ON REPENTANCE, HAVING RETURNED FROM THE COUNTRY
A HOMILY I. 1. The affection and solicitude of Chrysostom for the people. He emulates Paul, who was again in labor for his children. — Were you mindful of us, while we were separated from you during this intervening time? For my part, I was never able to forget you; and although I left the city, I did not leave behind the memory of you. But just as those who are in love with beautiful bodies, wherever they depart, carry with them a vision dearly longed for, so also we, having fallen in love with the beauty of your soul, always carry with us the comeliness of your mind. And just as painters, blending various colors, fashion images of bodies, so also we, mingling your zeal in the assemblies, your readiness in listening, your benevolence toward the speaker, and all other successes—like diverse colors of virtue—and sketching the character of your soul, and placing it before the eyes of our mind, we received sufficient consolation for our absence through this fantasy. And this we did, seated at home and rising, walking and resting, entering and exiting, constantly turning [these things] over, dreaming of your love; and not by day only, but even at night we luxuriated in these fantasies. And that which Solomon said, *I sleep and my heart keeps watch* (Cant. 5:2), this we also experienced then. For the necessity of sleep would close our eyelids, but the tyranny of my love for you would awaken the eyes of our mind; and often I seemed to be conversing with you in a dream. For the soul is naturally disposed to imagine at night whatever it contemplates by day; which was precisely what happened to us then. And not seeing you with the eyes of the flesh, I saw you with the eyes of love, and not being present with you in body, I was present in [my] disposition, and my ears were constantly resounded by your cry. Therefore, when even the infirmity of my body compelled me to linger there longer, and the benefit of the air to enjoy health of flesh, the violence of my love for you would not endure this, but cried out, and did not cease troubling [me] until it persuaded me to arise even before the proper time, and counseled me to consider your fellowship health, delight, and every good thing whatsoever. Persuaded by this, we chose rather to return while still having remnants of the infirmity, than by purely setting aside the weakness of the body, to grieve your love for any longer. For indeed, while staying there, I heard of your grievances, and continuous letters were bringing these to me; for indeed, I paid attention to those who accused [you] no less than to those who praised [you]; for those complaints were of a soul that knows how to love. And for this reason, having arisen, I ran; B for this reason I was never able to cast you out of my mind. And what is wonderful if I, while lingering in the country and enjoying leisure, was mindful of your love, where Paul, encumbered with chains and inhabiting a prison, and seeing ten thousand dangers hanging over him, passing his time in the prison as if in a meadow, was thus mindful of the brethren, and writing said: *As it is right for me to think this about you, because I have you in my heart, both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the Gospel* (Phil. 1:7)? Outside, there was a chain from [his] enemies, and inside, a chain from the affection of his disciples; but the one outside was forged from iron, the other inside was begotten from love; and that one he often even put aside, but this one he never broke; but just as women who have experienced labor and have become mothers are constantly bound to the children they have brought forth, wherever they may be, so also Paul, or rather much more vehemently than them, was always nailed to his disciples, and [is so] by so much the more, as the births of the Spirit are warmer than natural births. For indeed, he also was in labor not once, but even twice for the same [people], and he cried out, saying: *My little children, whom I am again in labor with* (Gal. 4:19). And yet, a woman would never suffer this, nor would she endure the same labor pains again; but Paul endured this, which it is not possible to see in nature: to regain those once born, and to endure again the sharp labor pains on their behalf. For this reason, also, wishing to put them to shame, he said, *Whom I am again in labor with*; as if to say: "Spare me; no son has ever stretched the maternal womb with labor pains for a second time, which you compel me to suffer." And yet those labor pains stretch [the womb] in one moment of time, and with the child having slipped out of the womb, they depart along with it; but these [spiritual pains] not so, but they remain even for whole months; for Paul was often in labor for a whole year, and did not bring forth those being conceived. And there [in nature] is the pain of the flesh, but here, the pangs do not stretch the womb, but they shred the very strength of the soul. And so that you might learn that these labor pains are hotter: who has ever wished to endure hell on behalf of children brought forth? But this [man] not only chooses to endure hell, but even D prays to be anathema from Christ (Rom. 9:3) in order to be able to bring forth the Jews, whom he was always and continuously in labor with, and because this did not happen, he was pained, saying, *I have great sorrow and continuous pain in my heart* (Rom. 9:2). And here again: *My little children, whom I am again in labor with, until Christ is formed in you* (Gal. 4:19). What could be more blessed than that womb, which was able to bring forth such children, so as to have Christ in themselves; or what more fertile, than that which brought forth the whole world; or what more powerful, which, [when the children] had fallen into abortion after being born and having grown, was able to regain them again and fashion them anew?
A
Homily I. Chapter 1. The love and solicitude of Chrysostom for his people. He emulates Paul, who travails in birth for his children again.
