Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB
[blocks in formation]

VIII.

matters of bodily use, light is one thing, fountain another: JOHN a fountain our mouths crave; light, our eyes: when we 12. thirst, we seek a fountain; when we are in darkness, we seek light; and if it be by night that we are thirsty, we kindle a light that we may come to the fountain. Not so with God: what is light, the same is fountain; He Who shineth for thee that thou mayest see, the Same floweth for thee that thou mayest drink.

6. Ye see then, my brethren, ye see, if ye do inwardly see, what sort of light this is of which the Lord saith, He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness. Follow this visible sun, let us see whether thou wilt not walk in darkness. Lo, by rising he cometh forth to thee: by his course he goeth towards the west: it may be thy journeying is towards the east: unless thou go thy way in the contrary direction from that in which he is bound, by following him thou wilt assuredly go wrong, and instead of east wilt reach the west. Thou, if thou follow him by land, wilt go wrong: the mariner, if he follow him by sea, will go wrong. After all, thou thinkest good to follow the sun, and thou too makest for the west for which he maketh: let us see when he sets, whether thou wilt not walk in darkness. See how though thou do not choose to leave him, he will leave thee, while by necessity of his service he accomplisheth the day. But our Lord Jesus Christ even when for a while through the cloud of the flesh He did not appear to all, did by the power of His Wisdom hold all things. Thy God is whole every where: if thou fall not off from Him, He never falleth away from thee".

7. Well: he that followeth Me, saith the Lord, shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. What He hath promised, He hath put in a word of future tense : for He saith not, hath, but, shall have, saith He, the light of life. Yet He saith not, he that shall follow Me, but, he that followeth Me. In that which it is our duty to do, He hath put the present tense: but what He promised to them that do it, He hath denoted by a word of future tense. He that followeth, shall have. Followeth now, shall have hereafter: followeth now, by faith, shall have hereafter, by sight. For so long as we are in the body, 2 Cor.

Si non ab illo facias casum, nunquam a te ipse facit occasum.

5, 6. 7.

XXXIV.

486 The Saints in the Night of this world wait for the Day:

HOMIL, Saith the Apostle, we are absent from the Lord: for we walk by faith, not by sight. When by sight? When we shall have the light of life, when we shall have come to the vision yonder, when this night of ours shall have passed away. Ps. 5, 3. For concerning that day which is to arise, it is said, In the morning I shall stand before Thee, and shall behold. What meaneth, in the morning? When the night of this world is 1 Pet. 5, past; past, the terrors of temptations; overcome, that lion who by night goeth about roaring, seeking whom he may devour. In the morning I shall stand before Thee, and shall behold. But now, what think we, my brethren, to be suitable for this present time, but that which again is said in the Ps. 6, 6. Psalm, Every night long will I wash my bed, with tears will

8.

9.

I water my couch? Every night long, saith he, I will weep:

I will burn with desire for the light. The Lord seeth my Ps. 38, desire as the other Psalm saith to Him, Before Thee is all my desire, and my groaning is not hid from Thee. Desirest thou gold? thou canst be seen: for, while seeking gold, thou wilt be manifest to men. Desirest thou corn? thou askest who hath it; to whom also, wishing to get at that thou desirest, thou shewest thy desire. Desirest thou God? who seeth, save God? For of whom askest thou God, as thou askest bread, as water, as gold, as silver, as corn? Of whom askest thou God, but of God? He is asked from Himself, Who hath promised Himself. Let the soul stretch wide her longing; and with more capacious bosom seek to 1 Cor. comprehend what eye hath not seen, ear heard, neither hath ascended into the heart of man. Desired it can be, coveted it can be, panted after it can be worthily conceived and unfolded in words, it cannot be.

2, 9.

8. Well then, my brethren, since the Lord briefly saith, I am the Light of the world; he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life: in

b The popular modern interpretation of this passage, in which ambulare per speciem, περιπατεῖν διὰ εἴδους, is taken to mean, judging of things carnally by the sight of the eyes, or by the outward appearance of things,' externa rerum specie captum vivere, was unknown to St. Augustine, who constantly refers the species to the eternal realities of the life to come as in the Sermon

(346) on this text.
In fide nobis via
est, in specie autem veritas et vita.
Videmus nunc per speculum in ænig-
mate, et hæc est fides; tunc autem
facie ad faciem, et hæc erit species.
[Comp. Numb. 12, 8. LXX.]

Mane astabo tibi et contemplabor, (videbo, Vulg.) In the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and will look up. É. V.

[merged small][ocr errors]

They keep His commands, and so come to His promises. 487

VIII.

16-22.

which words it is one thing that He hath commanded, JCHN another that He hath promised: let us do what He hath 12. commanded, lest with shameless brow we desire what He hath promised; lest He say to us in His Judgment, Hast thou done what I commanded, that thou shouldest demand what I promised? Then what hast Thou commanded, O Lord our God? He saith to thee, That thou shouldest follow Me. Thou hast asked counsel of life. Of what life, but that of which it is said, With Thee is the fountain of life? A certain person was bidden, Go, sell all that thou Mat.19, hast, and give to the poor, and thou shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me. He went away sorrowful; he did not follow: he sought the Good Master, applied to Him as Teacher, and despised Him teaching: went away sorrowful, tied and bound by his lusts; went away sorrowful, having a huge load of avarice upon his shoulders. He toiled, he was hot; and He Who was willing to rid him of his load, was accounted not meet to be followed, but only to be forsaken! But after the Lord cried aloud by the Gospel, Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and Mat. 11, I will give you rest; take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: how many did, upon hearing of the Gospel, what, having heard from His own mouth, that rich man did not? Then let us now do it; let us follow the Lord: let us loose the fetters by which we are impeded from following Him. And who is able to loose such bonds, unless He aid, to Whom it is said, Thou hast Ps. 116, burst my bonds asunder? Of Whom another Psalm saith, The Lord looseth them that are fettered, the Lord lifteth up Ps. 146, them that are broken in pieces.

