1. “Happy is the man whose offence is forgiven, whose sin is remitted”! This beatitude that opens Psalm 32[31], just read, allows us to understand immediately why it was welcomed by Christian tradition into the series of the seven penitential Psalms. Following the introductory twofold beatitude (cf. vv. 1-2), we do not discover a generic reflection on sin and forgiveness, but the personal witness of one who has converted.

The composition of the Psalm is rather complex:  after the personal witness (cf. vv. 3-5), two verses follow, speaking of distress, prayer and deliverance (cf. vv. 6-7); then follows a divine promise of counsel (cf. v. 8) and an exhortation (cf. v. 9). In closing, there is an antithetical “proverb” (cf. v. 10) and an invitation to rejoice in the Lord (cf. v. 11).

2. Now, let us review some of the elements of this composition. Above all, the person praying describes his very distressful state of conscience by keeping it “secret” (cf. v. 3): having committed grave offences, he did not have the courage to confess his sins to God. It was a terrible interior torment, described with very strong images. His bones waste away, as if consumed by a parching fever; thirst saps his energy and he finds himself fading, his groan constant. The sinner felt God’s hand weighing upon him, aware as he was that God is not indifferent to the evil committed by his creature, since he is the guardian of justice and truth.

3. Unable to hold out any longer, the sinner made the decision to confess his sin with a courageous declaration that seems a prelude to that of the prodigal son in Jesus’ parable (cf. Lk 15: 18). Indeed, he said with a sincere heart: “I will confess my offence to the Lord”. The words are few but born from conscience:  God replies immediately to them with generous forgiveness (cf. v. 5).

The prophet Jeremiah made this appeal to God: ”Return, faithless Israel, says the Lord. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, says the Lord. I will not be angry for ever. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the Lord your God” (Jer 3: 12-13).

In this way, a horizon of security, trust and peace unfolds before “every believer” who is repentant and forgiven, regardless of the trials of life (cf. Ps 32[31]: 6-7). The time of distress could come again, but the high tide of fear will not prevail because the Lord leads his faithful to a place of security: “You are my hiding place, O Lord; you save me from distress. You surround me with cries of deliverance” (v. 7).

4. At this point it is the Lord who speaks in order to promise to guide the now converted sinner. Indeed, it is not sufficient to have been purified; it is necessary to walk on the right path. Therefore, as in the Book of Isaiah (cf. Is 30: 21), the Lord promises: ”I will instruct you… the way you should go” (Ps 32[31]: 8), and invites docility. The appeal becomes solicitous, “streaked” with a bit of irony using the lively comparison of a mule and horse, symbols of stubbornness (cf. v. 9). Indeed, true wisdom leads to conversion, leaving vice and its dark power of attraction behind. Above all, however, it leads to the enjoyment of that peace which flows from having been freed and forgiven.

In the Letter to the Romans St Paul refers explicitly to the beginning of our Psalm to celebrate Christ’s liberating grace (cf. Rom 4: 6-8). We could apply this to the sacrament of Reconciliation.

In light of the Psalm, this sacrament allows one to experience the awareness of sin, often darkened in our day, together with the joy of forgiveness. The binomial “sin-punishment” is replaced by the binomial “sin-forgiveness”, because the Lord is a God who “forgives iniquity and transgression and sin” (cf. Ex 34: 7).

5. St Cyril of Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy. We end our catechesis with his words: ”God is merciful and is not stingy in granting forgiveness…. The mountain of your sins will not rise above the greatness of God’s mercy, the depth of your wounds will not overcome the skilfulness of the “most high’ Doctor: on condition that you abandon yourself to him with trust. Make known your evil to the Doctor, and address him with the words of the prophet David: ”I will confess to the Lord the sin that is always before me’. In this way, these words will follow: ”You have forgiven the ungodliness of my heart’” (Le Catechesi, Rome, 1993, pp. 52-53).

Jerome: The disciples seeing one piece of money paid both for Peter and the Lord, conceived from this equality of ransom that Peter was preferred before all the rest of the Apostles.

Chrys.: Thus they suffered a human passion, which the Evangelist denotes by saying, “At the same time came the disciples to Jesus, saying, “Who pray thee, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Ashamed to shew the feeling which was working within, they do not say openly, Why have you honoured Peter above us? but they ask in general, Who is the greatest! When in the transfiguration they saw three distinguished, namely, Peter, James, and John, they had no such feeling, but now that one is singled out for especial honour, then they are grieved. But do yon remember, first, that it was nothing in this world that they sought; and, secondly, that they afterwards laid aside this feeling? Even their failings are above us, whose enquiry is not, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? but, Who is greatest in the kingdom of the world?

Origen: Herein we ought to be imitators of the disciples, that when any question of doubt arises among us, and we find not how to settle it, we should with one consent go to Jesus, Who is able to enlighten the hearts of men to the explication of every perplexity. We shall also consult some of the doctors, who are thought most eminent in the Churches. But in that they asked this question, the disciples knew that there was not an equality among the saints in the kingdom of heaven; what they yet sought to learn was, how they were so, and lived as greater and less. Or, from what the Lord had said above, they knew who was the best and who was great; but out of many great, who was the greatest, this was not clear to them.

Jerome: Jesus seeing their thoughts would heal their ambitious strivings, by arousing an emulation in lowliness; whence it follows, “And Jesus calling a little child, set him in the midst of them.”

Chrys.: He chose, I suppose, quite an infant, devoid of any of the passions.

Jerome: One whose tender age should express to them the innocence which they should have. But truly He set Himself in the midst of them, a little one who had come “not to be ministered unto, but to minister,” [Mat_20:28] that He might be a pattern of holiness.

