HOMILY 43
HOMILY 43
ON PSALM 128 (129)
[II UCH HAVE THEY oppressed me from my youth, let Israel say, much have they oppressed me from my youth.'
Twice the psalmist repeats his complaint: much have they persecuted me; time and again from my youth they have persecuted me. If, however, I have begun to serve the Lord in middle life-at about forty, for instance-obviously, I cannot say that they have oppressed me from my youth. Nevertheless, what am I saying? They have tormented me from my youth; they have wounded me from my youth; they have trampled upon me from my youth. What, moreover, does he say who begins to serve the Lord from boyhood and is assaulted almost constantly by the devil and his angels, yet is never vanquished? 'Much have they oppressed me from my youth; yet they have not prevailed against me.' Christ's
'athlete is not crowned unless he has competed according to the rules,'! unless he has accepted and sustained the challenge, unless his face is black and blue from the fray and bathed in blood. Discolored bruises deserve a crown; suffering and pain merit joy.
'Much have they oppressed me from my youth.' This versicle belongs to the Lord's virgin and to the monk who began to serve the Lord from boyhood, but I, who began to serve Him at forty or fifty, how can I say: 'Much have they persecuted me from my youth'? Let the virgin, therefore, say this and the monk, too, who possesses integrity of body
I Cf. 2 Tim. 2.5.
SAINT JEROME
and spirit. But what does it mean? Why have they fought against me so much from my youth? Somebody may challenge me: '0 monk, how have demons and the devil fought against you?' True, my assailants seemed to be men, but in men
I recognized the devil. Let us be on guard, therefore, not to give way to anger against our persecutors, but let us grieve and lament for them because it is another who is acting through them. If a man possessed by the devil should come along and strike me with his fists and kick me with his heels, should I not be roused to fury against him? No; he strikes me with blows; but I grieve and weep for my assailant, for I realize that he is being struck more piteously by the one working in him than I who receive the stinging blow from his hand. As often, then, as we suffer anything and endure temptations, let us recognize that it is the devil and his spirits who are breeding in men temptations against us. Someone may say: Prove your claim from Sacred Scripture, for we must not make an assertion unless it has been adduced from and confirmed by Scripture. Judas was a traitor, but Satan had entered into him and had betrayed him into treachery.
When the wife of Putiphar caught hold of Joseph, her servant -the mistress, the the wealthy woman, the young pauper; the citizen, the stranger-she was clinging to him but the saintly man apprehended the devil gripping him by her hands.
Now why am I saying all this? So that when we suffer anything at all from men, we may not yield to anger against them, but rather weep for them and perceive that it is the master of deceit forging his lies in them. 'Much have they oppressed me from my youth; yet they have not prevailed against me: They have tormented me with base thoughts; they have provoked me to irascibility. If I have entertained evil thoughts, if I have yielded to temptation, if I have carried out any evil design, if the passion of anger has conquered me and I have wronged a brother, I cannot say, 'they have not prevailed against me,' because they have.
HOMILY 43
'Upon my back sinners have wrought.'.'.! Watch carefully what Scripture says. The saint is an athlete and 'he is not crowned unless he has competed according to the rules.'a You know, of course, that there are many different kinds 01 athletes: some are wrestlers; others vie in contests of all sorts;4 some compete in discus throwing; others race in the stadium.
The Apostle says, furthermore, that he runs in a race so as to obtain the crown;5 and in another Letter: 'Forgetting what is behind, I strain forward to what is before.'6 Listen again to the psalmist: 'Upon my back sinners have wrought.' It has always been my way of running, and I have run that way always, to prevent my opponent from ever getting ahead of me and to keep him always safely behind. He has never met me face to face, for he cannot endure the light of my eyes, but he is always in pursuit of that part of me that is blind, that has no eyes. 'Upon my back sinners have wrought.'
Whenever anyone slanders a brother, he is machinating behind his back. Upon my back sinners have forged their lies, but I was ignoring their traps. They plotted against me behind my back, but I kept my gaze fixed upon heaven.
They piled up their snares against me, but I was consumed with a longing to behold the crown.
'Long did they continue their iniquity.'7 Why did the psalmist say: 'Long did they continue their iniquity'? If I have sinned, and afterwards repented, my state of iniquity is brief; but if I. commit sin, as often as I sin the cord of my transgressions lengthens proportionately.
Scripture says, therefore, in another place: 'the snares of the wicked are twined about me';8 note: 'the snares of the wicked are twined about me.' And elsewhere: 'in the meshes of his own sin
2 Cf. Ps. 128 (129).3.
32 Tim. 2.5.
4 Cf. Commentary on Amos 1.1, PL 25.992 (224).
5 Cf. 1 Cor. 9.26.
6 Phil. 3.13.
7 Cf. Ps. 128 (129).3.
8 Ps. 118.61.
SAINT JEROME
he will be held fast.'9 Just think of what that means: everyone is caught in the meshes of his own sins! These cords of sins cannot be intertwined unless I have committed many sins. If I commit one sin, it is not so much a cord as it is a strand. If there is just one strand, it is easily broken and cannot hold nor bind, but if I commit many sins and my wickedness is prolonged, from many sins-just as from many strands-a cord is formed which binds firmly and is not easily broken. What has prompted me to say this? It was suggested by the versicle: 'Long did they continue their iniquities.'
'The just Lord has humbled the pride of sinners.'lO Understand what this means. The psalmist did not say the Lord has destroyed sinners; if he had said that, no one could be saved; we are all sinners. What does he say? 'The just Lord has humbled the pride of sinners'; they who are both sinful and proud, for 'God resists the proud, but gives grace. to" the humble.'l1 Therefore, does He humble the pride of sinners to the ground.
9 Provo 5.22; d. Letter 48.21, PL 22.510 (233).
10 Cf. Ps. 128 (129).4. Cf. Commentarioli in ps. 128.4.
II James 4.6; 1 Peter 5.5; d. Provo 3.34; d. Letter 76.1, PL 22.689 (455).