The Sunday next before Advent
Homily of Augustine on Psalm 146
Home, Sunday before Advent
STIR up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may by thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Source of Collect: Sacramentary of Gregory of Rome [c. 600]. The title of this collect "The Sunday next before Advent" was that which was used in the Sarum Missal, and was restored to the American Prayerbook in 1892. [Barbee and Zahl]
Jeremiah xxiii. 5 Psalm 146, 147 | 148,149,150
& St. John vi. 1
Homily
Jeremiah xxiii. 5
BEHOLD, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.
a lad ... hath... two small fishes
Psalm 146, 147 | 148, 149, 150
St. John vi. 1
[After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.] When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.(vs 1-4 added to the appointed Gospel)
Augustine of Hippo
Psalm CXLVI
1. ...Behold the Psalm soundeth; it is the voice of some one (and that
some one are ye, if ye will), of some one encouraging his soul to
praise God, and saying to himself, "Praise the Lord, O my soul" (ver.
1). For sometimes in the tribulations and temptations of this present
life, whether we will or no, our soul is troubled; of which troubling
he speaketh in another Psalm. But to remove this troubling, he
suggesteth joy; not as yet in reality, but in hope; and saith to it
when troubled and anxious, sad and sorrowing, "Hope in God, for I will
yet confess to Him."...
2. But who saith it, and to whom saith he it? What shall we say,
brethren? Is it the flesh that saith, "Praise thou the Lord, O my
soul"? And can the flesh suggest good counsel to the soul? However much
the flesh be conquered, and subjected as a servant to us through
strength which the Lord imparteth, that it serve us entirely as a bond
slave, enough for us that it hinder us not....For the body, inasmuch as
it is the body, is even beneath the soul; and every soul, however vile,
is found more excellent than the most excellent body. And let not this
seem to you to be wonderful, that even any vile and sinful soul is
better than any great and most surpassing body. It is better, not in
deserts, but in nature. The soul indeed is sinful, is stained with
certain defilements of lusts; yet gold, though rusted, is better than
the most polished lead. Let your mind then run over every part of
creation, and ye will see that what we are saying is not incredible,
that a soul, however blameable, is yet more praiseworthy than a
praiseworthy body. There are two things, a soul and a body. The soul I
chide, the body I praise: the soul I chide, because it is sinful; the
body I praise, because it is sound. Yet it is in its own kind that I
praise the soul, and in its own kind that I blame the soul: and so in
its own kind I praise the body, or blame it. If you ask me which is
better, what I have blamed or what I have praised, wondrous is the
answer thou wilt receive....So you speak of the best horse and the
worst man: yet thou preferrest the man thou findest fault with to the
horse thou praisest....The nature of the soul is more excellent than
the nature of the body: it surpasseth it by far, it is a thing
spiritual, incorporeal, akin to the substance of God. It is somewhat
invisible, it ruleth the body, moveth the limbs, guideth the senses,
prepareth thoughts, putteth forth actions, taketh in images of
countless things; who is there, in short, beloved brethren, who may
suffice for the praises of the soul? And yet such is the grace given to
it, that this man saith, "Praise the Lord, O my soul."...It is not the
flesh that saith it. Let the body be angel-like, still it is inferior
to the soul, it cannot give advice to its superior. The flesh when duly
obedient is the handmaid of the soul: the soul rules, the body obeys;
the soul commands, the body performs; how then can the flesh give this
advice to the soul? Is it then perchance the soul herself, who saith to
herself, and in a manner commandeth herself, and exhorteth and asketh
herself? For through certain passions in one part of her nature she
wavered; but in another part, which they call the reasonable mind, the
wisdom whereby she thinks, clinging to God, and now sighing towards
Him, she perceives that certain inferior parts of her are troubled by
worldly emotions, and by a certain excitement of earthly desires,
betake them to outward things, leaving God who is within; so she
recalleth herself from things outward to inward, from lower to higher,
and says, "Praise the Lord, O my soul."...The soul itself giveth itself
counsel from the light of God by the reasonable mind, whereby it
conceiveth the wisdom fixed in the everlasting nature of its Author. It
readeth there of somewhat to be feared, to be praised, to be loved, to
be longed for, and sought after: as yet it graspeth it not, it
comprehendeth it not; it is, as it were, dazzled with brightness; it
has not strength to abide there. Therefore it gathers itself, as it
were, into a sound state, and saith, "Praise the Lord, O my
soul."...And then the soul, weighed down, as it were, and unable to
stand up as is fitting, answereth the mind, "I will praise the Lord in
my life" (ver. 2). What is, "in my life"? Because now I am in my death.