Others interpret [margin note: see Origen in loc.] the little one of the Holy Spirit whom He set in the hearts of His disciples, to change their pride into humility. “And he said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

He does not enjoin on the Apostles the age, but the innocence of infants, which they have by virtue of their years, but to which these might attain by striving; that they should be children in malice, not in understanding. As though He had said, As this child, whom I set before you as a pattern, is not obstinate in anger, when injured does not bear it in mind, has no emotion at the sight of a fair woman, does not think one thing while he speaks another; so ye, unless ye have the like innocence and purity of mind, shall not be able to enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Hilary: He calls infants all who believe through the hearing of faith; for such follow their father, love their mother, know not to will that which is evil, do not bear hate, or speak lies, trust what is told them, and believe what they hear to be true. But the letter is thus interpreted.

Gloss. interlin.: “Except ye be converted” from this ambition and jealousy in which you are at present, and become all of you as innocent and humble in disposition as you are weak in your years, “ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven;” and since there is none other road to enter in, “whoso shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven;” for by how much a man is humble now, by so much shall he be exalted in the kingdom of heaven.

Remig.: In the understanding of grace, or in ecclesiastical dignity, or at least in everlasting blessedness.

Jerome: Or otherwise; “Whoso shall humble himself as this little child,” that is, whoso shall humble himself after My example, “he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

It follows, “And whoso receiveth one such little one in my name, receiveth me.”

Chrys.: Not only if ye become such yourselves, but also if for My sake you shall pay honour to other such, ye receive reward; and as the return for the honour you pay them, I entail upon you the kingdom. He puts indeed what is far greater, “Receiveth me.”

Jerome: For whoever is such that he imitates Christ’s humility and innocence, Christ is received by him; and by way of caution, that the Apostles should not think, when such are come to them, that it is to themselves that the honour is paid, He adds, that they are to be received not for their own desert, but in honour of their Master.

Chrys.: And to make this word the rather received, He subjoins a penalty in what follows, “Whoso offendeth one of these little ones, &c.” as though He had said, As those who for My sake honour one of these, have their reward, so they who dishonour shall undergo the extreme punishment. And marvel not that He calls an evil word an offence, for many of feeble spirit are offended by only being despised.

Jerome: Observe that he who is offended is a little one, for the greater hearts do not take offences. And though it may be a general declaration against all who scandalize any, yet from the connection of the discourse it may be said specially to the Apostles; for in asking who should be greatest in the kingdom of heaven, they seemed to be contending for preeminence among themselves; and if they had persisted in this fault, they might have scandalized those whom they called to the faith, seeing the Apostles contending among themselves for the preference.

Origen: But how can he who has been converted, and become as a little child, be yet liable to be scandalized? This may be thus explained. Every one who believes on the Son of God, and walks after evangelic acts, is converted and walks as a little child; but he who is not converted that he may become as a child, it is impossible that he should enter into the kingdom of heaven.

But in every congregation of believers, there are some only newly converted that they may become as little children, but not yet made such; these are the little ones in Christ, and these are they that receive offence.

Jerome: When it is said, “It is better for him that a mill-stone be hanged about his neck,” He speaks according to the custom of the province; for among the Jews this was the punishment of the greater criminals, to drown them by a stone tied to them. It is better for him, because it is far better to receive a brief punishment for a fault, than to be reserved for eternal torments.

Chrys.: To correspond with the foregoing, He should have said here, Receiveth not Me, which were bitterer than any punishment; but because they were dull, and the before-named punishment did not move them, by a familiar instance He shews that punishment awaited them; for He therefore says, “it were better for him,” because another more grievous punishment awaits him.

Hilary: Mystically; The work of the mill is a toil of blindness, for the beasts having their eyes closed are driven round in a circle, and under the type of an ass we often find the Gentiles figured, who are held in the ignorance of blind labour; while the Jews have the path of knowledge set before them in the Law, who if they offend Christ’s Apostles it were better for them, that having their necks made fast to a mill-stone, they should be drowned in the sea, that is, kept under labour and in the depths of ignorance, as the Gentiles; for it were better for them that they should have never known Christ, than not to have received the Lord of the Prophets.

Greg., Mor., vi, 37: Otherwise; What is denoted by the sea, but the world, and what by the mill-stone, but earthly action? which, when it binds the neck in the yoke of vain desires, sends it to a dull round of toil. There are some who leave earthly action, and bend themselves to aims of contemplation beyond the reach of intellect, laying aside humility, and so not only throw themselves into error, but also cast many weak ones out of the bosom of truth.

Whoso then offends one of the least of mine, it were better for him that a mill-stone be tied about his neck, and he be cast into the sea, that is, it were better for a perverted heart to be entirely occupied with worldly business, than to be at leisure for contemplative studies to the hurt of many.

Aug., Quaest. Ev., i, 24: “Whoso offendeth one of these little ones,” that is so humble as He would have his disciples to be, by not obeying, or by opposing, (as the Apostle says of Alexander, [margin note: 2 Tim 4:15]) “it were better for him that a mill-stone should be hanged about his neck, and he be drowned in the depths of the sea,” that is, it were better for him that desire of the things of the world, to which the blind and foolish are tied down, should sink him by its load to destruction.

EXHORTATION TO VARIOUS VIRTUES AND HOLY THOUGHTS

A Summary of Philippians 4:1-9~After all the Apostle has said in the last part of the preceding Chapter, his exceeding love for the Philippians manifests itself in endearing terms, asserting that they will be his garland of victory and joy in the day of Christ’s coming to judge the world. He exhorts them to steadfastness; he entreats Evodia and Syntyche, especially, to have no dissension, asking his loyal comrade to assist these latter, since they, like Clement and his other fellow-workers, have been so faithful to him in labors for the Gospel. Then to all he recommends joy in the Lord, forbearance towards all men, freedom from anxiety, prayerfulness and thankfulness; and he assures them that, if they practise these virtues, the peace of God will take up its abode in their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (ver. 1-7). Finally, recapitulating, he begs them to feed their minds on all that is true and good, wherever it may be found, asking them in practice to obey his precepts and imitate his example as a sure way to heavenly peace (ver. 8-9).

4. Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say, rejoice.

Speaking to all, the Apostle repeats his exhortation of Philippians 3:1, bidding his readers “rejoice in the Lord always,” on account of the many spiritual blessings they now enjoy and that are promised them both here and hereafter by the Saviour who has redeemed them; there is never wanting to them a motive of spiritual joy.