For it is impossible in the case of physical births. But why did he not say: "My little children, whom I bear again," but rather: "of whom I am in travail"? For elsewhere he says that he begets them: "For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you" (1 Cor. IV, 15). There, therefore, he wished to show only his kinship, but here he endeavored also to set his pain before them. For how does he call those children whom he has not yet brought forth? If he is in travail, he has not yet brought forth: how, then, does he call them children? That you might learn that he was not then tormented by the first birth-pains—which was enough to make them blush. For, he says, having once been a father, and having endured the labor due for your birth, and you having once become children: why are you sending me again into a second travail? The labor pains one experiences in the beginning are enough; why do you torment me a second time with pains? For the falls of the faithful brought him no less labor than those who had not yet believed. For it was intolerable, after the communion of such B mysteries, to see some deliberately declining toward impiety. Wherefore, he groaned very bitterly and more piteously than any woman, saying: "My little children, of whom I am in travail again, until Christ be formed in you" (Gal. IV, 19). He was saying this, however, so that he might instill into them both confidence and fear simultaneously. For when he shows that Christ is not formed in them, he strikes them with fear and agony; when he demonstrates that He can be formed, he instills confidence again. For when it is said, "until He be formed," both are shown: that He is not yet formed, and that He can be formed again. For if it were impossible, he would have spoken to them in vain—saying, "Until Christ be formed in you"—and would have fed them with vain hope.
Knowing these things, therefore, let us never despair, but let us not be lazy either; for both of these things are destructive. Despair does not allow the fallen to rise, while laziness makes even the one standing to fall. The former is wont to deprive us of the goods we have already attained, while the latter does not allow us to be delivered from the evils by which we are pressed. And neglect, indeed, thrusts us down from our very path, but despair leads us into the very abyss of malice, just as if we do not despair, C we are quickly led back from there. But consider the power of both: the devil was once good; but being lazy, and despairing, he fell, and was overwhelmed by so much malice that he will not rise again in the future. For that he was good, hear what is said: "I saw Satan falling like lightning from heaven" (Luke X, 18). For the likeness of lightning shows both the brightness of his former behavior and the speed of his fall. Paul was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and proud; but because he labored and did not fall from hope, he rose again and became equal to the angels. Judas was an apostle, but because he was lazy, he became a traitor. A thief, again, after so much malice, because he did not fall from hope, enters paradise before the others. The Pharisee, trusting in the very pinnacle of virtue, fell into the depths; the publican, because he did not despair, was so raised up that he surpassed him. Do you want me to show you that a whole city did this? The city of the Ninevites was D saved exactly in this way; yet the proclamation that had already gone forth had driven them from hope. For it did not say, "If they repent, they shall be saved," but only: "Yet three days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown" (Jon. III, 4). But nevertheless, with God threatening and the prophet crying out, and the sentence admitting no delay, nor any distinction, they did not fall in their souls, nor did they lose hope. For this reason He did not append a distinction, nor did He say, "If they repent, they will be saved," so that they, hearing God's absolute sentence without distinction, might not fall from hope, but, looking to that example, might not despair. Nor in that alone is it possible to see God's clemency—in that, with no distinction applied to the sentence, He was nevertheless reconciled to the penitents—but even from the fact that it was issued absolutely. For wishing to increase fear and to touch their enormous laziness, He brought this about, and by the very timing of the repentance He revealed His ineffable clemency. For how could three days have sufficed for such great malice to be wiped away? Do you see how the providence of God appears even from that? For this contributed all the more to the salvation of that city.
Despair is the devil's weapon.
Knowing these things, therefore, let us never fall from hope. For there is no weapon of the devil so powerful as despair; therefore, we do not make him glad so much by sinning as by despairing. Hear, in the case of the fornicator, that Paul feared despair more than the sin. For writing to the Corinthians, he speaks thus: "It is absolutely reported that there is fornication among you, and such as is not even named among the Gentiles" (1 Cor. V, 1). He did not say, "Which they do not even dare to name among the Gentiles," but "not even named": that which is intolerable for them even by name, you have dared in deed. "And you are puffed up?" (Ibid., v. 2). And he did not say, "He is puffed up," but, dismissing the one who had sinned, he addresses the healthy—just as physicians do, who, dismissing the sick, have more discourse with their relatives. Otherwise, these were the authors of all his arrogance, because they did not correct him nor terrify him. He therefore made the crime communal, so that the healing of the wound might be easy. It is a grave sin indeed, but it is much graver to be puffed up in sin. For if to be puffed up about righteousness is an evacuation of righteousness, much more, if this happens in sins, will it bring us the greatest loss, and be a crime greater than the sins themselves. Therefore he says: "When you have done all the things that are commanded you, say that we are unprofitable servants" (Luke XVII, 10). For if those who do everything ought to cast themselves down, much more does it behoove the sinner to mourn and to consider himself the lowest of all. Showing this, he then said: "And have you not rather mourned?" (1 Cor. V, 2). What are you saying? Another has sinned, and I shall weep? Yes, he says; we are joined together like body and limbs; but in a body, even if the foot receives a wound, we see the head inclined to the ground. And what is more honorable than that? But yet it does not know its own dignity in a time of calamity; do the same yourself. Therefore, Paul also advises: "Rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them that weep."