Therefore first encourage thyself, and say, "Praise the Lord, O my
soul." Thy soul answereth thee, I do praise so far as I can, slightly,
poorly, weakly. Wherefore? Because, "while we are in the body, we are
absent from the Lord."
3. "In my life." Now what has it? It might answer thee, "My death."
Whence, "My death"? because I am absent from the Lord. For if to cling
to Him is life, to depart from Him is death. But what comforteth thee?
Hope. Now thou livest in hope: in hope praise, in hope sing. Thy death
is from the sadness of this life, thou livest in hope of a future life.
And how wilt thou praise thy Lord? "I will sing unto my God, as long as
I have my being." What sort of praise is this, "I will sing unto my God
as long as I have being"? Behold, my brethren, what sort of being this
will be; where there will be everlasting praise, there will be also
everlasting being. Behold, now thou hast being: dost thou sing unto God
as long as thou hast being? Behold, thou wast singing, and hast turned
thyself away to some business, thou singest no longer, yet thou hast
being: thou hast being, yet thou singest not. It may be also thy desire
turneth thee to somewhat; not only dost thou not sing, but thou even
offendest His ears, yet thou hast being. What praise will that be, when
thou praisest as long as thou hast being? But what meaneth, "as long as
I have being"? Will there be any time when he will not be? Nay, rather,
that "long" will be everlasting, and therefore it will be truly "long."
For whatever hath end in time, however prolonged it is, is yet not
"long."...
4. "Put not your trust in princes" (ver. 3). Brethren, here we receive
a mighty task; it is a voice from heaven, from above it soundeth to us.
For now through some kind of weakness the soul of man, whensoever it is
in tribulation here, despaireth of God, and chooseth to rely on man.
Let it be said to one when set in some affliction, "There is a great
man, by whom thou mayest be set free;" he smileth, he rejoiceth, he is
lifted up. But if it is said to him, "God freeth thee," he is chilled,
so to speak, by despair. The aid of a mortal is promised, and thou
rejoicest; the aid of the Immortal is promised, and art thou sad? It is
promised thee that thou shalt be freed by one who needeth to be freed
with thee, and thou exultest, as at some great aid: thou art promised
that Liberator, who needeth none to free Him, and thou despairest, as
though it were but a fable. Woe to such thoughts: they wander far;
truly there is sad and great death in them. Approach, begin to long,
begin to seek and to know Him by whom thou wast made. For He will not
leave His work, if He be not left by His work.
5. ..."His breath shall go forth, and he shall return to his earth: in
that day shall all his thoughts perish" (ver. 4). Where is swelling?
where is pride? where is boasting? But perhaps he will have passed to a
good place, if indeed he have passed. For I know not whither he who
spake thus hath passed. For he spake in pride; and I know not whither
such men pass, save that I look into another Psalm, and see that their
passage is an evil one. "I beheld the wicked lifted up above the cedars
of Libanus, and I passed by, and, lo, he was not; and I sought him, and
his place was not found." The good man, who passed by, and found
not the wicked, reached a place where the wicked is not. Wherefore,
brethren, let us all listen: brethren, beloved of God, let us all
listen; in whatsoever tribulation, in whatsoever longing for the
heavenly gift, "let us not trust in princes, nor in sons of men, in
whom is no salvation." All this is mortal, fleeting, perishable.
What then must we do, if we are not to hope in sons of men, nor in
princes? What must we do? "Blessed is he whose Helper is the God of
Jacob" (ver. 5): not this man or that man; not this angel or that
angel; but, "blessed is he whose Helper is the God of Jacob:" for to
Jacob also so great an Helper was He, that of Jacob He made him Israel.
O mighty help! now he is Israel, "seeing God." While then thou art
placed here, and a wanderer not yet seeing God, if thou hast the God of
Jacob for thy Helper, from Jacob thou wilt become Israel, and wilt be
"seeing God," and all toil and all groans shall come to an end, gnawing
cares shall cease, happy praises shall succeed. "Blessed is he whose
Helper is the God of Jacob;" of this Jacob. Wherefore is he happy?