5. Let your modesty be known to all men. The Lord is nigh.

As an effect of their spiritual joy, they are to manifest their “modesty” (i.e., their gentleness and sweetness of character) “to all men,” even to those whom he had before called enemies of the cross of Christ (St. Chrysostom, and see Phil 3:18); with all they are to deal in a kindly manner, thus showing the value and loveliness of the religion they profess.

The Lord is nigh. This assigns the great cause of their joy; “a man rejoices at the coming of a friend” (St. Thomas). Hence this phrase is to be connected with what precedes, and the Greeks understood it of the General Judgment. Others think it refers to the ever-present grace and help of God (so St. Thomas). The former opinion is more probable: Christ is coming to judge and crown us for our patience and spirit of sweet endurance; the Apostle often speaks of the final judgment as if it were close at hand, in order that his readers might keep it ever in their minds (a Lapide, Knabenbauer, etc.).

6. Be nothing solicitous; but in every thing, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God.

Anxious solicitude is an impediment to joy, and hence the Apostle now admonishes, “be nothing solicitous” (i.e., have no anxieties) either as regards goods you lack or evils you bear, but in every work and condition have recourse to God “by prayer and supplication” (i.e., with fervor and perseverance), not forgetting prayers of “thanksgiving,” for God is ever ready to hear your worthy “petitions,” and will always grant what you ask, or something better. God never fails to answer in some way prayers that are properly made, though He will not give us what is not for our good; and gratitude for favors received disposes God to grant more favors.

7. And the peace of God, which surpasseth all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

The effect of prayer that is properly made is peace of mind and soul.

The peace of God, i.e., the peace whose author and giver is God.

Which surpasseth all understanding, i.e., which is supernatural, and therefore cannot be produced by human means or understood by those who have not experienced it.

Will keep. Literally, “will guard,” like a sentinel at a gate, “your hearts and minds” (i.e., your feelings and thoughts) “in Christ Jesus,” our spiritual citadel. St. Paul is speaking in military terms.

8. For the rest, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever modest, whatsoever just, whatsoever holy, whatsoever lovely, whatsoever of good report, if there be any virtue, if any praise—think on these things.

Coming now to the end of the body of his letter, St. Paul summarizes the things he wishes his readers seriously to consider and meditate on. The subjects indicated are quite general, pertaining to pagan morality as well as Christian virtues.

True, i.e., genuine, sincere.

Modest, i.e., becoming, seemly.

Just, i.e., according to the norms of right dealing.

Holy, i.e., pure, elevated, free from debasing elements.

Lovely, i.e., lovable, gracious.

Of good report, i.e., winning the esteem and approval of men, in the sense of 1 Tim 3:7: “He must have a good testimony of them that are without”; and of 2 Cor 8:21: “We forecast what may be good not only before God, but also before men.”

Virtue, a very general term summing up the first four qualities just named, and found only here in St. Paul. It embraces all that is virtuous in any way.

Praise, also a very general term summing up the last two qualities named above, and meaning, worthy of approbation, praiseworthy. The last two qualities are paraphrased as follows by Lightfoot: “Whatever value may reside in your old heathen conception of virtue, whatever consideration is due to the praise of men.”

The disciplinæ of the Vulgate is not according to the best Greek MSS.

9. The things which you have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, these do ye, and the God of peace shall be with you.

St. Paul has just given his readers ample food for meditation; and, before telling them to put these lofty thoughts into practice, he calls attention to his own example, to what they have seen in him and heard about him from others, in order to malce it plain that he is not asking them to do what is too hard or impossible. If they will follow his advice, “the God of peace” will be with them, to help them and to enable them to relish the possession of true tranquillity of soul.

Trouble and sorrow spring continually from the vexations and disappointments of daily life. But the Christian is nevertheless, in all reason and all duty, called upon to rejoice always and continually on account of the glorious hope that is set before him, his adoption to be the child of God, the merit of suffering endured for Christ’s sake. But it is in these privileges and hopes he is to rejoice, and not, like the Gentiles, in worldly prosperity, pleasure, or success. Rejoice in the Lord, and especially in your communion
with him through the holy Sacraments and prayer. And since, when sufferings increase and multiply, they seem sometimes hard to bear, and we are instinctively tempted to murmur and complain, therefore I say again, in spite of them all, still rejoice. Or rather, rejoice on account of them, for suffering is the seed from which glory will spring up, and our momentary and light affliction will produce an infinite weight of glory hereafter (see 2 Cor 4:17). Rejoice, partaking the sufferings of Christ; for if we suffer with him, we shall also with him be glorified. Your cause of joy is greater than your cause of mourning, whatever that may be, as heaven is higher than earth, and eternity longer than time.

4:5.  Let your modesty be known to all men. The Lord is near.

Yet let this rejoicing be manifested and expressed with modesty, decorum, and sobriety, in the sight of all men. For the Lord is near. He will soon come to render you the reward you look for, to set you free from all pain and suffering for ever, to vindicate your confidence in him, and to judge the world which hates you.  This is an additional reason for rejoicing; your Lord is coming; he is almost come. But it is also a reason for sobriety, gravity, quiet and patient expectation. Let your loins be girded, and your torches lighted in your hands, Luke 12:35.

4:6.  In nothing be solicitous: but in all prayer and entreaty, with thanksgiving, let your petitions become known before God.

In nothing he solicitous. For the Lord is near, and all the system of this mortal life is shortly to close and terminate. In a very short time you must leave everything you possess. The Saviour you look for from heaven will crown your patience and your toils. There is, therefore, no room for solicitude regarding temporal things. As we now know, the coming of the Lord was not near in the literal sense in which the Apostle seems to have expected it, for centuries have rolled by, and he is not yet come. This contingency is, however, provided for in the words that follow. In all, at all times, on all occasions, in every business, let your petitions become known in the presence of God, and rise before his throne. The word all should not be joined with prayer, the adjective and substantive being of different genders in the Greek; at all times by prayer. And with thanksgiving, because the omnipotence and the mercy of God render it certain that your prayers will be heard and granted, if not precisely in the terms of your petition, in some still better way. Saint Chrysostom observes that we are in reason and duty bound to give thanks to God for all things, even trouble and affliction, because we can be by faith firmly persuaded that all things will turn to our advantage and eternal profit, though we do not always understand how. Prayers, he adds, that are thus accompanied with thanksgiving, God accepts and recognises, and they become known before the presence of God, otherwise he will not always notice them.

