HOMILY 41
HOMILY 41
ON PSALM 119 (120)
11)' ET us TURN to the psalm that is read after the one , hundred and eighteenth psalm. Psalm 118, by the way, is constructed, as we have more than once indicated, on the pattern of the alphabet and is, therefore, alphabetical in form. It begins with ALEPH and goes on down to the last Hebrew letter THAD, with successive groups of verses beginning with successive letters of the alphabet. There are twenty-two Hebrew letters, and the verses are composed in octaves corresponding to the letters of the alphabet. The first eight verses, for example, begin each with the letter
ALEPH. When this octave comes to an end, another begins with BETH as the first letter of each of its eight verses. A third group of eight verses follows, each starting with GIMEL, the third letter. Thus, Psalm 118 is alphabetical in structure.
Now, if we intended to read a letter, we cannot read it unless we know the characters in which it is written, in like manner we cannot understand the Scriptures without first knowing the alphabet. Psalm 118, then, is alphabetical in form and moral in character and contains instruction for our life.1
Since there is no time at the present to discuss the entire psalm, let us rather review the first of the gradual psalms which opens with the words: 'In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.'
These gradual psalms, as you have heard me say often enough, are called songs of ascent because in them we mount step by step to greater heights. Time does not permit us now
I Cf. Commentarioli in ps. Ill.
HOMILY 41
to investigate all the degrees of ascent and to determine just what step we take in each psalm to arrive at the summit. For the present, let us limit our discussion to the first ascent, passing over the mystical reason for fifteen steps, as frequent repetition of the same matter grows wearisome to an audience.
Mystical in significance are, likewise, the fifteen days the Apostle remained with Peter in Jerusalem2 to confer with him over both covenants, the septenary [i.e., of the synagogue?] and the octonary [i.e., of the Church?),3 There is ever so much that could be said. 'In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.' Let anyone who is still on the lowest step fix his gaze on the highest step, the fifteenth. He who is on the fifteenth step is already in the vestibule of the temple.
This is the temple that we now see in ruins, for it sinned against its Lord. What did the Lord say? 'Arise, let us go from here.'4 Again what in another place? 'Your house is left to you desolate.'5 The Lord has left the temple; it has fallen in ruins. This temple, as I was saying, has fifteen steps encircling it. We can see some of their fragments;6 count them, and you will see that it is SO.7 The Levites and the priests used to stand on one or other of these steps, each according to his rank. The chief priest, for instance, stood on the first step, that is, on the fifteenth step from below; on the second step stood the different degrees of priests. On the third, were the minor priests; on the fourth, the Levites, but among the Levites there was great distinction, the least of this order being on the lowest step.
Consider for a moment how this earthly temple is a figure of the heavenly temple. 'For star differs from star in glory.
So also with the resurrection of the dead.'s Happy the man 2 Cf. Gal. l.l8; d. Commentary on Galatians l.l8, PL 26.354 (395); Letter
53.2, PL 22.541 (271).
3 Cf. Commentary on Ezechiel 40.24-28, PL 25.388 (484).
4 John 14.31.
5 Matt. 23.38; d. Commentary on Ezechiel 1l.22, 23, PL 25.l01 (112).
6 Cf. Commentary on lsaia 38.4-10, PL 24.392 (470).
7 Cf. Letter 36.5, PL 22.455 (163).
8 1 Cor. 15.41,42.
SAINT JEROME
who has merited to be on the fifteenth step in the heavenly Jerusalem and in the temple! Because that height is so sublime and is, I think, the place of the apostles and the holy martyrs, let us pray that we may merit to be at least on the lowest step of the temple of the Lord. They all stand on different steps, to be sure, but in unison they sing one psalm of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord. Places vary, but the praise of the Lord is one. That is the heavenly Jerusalem we have been describing, but for the present, we have been placed in this world to be disciplined, I presume, every day of our lives. One of us is on the first step; let him not be discouraged of attaining the second. The man on the second, let him not lose hope for the third. Happy the martyrs of whom many merited to ascend from the last steps to the very top.
