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HOMILY 5
ON PSALM 14 (15)
Lent: To those preparing tor baptism OST OPPORTUNELY do we read the fourteenth psalm; so timely is its place in the proper course of the liturgy that it seems to fall there almost by plan. The psalm is read, moreover, in its regular sequence. This has happened,
I think, by the dispensation of God, so that what would be of special profit to you might be read aloud today in the normal process of exegesis. You have heard the fourteenth psalm, and its title is 'A psalm of David: David is our Christ, as we have said so many times. Besides, we read in Exodus1 that on the fourteenth day a lamb is sacrificed; on the fourteenth day when the moon is a full moon, when its light is at its brightest. You see Christ is not immolated except in perfect and full light. Because, therefore, on the fourteenth day, the lamb is to be sacrificed by you, the prophet is now wondering, and asks:
'0 Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?' You are they who desire to make your house in the tent of the Lord. 'Who shall dwell on your holy mountain?' Notice what it says: 'Who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy mountain?'
Not first on the mountain and, then, afterwards in the tent; but first in the tent and thereby on the mountain. A tent is not a fixed abode; a tent does not have a foundation, but is moved hither and thither with the nomad. That is why it says
1 Exod. 12.6.
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'paroikfa'-sojourn-and not 'habitatio'-dwelling.2 '0 Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?' Because it is a tent, that is why 'paroikia' is used. Let us see, therefore, what is this tent that is a mountain. We said that a tent does not have a foundation, but is a temporary dwelling place; a house, however, has a fixed foundation. The tent seems to me to be the church of this world. Now the churches that you see are tabernacles, for we are not here as permanent dwellers, but rather as those about to migrate to another place. If 'this world as we see it is passing away,'3 and it says elsewhere that 'heaven and earth will pass away';4 if, then, heaven and earth will pass away, how much more will the stones of the churches that we see also pass away? Now that is why churches are tabernacles, because we are going to migrate from them to the holy mountain of God. What is this holy mountain of God? It says in Ezechiel against the prince of Tyre: 'Thou hast been cut off as one slain from the mountain of God.'5 'Who shall dwell on your holy mountain?'
Since, then, we are going to migrate from the tabernacles to the mountain, we ought to get acquainted with those who are going to migrate to God's holy mountain. The words:
'Who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy mountain?' are the words of one seeking an answer. As the prophet has asked the question, the Holy Spirit responds.
And what does He say to the prophet? 'Do you wish to know, o prophet, who will sojourn in My tent, or who will dwell on My holy mountain? Listen to what follows, and if you heed, you will dwell on My holy mountain.' You, therefore, who wish to sojourn in the tent and ascend the mountain of God, need not my words. Hear what the Lord has answered the prophet; obey His commands and you will ascend into the holy mountain of God: 'He who walks blamelessly and does justice.' Likewise in Psalm 118, it says: 'Happy are they
2 Cf. Letter 106.3, PL 22.839 (643).
3 1 Cor. 7.31.
4 Matt. 24.35.
5 Cf. Ezech. 28.16, LXX.
SAINT JEROME
whose way is blameless.'6 Right there in the very beginning it says: 'Happy are they whose way is blameless.' Just as in that psalm it says: 'whose way is blameless,' so here in our psalm it says: 'He who walks blamelessly.' Moreover, he who walks is on the way. 'He who walks blamelessly.' Understand what is being commanded. The Holy Spirit did not say, he who arrives at the end without stain; but he who is still on the road and is without spot.
Someone may say: 'I am without fault, I have done no evil.'
