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For, if one should ask the use of donkeys, and of oxen, and of the other such cattle, we will name no other, but their service in the present life. But concerning ourselves, it is not possible to say this, but the better state is the one after our departure from here; and we must do all things, so that we may shine there, so that we may dance with angels, so that we may stand by the King for ever in the endless ages. For for this reason the soul has become immortal, and the body will also be immortal, so that we may enjoy unending good things. But if you are nailed to the earth when heavenly things are set before you, consider how great an insult this is to the giver. For He proposes to you the things above; but you, making no great account of them, choose the earth in their stead. For these reasons He also threatened Gehenna, since He is despised, so that you may learn from this of what great good things you deprive yourself. But 59.183 may it not be that we have experience of that punishment, but that we, having been well-pleasing to Christ, may attain the eternal good things, by the grace and love for mankind of our 59.184 Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father be glory, together with the Holy Spirit, unto ages of ages. Amen. 59.183 HOMILY 32. Jesus answered and said to her, Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water, leaping up into everlasting life. 1. Scripture sometimes calls the grace of the Spirit fire, sometimes water, showing that these names are not indicative of essence, but of energy. For the Spirit is not composed of different essences, being both invisible and of a single form. The one John indicates, saying thus: He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire; the other Christ, Rivers of living water will flow from his belly. This He said concerning the Spirit, it says, which they were about to receive. Thus also when discoursing with the woman, He calls the Spirit water: For whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst. Thus He calls the Spirit, by the appellation of fire, signifying the aroused and fervent nature of grace, and its power to consume sins; and by that of water, to show the cleansing from it, and the great refreshment it affords to the minds that receive it. Rightly. For just as a paradise abounding with all kinds of fruit-bearing and ever-flourishing trees, so it makes the eager soul, not allowing it to perceive either despondency or satanic plotting, since it easily quenches all the fiery darts of the Evil One. But observe for me the wisdom of Christ, how He gently leads the woman up. For He did not say from the first: If you knew who it was that said to you, Give me a drink; but when He had given her an occasion to call Him a Jew, and she had brought an accusation, He, refuting the charge, then