HOMILY 40
HOMILY 40
ON PSALM 115 (116B)
D BELIEVED, THEREFORE have I spoken.'! In the Hebrew psalter Psalms 114 and 115 are integral parts of the same psalm. Why, then, did the prophet say, I believed, therefore, I spoke? What was it that you believed?
What did you say? The first of these psalms closes with the words: 'I shall please the Lord in the land of the living.'2
With that in mind, the prophet says now: 'I believed, therefore have I spoken.' What did I believe? That I shall be pleasing to the Lord in the land of the living; that is what
I believed; that is why I spoke. What was it that I said? 'I am humbled.'3 0 profound understanding of divine utterance!
I believed, he says, that I shall please the Lord, that I shall be an angel, that I shall be in heaven; and I was not proud,
I was not exalted, rather was I exceedingly humbled. It is because of God's great mercy that I shall be in the land of the living. I know myself very well, clay and ashes; therefore,
I say: 'I am humbled indeed.' What boast is there to clay and ashes?
'I said in my alarm, "Every man is a liar!"'4 The Hebrew text varies a little: 'I said in my alarm, "Every man is a lie!" , for the meaning of the word, ZECAM, is lie. I shall please the Lord in the land of the living; but I know that, as far as my body is concerned, I am nothing. There is no truth in our substance; there is only shadow and in a certain sense a lie1 Cf. Ps. 115 (116B).10 (1); cf.2 Cor. 4.13.
2 Cf. Ps. 114 (116A).9.
3 Cf. Ps. 115 (116B).10 (1).
4 Cf. Ps. 115 (1l6B).l1 (2); cf. Commentarioli in ps. 115.11.
SAINT JEROME
I mean in our corporeal being, not in the soul. What the prophet is saying, is this: I shall please the Lord in the land of the living; still, as I reflect upon human life and ponder over all the different species of error, I do not find truth in this world. How can I, for: 'we know in part and prophesy in part.'5 That is why I say: Everything we see, everything we grasp with the intellect is a lie. How is it a lie? 'Lie' is used here in the sense of a shadow, as it were, a phantom, as another psalm says: 'A phantom only, man goes his ways.';;
In this same connotation, our psalmist says, in accordance with the Hebrew, every man is a lie, meaning that every man is a phantom.
We shall also give the Septuagint interpretation for someone may be objecting: What has Hebrew to do with me? I go along with the Church. 'I said in my alarm, "Every man is a liarl'"
Is David telling the truth or is he lying? If it is true that every man is a liar, and David's statement 'Every man is a liar' is true, then, David also is lying; he, too, is a man. But if he, too, is lying, his statement: 'Every man is a liar,' consequently is not true. Whatever way you turn the proposition, the conclusion is a contradiction. Since David himself is a man, it follows that he also is lying; but if he is lying because every man is a liar, his lying is of a different sort.7
You have an example here of the syllogisms of philosophers.
In fact, the Aristotelian syllogism is constructed on just such a pattern. Accordingly, you say-speaking to another: If you are lying and in your very fact of lying are speaking true to form, you are, therefore, lying. Just look at how this statement turns into a contradiction! What after all does it say? 0 you, who are speaking with me, if you lie and speak truly by lying, by that very fact you are lying, and in the same proposition one may be speaking truly and lying at 5 1 Cor. 13.9.
6 Ps.38.7.
7 Cf. Commentary on Ephesians 1.22, 23, PL 26.494 (569).
HOMILY 40
the same time. That is pFecisely the reason why the Apostle says: 'See to it that no one deceives you by philosophy and vain deceit, according to human traditions, according to the elements of the world.'8 By their clever art and deception, philosophers have made the great discovery of how in the same utterance one may be speaking truly and telling a lie.
Let us maintain, however, that David spoke the truth when he said that every man is a liar. As long as we are men, we speak falsehood; when we are gods, we shall cease to be liars. 'For since there are jealousy and strife among you, are you not carnal, and walking as mere men?'9 'I said: You are gods, all of you sons of the Most High; yet like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.'lo The man of holiness, then, becomes a god; and when he is a god, he ceases to be man and no longer utters lies. What is it that the Apostle says in this regard? 'For God is true, and every man is a liar.'ll
Let us interpret: 'I believed, therefore have 1 spoken,' in another way. When a teacher instructs a student, unless he himself believes what he is teaching, he cannot teach the other; hence, the prophet is saying that first he believed and from the fullness of his belief taught others. 'I am humbled indeed.' Because 1 obtained this favor from God, 1 was not elated with pride; knowledge did not inflate me; but what. did 1 do? 1 was deeply humbled. That is why 1 who taught with speech was also able to teach with humility. 'I said in my alarm, "Every man is a liar.'"
As 1 was teaching my student, the prophet says, and meditating upon heavenly contemplation and pondering over divinely inspired truths, I realized that all that man knows is a lie, for what truth can there be in this world, when our life is as a shadow12 upon the earth. If the teacher confesses that every man is a liar,
8 Col. 2.8.
9 1 Cor. 3.3; d. Letter 22.4, PL 22.397 (91).
10 Ps. 81.6,7.
II Rom. 3.4; d. Against Jovinian 2.31, PL 23.342 (373); Against the Pelagiarws 3.14, PL 23.612 (799).
12 Cf. 1 Par. 29.l5.
SAINT JEROME
how much less must the student plume himself and be impressed with his own importance?
