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of good things, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus, Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honor, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

HOMILY IX. But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also

may be of good comfort, when I know your state. For I have no one like-minded, who will genuinely care for your state. For all seek their own things, not the things of

Jesus Christ. 1. He said that the things concerning me have fallen out unto the furtherance of the Gospel, so that my bonds became manifest in all the prætorium; he said that, Yea, and if I am offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith; he established them through these things. Perhaps they would have suspected the former things to have been said for the sake of comfort. What then does he do, and how does he dispel the suspicion? I am sending Timothy to you, he says; for they longed to hear all things concerning him. And for what reason did he not say, That you may know my state, but, That I may know your state? For Epaphroditus was about to report his own affairs before Timothy; wherefore, proceeding, he says, But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother. But I wish, he says, to learn your affairs. For it is likely that he had spent much time with Paul because of his bodily sickness. So I necessarily wish, he says, to learn your affairs. See how he refers all things to Christ, even the sending of Timothy, saying, But I hope in the Lord Jesus, that is, I am confident that God will make this easy for me, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state. Just as, he says, I recovered you who heard these things, which you prayed for concerning me, that the Gospel advanced, that those men were put to shame, that through the very things by which they thought to harm me, through these they gladdened me; so I also wish to learn your affairs, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state. He shows here that they ought to rejoice in his bonds, and to follow these things 62.246; for they brought him great pleasure; for the phrase, that I also may be of good comfort, means this, Just as you are. Alas, what a longing he had for Macedonia! And he testifies the same thing to the Thessalonians, as when he says, But we, being taken from you for a short time. And here, I hope, he says, to send Timothy, that I may know your state; which was a sign of the greatest care. For when he himself could not be present, he sent his disciples, not enduring to be ignorant of their affairs even for a short time; for indeed he did not learn all things by the spirit; and this happened for a good reason. For if the disciples had been persuaded of this, they would have become shameless; but now, expecting to be unnoticed, they more easily corrected themselves. And by this he especially turned them, by saying, that I also may be of good comfort, and made them more earnest, so that Timothy on coming might not find them in one state, but in another, and report it to him. And he himself seems to have used this manner, postponing his own presence, so that the Corinthians might change. For this reason he also wrote; Sparing you, I came not as yet unto Corinth, For love is not shown only by this, by reporting one's own affairs, but also by seeking to learn theirs; for this is a sign of a soul that cares and is anxious and is always in agony. At the same time he also honors them, by sending Timothy. What do you say? You are sending Timothy? Why? Yes, he says; For I have no one like-minded, that is, of those who care in the same way as I do, who will genuinely the

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ἀγαθῶν, χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ, Χριστοῦ, μεθ' οὗ τῷ Πατρὶ ἅμα τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι δόξα, κράτος, τιμὴ, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

ΟΜΙΛΙΑ Θʹ. Ἐλπίζω δὲ ἐν Κυρίῳ Ἰησοῦ Τιμόθεον ταχέως πέμψαι ὑμῖν, ἵνα κἀγὼ

εὐψυχῶ, γνοὺς τὰ περὶ ὑμῶν. Οὐδένα γὰρ ἔχω ἰσόψυχον, ὅστις γνησίως τὰ περὶ ὑμῶν μεριμνήσει. Οἱ πάντες γὰρ τὰ ἑαυτῶν ζητοῦσιν, οὐ τὰ τοῦ

Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ. αʹ. Εἶπεν, ὅτι τὰ κατ' ἐμὲ εἰς προκοπὴν τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου ἐλήλυθεν, Ὥστε τοὺς δεσμούς μου φανεροὺς γενέσθαι ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ πραιτωρίῳ· εἶπεν, ὅτι Εἰ καὶ σπένδομαι ἐπὶ τῇ θυσίᾳ καὶ λειτουργίᾳ τῆς πίστεως ὑμῶν· ἐστήριξεν αὐτοὺς διὰ τούτων. Ἴσως ἂν ὑπώπτευσαν τὰ πρότερα παραμυθίας ἕνεκεν εἰρῆσθαι. Τί οὖν ποιεῖ, καὶ πῶς λύει τὴν ὑποψίαν; Τιμόθεον πέμπω πρὸς ὑμᾶς, φησί· καὶ γὰρ ἐπόθουν πάντα ἀκοῦσαι τὰ κατ' αὐτόν. Καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν οὐκ εἶπεν, Ἵνα γνῶτε τὰ περὶ ἐμοῦ, ἀλλ', Ἵνα γνῶ τὰ ὑμέτερα; Τὰ μὲν γὰρ αὐτοῦ Ἐπαφρόδιτος πρὸ Τιμοθέου ἔμελλεν ἀπαγγέλλειν· διὸ προϊών φησιν, Ἀναγκαῖον δὲ ἡγησάμην Ἐπαφρόδιτον τὸν ἀδελφὸν πέμψαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς. Τὰ δὲ ὑμέτερα βούλομαι, φησὶ, μαθεῖν. Πολὺν γὰρ εἰκὸς αὐτὸν πεποιηκέναι χρόνον παρὰ τῷ Παύλῳ διὰ τὴν ἀσθένειαν τὴν σωματικήν. Ὥστε ἀναγκαίως βούλομαι, φησὶ, μαθεῖν τὰ καθ' ὑμᾶς. Ὅρα πῶς πάντα ἀνατίθησι τῷ Χριστῷ, καὶ τὴν ἀποστολὴν τοῦ Τιμοθέου, λέγων, Ἐλπίζω δὲ ἐν Κυρίῳ Ἰησοῦ, τουτέστι, θαῤῥῶ, ὅτι ἐξευμαρίσει μοι ὁ Θεὸς τοῦτο, ἵνα κἀγὼ εὐψυχῶ, γνοὺς τὰ περὶ ὑμῶν. Ὥσπερ ὑμᾶς, φησὶν, ἀνεκτησάμην ταῦτα ἀκούσαντας, ἅπερ ηὔχεσθε περὶ ἐμοῦ, ὅτι τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον ἐπέδωκεν, ὅτι κατῃσχύνθησαν ἐκεῖνοι, ὅτι δι' ὧν ἐνόμιζον βλάπτειν, διὰ τούτων εὔφραναν· οὕτω βούλομαι καὶ τὰ καθ' ὑμᾶς μαθεῖν, ἵνα κἀγὼ εὐψυχῶ, γνοὺς τὰ περὶ ὑμῶν. ∆εικνύει ἐνταῦθα, ὅτι ἐκείνους χαίρειν ἔδει ἐπὶ τοῖς δεσμοῖς, καὶ τού 62.246 τοις κατακολουθεῖν· πολλὴν γὰρ ἔτικτον αὐτῷ τὴν ἡδονήν· τὸ γὰρ, Ἵνα κἀγὼ εὐψυχῶ, τοῦτό ἐστιν, Ὥσπερ ὑμεῖς. Βαβαὶ, πόσον εἶχε τῆς Μακεδονίας πόθον! Καὶ Θεσσαλονικεῦσι τὸ αὐτὸ μαρτυρεῖ, ὡς ὅταν λέγῃ, Ἡμεῖς δὲ ἀποφανισθέντες ἀφ' ὑμῶν πρὸς καιρὸν ὥρας. Καὶ ἐνταῦθα, Ἐλπίζω, φησὶ, πέμψαι Τιμόθεον, ἵνα γνῶ τὰ περὶ ὑμῶν· ὃ κηδεμονίας ἦν μεγίστης. Ὅτε γὰρ αὐτὸς οὐκ ἐδύνατο παραγενέσθαι, τοὺς μαθητὰς ἔπεμπε, μὴ καρτερῶν μηδὲ ὀλίγον χρόνον ἀγνοεῖν τὰ κατ' αὐτούς· οὐ γὰρ δὴ τῷ πνεύματι πάντα ἐμάνθανε· καὶ τοῦτο δὲ εἰκότως ἐγίνετο. Εἰ γὰρ τοῦτο ἐπείσθησαν οἱ μαθηταὶ, ἀναίσχυντοι ἂν ἐγένοντο· νῦν δὲ προσδοκῶντες λανθάνειν, ῥᾷον ἐπανωρθώσαντο. Καὶ τούτῳ αὐτοὺς μάλιστα ἐπέστρεψε, τῷ εἰπεῖν, Ἵνα κἀγὼ εὐψυχῶ, καὶ σπουδαιοτέρους αὐτοὺς ἐποίησεν, ὥστε μὴ ἐλθόντα Τιμόθεον, ἀλλά τινα εὑρεῖν, καὶ ἀπαγγεῖλαι αὐτῷ. Φαίνεται δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς τούτῳ κεχρημένος τῷ τρόπῳ, καὶ ἀναβαλλόμενος αὑτοῦ τὴν παρουσίαν, ὥστε μεταβαλέσθαι Κορινθίους. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἔγραφε· Φειδόμενος ὑμῶν, οὐκέτι ἦλθον εἰς Κόρινθον, Οὐ γὰρ τούτῳ μόνον ἡ ἀγάπη δείκνυται, τῷ τὰ οἰκεῖα ἀπαγγέλλειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ τὰ ἐκείνων ζητεῖν μαθεῖν· μεριμνώσης γὰρ τοῦτο ψυχῆς καὶ πεφροντισμένης καὶ ἀεὶ ἐναγωνίου οὔσης. Ἅμα δὲ καὶ τιμᾷ αὐτοὺς, Τιμόθεον πέμπων. Τί λέγεις; Τιμόθεον πέμπεις; τί δήποτε; Ναὶ, φησίν· Οὐδένα γὰρ ἔχω ἰσόψυχον, τουτέστι, τῶν ὁμοίως μοι μεριμνώντων, ὅστις γνησίως τὰ