49

we may suffer, let us consider worse things, and we will have sufficient comfort; and let us always look around for those who have suffered worse things, and if we ourselves have ever suffered heavier things. Thus also Paul encourages, as when he says: You have not yet resisted to the point of blood, striving against sin, and again, No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to man. Whatever, therefore, we may suffer, let us look for worse things; for we will find them, and thus we will be thankful. But before all things let us give thanks for all things continually; for thus these things will cease, and we will live to the glory of God, and will obtain the promised good things; which may it be granted for us all to obtain, by grace and loving-kindness.

HOMILY 9. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom

teaching, and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord; and whatever

you do in word, in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father through Him.

1. Having exhorted us to be thankful, he also shows the way. What way is this? The one we lately discussed with you. What does he say? Let the word of Christ 62.360 dwell in you richly. Or rather, not this one only, but another also. For I said that we ought to recount those who have suffered worse things, and to consider those who have endured harder things than we have suffered, and to give thanks that those things did not happen to us; but what does he say? Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; that is, the teaching, the doctrines, the exhortation, in which he says that the present life is nothing, nor are its good things. For if we see these things, we will yield to none of the difficulties. Let it dwell, 62.361 he says, in you richly, not simply, but with great abundance. Hear, all of you who are of the world, and are heads of a wife and children, how he enjoins you especially to read the Scriptures; and not simply or as it may happen, but with much diligence. For just as the one who is rich in money can bear loss and condemnation, so the one who is rich in the doctrines of philosophy will easily bear not only poverty, but also all calamities, and more easily than that one. For in that case, in the settlement of the loss, the rich man must necessarily be diminished and convicted; and if he suffers this often, he will no longer be able to bear it; but here it is not so; for we do not spend our sound reasonings when we must bear something unwanted, but they remain always. And see the understanding of this blessed man; He did not say: Let the word of Christ be in you, simply, but what? Let it dwell, and, Richly. In all wisdom teaching and admonishing yourselves. He calls virtue wisdom; and rightly so; for humility, and almsgiving, and such things, are wisdom; just as, then, the opposites are folly; for cruelty comes from folly. Hence in many places he calls all sin foolishness. He said, he says, the fool in his heart: There is no God; and again, My wounds have become foul and are corrupt because of my foolishness. For what is more foolish, tell me, than one who clothes himself in garments, but overlooks his own naked brothers? than one who feeds dogs, but neglects the image of God in hunger? than one who is simply persuaded that human affairs are nothing, and yet is attached to them as if they were immortal? Just as, therefore, nothing is more foolish than such a one, so nothing is wiser than the one who [practices] virtue

49

πάθωμεν, τὰ δεινότερα ἐννοῶμεν, καὶ ἕξομεν ἀρκοῦσαν παραμυθίαν· καὶ τοὺς τὰ δεινότερα πεπονθότας ἀεὶ περισκοπῶμεν, καὶ εἰ αὐτοὶ βαρύτερα ἐπάθομέν ποτε. Οὕτω καὶ Παῦλος προτρέπει, ὡς ὅταν λέγῃ· Οὔπω μέχρις αἵματος ἀντικατέστητε πρὸς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἀνταγωνιζόμενοι, καὶ πάλιν, Πειρασμὸς ὑμᾶς οὐκ εἴληφεν, εἰ μὴ ἀνθρώπινος. Ὧν οὖν ἂν πάθωμεν, τὰ χείρω περισκοπῶμεν· εὑρήσομεν γὰρ, καὶ οὕτως ἐσόμεθα εὐχάριστοι. Πρὸ δὲ πάντων εὐχαριστῶμεν ἐπὶ πᾶσι διηνεκῶς· οὕτω γὰρ καὶ ταῦτα παύσεται, καὶ ἡμεῖς εἰς δόξαν Θεοῦ ζήσομεν, καὶ τῶν ἐπηγγελμένων ἀγαθῶν ἐπιτευξόμεθα· ὧν γένοιτο πάντας ἡμᾶς ἐπιτυχεῖν, χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ.

ΟΜΙΛΙΑ Θʹ. Ὁ λόγος τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐνοικείτω ἐν ὑμῖν πλουσίως, ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ

διδάσκοντες, καὶ νουθετοῦντες ἑαυτοὺς ψαλμοῖς καὶ ὕμνοις, καὶ ᾠδαῖς πνευματικαῖς, ἐν χάριτι ᾄδοντες ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν τῷ Κυρίῳ· καὶ πᾶν ὅ

τι ἂν ποιῆτε ἐν λόγῳ, ἐν ἔργῳ, πάντα ἐν ὀνόματι τοῦ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ, εὐχαριστοῦντες τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρὶ δι' αὐτοῦ.