4:7.  And may the peace of God, which exceeds all sense, keep your hearts and your understanding, in Jesus Christ.

The peace of God, the knowledge and conviction that you are at peace with God, which is a source of comfort and satisfaction greater than the intelligence can understand, keep your hearts and minds. The Greek text and the Syriac read shall keep. As a garrison keeps a fortress, safe from the assaults of despondency and sorrow, doubt or unbelief. In Christ Jesus, by the power of Christ, and by thje assurance of his divine compassion and human sympathy.

8. For the rest, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever modest, whatever just, whatever holy, whatever lovely, whatever of good fame; if there is any virtue, if any praise of discipline, think on these things.

For the rest, brethren. This is the second time the Apostle has begun anew with these words : In Philippians 3:1, he said, For the rest, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord, and then he proceeded to show how and why; because by standing firm in the faith of Christ and in the communion of his true Church, we are assured of sharing the glory of his resurrection. Now, in concluding, he still finds a few more words to say. He has told the Philippians what to believe, what to expect, what to do, and whom to imitate; now he tells them what to think of. For the direction of the mind, and choice of subjects of reflection, are to a great extent in our own power. The human mmd, in waking hours, is ceaselessly active, and many more thoughts pass through its wonderful mechanism than can be communicated in speech to others. It is a common remark that we could easily tell the character and disposition of any man if we knew what he habitually thinks of. What a Christian should habitually think of, St. Paul tells us in these well-known words. All things that are true. We know what is true about Almighty God, his power, his wisdom, his goodness, and providence. And we know what is true of ourselves. But about our neighbour we know not what is true, because we cannot see his heart, and our judgment of him will therefore most likely not be among the things that are true. All things that are modest, in the Greek σεμνα (semna) means worthy of respect, honour, and veneration. All things just, dwelling on the good we see, rather than the evil. All things holy; the present Greek text has pure, αγνα (agna). The translator of the Vulgate seems to have read αγια (agia=holy); but that which is holy is pure, and that which is pure is holy, and in the result it will be very much the same. All things lovely, or amiable; all things that are good and beautiful, as all God’s works are, as they came from his hands, and when they are not degraded by sin. All that is of good fame; held in honour and respect among men. For the human heart, in all its ruin, although it has lost the power of attaining and accomplishing what is truly good and noble, has never lost its appreciation of it, and admiration for it; and by this faculty the pagan world turned to Jesus Christ, when they knew him, and adored and acknowledged him as the ideal and crown of perfection, the embodiment of the divine in human nature. That which men acknowledge that they truly reverence and hold in honour, will not be an unfit subject of Christian meditation. If there be any virtue, if any praise of discipline, the subjugation of vice, the triumph of the spiritual over the lower nature, in any instances we know or hear of: think of these things. The words of discipline are not in the Greek, and are added by the Vulgate. But it is probable also that the Apostle says all this in a practical sense. Think on these things to do them, cogitate, habitually plan and purpose, to act with sincerity and honesty, with chastity and modesty, truth and justice, as becomes believers in Jesus Christ, cultivating the manners and dispositions which give you favour with God and man, which will render your name and reputation an honour to the faith you profess. Imitate the holy examples of the Saints, who by the discipline of the Christian life have triumphed over sin. The religious life undoubtedly affords the fullest and fairest opportunity for cultivating such habits of thought as these; and they are happy whom God has called to lead thus on earth the life of angels. But to all Christians, even in the secular life, St. Paul has given, in these words, a standard to aim at, and a guide to follow. The lives of the Saints who have flourished in this mortal life, and entered Paradise, since the great Apostle lived on earth, and which have been so amply recorded for our devotion, afford an unfailing store of illustration of these beautiful words, of instances, multiplied and varied by every variety of human character and disposition, and of outward circumstances, of all that is lovely, and of good fame, of the victory of virtue, and the praise of discipline.

9. Those things also which you learned, and received, and heard, and saw in me, these do; and the God of peace will be with you.

What you learned from my teaching when I was at Philippi; what you have read in this Epistle; what you have heard of me during my absence from you; what you saw in me while I was with you; this do. Do what I have preached and written, said and done. This, St. Chrysostom observes, is the best way of teaching, namely by example. And we have in these words the three great rules of Christian belief and life; namely, the doctrine preached or written by the Apostles in their own words; Apostolic tradition; and the life and example of the Apostles. It is indeed not usual for a Christian teacher to hold himself forth as a model of perfect practice. What the Apostle means is that there were others professing to be Christian teachers who taught a very different doctrine and exhibited a very different example, and that systematically, and that these heretical guides were to be avoided and his own example followed.

Psalm 3 

© Stephen Loughlin
(sjl1@desales.edu)

The Aquinas Translation Project
(http://www4.desales.edu/~philtheo/loughlin/ATP/index.html)

BRETHREN: Owe no man anything, but to love one another; for he that loveth his neighbor hath fulfilled the law. For thou shalt not commit adultery: thou shalt not kill: thou shalt not steal: thou shalt not bear false witness: thou shalt not covet: and if there be any other commandment, it is comprised in this word: thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. The love of our neighbor worketh no evil. Love, therefore, is the fulfilling of the law. EPISTLE, Rom 13:8-10.

THE words of the Epistle just read are taken from the thirteenth chapter of that of St. Paul to the faithful of Rome. The passage is very short, consisting of only three verses. But if the words are few they are packed full of meaning. The Apostle in these few lines has given us a compendium of the whole law, as he himself expressly says: Love is the fulfilling of the law. The subject which we are about to meditate on is important, brings joy to every good heart, and of its very nature claims your attention.