It is not enough for us to restrain from doing evil, unless we shall also do good. In fact, the very next words are: 'And does justice.' Note exactly what the psalmist is saying: 'And does justice.' Now, the Holy Spirit did not say, he that practices chastity, that applies wisdom, that exercises fortitude. Yet these are excellent virtues indeed. Wisdom, for example, is of great advantage to us; fortitude is valuable in resisting persecution; finally, temperance and chastity are indispensable in preventing us from losing our souls. Justice alone is the great virtue and the mother of them all. Someone may ask:
'How is justice greater than all the other virtues?' The other virtues gratify the one who possesses them; justice does not give pleasure to the one possessing it, but instead pleases others. 1£ I am wise, wisdom delights me; if I am brave, my fortitude comforts me; if I have been chaste, my chastity is my joy. On the contrary, justice does not benefit the one who has it, but all the wretched who do not have it. Suppose that some poor man has a quarrel with my brother; suppose that my brother is powerful and with his power crushes the other one, I mean, the stranger to me, the poor and wretched man.
Of what avail is my wisdom to the poor man? Of what avail my courage? My chastity, how does it help the poor man?
Justice is the virtue that benefits him for I do not regard the person of my brother but judge according to truth. Justice knows no brother; it knows no father, it knows no mother; it knows truth; it is not a respecter of persons; it imitates God.
6 Ps. 118.1.
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For that reason He said: 'And does justice,' lest He seem to have excluded all the other virtues.7 He who is indignant in the interests of another, who takes no satisfaction in the troubles of others, he is a just man.
Let us say a few words, too, on the rest of the psalm. 'He who thinks the truth in his heart: There are many who speak with truth on their lips, but not with truth in their heart; they seem to be speaking truth, but their heart is not in accord with their lips. 'And slanders not with his tongue': he who brings forth in speech what he has conceived in his heart.
'Who harms not his fellow man: There are some who think that their neighbor is their brother, or their kindred, or their relative, or their kinsman. But our Lord teaches who he is in the Gospel parable where a certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho: 8 a priest passed by, a Levite passed by, neither one was moved to compassion; a Samaritan passed by and he was moved to compassion. And the Lord, after He had finished the parable, asks: 'Which of these was the neighbor?' Without a moment of hesitation comes the answer: 'He who did well.' And the Lord says: 'Go and do thou also in like manner.' All men are our neighbor, and we should not harm anyone. If, on the contrary, we understand our fellow man to be only our brother and relatives, is it then permitted us to do evil to strangers? God forbid such belief! We are· neighbors, all men to all men, for we have one father.
'Nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor.' This is a noble thing to say.9 Never, says the psalmist, has a neighbor murmured against him; never, he says, has he found occasion for his disparagement. This virtue is beyond man's human power; it exists by the grace of God. 'By whom the reprobate is despised.' Mark what it says: 'By whom the reprobate is despised.' Even if he is an emperor, even if he is a governor,
7 Cf. Commentary on lsaia 56.1, PL 24.538 (654).
8 Luke 10.30-37; d. Commentary on Ezechiel 18.5-10, PL 25.173 (206); on Zacharia 7.8, PL 25.1462 (835); 8.16, PL 25.1173 (850); on Ephesians
4.25, PL 26.542 (627).
9 Cf. Letter 127.3, PL 22.1088 (952).
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if he is a bishop, if he is a priest (for these are dignitaries in the Church), whoever he is, if he is evil, he is nothing in the sight of the saint. Immediately there follow the words: 'While he honors those who fear the Lord.' This holy man of yours, who walks blamelessly, who despises the powerful that are wicked, if he sees one who fears God, even though he be a pauper, nevertheless, he honors him. 'Who, though it be to his loss, changes not his pledged word to his neighbor';lO and here in this verse we ought to understand 'neighbor' in the same sense as above.
'He who lends not his money at usury.' There are many things that could be said, but time prevents us. Three days ago, moreover, we discussed the principle of science of instruction-and how with the mercy of God you went out from Chaldaea with Abraham, and you remember what we said: that as surely as you went forth from Chaldaea and came into the land of promise, that surely the land of promise is guaranteed to you. And, briefly, how, after Abraham came into the land of promise, from then on he met with adversaries; enemies were in possession of the land. The Lord came and led him up and placed him on a high mountain and showed him the whole land about and said: 'All this
I will give to you and to your posterity.'ll To Abraham He made the promise; to us He will render it.
10 Cf. Ps. 14 (15).4.
11 Cf. Gen. 13.15; 12.7.