Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

We have a tendency to exaggerate the virtue of the Holy men and women who went before us.  While we must certainly say that the Canonized Saints exhibited heroic virtue, that does not mean they were not also sinners like us in need of a savior.  In fact, had the Saints not needed a savior, they would not even be Christian.  God’s grace works hiddenly within us to perfect what He wants to perfect in us so long as we cooperate with His work.  Sometimes we may be distressed to witness the lack of perfection or even the apparent total lack of goodness in our hearts and in our lives.  This too is the work of grace, inviting us to allow God to do His work within us.  The ups and downs of our spiritual and human life can lead us to a point near hopelessness  – this is something even Elijah the Holy Prophet of God experienced.  He was ready to throw in the towel, to give up and die.  He saw how much of a poor sinner he was and how he “was no better than his fathers.”  God responds to this sadness and exhaustion not with a new teaching or with a rebuke, but with something very simple: food.

The Eucharist is food for the journey that strengthens us in hope and to endure the ups and downs of our spiritual life.  It is the bread of angels, given to the poorest and weakest of human creatures.  It is food, not for the perfect, but for sinners who realize their need to receive grace in order to continue on the way.  This food certainly nourishes the soul, but not in the very anonymous way of food.  The act of eating the Eucharist becomes a way to enter into communion with the Trinity.  It nourishes our heart with the presence of God.  “If God is for us, who is against us?”  Bringing the Lord our humility and hunger for life, He responds – in His flesh and in His blood – by embracing our hearts with His love.  The Eucharist is an embrace wherein, “We are taught by God” the lesson of intimacy which allows us to understand that we are one with Jesus and with the Father.  Just as bread satisfies our bodily hunger, the Eucharist satisfies the longing for life within our weakened hearts.

JEROME:

Elijah, whom John the Baptist followed in spirit and virtue and who caused fire to fall from heaven and the waters of the Jordan to part by his prayers, was afraid of Jezebel and fled, and exhausted, he sat down in the wilderness under a tree, and, wearied from walking, he prayed for death, saying, “It is enough for me, Lord, take away my soul, for I am no better than my ancestors.” Who can deny that he was a just man? And yet fear, not to mention of a woman, but of a human being, proceeds from a disturbance of the soul, which cannot be faultless, as David says: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear what people can do to me.”¹

AMBROSE:

To be sure, it was not a woman that such a great prophet was fleeing, but it was this world. And it was not death that he feared, for he offered himself to the one that searched for him and said to the Lord, “Take my soul.” He endured a weariness of this life, not a desire for it, but he was fleeing worldly enticement and the contagion of filthy conduct and the impious acts of an unholy and sinful generation.²

EPHREM THE SYRIAN:

Allegorically the bread baked in the ashes, which the vigilant [the angel] offers to Elijah, has two different meanings: on the one side, it immediately shows the toils of penitence which the ashes symbolize perfectly, since they are a figure of mourning and of a contrite heart; the unleavened bread soaked in ashes and the water are also the food of the poor and the miserable. But we can say, with greater accuracy, that they are figures of all the righteous, for whom the providence of the Creator has established a course of life in the paths of privation. Therefore he leads them through much suffering, privation of food and a severe fast in order to purify them completely from all the filth of earthly things. Then he guides them to the mountain, which is the perfection and the accomplishment of the saints.³

AMBROSIASTER:

The Holy Spirit rejoices in our salvation not for himself, since he has no lack of blessedness. But if we have disobeyed the Spirit, we have grieved the Spirit. His work in us is cut short, just when he wishes us to belong to life. Yet he is not grieved in such a way as to suffer in a literal sense. For God the Spirit is invisible and not subject to physical suffering. When Paul says the Spirit is “grieved,” he speaks metaphorically on our account to show that the Spirit leaves us to our own self-will when we have, so to speak, wounded him by despising his admonitions.⁴

MARIUS VICTORINUS:

He adds five terms briefly at the end—bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander. Then at the very end he has added the summarizing phrase with all malice. Bitterness consists in envying and speaking ill of others and similar actions. Wrath consists in the lust for vengeance and punishment. Anger is the impulse of a mind boiling over and upheaving beyond what is reasonable. Clamor is a kind of insane, uncontrolled utterance. And blasphemy is wicked thought or speech that attacks God and is primarily directed against God.⁵

AMBROSIASTER:

Some repress anger and clamor yet still remain mischievous. Paul therefore adds that these should be entirely done away, along with all malice. Such mischief consists not only in blasphemy but in putting on a face of peace while holding on to discord within the soul.⁶

CHRYSOSTOM:

Tell me what good it is to weed a garden if we do not plant good seed.… Sow good habits and dispositions. To be free from a bad habit does not mean we have formed a good one. We need to take the further step of forming good habits and dispositions to replace what we have left behind.⁷

CHRYSOSTOM:

Patience means practicing forgiveness. To give patience is a far greater gift than to give money. The one who gives money to one who asks of him does indeed do a fine and admirable deed, but such a gift touches only the body. Spiritual gifts touch the soul with redemption. Hence one who forgives does good both to his own soul and to that of the one who has received forgiveness.⁸

JEROME:

Paul wants us to be gentle, approachable people, people who have left anger, bitterness, wrath and slander behind. If we are merciful and serene, taking the initiative in reaching out to others, our very approachability will overcome the shyness and fear of those for whom we reach out.⁹

CHRYSOSTOM:

Not all children imitate their father, but those who know themselves to be beloved act like “beloved children.¹⁰

JEROME:

Admittedly much that God has done we humans can hardly be said to imitate. But in the way that he is merciful to all and rains on good and bad, so we may pour out mercy upon all we meet. When we do this, we shall be beloved children. We shall be imitating either Paul or, as I rather think, God himself.¹¹

CHRYSOSTOM:

See how love is the foundation of everything. Where love is present there is no anger, no passion, no railing, no blasphemy. All this is put away. Now he states his chief point: How have you become a child? Because you have been reconciled. On the same basis on which you have received so great a privilege, offer this same gift to others.… And as the Lord has loved you, so you love your neighbor. Even if you are not able to do that completely, you must do it according to your ability.¹²

JEROME:

Who is it that truly walks in love? The one who, for the salvation of others, contends against sin to the point of shedding blood, so as even to give up his soul for them. That is the one who walks in love, imitating Christ.¹³

CHRYSOSTOM:

You spare your friends. He spared his enemies.… He suffered on his enemies’ behalf. This is the fragrant offering, the acceptable sacrifice. If you suffer for your enemies as a fragrant offering, you too become an acceptable sacrifice, even if you die. This is what it means to imitate God.¹⁴

AUGUSTINE:

As if to say, I know why you do not hunger after this bread and so cannot understand it and do not seek it.… “No one can come to me unless the Father who has sent me draws him.” This is the doctrine of grace: none comes unless they are drawn. But whom the Father draws, and whom not, and why he draws one and not another, do not presume to decide if you want to avoid falling into error. Take the doctrine as it is given to you: and, if you are not drawn, pray that you may be.¹⁵

AUGUSTINE:

How have you come? You have come by believing, but you have not yet come through to the end. We are still on the road. We have come, but we have not yet come through. “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice before him with trembling, in case the Lord might be angry and you perish from the way of justice.” When you arrogate to yourself the discovery of the way of justice, be afraid of perishing from the way of justice through this very arrogance. “I have come,” he says, “I have come of my own accord, I have come of my own free will.” Why such consternation? Do you want to hear that even this much has been bestowed on you as well? Listen to him calling: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”¹⁶

GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS:

I was ashamed of all those others who … intrude into the most sacred offices and, before becoming worthy to approach the temples, lay claim to the sanctuary. They push and thrust around the holy table as if they thought this order to be a means of livelihood instead of a pattern of virtue, or an absolute authority instead of a ministry of which we must give account. In fact they are almost more in number than those whom they govern.… Soon enough, as time and this evil alike progress, they will not even have anyone left to rule when all are teachers instead of taught by God, as the promise says, and all prophesy.¹⁷

AUGUSTINE:

Though your sins are daily, at least let them not be deadly. Before you go to the altar, attend to the prayer you repeat, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” If you forgive, you are forgiven: approach confidently; it is bread, not poison.… None then that eat of this bread shall die.¹⁸

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA:

This is almost too much to take in! And then we are to throw out the old and carnal corruption, our old diet, receiving in exchange a totally new diet—Christ himself as we ingest him for him to remain hidden there. Then, with our Savior enshrined in our souls, as it were, we can correct the affections of our flesh.¹⁹

1. AGAINST THE PELAGIANS 2.21.  Conti, M., & Pilara, G. (Eds.). (2008). 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (pp. 115–116). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
2. FLIGHT FROM THE WORLD 6.34.  Conti, M., & Pilara, G. (Eds.). (2008). 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (p. 116). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
3. ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 19.4.  Conti, M., & Pilara, G. (Eds.). (2008). 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (p. 116). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
4. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 4.30.  Edwards, M. J. (Ed.). (1999). Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians (p. 179). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
5. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 2.4.31.  Edwards, M. J. (Ed.). (1999). Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians (p. 180). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
6. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 4.31.  Edwards, M. J. (Ed.). (1999). Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians (p. 180). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
7. HOMILY ON EPHESIANS 16.4.31–32.  Edwards, M. J. (Ed.). (1999). Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians (p. 180). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
8. HOMILY ON EPHESIANS 16.4.31–32.  Edwards, M. J. (Ed.). (1999). Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians (pp. 180–181). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
9. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 3.5.1.  Edwards, M. J. (Ed.). (1999). Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians (p. 181). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
10. HOMILY ON EPHESIANS 17.4.32–5.2.  Edwards, M. J. (Ed.). (1999). Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians (p. 182). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
11. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 3.5.1.  Edwards, M. J. (Ed.). (1999). Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians (p. 182). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
12. HOMILY ON EPHESIANS 17.4.32–5.2.  Edwards, M. J. (Ed.). (1999). Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians (p. 182). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
13. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 3.5.2.  Edwards, M. J. (Ed.). (1999). Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians (p. 182). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
14. HOMILY ON EPHESIANS 17.4.32–5.2.  Edwards, M. J. (Ed.). (1999). Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians (p. 183). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
15. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 26.2.  Elowsky, J. C. (Ed.). (2006). John 1–10 (p. 232). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
16. SERMON 30.10.  Elowsky, J. C. (Ed.). (2006). John 1–10 (pp. 232–233). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
17. IN DEFENSE OF HIS FLIGHT TO PONTUS, ORATION 2.8.  Elowsky, J. C. (Ed.). (2006). John 1–10 (p. 233). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
18. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 26.11–12.  Elowsky, J. C. (Ed.). (2006). John 1–10 (p. 237). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
19. CHRIST THE EDUCATOR 1.6.  Elowsky, J. C. (Ed.). (2006). John 1–10 (p. 237). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.