Owe no man anything but to love one another. These words may be put into this form: Our whole duty consists in loving one another. In going through the pages of the New Testament we find no precept more frequently or more urgently insisted upon than that of brotherly love. Jesus Christ calls it a new precept, because before Him it was never so clearly laid down or carried to such a height of perfection; and He calls it His precept, because none other was so dear to His heart or so well expressed the nature and character of the law of the Gospel, for, as He affirmed, its observance would be a mark by which His disciples would be known. It is not to be wondered at, then, that St. Paul here reduces all the duties of a Christian to love of his brethren. But here a difficulty naturally presents itself. How is it possible that all the duties of a Christian can be reduced to the love we should mutually bear one another!

St. Jerome tells us that St. John, when he was past ninety and living at Ephesus, was carried in the arms of his disciples into the church as often as the people assembled there, and was always asked to speak to them. The holy old man said
no more than repeat to them over and over these words: My children, love one another.  The disciples wearying of hearing always the same words, said to him: Master, why do you always say this? He replied, says St. Jerome, in a way worthy of him: Because it is the Lord s precept, and if it alone is fulfilled, it is enough.

The reply of so great an apostle and the commentary of so great a Doctor would relieve me of the necessity of giving any further explanation; still it may be well to speak of the subject some what at length, and to begin a little way back, let us inquire first of all what is meant by brotherly love.

Does it mean that feeling, common to all, which more or less compels us to love our neighbor; that tenderness which we feel toward our kind and which causes compassion for those who suffer to spring up in our hearts? Certainly this is a worthy feeling and does honor to our nature; this tenderness, this compassion for those who suffer, is a gift of God and a characteristic of noble souls. But the brotherly love enjoined by the Gospel is not this. This feeling of tenderness and compassion is not necessarily associated with good works. How many feel keenly, or seem to, the misfortunes of others, and while profuse in expressions of sympathy are meager in deeds?

Sylla was a monster of tyranny, one of the worst of whom history leaves us a record, and yet when at a theater he would weep as a child during the representation of some touching scene. He was affected by an exhibition of imaginary grief, while causing torrents of tears and blood to flow.

I have seen avaricious men show distress at the sight of the miseries of the destitute and yet refuse to give a single farthing in alms.

Again, is the brotherly love commanded by Jesus Christ that sentiment which inspires us to love our brother for his good and gracious endowments, for the favors we receive from him, for the rewards which we hope from him, and for the pleasure we feel in serving him?

I would not find fault with this love, which may be naturally a good love, but it does not embrace all men, because all are not endowed with good and pleasing qualities, nor do we receive favors from all, nor do we hope for them from all, neither is the pleasure which we feel in loving them and serving them enduring and satisfying; and even if it were, the motive is purely human, and hence weak and vacillating.

What, then, is the brotherly love which includes in itself the fulfilling of all our duties?

It is that which is kindled in the heart, which permeates our whole being, which wells up from every fiber of the soul, which makes us feel as our own another’s good or evil fortune, which reveals itself and finds expression in works, which moves us to aid the needy and the distressed in as far as we are able, which, in fine, is rooted in reason and fed by faith and by the love of God. This is the brotherly love that stands any test and that is the summing up or abridgment of the fulfilling of all our duties.

I must love my neighbor, and why? Because God, who created me, created him; because God preserves him, because God has engraven His own image upon him, and loves him as a father loves a son. I must love my neighbor because the Son of God became man for him as well as for me; because He suffered and died for him as well as for me; because Jesus Christ offers him His grace, and has stamped, or is ready to stamp upon his soul the mark of son of God, and because He calls him to the possession of eternal life with Himself. I must, in a word, love my brother, because God wishes me to do so, because Jesus Christ commands it, because he is my brother by nature and grace, and because as God manifests His love for my brother in works, so like unto Him I must do the same. Such is the love of our neighbor according to the Gospel.

This love of our neighbor, which wells up from a deep and pure fountain, contains in itself all the qualities and notes which make it perfect.

It is universal, inasmuch as it includes every man, since there is no man to whom the above motives do not apply. Be they Catholics, heretics, or schismatics, Hebrews or pagans, they are the work of the hands of God, and Jesus Christ died for them all.

The character of universality in its widest sense belongs alone to brotherly love as taught by the Gospel. Outside of Christianity there is a love of one’s neighbor, a family love, a tribal and national love, but not a love that extends to all mankind; it embraces some but not all, and its motive for the most part is sympathy, or gratitude, or hope.

Again, this love is continuous and perpetual, because, as is clear, the motives that kindle and feed it are continuous and ceaseless; nor can they cease for a single instant, since they are to be sought, not in men nor in their merits, but in God, in the Redeemer, and in His will, and therefore they are not subject to change of any sort.

Hence, the love that springs from such motives, is not only universal and continuous; it is equal for all, in the sense just explained. It is an equal and an indiscriminate love, because although it may and must vary in intensity in proportion to the closeness of the ties by which we are bound to our neighbor, still, like creation and redemption, it extends to all without exception.

What does it matter that this one is poor, rude, and ignorant, or that another is ungrateful, vicious, and wicked, or that a third hates me, Abuses me, and persecutes me ferociously! I shall deplore his conduct and condemn his actions, but I shall continue to love him, because he is the handiwork of God and the conquest of Jesus Christ. My love has God and Jesus Christ for its object and God and Jesus Christ never change. This is the secret that explains Christian charity; this is why missionaries and Sisters abandon their family, quit their native country, and busy themselves in hospitals and asylums, traverse seas, go among barbarians, savages, and cannibals to teach them, to civilize them, and to die for them and with them.

