56

To the Spirit be glory, power, honor and worship, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

HOMILY 10. For the earth which has drunk the rain that comes often upon it, and brings forth

an herb fit for them for whom it is tilled, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and thistles, it is rejected and near to a curse, whose end is to be burned. 1. Let us hear the oracles of God with fear, with fear and much trembling. For, Serve the Lord, he says, with fear, and rejoice unto Him with trembling. But if even our joy and our exultation ought to be with trembling, when the things spoken are fearful, such as the present, of what punishment are we not worthy, if we do not listen to what is said with shuddering? Having said that it is impossible for those who have fallen away to be baptized a second time, and again receive the remission through the font, and having shown the awfulness of the matter, he adds: For the earth which has drunk the rain that comes often upon it, and brings forth an herb fit for them for whom it is tilled, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and thistles, it is rejected, and near to a curse; whose end is to be burned. Let us fear therefore, beloved. This threat is not Paul’s, the words are not a man’s; they are of the Holy Spirit, of Christ who speaks in him. Who then is pure from these thorns? And even if we were pure, not even so should we be confident, but fear and tremble lest thorns spring up in us; but when we are wholly and throughout thorns and thistles, whence are we confident, tell me, and become supine? What is it that makes us slothful? If he who thinks he stands ought to fear lest he fall; for he who thinks he stands, he says, let him take heed lest he fall; how ought the one who has fallen be anxious to rise up? If Paul fears lest, having preached to others, he himself should become a castaway, and fears becoming a castaway, he who is so approved; what defense and excuse shall we have, who have already become castaways, having no fear, but fulfilling our Christianity as a custom, and as a mere formality? Let us fear therefore, beloved. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven; let us fear; for it is revealed not only against impiety, but also against all unrighteousness, both small and great. Here he hints at the loving-kindness of God. But by rain he means teaching; and what he said above, Ought to be teachers by reason of the time, this he says here also. And in many places Scripture calls teaching rain; For I will command the clouds, he says, not to rain rain upon it; speaking of the vineyard; which elsewhere he calls a famine of bread and a thirst for water. And again; 63.84 The river of God is full of waters. For the earth which has drunk, he says, the rain that comes often upon it. Here he shows that they both received and drank in the word, and often obtained this, and not even so did they profit. For if you had not been tilled, he says, if you had not enjoyed rains, the evil would not have been so great; For if I had not come, he says, and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but if you have often drunk and received, for what reason have you brought forth other things instead of fruit? For I waited, he says, for it to make grapes, but it made thorns. Do you see that everywhere Scripture calls sins thorns? For David also says; I am turned into misery, while a thorn is fastened in me. For it does not simply come, but is fastened in; and if a small part of it remains, and we do not pull it all out, this small part causes pain just the same, as in the case of a thorn; and what

56

Πνεύματι δόξα, κράτος, τιμὴ καὶ προσκύνησις, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