We who live in this world cannot ascend all at once from the lowest to the highest step, yet neither must we be satisfied to remain on the first step, but must ever strive to mount higher. Let not the man on the lowest step lose courage of reaching the top; nor should the man on the top yield to a complacent security, for it is possible for him to fall all the way down to the bottom. I think this is the meaning of Jacob's ladder,9 when Jacob fled Esau, his brother.
'He came: Scripture says, 'into Bethel, and placed a stone under his head and slept there.'lo Consider our ascetic: he was running away from a very cruel man; he was fleeing his brother, and he found help in a stone. That stone is Christ; that Stone is the support of all those who suffer persecution, but to the unbelieving Jew, it is 'a stone of stumbling, and a rock of scandal.'ll 'Jacob saw there a ladder set up on the ground with its top reaching to heaven; and in heaven the Lord [leaning upon it] f.7ru1T7JptyP-€VOV aVTfi. And he saw angels ascending and descending.'12 Note: he saw angels ascending; he saw Paul ascending; he saw angels descending;
9 Cf. Letter 7.3, PL 22.340 (19); 53.8, PL 22.546 (277).
10 Cf. Gen. 28.11.
11 1 Peter 2.8.
12 Cf. Gen.
13.
HOMILY 41
Judas, the betrayer, was falling headlong. He saw angels ascending-holy men going from earth to heaven; he saw angels descending-the devil and his whole army cast down from heaven. It is very difficult, indeed, to ascend from earth into heaven. We fall more easily than we rise. We fall easily; it requires great labor, a great deal of sweat to climb upwards. If I am on the lowest step, how many more are there before I reach heaven? If I am on the second, the third, the fourth, the tenth, what benefit to me unless I reach the top? Grant with me that this ladder has fifteen rungs. I climb as high as the fourteenth, but unless I reach and hold the fifteenth, what profit to me to have mounted the fourteenth? If I should arrive at the fifteenth and then fall, the higher my ascent, the greater my descent.
Now meditate upon the mystical significance of the ladder: it requires great pain, severe effort, to climb from earth to heaven. Would you know what these steps are? What the first one is? I think the first step is fasting, for it is still quite close to earth; we are withdrawing from earth, beginning to ascend; nevertheless, we are still thinking of material things, still preoccupied with the care of the body.
Someone may be saying: 'Why should I be concerned with fasts? My only anxiety is the purity of my soul in the presence. of the Lord; there are many who do not fast and are saints.'
I do not agree with that. If Paul the Apostle, a vessel of election, chastised his body and brought it into subjection, lest after preaching to others, he should be rejected,13 if he says: 'I see another law warring against the law of my mind and making me prisoner,'14 and after that: 'Unhappy man that I amI Who will deliver me from the body of this death?'15 If he fears the lures of the body, are we then safe? If he says:
'when I am weak, then I am strong,'16 the weakness of the body is the vigor of the soul. Why am I stressing all this?
13 Cf. I Cor. 9.27; cf. Letter 22.5, PL 22.397 (91); 108.1, PL 22.879 (691).
14 Cf. Rom. 7.23.
15 Rom. 7.24.
16 2 Cor. 12.10; cf. Letter 3.5, PL 22.334 (12).
SAINT JEROME
Because abstinence is the first step. Let us not leap to the conclusion, however, that if we fast we shall ascend at once into the kingdom of heaven; fasts do not necessarily lead up to the kingdom of heaven, though without them, we shall not arrive there. Alone they are of no worth; with other things they are. Why do I say this? Because fasting is, as it were, the foundation and [the support] of those who are mounting to greater heights.17
The second step is the true renouncement of the world, and consists in aiming at nothing of this world, in despising everything that is of earth. Somebody may ask: Detachment, then, is the second step? Yes, the second. It is nothing, however, to give up the things of the world; to renounce vice, that is the noble thing! If I should fast-if I am on the first step; if I should give away all my possessions-if I am on the second step; what does it profit me if I am quarrelsome, if I give way to anger, if I criticize and malign, if I am envious?
There is nothing great in renouncing the world; there are greater vices that must be repudiated. Someone else may declare: But that is difficult, severe, hard. That is exactly why it is a great thing, because it is difficult. Christ's athlete is not crowned unless he has entered the contest and competed according to the rules.18 Do not give up hope though the climb is arduous, and difficult, and engenders despair.