Now the love of our neighbor, as we have explained it, should reveal itself in two ways: first, we should not say or do anything that can displease or harm our neighbor; and we should, in as far as we may, do and say what pleases him and may be to his advantage. Thus the Apostle, wishing to show that all our duties toward our neighbor are summed up in charity, says: For thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not kill; thou shall not steal; thou shalt not bear false witness; thou shalt not covet, and if there be any other commandment it is comprised in this word: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Whosoever truly loves his neighbor as himself perfectly fulfills the law, does evil to none, and, as far as he can, does good to all. The absolute affirmation of St. Paul, which follows the above words, is therefore true: Love is the fulfilling of the law.

But, some one may say, have we not duties toward ourselves and toward God! These duties are not included in love of our neighbor. How, then, could the Apostle say: Love of our neighbor is the fulfilling of the law? Certainly, we can say that as the love of God impels us to fulfil the duties which refer to God, so does the love of our neighbor impel us to fulfil all the duties we have toward our neighbor. But it would seem that the precept may be understood in another sense; namely, that he who truly loves God should will what God wills, and, therefore, he must love his neighbor as God loves him and as God commands that he shall be loved. The love of our neighbor is certainly in cluded in the love of God, as the effect is included in the cause. But is the love of God also included in the love of one s neighbor? In a sense, yes, since it is impossible to have an active, abiding love for our neighbor, to love all without exception, and to be ready to make sacrifices for them, even when they hate us and are ungrateful, unless God aids us and loves us and unless we see Him and love Him in our neighbor.

St. John says: No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another God abideth in us, and His charity is perfected in us (1 Jn 4:12). How can it be said that God is loved in man? Whosoever loves the image of God, loves God Himself, and man is truly the living image of God on earth. Let us, then, love God and we shall love our neighbor; let us love our neighbor, as we should, and we shall love God, because these two loves can not be rent asunder.

Ver.32.—Fear not, little flock. Fear not lest your food and raiment fail you, and lest, if you lay aside all anxiety and sell your goods and give to the poor, these things should not be added to you; if you seek firstly the kingdom of God. “Little flock,”—little, because, firstly, the faithful were so few and these poor either in position and property, or in election and feeling, or in spirit; for they despised the riches of the world that they might strive after those of heaven, and therefore, they were little in the eyes of the world, they were of no account, and were despised. But now that the faith of Christ has so spread throughout the whole world, that kings and princes are subdued to it, it is no longer a little flock but a most ample and powerful church. Secondly, the flock of faithful men is little if compared with the angels who are without number, says Euthymius, according to the words, Dan 7:10, “Thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him.”

Thirdly, The flock is little if compared with the immense multitude of unbelievers and wicked. Bede adds, “It is called a little flock either on account of its humility or in comparison with the greater number of the reprobate. Then all the faithful, from the example of Christ, will willingly reduce themselves to Christian humility and poverty, especially the apostles and disciples of Christ. Hence Christ says, ‘Sell that thou hast.’” It appears that “flock” (pusillus) is here put in the nominative instead of the vocative as is done in other passages. This nominative is more forcible and significant than the vocative would be. Wherefore, although we might explain it by adding something, e.g., Fear not, you who are a little flock, that the nominative might remain, yet the nominative is more tersely and strongly put for the vocative by adding nothing. Fear not then, 0 ye faithful, for although you are a little flock, God estimates you highly, and has a great and peculiar care of you, and Christ the Lord is your shepherd, who will feed you abundantly, according to the words, “I am the good Shepherd” (John 10:2), and the others (Ps 23:1-2), “The Lord is my shepherd, therefore can I lack nothing!—”He shall feed me in a green pasture, and lead me forth beside the waters of comfort.”  S. Peter Chrysologus (serm. xxii.). “A small flock to the world is a large one to God;” and (xxiii.) “Humility has gained what pride lost, and the little flock has subdued entire and various savagenesses (nations) by its meekness; for the little flock conquered and destroyed as many kinds of beasts as it subdued nations to the yoke of Christ. It did this not by bearing but by suffering, not by fighting but by dying for Christ.”

It hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom. To you who are not slow, not idle, not presuming on the mere mercy of God, but who hear My words and truly obey them; who therefore bear your cross after Me, mortify your passions, and are continually zealous in good works. “To give,” not absolutely, but upon conditions—namely, that you persevere in My faith and love and in obedience even to death—for to Judas, who afterwards apostatised from Christ, the kingdom was not given. Christ gives the reason why the disciples, though a little flock and poor, should not fear lest needful things should be withheld from them, for He says, “Since God so loved you as to destine you for heavenly riches and the kingdom of God, He will assuredly not refuse you these worthless earthly riches, as far as they are necessary for your journey towards the kingdom of heaven, and that you may adorn it by your life and conversation.” So S. Cyril, in the Catena, “He who has given you gifts of such great price, how will He be not merciful to you but suffer you to perish of hunger?”

Luk 12:33  Sell what you possess and give alms. Make to yourselves bags which grow not old, a treasure in heaven which faileth not: where no thief approacheth, nor moth corrupteth

Vs 33.-Sell what you possess and give alms.  This is a counsel, not a precept, as Pelagius would have it, who said that all Christians ought to be poor, from the precept of Christ. This is shewn by the words of Christ (Matt 19:21), “If thou wouldst be perfect, go sell that thou hast and give to the poor.” That you may study evangelical perfection, sell what you possess and give the price to the poor, that you may follow Me who am poor in spirit in a like poverty, and with me despise earthly riches, that so you may obtain heavenly ones. Do this with the end that you may show yourselves not anxious for food and raiment, but that you depend solely on God, and look to Him for all those needs of life which He Himself has promised to all who seek His kingdom. For this reason the first Christians, following the counsel of Christ, sold all that they had and laid the price at the feet of the apostles, that they might distribute them among the poor believers (Acts 2:3, 4). So Bede: “Fear not that you will lack the needful things of life, but rather sell what you possess for alms. This is done worthily when he who lives by the labour of his hands, despises all things, and gives alms.”