Meanwhile, while yet groaning in this life, "his hope is in the Lord
his God."...Who is this, "Lord his God"?..."To us there is one God, the
Father, of whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom
are all things." Therefore let Him be thy hope, even the Lord
thy God; in Him let thy hope be. His hope too is in the lord his god,
who worshippeth Saturn; his hope is in the lord his god, who
worshippeth Neptune or Mercury; yea more, I add, who worshippeth his
belly, of whom is said, "whose god is their belly." The one is
the god of the one, the other of the other. Who is this "blessed" one?
for "his hope is in the Lord his God." But who is He? "Who made heaven
and earth, the sea, and all that is in them" (ver. 6). My brethren, we
have a great God; let us bless His holy Name, that He hath deigned to
make us His possession. As yet thou seest not God; thou canst not fully
love what as yet thou seest not. All that thou seest, He hath made.
Thou admirest the world; why not the Maker of the world? Thou lookest
up to the heavens, and art amazed: thou considerest the whole earth,
and tremblest; when canst thou contain in thy thought the vastness of
the sea? Look at the countless number of the stars, look at all the
many kind of seeds, all the different sorts of animals, all that
swimmeth in the water, creepeth on the earth, flieth in the sky,
hovereth in the air; how great are all these, how beautiful, how fair,
how amazing! Behold, He who made all these, is thy God. Put thy hope in
Him, that thou mayest be happy. "His hope is in the Lord his God."
Observe, my brethren, the mighty God, the good God, who maketh all
these things....If he mentioned these things only, perhaps thou
wouldest answer me, "God, who made heaven and earth and sea, is a great
God: but doth He think of me?" It would be said to thee, "He made
thee." How so? am I heaven, or am I earth, or am I sea? Surely it is
plain; I am neither heaven, nor earth, nor sea: yet I am on earth. At
least thou grantest me this, that thou art on earth. Hear then, that
God made not only heaven and earth and sea: for He "made heaven and
earth and sea, and all that is in them." If then He made all that is in
them, He made thee also. It is too little to say, thee; the sparrow,
the locust, the worm, none of these did He not make, and He careth for
all. His care refers not to His commandment, for this commandment He
gave to man alone....As regards then the tenor of the commandment, "God
doth not take care for oxen:" as regards His providential care
of the universe, whereby He created all things, and ruleth the world,
"Thou, Lord, shalt save both man and beast." Here perhaps some one may
say to me, "God careth not for oxen," comes from the New Testament:
"Thou, Lord, shalt save both man and beast," is from the Old Testament.
There are some who find fault and say, that these two Testaments agree
not with one another....Let us hear the Lord Himself, the Chief and
Master of the Apostles: "Consider," saith He, "the fowls of the air;
they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and your
heavenly Father feedeth them." Therefore even beside men, these
animals are objects of care to God, to be fed, not to receive a law. As
far then as regards giving a law, "God careth not for oxen:" as regards
creating, feeding, governing, ruling, all things have to do with God.
"Are not two sparrows sold for one farthing?" saith our Lord Jesus
Christ, "and one of them shall not fall to the ground without the will
of your Father: how much better are ye than they." Perhaps thou
sayest, God counteth me not in this great multitude. There follows here
a wondrous passage in the Gospel: "the hairs of your head are all
numbered."
6. "Who keepeth truth for ever." What "truth for ever"? what "truth"
doth He "keep," and wherein doth "He keep it for ever"? "Who executeth
judgment for them that suffer wrong" (ver. 7). He avengeth them that
suffer wrong. There cometh at once to thee the voice of the Apostle:
"now therefore there is altogether a fault among you, that ye go to law
one with another: why do ye not rather suffer wrong?" He urged
thee not to suffer annoyance, but to suffer wrong: for not every
annoyance is wrong. For whatever thou sufferest lawfully is not a
wrong; lest perchance thou shouldest say, I also am among those who
have suffered wrong, for I have suffered such a thing in such a place,
and such a thing for such a reason. Consider whether thou hast suffered
a wrong. Robbers suffer many things, but they suffer no wrong. Wicked
men, evil doers, house-breakers, adulterers, seducers, all these suffer
many evils, yet is there no wrong. It is one thing to suffer wrong; it
is another to suffer tribulation, or penalty, or annoyance, or
punishment. Consider where thou art; see what thou hast done; see why
thou art suffering; and then thou seest what thou art suffering. Right
and wrong are contraries. Right is what is just. For not all that is
called right, is right. What if a man lay down for you unjust right?
nor indeed is it to be called right, if it is unjust. That is true
right, which is also just. Consider what thou hast done, not what thou
art suffering. If thou hast done right, thou art suffering wrong; if
thou hast done wrong, thou art suffering right....
7. "Who giveth food to the hungry." Behold, from thee I look for
nothing: "God giveth food to the hungry." Who are "the hungry"? All.
