 0 Lord, have done this.' What is this that He is saying: 'And let them know that this is your hand, that you, 0 Lord, have done this'? Let the Jews perceive that they have not prevailed against Me, but that it is Your will that I suffer. Besides, I desired to suffer; that is why I say in My human nature: 'To do your will, 0 my God, is my delight.'38 It was
Your will and Mine that I suffer; not their plottings and power did it, but You and I desired it. You, in truth, struck
¥ollr Shepherd, and the sheep have been scattered, as it is written in Zacharia: 'Strike the shepherd that the sheep may be dispersed.'39 That I suffer was Your will and Mine also.
What You desired, I also desired. It was necessary that scandal come, but woe to the man through whom it comes(40
'Let them curse, but do you bless.' That goes on to this very day:41 they curse in the synagogue; the Lord blesses in the Church. 'May my adversaries ,be put to shame, but let your servant rejoice: They rise up against Me, but I, Your servant, rejoice. How am I Your servant? Because He 'though he was by nature God, did not consider being equal to God a thing to be clung to, but emptied himself, taking the nature of a slave.'42
'Let my accusers be clothed with disgrace: It is of great profit to us to understand exactly what we are saying here.
The compassionate and merciful God is evident in the words:
'Let my accusers be clothed.' He does not say, let them perish; He does not say, let them be destroyed forever; but what does He say? Let them be clothed with shame; that is, let them realize their error and be ashamed and persevere in their repentance. He who is covered with shame is close to salvation, for when one is sincerely disturbed and in con38 Ps.39.9.
39 Cf. Zach. 13.7.
40 Cf. Matt. 18.7; d. Commentary on Matthew 18.7, PL 26.134 (138).
41 Cf. Commentary on lsaia 5.18, 19, PL 24.86 (81); 49.7, PL 24.467 (565);
52.4-7, PL 24.498 (604).
42 Phil. 2.6, 7; cf. Letter 108.18, PL 22.893 (709).
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fusion, he begins to repent. Ponder deeply, 0 monks, if ever you have anything against your brother, you must never fail to beseech God in his behalf. The Lord is crucified and He prays for those who are crucifying Him. Moreover, if you should hear an abusive word, do not persist in your anger.
'Do not let the sun go down upon your anger:43
'Let them wear their shame like a mantle: The mantle is a kind of double cloak; in fact, in Hebrew it is called
MAIL. It is double because it folds twice around the body.
Therefore, I say to You, Lord: My enemies are the Jews; they have conspired in hatred against Me, crucified Me, heaped evils of all kinds upon Me, blasphemed Me; forgive them, since I who have suffered intercede for them. What do I ask for them? Let them blush and be covered with con· fusion and so be saved. They are naked; they have lost My tunic. Grant them confusion, grant them shame, and let them be wrapped in a double mantle of shame and confusion; do not let their disturbance be onefold but twofold that they may do penance all the more. He does not say this against the Jews, but in their behalf. He is their Creator and ours;
He has not altogether uprooted them. Do you want proof?
Peter was one of them; Paul was one of them; all the apostles were from them. We have been grafted upon their root; we are the branches, they the root. We must not curse our roots; rather we ought to pray for them. We who have been grafted upon the root, let us pray the Lord that just as the branches have been saved, so may the root be also.
Perhaps someone is raising the objection: Do you pray for the Jews, for blasphemers? Yes, I pray the Lord in their behalf, for if He has pity on His persecutors, how much more will He be merciful to me?
'I will speak my thanks earnestly to the Lord: This is said after the Resurrection and foretells the Church that is to come.
'In the midst of the throng I will praise him'; not in Judea f3 Eph. 4.26.
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alone, but in the whole world, in the Church, I will praise You.
'For he stood at the right hand of the poor man.' The devil stood at the right hand of Judas, but the Lord stood at my right hand. 'To save my soul from those who would condemn me.'44 My soul, He says, He will save. Again in another place, He says: 'My soul is sad even unto death.'45
Anyone who is sad has the capacity for sympathy. The insensible soul is unperceptive and without feeling; it has no understanding nor sorrow. Where there is grief and sorrow, there is human affection and emotion. If He was sorrowful, if He grieved because of His sorrow, He had emotions, for grief is an emotion. Consequently, if they want to say to US: 46
'We say that He did not have human emotions or affections so that there would be no question of sin in Him,' let us give them this answer: 'Did He have a body just as ours, or did He not?' If they say, 'He had,' let us answer back, 'Then
He also had the passions of our body.' Everyone understands what I mean. If, however, they deny that He had the passions or appetites of the body, then we are compelled to answer that He had no body; but let us assure them: 'Just as He had a true body like ours, but did not have the sins of the body, so also did He have a true soul, but did not have the sin of the soul.' Let us, therefore, acknowledge and give thanks that He had a true body and a true soul, for if the Lord did not assume human nature in its totality, then He did not redeem mankind. If He assumed the body only, but not the soul, He saved the body, but not the soul. But we want our soul to be saved far more than our body; hence, the Lord assumed both body and soul to redeem both body and soul, to redeem the whole man just as He made him.
If, however, they insist that the Lord did not assume a human soul in order not to sin, and believe that whoever
44 Cf. PS, 108 (109).31.
45 Matt. 26.38.
46 Cf. Letter 84.3, PL 22.745 (524); 98.6-8, PL 22.797-798 (590-591); d.
Homily 88 on the Birth of the Lord.
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has a human soul cannot control it, let us ask them: 'Did John the Baptist have feelings and emotions or did he not?
When he was in the desert, did he commit sin?' Surely, they will answer that he did not. In fact, our Lord says: 'Amen
I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist.'41 Did Peter have feelings and emotions, or did he not; and the other holy apostles?
If, then, the apostles controlled their human inclinations, did the Lord fear to take on a rational, intelligent, sensible soul lest He be dominated by it? All the while that they want to give glory to the Lord, they rob Him of honor. How do they dishonor Him? They imply that the Lord fears what the apostles did not fear. Let us give thanks to the omnipotent
God and say: In Your human soul You had no sin; and: The prince of the world is coming, and in me he has nothing.'48
Help us, 0 Lord; just as You overpowered the devil in Your human soul, vanquish the devil in ours, too, so that just as You created us a whole man, You may redeem us a whole man. You are Creator; You are Master; You are Lord; You are He who suffered for us, who live and reign forever and ever. Amen.
47 Matt. 11.1 J.
48 John 14.30.