Make to yourselves bags which grow not old. Grow not old, and from which, therefore, the coin of spiritual alms cannot drop out and be lost, as the money of the world often falls from the old and worn-out purses of the rich. The purses that grow not old are the bosoms of the poor, and more especially the mind and memory of God, in which He keeps as in a purse your alms and good works, that He may return you the most ample rewards for them in the day of judgment. This He Himself explains, adding, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief draweth near, neither moth destroyeth. From this Chrysologus rightly concludes, “What have they to do with the earth who possess heaven—what with human affairs who have gained divine ones—unless, perhaps, they find pleasure in lamentations, choose labours, delight in dangers, love the most cruel deaths, and find the evil things that are brought upon them more pleasing than the good ones?”

Luk 12:34  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Ver. 34.-This is a conclusion from the former, showing why our Lord said, “Sell that ye have,” namely, that you may show that your heart is not in your money but in heaven. If, therefore, you place your treasure gained by alms-giving in heaven, you will show that your heart is fixed in heaven, not on earth—in God, not in gold. For a man’s treasure is that which he loves—holds dear—values at a great price, on which he rests his hopes. See Matt 6:20.

THE LEADERS OF THE DIFFERENT FACTIONS SHOULD IMITATE THE HUMILITY OF THE APOSTLES

7-13. When recommending humility to all the Corinthians in the preceding verse, the Apostle doubtless had chiefly in mind the leaders of the factions at Corinth. Now he directly attacks them with bitter irony, placing before them the life of real Apostles (Estius, Comely, etc.). St. Thomas, however, and the Fathers generally believe that the present section continues the thought of verse 6, and that the Apostle consequently is here, as there, addressing the faithful rather than their leaders. We see no reason why both in general cannot be meant.

7. For who distinguisheth thee? Or what hast thou that thou hast not received? And if thou hast received, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?

7. How foolish it was for the Corinthians to glory in those human leaders, in whom there was nothing whereof to glory; or to glory in themselves as if they were better than their neighbors! If they have anything that distinguisheth them, whether in the natural, or in the supernatural order, this is not due to them, but to God from whom they have received all they possess. Therefore
they have nothing in themselves whereof to glory.

St. Thomas and most of the Fathers have understood this verse to refer to supernatural, as well as natural gifts; and St. Augustine constantly urged it against the Pelagians and Semipelagians to prove that man cannot accomplish, or even begin, a salutary work without the grace of God (MacR.). Using this verse the Second Council of Orange declared: If anyone says that God has mercy upon us when, apart from his grace, we believe, will, desire, strive, labor, pray, watch, study, seek, ask, or knock, but does not confess that it is by the infusion and inspiration of the Holy Spirit within us that we have the faith, the will, or the strength to do all these things as we ought; or if anyone makes the assistance of grace depend on the humility or obedience of man and does not agree that it is a gift of grace itself that we are obedient and humble, he contradicts the Apostle who says, “What have you that you did not receive?” (1 Cor. 4:7), and, “But by the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Cor. 15:10). [Source. I've here quoted the text in full, Fr. Callan quoted just the pertinent part in Latin].

8. You are now full; you are now become rich; you reign without us; and I would to God you did reign, that we also might reign with you.

In their own estimation the Corinthian faithful and leaders of factions are completely sufficient unto themselves. They are full, i.e., they want nothing; they are rich, i.e., they possess all wealth ; they reign, i.e., already arrived at the state of the blessed they reign with Christ triumphantly even in this life,—all this without us, i.e., without the true Apostles, Paul and his companions, who converted them to Christianity and put them on the way to happiness.

I would to God, etc. Dropping the irony of his remarks, St. Paul says I wish you actually did reign, so that we Apostles, the founders of your Church, might also share in your felicity, being freed from our distresses, trials, labors, and the like.

9. For I think that God hath set forth us apostles, the last, as it were men appointed to death: we are made a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men.

I think that. “That” (Vulg., quod) is omitted by all the best MSS. How different from the apparently glorious condition of the Corinthians is the state of the true Apostles! Far from already reigning in Christ’s kingdom, the Apostles are like men reserved for the beasts in the grand finale of the games; they are the most abject and the last of men.

God hath set forth, etc. God has made public display of us Apostles.

Appointed to death, i.e., doomed to die as gladiators or slaves in the public arena; “they were appointed to fight with beasts” (Tertull.).

A spectacle to the world, etc. Like men exposed to wild beasts in the theatre, the Apostles became a spectacle to good angels and good men who admired their fortitude, mildness and humility in the midst of sufferings and persecutions, and to bad angels and evil men who rejoiced at their trials and sorrows.

10. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ; we arc
weak, but you are strong; you are honourable, but we without honour.

Continuing ironically to take the Corinthians at their own measure the Apostle further contrasts their fancied state with the condition of the Apostles.

We are fools, etc., i.e., the Apostles who preached Christ crucified in simple language were regarded as fools by the worldly Corinthians who gloried in eloquence and human wisdom.

We are weak, etc., i.e., the Apostles were regarded as weak, because destitute of human resources ; they were without honour, i.e., derided and despised, because wanting in worldly science and eloquence: whereas the Corinthians gloried in their human aids and natural attainments.

11. Even unto this hour we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no fixed abode;

The abject and destitute condition of the Apostles was not something of the past that no longer endured; it continued even unto this hour when the Apostle was writing, and throughout his life. At all times Christ’s true Apostles were in want of the things that were necessary for human life, such as food, drink and clothing; and moreover, they were unceasingly pursued by
persecutions from one place to another.

12. And we labour, working with our own hands; we are reviled, and we bless; we are persecuted, and we suffer it.

In order not to be dependent on those for whom he labored preaching the Gospel, St. Paul worked at his trade of tent making to earn his daily bread (Acts 18:3; 20:34; 2 Cor 11:7; 1 Thess 2:9; 2 Thess 3:8). For reviling and persecutions on the part of his enemies he returned blessing, sweetness and resignation.

13. We are blasphemed, and we entreat; we are made as the refuse of this world, the offscouring of all even until now.

The refuse . . . offscouring, etc. The Apostles were treated as outcasts, as scapegoats (περίψωμα) , as unfit to live in human society. Some think the above words refer to the custom at Athens of reserving certain worthless persons to be cast into the sea as a kind of scapegoat sacrifice against plagues, famines, or other public calamities.