A For if you do not weep for the one who has done this deed, perhaps you are not yet sufficiently grieving for the common disease and plague that has seized the city? As if he were saying: "There is need of prayer and confession and supplication, so that the malady may be driven from the entire city." Do you see how much fear he hangs over them? Because they thought the evil had stopped at that point alone, he makes them anxious by saying: "Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?" (1 Cor. 5.6). What he says is like this: "The evil, moving along its path, will also touch the other members; therefore, as those who are deliberating over common evils, so must you be solicitous." Do not say to me this, that he alone sinned, but consider this, that the evil is a kind of putrefaction, and it grazes upon the entire remaining body. And just as when a house is burning, those who have not yet received the evil are no less urgent than those who are in the calamity, and they contribute everything, so that the fire, spreading, may not come to their own doors; so also Paul excites these people, saying: "It is a fire, let us forestall the evil; let us extinguish the conflagration before it invades the Church; but if you have disregard for the sin as one that has occurred in a foreign body, then indeed it is the same B even if you think so mistakenly; for he is a member of the whole body."
3. Verily, consider this, that if you are slothful and look past it, at some time it will also seize you. So, if not for the sake of your brother, then at least for your own sake, be roused and stay the plague and forestall the putrefaction and cut off the spread. Having said these things, and more than these, and having commanded that he be delivered to Satan, he says afterward—since he had changed and become better—"Sufficient to such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the many; so that you ought to confirm your love toward him" (2 Cor. 2.8). Since he had made him a common enemy and foe to all, and cast him out of the flock and cut him off from the body, see how much zeal he uses, so that he might glue and join him back again. For he did not say, "Love him simply," but, "Confirm your love toward him," that is, display your friendship as firm and immovable, C introduce a goodwill, warm and boiling and burning, balanced against the former hostility. What has happened, tell me? Did you not deliver him to Satan? "Yes," he says, "but not that he should remain in the hands of Satan, but that he might quickly be delivered from his tyranny." But as I was saying, see how Paul fears despair, as a great weapon of the devil; for having said, "Confirm your love toward him," he also adds the reason: "Lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up by overmuch sorrow." He is in the throat of the wolf, he says; let us therefore make haste, let us snatch him away beforehand, before he swallows and destroys our member. The ship is now in a tempest; let us be eager to rescue it before the shipwreck. For just as when the sea is stirred up and waves are rising on all sides, the hull becomes submerged, so also a soul, hemmed in on all sides by despondency, is quickly choked, unless it has someone reaching out a hand; and the godly sorrow for sins becomes destructive through [inmoderation]. And see how he spoke precisely; for he did not say, "Lest the devil destroy him," but what? D "Lest we be taken advantage of by Satan" (2 Cor. 2.11); for "pleonexia" (taking advantage) is to covet the things of others. Showing therefore that he has become a stranger to him by now, and has made himself own to that of Christ’s flock through repentance, he says: "Lest we be taken advantage of by Satan." For if he keeps hold of him now, he is snatching our members, he is taking the sheep of the flock; for he had put away his sin through repentance. Therefore, Paul, knowing what the devil did in the case of Judas, feared lest the same thing happen here. And what did he do in the case of Judas? Judas repented; "I have sinned," he said, "in betraying innocent blood" (Math. 27.4). The devil heard these words; he knew he was beginning the journey to the better way and was entering upon the path, and he forestalled the change. "He has a man-loving Master," he said; "when he was about to betray Him, He wept for him and exhorted him with myriad words; will He not much more receive him now that he is repenting?" He had drawn to Himself and called the one who was uncorrected; will He not much more draw to Himself the one who has corrected himself and recognized his sin? For it was for this that He came even to be crucified. What therefore did he do? He troubled him; he darkened him with the excess of his despondency, he pursued him, he drove him until he led him to the noose, and he removed him from the present life and deprived him of the zeal for repentance. For that, if he had lived, he too would have been saved, is evident from those who crucified Him; for if He saved those who raised Him upon the cross, and on the very cross He exhorted the Father, and granted forgiveness to them for their daring, it is manifest that even the one who betrayed Him, if he had shown repentance by the appropriate law, He would have received with all kindness; but he did not have the strength to remain in the medicine, being swallowed up by overmuch sorrow. This, therefore, Paul also fearing, urges the Corinthians to snatch the man from the throat of the devil. And what need is there to speak of the Corinthians? Peter, after the communion of the mysteries, denied Him thrice, and by weeping wiped away everything. Paul, being a persecutor and a blasphemer and an abuser, and persecuting not only the Crucified, but all who were His, having repented, became an apostle. For God seeks from us only a slight pretext, and He grants us the forgiveness of many sins. I will tell you a parable that guarantees this very thing.
4. There were two brothers; and having divided the paternal substance between them, each one, one of them remained at the house; but the other, having devoured all that was given to him, moved off to a foreign land, [bearing the shame] from one's poverty. I was led to speak this parable so that you might learn that there is also forgiveness for sins after baptism, if we pay attention; I speak, not that I may cast you into sloth, but that I may lead you away from despair; for despair works for us evils worse than sloth. This son, therefore, bears the image of those who have fallen after the bath. That it indicates those who have fallen after baptism is clear from this: for he is called a son; and no one could be called a son without baptism. And "the house" indicates the paternal [inheritance], and "the patrimony" [which they had divided].