says this. And having said, If you knew who it was that said to you, Give me a drink, you would have asked Him; and having compelled her by His great promises to remember the patriarch, He thus allows the woman to see clearly. Then when she responded, Are you greater than our father Jacob? He did not say, Yes, I am greater; for it would have seemed to be mere boasting, the proof not yet being apparent; but by what He says, He establishes this. For He did not simply say, I will give you water; but first having set aside that of Jacob, He then extols His own, wishing to show from the nature of the things given the interval between the persons, as great as is the difference between the givers, and His superiority over the patriarch. For if you admire Jacob, He says, because he gave this water, if I give you something much better than this, what will you say? You anticipated and confessed me to be greater than Jacob, by retorting and saying, Are you greater than Jacob, since you promise to give better water? if you receive that water, you will certainly confess that I am greater. Do you see the woman's impartial judgment, voting from the facts both for the patriarch and for 59.184 Christ? But not so the Jews; but even when seeing demons

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γὰρ, καὶ ὄνων, καὶ βοῶν, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν τοιούτων βοσκημάτων ἂν ἐρωτήσῃ τις τὴν χρείαν, οὐδεμίαν ἄλλην ἐροῦμεν, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐν τῷ παρόντι βίῳ διακονίαν. Περὶ δὲ ἡμῶν οὐκ ἔστι τοῦτο εἰπεῖν, ἀλλ' ἡ βελτίων κατάστασις, ἡ μετὰ τὴν ἐντεῦθέν ἐστιν ἀποδημίαν· καὶ δεῖ πάντα ποιεῖν, ἵνα ἐκεῖ λάμψωμεν, ἵνα μετὰ ἀγγέλων χορεύσωμεν, ἵνα τῷ βασιλεῖ παραστήκωμεν διαπαντὸς ἐν τοῖς αἰῶσι τοῖς ἀπεράντοις. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ἀθάνατος γέγονεν ἡ ψυχὴ, καὶ τὸ σῶμα δὲ ἔσται ἀθάνατον, ἵνα τῶν ἀτελευτήτων ἀπολαύσωμεν ἀγαθῶν. Ἂν δὲ τῇ γῇ προσηλωμένος ᾖς τῶν οὐρανίων προκειμένων, ἐννόησον ὅση γίνεται ὕβρις εἰς τὸν δωρούμενον. Ἐκεῖνος μὲν γὰρ τὰ ἄνω σοι προτείνει· σὺ δὲ οὐ πολὺν αὐτῶν ποιούμενος λόγον, τὴν γῆν ἀνταλλάσσῃ. ∆ιὰ ταῦτα καὶ γέενναν ἠπείλησεν, ἅτε καταφρονούμενος, ἵνα μάθῃς ἐντεῦθεν, ὅσων σαυτὸν ἀποστερεῖς καλῶν. Ἀλλὰ 59.183 μὴ γένοιτο πεῖραν λαβεῖν τῆς κολάσεως ἐκείνης, ἀλλ' εὐαρεστήσαντας ἡμᾶς τῷ Χριστῷ, τῶν αἰωνίων ἐπιτυχεῖν ἀγαθῶν, χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τοῦ Κυ 59.184 ρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, μεθ' οὗ τῷ Πατρὶ ἡ δόξα, ἅμα τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν. 59.183 ΟΜΙΛΙΑ ΛΒʹ. Ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῇ· Πᾶς ὁ πίνων ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος τούτου, διψήσει πάλιν· ὃς δ' ἂν πίῃ ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος οὗ ἐγὼ δώσω αὐτῷ, οὐ μὴ διψήσει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα· ἀλλὰ τὸ ὕδωρ, ὃ δώσω αὐτῷ, γενήσεται ἐν αὐτῷ πηγὴ ὕδατος, ἁλλο μένη εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον. αʹ. Τοῦ Πνεύματος τὴν χάριν ἡ Γραφὴ ποτὲ μὲν πῦρ, ποτὲ δὲ ὕδωρ καλεῖ, δεικνῦσα ὅτι οὐκ οὐσίας ἐστὶ ταῦτα παραστατικὰ τὰ ὀνόματα, ἀλλ' ἐνεργείας. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐκ διαφόρων συνέστηκεν οὐσιῶν τὸ Πνεῦμα, ἀόρατόν τε καὶ μονοειδὲς ὄν. Τὸ μὲν οὖν ὁ Ἰωάννης δηλοῖ, οὕτω λέγων· Αὐτὸς ὑμᾶς βαπτίσει ἐν Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ καὶ πυρί· τὸ δὲ ὁ Χριστὸς, Ποταμοὶ ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας αὐτοῦ ῥεύσουσιν ὕδατος ζῶντος. Τοῦτο δὲ εἶπε περὶ τοῦ Πνεύματος, φησὶν, οὗ ἔμελλον λαμβάνειν. Οὕτω καὶ τῇ γυναικὶ διαλεγόμενος, ὕδωρ καλεῖ τὸ Πνεῦμα· Ὃς γὰρ ἂν πίῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕδατος, οὗ ἐγὼ δώσω αὐτῷ, οὐ μὴ διψήσει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. Οὕτω δὲ τὸ Πνεῦμα καλεῖ, διὰ μὲν τῆς τοῦ πυρὸς προσηγορίας, τὸ διεγηγερμένον καὶ θερμὸν τῆς χάριτος, καὶ δαπανητικὸν ἁμαρτημάτων αἰνιττόμενος· διὰ δὲ τῆς τοῦ ὕδατος, τόν τε καθαρμὸν τὸν ἐξ αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὴν πολλὴν παραψυχὴν ταῖς ὑποδεχομέναις αὐτὸ διανοίαις ἐμφῆναι. Εἰκότως. Ὥσπερ γάρ τινα παράδεισον παντοίοις δένδροις κομῶντα καρποφόροις τε καὶ ἀειθαλέσιν, οὕτω τὴν πρόθυμον κατασκευάζει ψυχὴν, οὔτε ἀθυμίας, οὔτε σατανικῆς συγχωροῦσα ἐπιβουλῆς αἰσθέσθαι, ἅτε ῥᾳδίως σβεννῦσα τοῦ Πονηροῦ πάντα τὰ πεπυρωμένα βέλη. Σὺ δέ μοι σκόπει τοῦ Χριστοῦ τὴν σοφίαν, πῶς ἠρέμα ἀνάγει τὸ γύναιον. Οὐ γὰρ ἐκ πρώτης εἶπεν· Εἰ ᾔδεις τίς ἦν ὁ λέγων σοι, ∆ός μοι πιεῖν· ἀλλ' ὅτε αὐτῇ ἀφορμὴν παρέσχεν Ἰουδαῖον αὐτὸν καλέσαι, καὶ ὑπὸ ἔγκλημα ἤγαγεν, ἀποκρουόμενος τὴν κατηγορίαν, τότε τοῦτο λέγει. Εἰπὼν δὲ, Εἰ ᾔδεις τίς ἦν ὁ λέγων σοι, ∆ός μοι πιεῖν, σὺ ἂν ᾔτησας αὐτόν· καὶ ἀναγκάσας τῷ μεγάλα ἐπαγγείλασθαι μνησθῆναι τοῦ πατριάρχου, οὕτω δίδωσι διαβλέψαι τῇ γυναικί. Εἶτα ἀντεπαγαγούσης ἐκείνης, Μὴ σὺ μείζων εἶ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ἰακώβ; οὐκ εἶπεν, Ναὶ, μείζων εἰμί· ἔδοξε γὰρ ἂν κομπάζειν μόνον, τῆς ἀποδείξεως μηδέπω φαινομένης· δι' ὧν δὲ λέγει, τοῦτο κατασκευάζει. Καὶ γὰρ οὐχ ἁπλῶς εἶπεν, ∆ώσω σοι ὕδωρ· ἀλλὰ πρότερον ἀνελὼν τὸ τοῦ Ἰακὼβ, τότε ἐπαίρει τὸ ἑαυτοῦ, ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν διδομένων φύσεως, τὸ μέσον τῶν προσώπων, ὅσον καὶ τὸ διάφορον τῶν διδόντων, παραστῆσαι βουλόμενος, καὶ τὴν ὑπεροχὴν τὴν πρὸς τὸν πατριάρχην. Εἰ γὰρ θαυμάζεις, φησὶ, τὸν Ἰακὼβ, ὅτι τοῦτο ἔδωκε τὸ ὕδωρ, ἂν πολὺ τούτου βέλτιον δῶ σοι, τί ἐρεῖς; Προλαβοῦσα μείζονα ὡμολόγησας εἶναί με τοῦ Ἰακὼβ, τῷ ἀνθυπενεγκεῖν καὶ εἰπεῖν, Μὴ μείζων εἶ σὺ τοῦ Ἰακὼβ, ὅτι ἐπαγγέλλῃ βέλτιον ὕδωρ διδόναι; ἂν λάβῃς ἐκεῖνο τὸ ὕδωρ, πάντως ὁμολογήσεις μείζονα εἶναί με. Ὁρᾷς κρίσιν ἀδέκαστον τῆς γυναικὸς, ἀπὸ τῶν πραγμάτων ψηφιζομένης καὶ τῷ πατριάρχῃ καὶ τῷ 59.184 Χριστῷ; Ἀλλ' οὐκ Ἰουδαῖοι οὕτως· ἀλλὰ καὶ δαίμονας ὁρῶντες