Note: the words περικάθαρμα, refuse, filth, and περίψωμα, offscouring, scum, were sometimes used to denote scapegoats. Because St Paul speaks in this verse of being made refuse and offscouring of this world some see a connection with verse 9: “For I think that God hath set forth us apostles, the last, as it were men appointed to death: we are made a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men.” St Paul is expressing a willingness to be a victim on behalf of others, as in 1 Cor 15:31; 2 Cor 4:10-11; Gal 6:17; Phil 2:17.

EXHORTATION TO THE FAITHFUL

A Summary of 1 Corinthians 4:14-21~After severely upbraiding the factionists at Corinth the Apostle now gives expression to the tender love which he really bears toward the faithful there. He is their spiritual father, and as such, ought to be an object of imitation for them. Timothy is coming to them; he himself will come later, and when he arrives he will deal with them according to need.

1Co 4:14  I write not these things to confound you: but I admonish you as my dearest children.

The severe language of the preceding verses had not for its purpose to humiliate and shame the faithful and their leaders, but to admonish and correct them. As a father out of love may use harsh words to his children, so has St. Paul spoken to his dearest children.

1. We have just heard the Miserere, one of the most famous prayers of the Psalter, the most intense and commonly used penitential psalm, the hymn of sin and pardon, a profound meditation on guilt and grace. The Liturgy of the Hours makes us pray it at Lauds every Friday. For centuries the prayer has risen to heaven from the hearts of many faithful Jews and Christians as a sigh of repentance and hope poured out to a merciful God.

The Jewish tradition placed the psalm on the lips of David, who was called to repentance by the severe words of the prophet Nathan (cf. vv. 1-2; 2 Sam 11-12), who rebuked him for his adultery with Bathsheba and for having had her husband Uriah killed. The psalm, however, was enriched in later centuries, by the prayer of so many other sinners, who recovered the themes of the “new heart” and of the “Spirit” of God placed within the redeemed human person, according to the teaching of the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel (cf. v. 12; Jer 31,31-34; Ez 11,19. 36,24-28).

2. Psalm 50 (51) outlines two horizons. First, there is the dark region of sin (cf. vv. 3-11) in which man is placed from the beginning of his existence:  “Behold in guilt I was born, a sinner was I conceived” (v. 7). Even if this declaration cannot be taken as an explicit formulation of the doctrine of original sin as it was defined by Christian theology, undoubtedly it corresponds to it:  indeed, it expresses the profound dimension of the innate moral weakness of the human person. The first part of the Psalm appears to be an analysis of sin, taking place before God. Three Hebrew terms are used to define this sad reality, which comes from the evil use of human freedom.

3. The first term, hattá, literally means “falling short of the target”:  sin is an aberration which leads us far from God, the fundamental goal of our relations, and, consequently, also from our neighbour.
The second Hebrew term is “awôn, which takes us back to the image of “twisting” or of “curving”.

Sin is a tortuous deviation from the straight path; it is an inversion, a distortion, deformation of good and of evil; in the sense declared by Isaiah:  “Woe to those who call good evil and evil good, who change darkness into light and light into darkness” (Is 5,20). Certainly, for this reason in the Bible conversion is indicated as a “return” (in Hebrew shûb) to the right way, correcting one’s course.

The third term the psalmist uses to speak of sin is peshá. It expresses the rebellion of the subject toward his sovereign and therefore an open challenge addressed to God and to his plan for human history.

4. If, however, man confesses his sin, the saving justice of God is ready to purify him radically. Thus we come to the second spiritual part of the psalm, the luminous realm of grace (cf. vv. 12-19). By the confession of sins, for the person who prays there opens an horizon of light where God is at work. The Lord does not just act negatively, eliminating sin, but recreates sinful humanity by means of his life-giving Spirit:  he places in the human person a new and pure “heart”, namely, a renewed conscience, and opens to him the possibility of a limpid faith and worship pleasing to God.

Origen spoke of a divine therapy, which the Lord carries out by his word and by the healing work of Christ:  “As God prepares remedies for the body from therapeutic herbs wisely mixed together, so he also prepared for the soul medicines with the words he infused, scattering them in the divine Scriptures…. God gave yet another medical aid of which the Lord is the Archetype who says of himself:  “It is not the healthy who have need of a physician but the sick‘. He is the excellent physician able to heal every weakness, and illness” (Origen, Homilies on the Psalms, From the Italian edition, Omelie sui Salmi, Florence, 1991, pp. 247-249).

5. The richness of Psalm 50 (51) merits a careful exegesis of every line. It is what we will do when we will meet it again at Lauds on successive Fridays. The overall view, which we have taken of this great Biblical supplication, reveals several fundamental components of a spirituality which should permeate the daily life of the faithful. There is above all a lively sense of sin, seen as a free choice, with a negative connotation on the moral and theological level:  “Against you, you alone, have I sinned, I have done what is evil in your sight” (v. 6).

There is also in the psalm a lively sense of the possibility of conversion:  the sinner, sincerely repentant, (cf. v 5), comes before God in his misery and nakedness, begging him not to cast him out from his presence (v. 13).

Finally, in the Miserere, a rooted conviction of divine pardon ” cancels, washes, cleanses” the sinner (cf. vv. 3-4) and is able to transform him into a new creature who has a transfigured spirit, tongue, lips and heart (cf. 4-19). “Even if our sins were as black as the night, divine mercy is greater than our misery. Only one thing is needed:  the sinner has to leave the door to his heart ajar…. God can do the rest…. Everything begins and ends with his mercy”, so writes St Faustina Kowalska (M. Winowska, The Ikon of Divine Mercy, the Message of Sister Faustina, from the Italian version, L’Icona dell’Amore Misericordioso. Il messaggio di Suor Faustina, Rome, 1981, p. 271).

Psalm 50

© The Estate of Ed Redmond

The Aquinas Translation Project
(http://www4.desales.edu/~philtheo/loughlin/ATP/index.html)