The Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity
Home, 22nd Sunday after Trinity
LORD, we beseech thee to keep thy household the Church in continual godliness; that through thy protection it may be free from all adversities, and devoutly given to serve thee in good works, to the glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Source: Sacramentary of Bishop Gregory of Rome [604 AD] The Latin used the word familia, which points to the traditional Roman family that was the basic and most important element of society. It included all in the household, including slaves, and was headed by the pater familias who was responsible for the welfare of all. This concept of the household is the basis of the Gospel story today.
Psalm: 124, 124, 125, 136, 138;
Philippians i. 3 & St. Matthew xviii. 21
Homily of Augustine on Psalm CXXIV
1st Samuel xvii. 45
Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands.
Psalm 123, 124, 125 | 136, 138
Philippians i. 3
I THANK my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the tender mercies of Christ Jesus. And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
St. Matthew xviii. 21
PETER said unto Jesus, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellow-servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow-servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
Augustine
Homily
Psalm CXXIV
1. Ye already well know, dearest brethren, that a "Song of Degrees," is
a song of our ascent: and that this ascent is not effected by the feet
of the body, but by the affections of the heart. This we have
repeatedly reminded you of: and we need not repeat it too often, that
there may be room for saying what hath not yet been said. This Psalm,
therefore, which ye have now heard sung for you, [5461] is inscribed,
"A Song of Degrees." This is its title. They sing therefore while
ascending: and sometimes as it were one man singeth, sometimes as it
were many; because many are one, since Christ is One, and in Christ the
members of Christ constitute one with Christ, and the Head of all these
members is in heaven. But although the body toileth on earth, it is not
cut off from its Head; for the Head looketh down from above, and
regardeth the body. [5462] ...Whether therefore one or many sing; many
men are one man, because it is unity; and Christ, as we have said, is
One, and all Christians are members of Christ.
2. ...Certain members indeed of that body of which we also are, which
can sing in truth, have gone before us. And this the holy Martyrs have
sung: for they have already escaped, and are with Christ in joy about
to receive at last incorruptible bodies, the very same which were at
first corruptible, wherein they have suffered pains; of the same there
will be made for them ornaments of righteousness. Therefore whether
they in reality, or we in hope, joining our affections with their
crowns, and longing for such a life as we have not here, and shall
never gain unless we have longed for it here, let us all sing together,
and say, "If the Lord Himself had not been in us."...
3. "If the Lord Himself had not been in us, now may Israel say" (ver.
1)...When? "When men rose up against us" (ver. 2). Marvel not: they
have been subdued: for they were men; but the Lord was in us, man was
not in us: for men rose up against us. Nevertheless men would crush
other men, unless in those men who could not be crushed, there were not
man, but the Lord. For what could men do to you, while ye rejoiced, and
sang, and securely held everlasting bliss? what could men do to you
when they rose against you, if the Lord had not been on your side? what
could they do? "Perchance they had swallowed us up quick" (ver. 3).
"Swallowed us up:" [5463] they would not first have slain us, and so
have swallowed us up. O inhuman, O cruel men! The Church swalloweth not
thus. [5464] To Peter it was said, "Kill and eat:" [5465] not, Swallow
quick. Because no man entereth into the body of the Church, save he be
slain first. [5466] What he was dieth, that he may be what he was not.
Otherwise, he who is not slain, and is not eaten by the Church, may be
in the visible number of the people: but he cannot be in the number of
the people which is known to God, whereof the Apostle saith, "The Lord
knoweth who are His," [5467] save he be eaten; and eaten he cannot be,
save he first be slain. The Pagan cometh, still in him idolatry liveth;
he must be grafted among the members of Christ: that he may be
engrafted, he must needs be eaten; but he cannot be eaten by the
Church, save first he be slain. Let him renounce the world, then is he
slain; let him believe in God, then is he eaten...But they in whom the
Lord is, are slain and die not. But they who consent [5468] and live,
are swallowed quick, when swallowed up they die. But they who have
suffered, and have not yielded to tribulations, rejoice and say, "If
the Lord had not been in us," etc.
4. ..."When their fury was enraged upon us." They are now in anger,
they now openly rage: "perchance the water had drowned us" (ver. 4). By
water he meaneth ungodly nations: and we shall see what sort of water
in the following verses. Whoever had consented unto them, water would
have overwhelmed him. For he would die by the death of the Egyptians,
he would not pass through after the example of the Israelites. For ye
know, brethren, that the people of Israel passed through the water, by
which the Egyptians were overwhelmed. [5469] But what sort of water is
this? It is a torrent, it flows with violence, but it will pass
by...Hence He, our Head, first drinketh, of whom it is said in the
Psalms, "He shall drink of the torrent in the way: therefore shall He
lift up His head." For our Head is already exalted, because He drank of
the torrent by the way; for our Lord hath suffered. If therefore our
Head hath been already raised up, why doth the body fear the torrent?
Without doubt, because the Head hath been raised, the body also will
say hereafter, "Our soul hath passed over the torrent. Perhaps our soul
hath passed over the water without substance" (ver. 5). Behold, what
sort of water he was speaking of, "The water perchance had overwhelmed
us." But what meaneth, "without substance"?
5. In the first place, what meaneth, [5470] "Perchance our soul hath
passed over"? (ver. 5). Understand however the meaning to be this:
"Thinkest thou our soul hath passed over?" and why do they say,
"Thinkest thou"? Because the greatness of the danger maketh it hardly
credible that he hath escaped. They have endured a great death: they
have been in great dangers; they have been so much oppressed, that they
almost gave consent while alive, and were all but swallowed up alive:
now therefore that they have escaped, now that they are secure, but
still remember the danger, the great danger, say, "Thinkest thou our
soul hath passed over the water without substance?"