28. 29.

16.

7.8.

9. And what follow they, being loosed and raised upright, but the Light from Which they hear, I am the Light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness? Because the Lord enlighteneth the blind. We are enlightened ib. 8. therefore now, my brethren, having the eye-salve of faith. For a figure went before, His spittle mixed with earth for the anointing of that man who was born blind. We also are of Adam born blind, and have need of Him to enlighten John 9, us. He mixed spittle with earth; the Word was made flesh and dwelt in us. He mixed spittle with earth; therefore was

6.

488

Christ, the Way and the End.

HOMIL. it foretold, Truth hath sprung from the earth: now Himself XXXIV said, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Of the Truth we shall have full fruition when we shall see face to

Ps. 5,

11.

6.

13, 12.

3, 2.

face to face.

6

John14, 'face; because this also is promised us. For who would dare to hope what God had not deigned either to promise or to give? We shall see face to face. The Apostle saith; 1 Cor. Now I know in part, now through a glass darkly; but then, And John the Apostle saith in his Epistle, 1 John Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it hath not yet appeared what we shall be: we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him: for we shall see Him as He is. This is a mighty promise! If thou love, follow. I love, sayest thou, but which way am I to follow? If the Lord thy God had said to thee, I am the Truth and the Life; desiring truth, coveting life, doubtless thou wouldest seek the way by which thou mightest attain unto these, and wouldest say to thyself, A great thing is Truth, a great thing Life, were there but a means for my soul to attain thereunto! Askest thou which way? Hear Him saying at the outset, I am the Way. Before He told thee the whither,' He premised which way.' I, saith He, am the Way. The Way to what? And the Truth, and the Life. First of all He told thee which way to come, then whither to come. I am the Way, I am the Truth, I the Life. Abiding with the Father, Truth and Life; clothing Himself with flesh, He became the Way. It is not said to thee, Labour in seeking a way, that thou mayest come unto the Truth and the Life; not this is said to thee. Thou sluggard, arise! The Way Itself is come to thee, and hath roused thee sleeping, out of thy slumber, if indeed it hath roused thee: arise and walk. Perchance thou essayest to walk and art not able, because thy feet are sore. What hath made thy feet sore? Because at the bidding of avarice they have been running through rough places? But the Word of God hath healed the lame too. See, thou sayest, I have my feet sound, but I see not the Way. He hath enlightened the blind too.

10. All this is by faith, so long as we are absent from the Lord, still in the body: but when we shall have gone through all the way, and shall have come to our own land, what shall be more joyful than we? what more blessed than we?

This life is full of strife, without and within. 489

VIII.

Because nought more full of peace than we. For nought JOHN shall then rebel against man. But now, my brethren, we 12. find it hard to be without strife. To concord indeed we are called; we are commanded to have peace among ourselves; for this we must do our endeavour, and labour with all our might that we may come at last to most perfect peace: but for the present we have mostly striving with them to whom we would fain do good. Yonder is a man in error, thou wouldest fain lead him to the way; he resisteth, thou strivest with him: a pagan resisteth, thou disputest against errors of idols and devils; a heretic resisteth, thou disputest against other doctrines of devils: a bad catholic does not choose to lead a good life, thou reprovest even thy brother which is within: he abideth with thee in the house, and seeketh the ways of perdition; thou art hotly eager how thou mayest set him right, that thou mayest render a good account touching him to the Lord of both. What necessities of strife from all quarters! In most cases one is wearied out, and says to himself, What concern is it of mine to suffer gainsayers, to suffer them which render evil for good! I wish to do them good, they choose to perish: I consume my life in wrangling; I have no peace: I make enemies, after all, of those in whom I ought to have friends, if they regarded the good will with which I seek their welfare: what business is it of mine to put up with all this? Let me return to myself, I will keep to myself, I will call upon my God.' Return to thyself: there thou findest a quarrel: if thou hast begun to follow God, there thou findest a quarrel. What quarrel, sayest thou, do I find? The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, Gal. 5, and the Spirit against the flesh. Lo, there art thou thyself, lo, thou art alone, lo, thou art by thyself, lo, thou hast no other man to put up with: yea, but thou seest another law in thy members warring against the law of thy mind, and taking thee captive in the law of sin which is in thy members. Cry out therefore, and from the quarrel within thee cry unto God, that He may make peace within thee: Wretched man Rom. 7, that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? The grace of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Be

d Gratia Dei, Vet. Lat. and Vulg. and several Gr. Mss. others xápis T Oe, so Hieron. Qu, 8, ad Algas, but c.

Pelag. 1. he has Gratia Dei, and
Gratias ago Deo. Iren. 3, 22. Lat.
Gratia Jesu Christi.

17.

23-25.

« ZurückWeiter »