Do not lose confidence, 0 man; the Lord is up there on the fifteenth step. He is watching over you; He is helping you.
If you are on the first step, and the [passage] di<ibema between the first and the fifteenth seems insurmountable, do not look down at the steps, but look up at the Lord. Attend exactly to what the Scripture says. Holy Writ did not say, I saw the Lord standing on the fifteenth step; it is not possible for us to reach the Lord while He is standing and erect. Mark what it does say: Jacob saw Him leaning over the ladder.
Just realize what that means: from where He was standing, 17 Cf. Letter 130.11, PL 22.1116-17 (988).
18 2 Tim. 2.5.
HOMILY 41
He stooped down and lowered Himself that we might ascend.19
The Lord stooped down; for your sake He humbled Himself; climb up, therefore, with safety and confidence.
This man of ours who is now on the first step is not in distress, for he has already withdrawn from the source of affliction; he has already set his foot on the first rung. He is not saying: Now I am in trouble, now I am crying out in prayer; but because he is on the first step, he reflects back upon what he has suffered. What, however, does he say?
'In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.'
This versicle does not seem to have a hidden meaning; it is short, yet it does express three thoughts of equal importance.2o
What is the psalmist saying? When I was in distress, one thought; I called, and after the call, what happened? He answered me. In one verse, former sorrow, a prayer for help, and a gracious answer. He did not say: When I was carefree, when I was happy, I called, but when I was in distress. 'You ask: says Scripture, 'and do not receive, because you ask amiss.'21 'In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.' What was His answer? He caused me to stand on the first step. But in comparison to the fifteen steps, what is so triumphant about the first step? I have renounced the things of the world, but I have not yet reached the top. I oughf not, therefore, to feel safe; on each step, I must beg God for help.
'0 Lord, deliver me from lying lip, from tongue.' This applies to all heretical sects; it applies to the Jews, the Arians, the Manichaeans, and all the other promoters of heresy. When an Arian asserts that the Father is greater, the Son less, what are we to say? Lord, deliver me from lying lip and treacherous tongue. When Manichaeus proclaims-and his ilk-: 'The Lord has not risen in the reality of a body, for to convince you that His body was not 19 Cf. Letter 54.6, PL 22.553 (285); 108.13, PL 22.888 (702); 118.7, PL
22.966 (798).
20 Cf. Commentarioli in ps. 119.1.
21 James 4.3.
SAINT JEROME
real He came in through closed doors,' what should we answer? Lord, deliver me from lying lip and from a treacherous tongue.
Greater by far are the wounds of the tongue than those of the sword. The sword kills the body, not the soul; the tongue kills the soul. The tongue is a bad business, a great evil: 'So the tongue also is a little member, but it boasts mightily.'22 Read in the Letter of St. James how much evil the tongue can cause. The tongue knows no middle way; either it is a great evil or a great good; a great good when it acknowledges that Christ is God, a great evil when it denies that Christ is God. Let no one, therefore, harbor the illusion and claim: I have not committed sin in act; if I sinned, I sinned with my tongue. What more monstrous sin is there than blasphemy against God? Yet it is the tongue that is sinning. Why did the devil fall? Because he committed theft?
Because he committed murder? Because he committed adultery? These are certainly evils, but the devil did not fall because of any of these; he fell because of his tongue. What was it that he said? 'I will scale the heavens; above the stars I will set up my throne, I will be like the Most High!,23 Monks surely, then, have no right to think they are safe and say:
We are in the monastery and so we do not commit serious offenses; I do not commit adultery; I do not steal; I am not a murderer; I am not guilty of parricide; and so of all the rest of the big vices. But the devilish sins are those of the tongue. It is outrageous to detract from my brother; I am killing my brother with my tongue, for: 'Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer.'24
Listen to what Solomon says: 'Death and life are in the power of the tongue.'25 'In the power of the tongue,' do you see how much evil there is in the tongue? It has power, for 22 James 3.5.
23 Cf. Isa. 14.l3, 14; cf. Letter 133.1, PL 22.1148 (1025); Against the Pelagians 3.l4, PL 23.l1 (799·800); Letter 61.4, PL 22.605 (351).