'How shall I make a return to the Lord, for all the good he has done for me?' I said before: I shall please the Lord in the land of the living; I believed that and, therefore, I spoke, and I was humble indeed, and I said: Every man is a lie; every man is a shadow; every man is a phantom. In return for the great favor and honor of pleasing the Lord in the land of the living, what have I worthy to give Him? I am clay; I am ashes. He promised me that I shall please Him in the land of the living; He made me a teacher; 1 believed, therefore, I spoke. What have I that is fitting to give Him in return for such favor and kindness? Whatever I give Him is already
His; rather than giving, 1 am returning. I have nothing else to give Him except to shed my blood for Him, except to die a martyr for Him. This is the only fitting return: to give blood for blood, that redeemed by the Savior, we may rejoice in spilling our blood for Him.13
'The cup of salvation I will take up, and I will call upon the name of the Lord.' The Hebrew text has: 'I will take the cup of Jesus.' That is also the interpretation of the angel:
'And thou shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people.'14 The cup, then, of Jesus I will take up. What is
Jesus' cup? 'Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me,'15 and: 'Can you drink of the cup of which I am about to drink?'16 He continues, saying: 'Of my cup you shall indeed drink.'17 Now why have I stressed this? That you may appreciate that the cup is the passion of martyrdom.ls
Martyrdom is a grand thing. Why? Because the martyr gives back to the Lord what he received from Him. Christ suffered for him and he suffers for the name of Christ. We said
13 Cf. Letter 22.39, PL 22.423 (123).
14 Matt. 1.21.
15 Matt. 26.39.
16 Matt. 20.22.
17 Matt. 20.23.
18 Cf. Commentary on Matthew 20.22, PL 26J48 (155).
HOMILY 40
that the martyr has nothing else to give to the Lord, and that the Lord reckons it as equality because He knows that His servant has nothing else to give Him. Where is the likeness?
God suffered for men; the Lord, for the servant; the Just, for the sinners. Where is the equality? For the very reason that the servant has nothing else to give the Lord, God in His compassion accepts martyrdom as of equivalent value. It is, for example, as if some rich man were supporting a certain poor man, and this same rich man should happen to come along with his family and by chance enter the house of the poor man. The poor man has nothing to give him and his family and his horses, but only says to him, 'Enter into the house of your client,' thus showing his affection and good will. There is nothing else a poor man may give, nothing more a poor man may do; he is like that widow who put the two mites in the treasury. 'The cup of salvation'-or of Jesus-'I will take up.' This martyrdom is not of my strength, he is saying, but of the grace of God; hence, I cannot drink of it unless I call upon the name of the Lord. It is Jesus who triumphs in His martyr; in His martyr, it is Jesus who bears the crown.
'Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.' In view of this revelation, let the Jews tell us what they mean by saying that every human body is unclean. According to the law, if a Jew dies-whether a prophet or any holy man-no matter who touches him, even if it be a priest, he is unclean until evening. This is specifically written in the law.19 Let us say to them in reply: If the body of the dead is unclean, how now does the psalmist say: Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His faithful servants?
If the body of the dying saint is precious, how is it unclean?
This verse, therefore, refers to the evangelist and foreshadows the martyr.20
'0 Lord, I am your servant.' I have on a previous occasion 19 Cf. Num. 19.11-14.
20 Cf. Commentarioli in ps. 115.15.
SAINT JEROME
drawn your attention to the fact that in Psalm 114 where it says: '0 Lord, save my life!,21 the Hebrew text has ANNA, which means, 'I beseech' or 'I entreat: Likewise, in this psalm, the Hebrew reads: 'I entreat you, 0 Lord, for I am your servant.' 'I am your servant.' Servant seems to imply a lowly office. It is of great dignity and merit to be a servant of the Lord, and not a servant of sin. Because men are not my masters, because sin is not my lord-for sin does not reign in my mortal body22-I am Your servant. A privilege sublime! Scripture, in fact, says of Moses: 'Not so with my
,servant Moses!'23 Abraham and Isaac and Jacob are called servants of the Lord. The Apostle, too, begins his letter:
'Paul, the servant of Jesus Christ.'24
'You have loosed my bonds. To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving: Supreme happiness, indeed, it is to approach the Lord thus with conscience undefiled. Every saint who dies a natural death, even if he is a saint who has fulfilled the corporal works of mercy, performed miracles, cast out devils, still does not approach the Lord without concern; his conscience trembles when he beholds the Lord. Nevertheless, the martyr, even though he has sinned after baptism, is cleansed by the second baptism of martyrdom and goes to the Lord in utmost confidence. 'You have loosed my bonds.'
'In the meshes of his own sin everyone will be held fast';25 in my martyrdom, however, You have broken the bonds of my sins, and of my bonds You have woven for me a crown of victory, for: 'where the offense has abounded, grace has abounded yet more.'Z6 'To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving: After martyrdom, where does one offer sacrifice? In the land of the living. I will sacrifice to You, the prophet says, a sacrifice. What kind of sacrifice? Will it be a goat or 21 Ps. 114.4.
22 Cf. Rom. 6.12.
23 Num. 12.7.
24 Rom. 1.1; cf. Commentary on Titus 1.1, PL 26.590-591 (688).
25 Cf. Provo 5.22.
26 Rom. 5.20.
HOMILY 40
a calf? No, those were Jewish sacrifices and are now over and past. I will offer to You a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, the thanksgiving of the martyrs. Now just as the martyrs praise the Lord chastely in the land of the living, even so monks who sing praise to the Lord day and night should have the same chastity as the martyrs, for they, indeed, are also martyrs. What the angels do in heaven, the monks do on earth.
'M y vows to the Lord I will pay in the presence of all his people: What are the prayers of the martyrs? What are the prayers of those who love the Lord? 'I took hold of you and would not let you gO.'27 I will adore the Lord whom in the Gospel I have found crucified, whom in heaven I shall behold reigning with the angels. 'In the presence of all his people.'
Read the Book of Daniel.28
27 Cf. Cant. 3.4.
28 Cf. Dan. 7.27: 12.1.