ΟΜΙΛΙΑ Ιʹ. Γῆ γὰρ ἡ πιοῦσα τὸν ἐπ' αὐτῆς ἐρχόμενον πολ λάκις ὑετὸν, καὶ τίκτουσα

βοτάνην εὔθε τον ἐκείνοις δι' οὓς καὶ γεωργεῖται, μεταλαμ βάνει εὐλογίας ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἐκφέρουσα δὲ ἀκάνθας καὶ τριβόλους, ἀδόκιμος καὶ κατάρας ἐγγύς· ἧς τὸ τέλος εἰς καῦσιν. αʹ. Μετὰ φόβου τῶν λογίων ἀκούωμεν τοῦ Θεοῦ, μετὰ φόβου καὶ τρόμου πολλοῦ· ∆ουλεύσατε γὰρ, φησὶ, τῷ Κυρίῳ ἐν φόβῳ, καὶ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε αὐτῷ ἐν τρόμῳ. Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἡ χαρὰ ἡμῶν, καὶ ἡ ἀγαλλίασις μετὰ τρόμου ὀφείλει γίνεσθαι, ὅταν καὶ φοβερὰ ᾖ τὰ λεγόμενα, οἷα τὰ νῦν, τίνος οὐκ ἐσμὲν ἄξιοι τιμωρίας, μὴ μετὰ φρίκης ἐπακούοντες τῶν λεγομένων; Εἰπὼν ὅτι ἀδύνατον τοὺς παραπεσόντας βαπτισθῆναι δεύτερον, καὶ τὴν διὰ τοῦ λουτροῦ ἄφεσιν πάλιν λαβεῖν, καὶ δείξας τὸ φρικτὸν τοῦ πράγματος, ἐπάγει· Γῆ γὰρ ἡ πιοῦσα τὸν ἐπ' αὐτῆς πολλάκις ἐρχόμενον ὑετὸν, καὶ τίκτουσα βοτάνην εὔθετον ἐκείνοις δι' οὓς καὶ γεωργεῖται, μεταλαμβάνει εὐλογίας ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἐκφέρουσα δὲ ἀκάνθας καὶ τριβόλους, ἀδόκιμος, καὶ κατάρας ἐγγύς· ἧς τὸ τέλος εἰς καῦσιν. Φοβηθῶμεν οὖν, ἀγαπητοί· οὐκ ἔστι Παύλου αὕτη ἡ ἀπειλὴ, οὐκ ἔστιν ἀνθρώπου τὰ ῥήματα· τοῦ Πνεύματός εἰσι τοῦ ἁγίου, τοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ λαλοῦντος ἐν αὐτῷ. Ἆρα τίς ἐστιν ὁ τούτων τῶν ἀκανθῶν καθαρός; Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἦμεν καθαροὶ, οὐδὲ οὕτω θαῤῥεῖν ἐχρῆν, ἀλλὰ δεδοικέναι καὶ τρέμειν μήποτε ἄκανθαι βλαστήσωσιν ἐν ἡμῖν· ὅταν δὲ ὅλοι δι' ὅλου ἄκανθαι ὦμεν καὶ τρίβολοι, πόθεν θαῤῥοῦμεν, εἰπέ μοι, καὶ ὕπτιοι γινόμεθα; τί τὸ ποιοῦν ἡμᾶς ῥᾳθυμεῖν; Εἰ ὁ δοκῶν ἑστάναι, ὀφείλει δεδοικέναι μὴ πέσῃ· Ὁ δοκῶν γὰρ ἑστάναι, φησὶ, βλεπέτω μὴ πέσῃ· ὁ πεσὼν πῶς ὀφείλει μεριμνᾷν ὥστε ἀναστῆναι; Εἰ Παῦλος φοβεῖται μή πως ἄλλοις κηρύξας, αὐτὸς ἀδόκιμος γένηται, καὶ δέδοικε τὸ μὴ γενέσθαι ἀδόκιμος, ὁ οὕτω δόκιμος· ἡμεῖς οἱ γενόμενοι ἤδη ἀδόκιμοι, τίνα ἕξομεν ἀπολογίαν καὶ συγγνώμην, οὐδένα φόβον ἔχοντες, ἀλλ' ὡς συνήθειαν, οὕτω πληροῦντες τὸν Χριστιανισμὸν, καὶ ἀφοσιούμενοι; Φοβηθῶμεν τοίνυν, ἀγαπητοί· Ἀποκαλύπτεται γὰρ ὀργὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀπ' οὐρανοῦ· φοβηθῶμεν· ἀποκαλύπτεται γὰρ οὐκ ἐπ' ἀσέβειαν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν ἀδικίαν, καὶ μικρὰν καὶ μεγάλην. Ἐνταῦθα τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸ φιλάνθρωπον αἰνίττεται. Ὑετὸν δὲ τὴν διδασκαλίαν φησί· καὶ ὅπερ ἀνωτέρω ἔλεγεν, Ὀφείλοντες εἶναι διδάσκαλοι διὰ τὸν χρόνον, τοῦτο καὶ ἐνταῦθά φησι. Καὶ πολλαχοῦ ὑετὸν τὴν διδασκαλίαν ἡ Γραφὴ λέγει· Ἐντελοῦμαι γὰρ, φησὶ, ταῖς νεφέλαις τοῦ μὴ βρέξαι εἰς αὐτὸν ὑετόν· περὶ τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος λέγουσα· ὅπερ ἀλλαχοῦ λιμὸν ἄρτου καὶ δίψαν ὕδατος καλεῖ. Καὶ πάλιν· 63.84 Ὁ ποταμὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπληρώθη ὑδάτων. Γῆ γὰρ ἡ πιοῦσα, φησὶ, τὸν ἐπ' αὐτῆς πολλάκις ἐρχόμενον ὑετόν. Ἐνταῦθα δηλοῖ, ὅτι καὶ ἐδέξαντο καὶ συνέπιον τὸν λόγον, καὶ πολλάκις τούτου ἔτυχον, καὶ οὐδὲ οὕτως ἀπώναντο. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ μὴ ἐγεωργήθης, φησὶν, εἰ μὴ ἀπέλαυσας ὑετῶν, οὐκ ἦν τοσοῦτον τὸ κακόν· Εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἦλθον, φησὶ, καὶ ἐλάλησα αὐτοῖς, ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ εἶχον· εἰ δὲ πολλάκις ἔπιες καὶ ἐδέξω, τίνος ἕνεκεν ἀντὶ καρπῶν ἕτερα ἐξήγαγες; Ἔμεινα γὰρ, φησὶν, ἵνα ποιήσῃ σταφυλὴν, ἐποίησε δὲ ἀκάνθας. Ὁρᾷς ὅτι πανταχοῦ ἡ Γραφὴ ἀκάνθας καλεῖ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα; Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ὁ ∆αυΐδ φησιν· Ἐστράφην εἰς ταλαιπωρίαν, ἐν τῷ ἐμπαγῆναί μοι ἄκανθαν. Οὐ γὰρ ἁπλῶς ἐπέρχεται, ἀλλ' ἐμπήγνυται· κἂν μικρὸν αὐτῆς ἐναπομείνῃ, καὶ μὴ πᾶσαν αὐτὴν ἐξέλωμεν, αὐτὸ τὸ μικρὸν ὀδυνᾷ ὁμοίως, καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀκάνθης· καὶ τί