24 1 John 3.l5; cf. Letter 13, PL 22.346 (27).
25 Provo 18.21.
HOMILY 41
what does he say? 'In the power of the tongue: It is no slight fault to malign a brother, to be unable to keep silence, to go from cell to cell slandering others. I am a sinner; he is a sinner; what has that to do with you? Take heed about yourself lest you fall. Why do you take pleasure in another's fall? If I fall, will you remain standing? Granted it is my downfall, but the fall of your brother ought to be your fear, not your joy. He fell. Are you glad or are you sorry? Answer me. A brother has fallen into sin; either you rejoice or you are sorry. If you are glad, does one rejoice in the misfortune of another? If you are sorry, why do you go about gossiping?
Why do you tell others? Let God see your sorrow, and let the brother himself perceive it; do not let other brethren hear about it. '0 Lord, deliver me from lying lip, from treacherous tongue:
'What shall be given to you, or what shall be meted out to you, to a deceitful tongue?'26 The reply of the Holy Spirit to the prophet's plea: '0 Lord, deliver me from lying lip, from treacherous tongue,' is: 'What shall be given to you, or what shall be meted out to you, to a deceitful tongue?'
His answer means: You who say: '0 Lord, deliver me from lying lip, from treacherous tongue,' what do you want given to you? And after it has been given you, what more do you . want meted out to a treacherous tongue? Grasp the full import of what He says. He did not say, 'against' a deceitful tongue, but 'to' a deceitful tongue. If He had said against a deceitful tongue, He would seem to be referring to an adversary. Note the mystical meaning: the prophet, or rather the faithful servant who has been placed on the first step-I am speaking very simply for the sake of the simple-what does he say? '0 Lord, rescue my soul from lying lip, from treacherous tongue,' for example, from my enemy who is slandering me. What does the Lord answer? He did not say: 'What shall be given to you or what shall be meted out to you, against a deceitful tongue?' In other words, He did not ask: What
26 Cf. Ps. 119 (120).3.
SAINT JEROME
do you desire Me to do for you against your enemy? But what did He ask? 'What shall be given to you or what shall be meted out to you, to a deceitful tongue?' He did not say
'against' a tongue, but 'to' a tongue.
Realize what that means: 'to a deceitful tongue'; to your tongue, not your enemy's. If an enemy slanders you, he does you no harm; you slay yourself if you slander others. By way of example, if a brother blackens me, what harm does he do me? If he should call me a murderer, and adulterer, a scoundrel, a liar, what wrong does he do me? He is doing one of two things certainly: either he is telling the truth or he is telling a lie. If he is telling the truth, what he has said does not hurt me; but the fact that I have really committed the act, that does. If, however, he is lying, his lie does not injure me, but it kills the soul of the one uttering it. Unhappy men that we are, what miserable creatures! When we have an enemy and think that we are doing something against him, all the while we are doing it against ourselves. We disparage him; we go hither and thither talking about him to everybody.
Do we think that we are hurting him? We are doing nothing to him, but we are killing our own souls because we are lying. 'A lying mouth slays the soul.'27
'What shall be given to you, or what shall be meted out to you, to a deceitful tongue?' Just as if the good physician were to say: What do you want put upon this diseased tissue, this wound? What salve do you want me to apply? Just as one might ask a wounded person: What is to be given you or what is to be applied to the wound that is causing you such suffering? The Lord is asking that question, not because He does not know, but in order to teach the one who is praying how he ought to pray.
, 'Sharp arrows of the mighty with fiery coals of the desert.'28
'Sharp arrows of the mighty.' Now the prophet, in turn, is answering the Lord and telling Him what his petition is.
27 Wisdom l.l1.
28 Cf. Ps. 119 (120).4.
HOMILY 41
Because the Lord had asked: 'What shall be given to you, or what shall be meted out to you?' now he makes known his request. This, Lord, is what I am asking: sharp arrows of the Mighty with fiery coals of the desert. Be sure you comprehend his petition. Nothing is able to expel the deadly venom of my tongue and its back-biting except Your arrows which make a solitude of my tongue. My tongue is all swollen; it is filled with poison; unless Your arrows pierce and lance it, the poison cannot escape. We must give you an example of this.
