Tractates on the Gospel of John
TRACTATE 7 155 (4) Woe to those who love such things! For every soul follows what it loves; all flesh is grass, and all glory of the flesh is, as it were, the flower of the grass. The grass has withered, the flower has fallen off; but the Word of the Lord remains forever.^ Behold what you should love if you want to remain forever. But you had [this] to say, "How can I apprehend the Word of God?" "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us."^
2. Wherefore, my dearest people, let it also be a characteristic of our need and poverty that we grieve for those who seem to themselves to have abundance. For theirs is a joy like that of madmen. And just as a madman often rejoices in his insanity, and laughs, and laments for him who is sane, so let us also, dearest people, if we have received the medicine coming from heaven, because all of us, too, were mad, as if made healthy because we do not love the things we used to love, let us moan to God over those who are still insane. For he has the power to make them healthy too.
(2) And they need to look at themselves and be displeased with themselves.^ They want to seek® and yet they do not know how to look at themselves. For if they should turn their eyes upon themselves for a little, they see their own confusion. Until this happens, let our pursuits be different, let the diversions of our soul be different. Our grief is more potent than their joy. As for the number of brothers, it is hard to imagine that any of the men would have been drawn away by that celebration; but as for the number of sisters, it saddens us, and for this we find need to grieve even more, that they whom at least shame, if not fear, ought to have called back from the crowd do not, rather, hurry to the church.
(3) Let him who sees see this, and his mercy will be at hand to heal all. But we who have assembled, let us feed at the banquets of God and let his Word be our joy. For he has invited us to his gospel; and this is our food, than which nothing is sweeter, but only if one has a healthy palate in his heart.
3. Now I am quite sure that you, my beloved people, re-
3. Cf. Is 40.6-8. 4. Jn 1.14. 5. Cf. Tractate 3.2.
6. The codices have this in the passive, "to be looked at."