6. What is the water without substance, save the water of sins without
substance? For sins have not substance: they have destitution, not
substance; they have want, not substance. In that water without
substance, the younger son lost the whole of his substance...Dost thou
wish to see how the water is without substance? Take away with thee to
the world below what thou hast acquired: what wilt thou do? Thou hast
acquired gold: thou hast lost thy faith: after a few days thou leavest
this life; thou canst not take away with thee the gold thou hast
acquired by the loss of thy good faith; thy heart, destitute of faith,
goeth forth into punishment--thy heart, which if full of faith, would
go forth unto a crown. Behold, what thou hast done is nothing: and thou
hast offended God for nothing.
7. Men hear that common proverb; and the proverbs of God slumber in
them. What proverb? "Better in hand than in hope." [5471] Unhappy man,
what hast thou in hand? Thou sayest, "Better in hand." Hold it so as
not to lose it, and then say, "Better in hand." But if thou holdest it
not, why dost thou not hold fast that which thou canst not lose? What
then hast thou in hand? Gold. Keep it in hand, therefore: if thou hast
it in hand, let it not be taken away without thy consent. But if
through gold also thou art carried where thou wishest not, and if a
more powerful robber seeketh thee, because he findeth thee a less
powerful robber; if a stronger eagle pursue thee, because thou hast
carried off a hare before him: the lesser was thy prey, thou wilt be a
prey unto the greater. Men see not these things in human affairs: by so
much avarice are they blinded...
8. Let them escape the water without substance, and say, "Blessed be
the Lord, who hath not given us over for a prey unto their teeth" (ver.
6). For the hunters were following, and had placed a bait in their
trap. What bait? The sweetness of this life, so that each man for the
sake of the sweetness of this life may thrust his head into iniquity,
and be caught in the trap. Not they, in whom the Lord was, they who
say, "If the Lord Himself had not been in us;" they have not been taken
in the trap. Let the Lord be in thee, and thou wilt not be taken in the
trap.
9. "Our soul is escaped, even as a bird out of the snare of the
fowlers" (ver. 7). Because the Lord was in the soul itself, therefore
hath that soul escaped, even as a bird out of the snare of the fowler.
Why like a bird? Because it had fallen heedlessly, like a bird; and it
could say afterwards, God will forgive me. Unstable bird, rather set
thy feet firm upon the rock: go not into the trap. Thou wilt be taken,
consumed, crushed. Let the Lord be in thee, and He will deliver thee
from greater threats, from the snare of the fowlers. As if thou wert to
see a bird about to fall into a snare, thou makest a greater noise that
it may fly away from the net; so also, when perhaps some even of the
Martyrs were stretching out their neck after the enjoyment of this
life, the Lord, who was in them, made the noise of hell, and the bird
was delivered from the snare of the fowlers. The snare was the
sweetness of this life: they were not entangled in the snare, and were
slain; by their slaughter the net was broken; no longer did the
sweetness of this life remain, that they might again be entangled by
it, but it was crushed. Was the bird also crushed? Far be it! for it
was not in the snare: "The snare is broken, and we are delivered."
10. ..."Our help standeth in the Name of the Lord, who hath made heaven
and earth" (ver. 8). For if this were not our help, the snare would not
indeed remain for ever; but when the bird was once taken, it would be
crushed. For this life will pass away; and they who shall have been
taken in by its pleasures, and through these pleasures have offended
God, will pass away with this life. For the snare will be broken; be ye
assured of this: all the sweetness of this present life will no longer
exist, when the lot assigned to it hath been fulfilled; but we must not
be enthralled by it, so that when the net is broken, thou mayest then
rejoice and say, "The snare is broken, and we are delivered." But lest
thou think that thou canst do this of thy own strength, consider whose
work thy deliverance is (for if thou art proud, thou fallest into the
snare), and say, "Our help standeth in the Name of the Lord, who hath
made heaven and earth."...
________
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
Notes:
__________________________________________________________
[5460] Lat. CXXIII. A sermon to the people.
[5461] ["Unto you," in Oxford ed., which is not necessarily the sense
of the original: quem nunc vobis cantatum audistis.--C.]
[5462] Acts ix. 4.
[5463] [i.e., alive: vivos absorbuissent.--C.]
[5464] [Compare Ps. xxxv. 25, p. 86, supra.--C.]
[5465] Acts x. 13.
[5466] ["Ye are dead," Col. iii. 3.--C.]
[5467] 2 Tim. ii. 19.
[5468] [i.e., to sacrifice to idols.--C.]
[5469] Exod. xiv. 22-29.
[5470] Gesenius, Monum. Phoen. p. 390, thinks both may be from the
first root, signifying "difficulty;" or the latter possibly=#R+J+a,
#R+J+" "let one see." [Our author says: "The Latin interpreters have
thus rendered as far as they were able the Greek word ^ra. For thus the
Greek copies have it; ^ra: and as it is an expression of doubt, it is
rendered by an expression of doubt, the word `perchance' (fortasse):
but this is not the exact sense. We may express this Greek word by one
not so Latin in its use, but adapted to your comprehension. The Punic
word, iar, I mean not that which signifieth a wood, but the expression
of doubt, is the Greek ^ra. This the Latins may or usually do express
by Putas: as in this instance, Dost thou think (putas) I have escaped
this? If we say, Perchance I have escaped, ye see that it hath not this
meaning: but the word, Thinkest thou, is commonly used: but not in
Latin in this sense. Although I may use it, when expounding to you; for
I often use words that are not Latin, that ye may understand. But in
Scripture this could not be used, because it was not Latin; and as
Latin failed, that was used for it which had not this meaning."--C.]
[5471] Malo quod teneo, quam quod spero. [Eng. "A bird in the hand,"
etc.--C.]
Finis
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