1£ in the body there is a wound that has become infected and cancerous and is filled with pus, unless it is opened, there is no way of removing the pus. Then, when the pus is discharged, unless the wound is cauterized, it fills up again with poisonous matter. We see now what the psalmist means.
Because my tongue is swollen with pus and poison, first wound it with Your arrows that the pus may be released; then apply
Your burning coals of fire, so that all the evil in it may be burned out and it may become a desert waste.
Now look at what the psalmist says: 'Sharp arrows of the mighty, with fiery coals of the desert.' I would that this burning coal of desolation were given to us! I would that we, too, might exclaim: 'Was not our heart burning within us while he was speaking on the road and explaining to us the Scrip-. tures?'29 Isaia says to Babylon: 'You have coals of fire; sit upon them; they will give you relief.'Bo The apostles, too, before they received the Holy Spirit, had tongues still infected with a few human tumors; that is why the Holy Spirit descended in the form of fire and settled, as it were, upon their tongues31 to burn out of them any remaining impurity.
Here is another example. When Isaia had seen the Lord seated high upon a lofty throne, what does he say? 'Woe is me, because I am in sorrow; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people that hath unclean
29 Luke 24.32.
30 Cf. Isa. 47.14, 15, LXX; cf. Against Rufinus 2.7, PL 23.449(496).
31 Cf. Acts 2.3.
SAINT JEROME
lips.'32 Pay attention to his exact words: Woe is me because of my unclean lips. After that, what does he tell us? Because his lips were soiled, one of the Seraph is sent to him, and the Seraph taking a burning coal from the altar touches with it Isaia's lips and tongue and purifies his mouth. Then, what does the Seraph say? 'See,' he said, 'now that this has touched your lips, your tongue is purged.'s3 Then immediately, what does the Lord say? 'Whom shall I send? Who will go for o divine secrets of Scripture I As long as his tongue was treacherous and his lips unclean, the Lord does not say to him:
Whom shall I send, and who shall go? Hi& lips are cleansed and straightway is he appointed the Lord's spokesman; hence, it is true that the man with unclean lips cannot prophesy nor can he be sent in obedient service of God. 'With fiery coals of the desert.' Would to heaven this solitude were granted us, that it would clear away all wickedness from our tongue, so that where there are thorns, where there are brambles, where there are nettles, the fire of the Lord may come and burn all of it and make it a desert place, the solitude of Christ.
'Woe is me that my sojourn is prolonged1'85 This is the plaint of the lover of Christ36 who wants nothing of the body, who is detached from the world and longs for heaven. Unhappy man that I am because my exile is prolonged. When we are sick, when we are tossing with fever, when we fear death is at hand, when we are flinging out our arms, when we are full of dread, when we are begging for respite, we cannot utter these words. This holy man was in the vigor of health, he was not sick, and what is his complaint? 'Woe is me that my sojourn is prolongedl' As long as we tarry in this bodily tent of ours, we are wanderers away from the Lord.
32 Cf. Isa. 6.5; cf. Commentarioli in ps. 119.4; Against the Pelagians 3.14,
PL 23.612 (799).
33 Cf. Isa. 6.7.
34 Isa. 6.8; cf. Letter 18.14, PL 22.370 (57).
35 Cf. Ps. 119 (120).5.
36 Cf. Letter 22.40, PL 22.424 (124).
HOMILY 41
Alas for me because my wandering is prolonged I 'My sojourn,' not my dwelling. 'My sojourn,' for in the present world we have no lasting dwelling place; we are pilgrims. That is why the Apostle says: 'as strangers and pilgrims.'37 'I am but a wayfarer and a pilgrim.'38 Woe to me that my exile is prolonged! What the psalmist means is: As long as I am in this body, I am unhappy. Who of us could say that? If we are octogenarians, we are afraid to' die; if we are centenarians and sick besides, still we cling to life and beg for respite.
Why do we do that? Because sin gnaws at our conscience.