What is, all? To all things that have life, to all men He giveth food:
doth He not reserve some food for His beloved? If they have another
kind of hunger, they have also another kind of food. Let us first
enquire what their hunger is, and then we shall find their food.
"Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they
shall be filled." We ought to be God's hungry ones...."The Lord
looseth them that are fettered; the Lord lifteth up them that are
dashed down; the Lord maketh wise them that are blind" (ver. 8).
Perfectly hath he by this last sentence explained to us all the
preceding ones: lest perchance, when he had said, "the Lord looseth
them that are fettered," we should refer it to those fettered ones, who
for some crime are bound in irons by their masters: and in that he
said, "He lifteth up them that are dashed down," there should occur to
our minds some one stumbling or falling, or thrown from a horse. There
is another kind of fall, there are other kinds of fetters, just as
there is other darkness and other light. Whereas he said, "He maketh
the blind wise;" he would not say, He enlightened the blind, lest thou
shouldest understand this also in reference to the flesh, as the man
was enlightened by the Lord, when He anointed his eyes with clay made
with spittle, and so healed him: that thou mightest not look for
anything of this sort, when He is speaking of spiritual things, he
pointeth to a sort of light of wisdom, wherewith the blind are
enlightened. Therefore in the same way as the blind are enlightened
with the light of wisdom, so are the fettered set free, and those who
are dashed down are lifted up. Whereby then have we been fettered?
whereby dashed down? Our body was once an ornament to us: now, we have
sinned, and thereby have had fetters put on us. What are our fetters?
Our mortality...."The Lord loveth the righteous." And who are the
"righteous"? How far are they righteous now? Just as thou hast; "the
Lord, guardeth proselytes" (ver. 9). "Proselytes" are strangers. Every
Church of the Gentiles is a stranger. For it cometh in to the Fathers,
not sprung of their flesh, but their daughter by imitating them. Yet
the Lord, not any man, guardeth them. "The orphan and widow He will
take up." Let none think that He taketh up the orphan for his
inheritance, or the widow for any business of hers. True, God doth help
them; and in all the duties of the human race, he doeth a good work,
who taketh care of an orphan, who abandoneth not a widow: but in a
certain way we are all orphans, not because our Father is dead, but
because He is absent.
8. "And the way of sinners He shall root out." What is, "the way of
sinners"? To mock at these things which we say. "Who is an orphan, who
a widow? What kingdom of heaven, what punishment of hell is there?
These are fables of the Christians. To what I see, to that will I live:
"let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." Beware lest such
men persuade you of aught: let them not enter through your ears into
your heart; let them find thorns in your ears: let him, who seeketh to
enter thus, go away pierced: for "evil communications corrupt good
manners." But here perhaps thou wilt say, "Wherefore then are
they prosperous? Behold, they worship not God, and commit every kind of
evil daily: yet they abound in those things, through want of which I
toil." Be not envious against sinners. What they receive, thou seest;
what is in store for them, seest thou not?...Wilt thou not believe even
the Lord thy God, who saith, "Broad and spacious is the way that
leadeth to destruction, and many there be that walk by it"? This
"way the Lord will root out." And, when "the way of sinners" has been
"rooted out," what remaineth for us? "Come, ye blessed of My father,
enjoy the Kingdom;" "The Lord shall reign for ever" (ver. 10).
"O Sion, thy God" shall reign for ever; surely thy God will not reign
without thee. "For generation and generation." He hath said it twice,
because he could not say it for ever. And think not that eternity is
bounded by finite words. The word eternity consists of four syllables;
in itself it is without end. It could not be commended to thee, save
thus, "for generation and generation." Too little hath he said: if he
spoke it all day long, it were too narrow: if he spoke it all his life,
must he not at length hold his peace? Love eternity: without end shalt
thou reign, if Christ be thine End, with whom thou shalt reign for ever
and ever. Amen.
Let us pray in the words of Augustine.
Turn we to the Lord God, the Father Almighty, and with pure hearts offer to him, so far as our
meanness can, great and true thanks, with all our hearts praying his exceeding kindness, that of
his good pleasure he would deign to hear our prayers, that by his Power he would drive out the
enemy from our deeds and thoughts, that he would increase our faith, guide our understandings,
give us spiritual thoughts, and lead us to his bliss, through Jesus Christ his Son our Lord, who
liveth and reigneth with him, in the Unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
[A prayer which he was wont to use after his Sermons and Lectures.]
NPNF (V1-08) St. Augustine
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