454 Our Lord the perfect Pattern of Charity. HOMIL. fulfilled in deed. For being Lord of all, and of that XXXII. Blessed Nature; from men, whom He created out of nothing, and on whom He had bestowed innumerable benefits, from these, insulting and spitting on Him, He turned not away, but even became man for their sakes, and conversed with harlots and publicans, and healed the demoniacs, and promised heaven. And after all these things they apprehended and beat Him with rods, bound, scourged, mocked, and at last crucified Him. And not even so did He turn away, but even when He was on high upon the cross, He saith, Father, forgive them their sin. But the thief who before this reviled Him, He translated into very paradise; and made the persecutor Paul, an Apostle; and gave up His own disciples, who were His intimates and wholly devoted to Him, unto death for the Jews' sake who crucified Him. Recollecting therefore in our minds all these things, both those of God, and of men, let us emulate these high deeds, and possess ourselves of that which is above all gifts, charity, that we may obtain both the present and the future blessings: the which may we all obtain, through the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, with Whom to the Father, with the Holy Ghost, be glory, power, honour, now, and ever, and world without end. Amen. HOMILY XXXIII. 1 COR. xiii. 4. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up. THUS, whereas he had shewed, that both faith, and knowledge, and prophecy, and tongues, and gifts, and healing, and a perfect life, and martyrdom, if love be absent, are no great advantage; of necessity he next makes an outline of its matchless beauty, adorning its image with the parts of virtue, as with a sort of colours, and putting together all its members with exactness. But do not thou hastily pass by, beloved, the things spoken, but examine each one of them with much care, that thou mayest know both the treasure which is in the thing, and the art of the painter. Consider, for example, from what point he at once began, and what he set first, as the cause of all its excellencies. And what is this? Long-suffering. This is the root of all self-denial. Wherefore also a certain wise man said, A man that is long-suffering1 is abundant in understanding: 1 He that but he that is hasty of spirit is mightily foolish2. ances. is slow to wrath. Vers. 2 exulteth Vers. And comparing it too with a strong city, he said that it is Engl. more secure than that. For it is both an invincible weapon, prov.14. and a sort of impregnable tower, easily beating off all annoy-31. And as a spark falling into the deep doth it no injury, folly. but is itself easily quenched: so upon a long-suffering soul Eng. whatever unexpected thing falls, this indeed speedily vanishes, but the soul it disturbs not: for of a truth there is nothing so impenetrable as long-suffering. You may talk of armies, money, horses, walls, arms, or any thing else whatsoever; you will name nothing like long-suffering. For he that is clad with those, oftentimes, being overcome by anger, is upset, like a worthless child, and fills all with confusion and HOMIL. tempest: but this man, settled as it were in a harbour, enjoys a XXXIII. profound calm. Though thou surround him with loss, thou hast not moved the rock; though thou bring insult upon him, thou hast not shaken the tower; and though thou bruise him with stripes, thou hast not wounded the adamant. Yea, and therefore is he called long-suffering, because he hath a kind of long and great soul. For that which is long, is also called great. But this excellence is born of love, both to them who possess and to them who enjoy it contributing no small advantage. For tell me not of those abandoned wretches, who, doing evil, and suffering none, become worse: since here, not from his long-suffering, but from those who abuse it, this result arises. Tell me not therefore of these, but of those gentler persons, who gain great benefit therefrom. For when, having done ill, they suffer none, admiring the meekness of the sufferer, they reap thereby a very great lesson of selfcommand. But Paul doth not stop here, but adds also the other high achievements of charity, saying, is kind. For since there are some, who practise their long-suffering not to their own self-denial, but to the punishment of those who have provoked them, to make them burst asunder; he saith that neither hath charity this defect. Wherefore also he added, is kind. For not at all with a view to light up the fire, in those who are inflamed by anger, do they deal more 1x mannerly' with them, but in order to appease and extinguish it and not only by enduring nobly, but also by soothing and comforting, do they cure the sore, and heal the wound of passion. τερον. Envieth not. For it is possible for one to be both longsuffering and envious, and thereby that excellency is spoiled. But love avoids this also. Vaunteth not itself; i. e. is not rash. For it renders him who loves both considerate, and grave, and steady in his movements. In truth, one mark of those who love unlawfully is a defect in this point. Whereas he to whom this love is 4 οὐ προπετεύεται. Theod. in loc. gives the word the same turn. "She inquires not into matters which concern her not, (for that is rò igrigivala,) she feels not about for the measures of the Divine Substance, nor asks questions in His dispensations, as some use to do. He that loveth, cannot endure to do any thing rasb." How she keeps them all in due Proportion. 