We know that if we leave our body, we are going not to Christ, but to hell. On the contrary, what does the Apostle say? 'I desire to depart and to be with Christ.'39 Give me freedom from anxiety, for after death I am going to be with Christ; even now I long to die. So our psalmist, because he is one who loves the Lord, cries: Unhappy man that I am, because my sojourn is prolonged I 'That I dwell amid the tents of CedarI' Cedar in our language means darkness.4o Meditate, therefore, upon what it means. In what kind of place are we? In what kind of world are we? I dwell amid the tents of Cedar. Long have
I been in darkness; long have I been in the body of this death.
'All too long have I dwelt.' Mark what the saintly man is saying: Even if I have lived only ten years, all too long have
I dwelt in exile. What happiness, after all, is there in the things of the world that can compare with the happiness of heaven? There is much to be said here, but it is time our sermon were drawing to its close.
'With those who hate peace. When I speak of peace, they are ready for war.' Miserable men that we are, we cannot hold our tongue; we cannot refrain from vilifying our brothers. If anyone offends us, we put on a friendly face, but 37 I Peter 2.11.
38 Cf. Ps. 38.13; d. Letter 108.1, PL 22.879 (691).
39 Cf. Phil. 1.23; d. Letter 3.5, PL 22.334 (12).
40 Cf. Letter 39.3, PL 22.468 (180); 108.1, PL 22.878-79 (690); Against ]ovinian 2.36, PL 23.349 (380).
SAINT JEROME
we have the venom of resentment in our heart. We are called monks, even though we are not all that we ought to be.
We pray at the third hour, at the sixth, at the ninth; we say vespers at sunset; we rise in the middle of the night; then we pray again at cock-crow. How constantly we are being roused to the devout services of God: the third hour, the sixth, the ninth, vespers, midnight, dawn, early morning.41 We do all this, and yet it does not occur to us that if we harbor en· mity against our brother, our prayer is vain.
What does the Gospel have to say about this? 'If thou art offering thy gift at the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother has anything against thee.'42 Our Lord did not say, 'if you have anything against your brother,' but, 'if your brother has anything against you: This seems to be imposing upon us a kind of injustice, for if the Lord had said, if you have anything against your brother, it was within our con· trol that we did. But what does He actually say? 'If you remember that your brother has anything against you.' I make this reply to the Lord: 'Lord, it is not within my con· trol43 if my brother has anything against me. I have nothing against him. If he has something against me, how am Ire· sponsible? Why do You refuse to receive my gift and why do You say: "If you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift and go to be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift?" Look, I have nothing against him; if he has something against me, how does that apply to me?'
The Lord answers you: Wicked servant, I know your soul; you have nothing against your brother? You have nothing?
You love him? Why, then, do you not want him to be saved?
If you love him, go, ask him not to hold anything against 41 Cf. Letter 22.37, PL 22.421 (121); 107.9, PL 22.875 (686); 108.19, PL
22.896 (712).
42 Matt. 5.23; d. Commentary on Matthew 5.23, PL 26.38 (27); Letter
82.2, PL 22.737 (514); 13, PL 22.547 (28).
43 Cf. Against the Pelagians 2.11, PL 23.570·71 (753).
HOMILY 41
you, and to think of his salvation. But you show that you do not love him, because you are not interested in his salvation. Go to him, plead with him, throw yourself at his feet, implore him day and night; say to him: 'I have left my gift at the altar, on account of you I cannot offer a sacrifice.' In compunction, he regrets his past conduct, and what does he say? If this man on his knees before me does not offer his gift, if I who have been beseeched do not forgive, what am I going to do? This is precisely why the Apostle exhorts us to give food and drink to our enemies, 'for by so doing thou wilt heap coals of fire upon his head.'44 Someone may raise the objection, 'That is the sort of thing enemies do; and so I am being kind to my enemy only to heap coals of fire upon his head?' That is not what it means. If he does you a wrong and in return you do him a good, then you will be heaping coals of fire upon his head; in other words, you are curing him of his vices and burning out his malice in order to convert him to repentance.
Think over the words of the holy prophet: 'All too long have I dwelt with those who hate peace.' He did not say, with those who did not want peace, but who hated peace.