αʹ. Παραινέσας εὐχαρίστους εἶναι, καὶ τὴν ὁδὸν δείκνυσι. Ποίαν δὴ ταύτην; Ἣν πρώην ἡμεῖς διελέχθημεν πρὸς ὑμᾶς. Τί λέγων; Ὁ λόγος τοῦ Χριστοῦ 62.360 ἐνοικείτω ἐν ὑμῖν πλουσίως. Μᾶλλον δὲ οὐ ταύτην μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑτέραν. Ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ εἶπον, ὅτι δεῖ τοὺς τὰ δεινότερα πεπονθότας ἀναλέγειν, καὶ τοὺς τὰ χαλεπώτερα ὧν ἐπάθομεν ὑπομείναντας ἀναλογίζεσθαι, καὶ εὐχαριστεῖν ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ συμβῆναι ἐκεῖνα· αὐτὸς δὲ τί φησιν; Ὁ λόγος τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐνοικείτω ἐν ὑμῖν πλουσίως· τουτέστιν, ἡ διδασκαλία, τὰ δόγματα, ἡ παραίνεσις, ἐν αἷς οὐδὲν τὴν παροῦσαν ζωὴν εἶναί φησιν, οὐδὲ τὰ ταύτης ἀγαθά. Ἐὰν γὰρ ταῦτα ἴδωμεν, οὐδενὶ τῶν δυσχερῶν εἴξομεν. Ἐνοικείτω, 62.361 φησὶν, ἐν ὑμῖν πλουσίως, μὴ ἁπλῶς, ἀλλὰ μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς περιουσίας. Ἀκούσατε ὅσοι ἐστὲ κοσμικοὶ, καὶ γυναικὸς καὶ παίδων προΐστασθε, πῶς καὶ ὑμῖν ἐπιτρέπει μάλιστα τὰς Γραφὰς ἀναγινώσκειν· καὶ οὐχ ἁπλῶς οὐδὲ ὡς ἔτυχεν, ἀλλὰ μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς σπουδῆς. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ πλούσιος ἐν χρήμασι ζημίαν καὶ καταδίκην ἐνεγκεῖν δύναται, οὕτως ὁ πλουτῶν ἐν δόγμασι φιλοσοφίας, οὐχὶ πενίαν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάσας τὰς συμφορὰς εὐκόλως οἴσει, καὶ ἐκείνου εὐκολώτερον. Ἐκεῖ μὲν γὰρ ἐν τῇ διαλύσει τῆς ζημίας ἀνάγκη τὸν ὄντα πλούσιον ἐλαττοῦσθαι καὶ ἐλέγχεσθαι· κἂν πολλάκις τοῦτο πάθῃ, οὐκέτι δυνήσεται ἐνεγκεῖν· ἐνταῦθα δὲ οὐχ οὕτως· οὐδὲ γὰρ δαπανῶμεν τοὺς ὑγιεῖς λογισμοὺς, ὅταν ἐνεγκεῖν τι δέῃ τῶν ἀβουλήτων, ἀλλὰ μένουσι διαπαντός. Καὶ ὅρα τὴν σύνεσιν τοῦ μακαρίου τούτου· Οὐκ εἶπεν· Ὁ λόγος τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐν ὑμῖν ἔστω, ἁπλῶς, ἀλλὰ τί; Ἐνοικείτω, καὶ, Πλουσίως. Ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ διδάσκοντες καὶ νουθετοῦντες ἑαυτούς. Τὴν ἀρετήν φησι σοφίαν· εἰκότως· καὶ ἡ ταπεινοφροσύνη γὰρ, καὶ ἡ ἐλεημοσύνη, καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα, σοφία ἐστίν· ὥσπερ οὖν τἀναντία, ἄνοια· καὶ γὰρ ὠμότης ἐξ ἀνοίας. Ὅθεν πολλαχοῦ τὴν πᾶσαν ἁμαρτίαν ἀφροσύνην καλεῖ. Εἶπε, φησὶν, ἄφρων ἐν καρδίᾳ αὑτοῦ· Οὐκ ἔστι Θεός· καὶ πάλιν, Προσώζεσαν καὶ ἐσάπησαν οἱ μώλωπές μου ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς ἀφροσύνης μου. Τί γὰρ ἀνοητότερον, εἰπέ μοι, τοῦ ἑαυτὸν μὲν ἱμάτια περιβάλλοντος, τοὺς δὲ ἀδελφοὺς τοὺς αὑτοῦ γυμνοὺς παραβλέποντος; τοῦ κύνας μὲν τρέφοντος, τὴν δὲ εἰκόνα τοῦ Θεοῦ περιορῶντος ἐν λιμῷ; τοῦ πεπεισμένου ἁπλῶς, ὅτι οὐδὲν τὰ ἀνθρώπινα πράγματα, καὶ ὥσπερ ἀθανάτοις αὐτοῖς προστετηκότος; Ὥσπερ οὖν οὐδὲν τοῦ τοιούτου ἀνοητότερον, οὕτως οὐδὲν σοφώτερον τοῦ τὴν ἀρετὴν