457 13. 4. known, is of all men the most entirely freed from these evils. 1 COR. For when there is no anger within, both rashness and insolence are clean taken away. Charity, like some excellent husbandman, taking her seat inwardly in the soul, and not suffering any of these thorns to spring up. Is not puffed up. For so we see many who think highly of themselves on the score of these very excellencies; for example, on not being envious, nor grudging, nor meanspirited, nor rash: these evils being incidental not to wealth and poverty only, but even to things naturally good. But love perfectly purges out all. And consider: He that is longsuffering is not of course also kind. But if he be not kind, the thing becomes a vice, and he is in danger of falling into malice. Therefore she supplies a medicine, I mean kindness, and preserves the virtue pure. Again, the kind person often becomes over-complaisant; but this also she corrects. 66 For love, saith he, vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up: the kind and long-suffering is often ostentatious; but she takes away this vice also." 1 gx, τὴν, And see how he adorns her not only from what she hath, (2.) but also from what she hath not. For he saith that she both brings in virtue, and extirpates vice, nay rather she suffers it not to spring up at all1. Thus he said not, "She envieth, indeed, but overcometh envy;" nor, " is arrogant, but chas- Saville tiseth that passion;" but, envieth not, vaunteth not itself, is not TM ågspuffed up; which truly is most to be admired, that even with- Bened. out toil she accomplishes her good things, and without war and battle-array her trophy is set up: she not permitting him that possesseth hr to toil, and so to attain the crown, but without labour conveying to him her prize. For where there is not passion to contend against sober reason, what labour can there be? [2.] Doth not behave herself unseemly". "Nay, why," saith he," do I say, she is not puffed up, when she is so far from that feeling, that in suffering the very worst for Him whom she loves, she doth not even count the thing an unseemliness?" Again, he did not say, "she suffereth unseemliness, but b Or, doth not think herself treated unseemly. Theod. in loc. "There is no mean or lowly thing which for the brethren's sake she refuses to do, under XXXIII. 458 How Charity doeth nothing unseemly: HOMIL. beareth the shame nobly," but, "she doth not even entertain any sense at all of the shame." For if the lovers of money endure all manner of reproaches for the sake of that sordid traffic of theirs, and far from hiding their faces, do even exult in it: much more he that hath this approved charity will count nothing whatsoever to be refused for the safety's sake of those whom he loves: nay, nor will any thing that he can suffer shame him. 2 хода. σίων λουσῶν. And that we may not fetch our example from any thing base, let us examine this same statement in its application to Christ, and then we shall see the force of what hath been said. For our Lord Jesus Christ was both spit upon, and beaten with rods by pitiful slaves; and not only did He not count it an unseemliness, but He even exulted, and called the thing glory; and bringing in a robber and murderer with Himself before the rest into paradise, and discoursing with a harlot, and this when the standers-by all accused him, he counted not the thing to be disgraceful, but both allowed her to kiss his feet, and to bedew his body with her tears, and to wipe them away with her hair, and this amid a company of spectators who were foes and enemies; for love doeth nothing unseemly. Therefore also fathers, though they be the first of philosophers and orators, are not ashamed to lisp with their children; and none of those who see them find fault with them, but the thing is esteemed so good and right, as to be even worth a prayer. And again, should they become vicious, the parents keep on correcting, caring for them, abridging the reproaches they incur, and are not ashamed. For love doth nothing unseemly, but as it were with certain golden wings covereth up all the offences of the beloved. Thus also Jonathan loved David, and hearing his father 11 Sam. Say1, Thou son of damsels that have run away from their 20, 30. homes2, thou womanly bred3, he was not ashamed, though the words be full of great reproval. For what he means is this: avrou Thou son of mean harlots who are mad after men, who run Eng." of after the passers-by, thou unnerved and effeminate wretch, who the per- hast nothing of a man, but livest to the shame of thyself and rebel- the mother who bare thee." What then? Did he grieve at man." these things, and hide his face, and turn away from his be3 LXX. loved? Nay quite the contrary; he displayed his fondness as an ornament. And yet the one was at that time a king, and a verse lious wo γυναι κοτρα φίς. |