They hate peace, but I love those who hate peace. On that account the Apostle also says: 'If it be possible, as far as in you lies, be at peace with all men.'45 Let us plead with our brother if he is our enemy; let us beg of him even twice, and three times, and seven times. 'Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?'
'I do not say to thee seven'times, but seventy times seven,'46 and that means four hundred and ninety times! If we should care to keep a record, from morning until eveni:ng, we could not possibly commit as many as four hundred and ninety sinsY Yet what does the Lord say? If he sins seventy times
44 Rom. 12.20; cf. Homily 22 on Ps. 93, p. 174; cf. Against the Pelagians
1.30, PL 23.548 (728).
45 Rom. 12.18; cf. Letter 82.2, PL 22.736-37 (513).
46 Matt. 18.2-1,22.
47 Cf. Commentary on Matthew 18.21,22, PL 26.137 (142).
SAINT JEROME
seven times in a day and begs your pardon, forgive him.
But you say: He is not sorry down deep in his heart, he is lying. Let us leave that judgment to God; he implores me, he beseeches me; if he is not telling the truth, God knows.
I hear the voice, Christ understands the heart; I accept what I hear, let Christ accept what He knows. Besides, think of your reward; he lies, you accept it as truth; it is death for him and for you salvation.
Why have I spoken at such length? Because in monasteries, and especially among monks living together in communities, there are apt to be these serious faults. The fact, furthermore, does not embarrass us, it does not even grieve us. We have left mothers, parents, brothers, sisters; we have given up wives and children; we have given up our countries; we have left our homes; we have left behind the nurseries in which we were born and reared; we have left servants with whom we grew up to manhood; we have come into a monastery; all these things we have given up in order that in the monastery we may quarrel with our brothers over some silly trifling object! We have given up our property, abandoned our country, renounced the world; and in the monastery, we quarrel over a reed pen! If I hear a bitter word, I cannot bear it; it lodges in my heart; it is engraved on its very core for ten or fifteen days; it cannot be removed. I speak to the brother who had hurt me; I promise peace with my lips and hold the poison of resentment in my heart. Very often my eyes and face reveal what is going on in my heart. When our heart has received a deep wound from another, we cannot meet his eyes directly; our face and eyes are as the mirror of our soul. What does Scripture say about this? 'Could not even greet him';48 the tongue could not falsify what the heart concealed. I am saying this both for your benefit and mine; I am not instructing you in this matter merely to exhibit myself as if I were one already secure. It is because
48 Gen. 37.4.
HOMILY 41
of this verse that I have felt compelled to make these remarks.
A mighty evil is the tongue.
'0 Lord, deliver me from lying lip, from treacherous tongue'-not from another's tongue, but from my own. Another's tongue does not injure me; my own is my enemy.
Deliver me; deliver me from my own tongue. My tongue is a sword and it is slaying my soul. I think that I am harming my enemy; I do not realize that I am killing myself. My adversaries may contradict me when I speak to them, but I shall speak peace. Their spirit may be hostile, but let our spirit be that of peacemakers. It is written in Paralipomenon:
'The sons of Israel came to fight with peaceful heart:49
Does one go to fight with a peaceful heart? Peace is the might of Christians: 'the peace of Christ which surpasses all understanding:50 Blessed the peacemakers, not only those who restore peace among the quarrelsome, but those who establish peace in themselves. Blessed the peacemakers. If others engage in strife and I intercede and bring peace to them, yet do not have peace in my heart, what benefit to me that they are at peace? 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God:51 Blessed the peacemakers who speak peace to those who hate peace. Blessed the peacemakers. Christ is peace. Since Solomon represents Christ, and Solomon means peaceful, Christ our Lord is peace. As He was going to heaven, He left us His standard, saying: 'My peace
I give to you, my peace I leave with yoU:52 Let us guard carefully the gift Christ has given us; let us preserve peace, and it will preserve us in Christ Jesus, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
49 Cf. 1 Par. 12.38; cf. Letter 112.2, PL 22.917 (738).
50 Cf. Phil. 4.7.
51 Matt. 5.9; d. Commentary on Matthew 5.9, PL 26.35 (24).
52 Cf. John 14.27; cf. Letter 13, PL 22.547 (28).