In psalmum 95

Sing to the Lord a new song; let the whole earth sing to the Lord. It is necessary, brothers, to learn why in ancient times God confined the people to a place and a region, and why he did not permit that people to sing the divine hymns throughout the whole earth. For this must first be well understood: that God does not change, he does not alter, nor does he shift from one opinion to another; he does not at one time approve this and at another time something else. But while he himself is unchangeable and immutable, he adapts himself to human weakness. God speaks, brothers, and often legislates, not as he is able, but as we are able to hear. He could have kindled the lamp for the nations through the old song as well, but those who were to handle the lamp were not strong enough for the proclamation of piety. For if they themselves, having received the word of piety, did not hold fast to it, how could they transmit the law of piety to others? But because the people were corrupt and faithless, and were quickly drawn into the pollutions of the Gentiles, they were confined to one place, so that they might be able to practice the law of piety among themselves. This is also what a man often does with each of us. Whenever he has a wife he suspects, he confines her to a place, locks her up in chambers, surrounds her with eunuchs, places every guard around her, and does and contrives everything that preserves chastity, because he does not have true love for humanity, and a guard that comes from a chaste mind, which dwells together with a chaste woman. But the man who has a chaste and orderly wife does not prevent her from any outing. For he has a secure pledge in her disposition.

She goes out to the marketplace, and jealousy is extinguished. She meets many men, and nowhere is there the disease of envy. For the chaste woman has with her a guardian and tutor: her character. What happens among us humans, then, God does. A good and truly wonderful hymn has been struck for us on the spiritual lyre by the hymnographer David, who weaves the gospel word through the prophetic tongue and signifies new things through ancient words. For what did he cry out? As we have just heard: "Sing to the Lord a new song; let the whole earth sing to the Lord." Consider, beloved, piously, and understand how, joining prophetic words with gospel words, he produces a single harmony of doctrines. We know, brothers, that the new song is contrasted with the old. It is necessary to inquire what song the old is and what the new signifies. For thus, from the difference of the matters, we will be able to grasp the meaning of the truth. The first and most ancient of all songs was sung at the Red Sea, when that wondrous Moses, by divine power, turned the sea into dry land and made the deep into land, and, striking up a song, said: "Let us sing to the Lord; for he has been gloriously glorified. Horse and rider he threw into the sea." Another old song was sung by the blessed Deborah, when the enemies were laid low in war, and she raised up a great trophy, the victory hymn. You will find another old song that occurred in the desert, when the sons of Israel found the well and enjoyed the strange grace.

And there is much to find in the old song for those who genuinely and sincerely engage with the holy scriptures. But it is necessary now to inquire what power this new and novel song has, and what contemplation it sets forth. And pay close attention to me. The old song was confined to one people and circumscribed to one region, that of Palestine, and the people were not permitted to utter the old song outside that region. But since there was one people and one nation, the old song and the old worship were limited to one place and region. And the blessed David bears witness to this, speaking somewhere in the person of the Jews taken to Babylon: "How shall we sing the song of the Lord on foreign soil?" You see that the old song was not permitted to go throughout the whole world under heaven, but the hymn was composed for the nation? But let us take up again what was said by those in Babylon. Then those who captured us asked us for words of songs, and those who led us away asked for a hymn: "Sing for us from the songs of Zion." Then, circumscribed by the law and prevented from singing the divine songs on foreign soil, they answer: "How shall we sing the song of the Lord on foreign soil?" So the old song was thus explicitly circumscribed, as I said earlier, to the people and the region. But the new song goes throughout the whole world under heaven, and is sung by the whole inhabited world. Therefore the prophet, after saying "Sing to the Lord a new song," immediately added: "Let the whole earth sing to the Lord.

See how he simplifies the gift, see how he broadens the theology, see how he shows the new song contrasted with that old and circumscribed one. And so that no one might dull the contemplation with human conjectures, he did not pass over in silence even the operation of angelic grace, but after saying, "Sing to the Lord, all the earth," he added again: "Proclaim from day to day his saving work." What saving work? It is clear that he means the much-hymned economy of the Savior, that God became man among men out of philanthropy, that the physician visited the suffering, that the light shone upon those in darkness, that the way appeared to those who had gone astray—that way which today cried out through the Gospels: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." And let no one think the image set before us is inappropriate; for God approaches the people as a man approaches a woman, not according to the union of bodies, but according to disposition and goodwill. Indeed, the same God, speaking to the old synagogue through the prophet, clearly said: "I betrothed you in judgment and in mercy and in righteousness and in knowledge." He interpreted the union of God. And what is the union of God? Knowledge. For in human union, bodies are joined to bodies; but in the union according to God, the soul cleaves to God. And just as it is said there: "And he shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh," so the soul united to the Word of God cries out: "My soul cleaves to you; your right hand has taken hold of me.

The old synagogue, then, had the law as her husband, as Isaiah testifies today, speaking through the apostle: for Paul made use of the prophetic voice, saying, "As it is written, that the children of the wilderness are many, rather than of her who has a husband." Since that one had the law as her husband—for I will take up the argument again—she was suspect, as everywhere betraying her goodwill toward God by her complicity with idols. For God convicts her, saying, "And you were committing adultery with stone and wood, and you forgot me," says the Lord. Since the synagogue had a suspect disposition, it naturally circumscribes her by place and confines her, as if in some chamber, the temple, not permitting her to set up an altar in every place, but all Judea and Palestine were of the people, yet there was one place that had the altar. For this reason Moses also, seeing the suspect nature of the woman—for the discourse for now calls the synagogue a woman—knowing the suspect nature of the synagogue, proclaimed beforehand, saying, "Take heed to yourself, Israel, lest you offer your whole burnt offerings and your sacrifices in any place you might find, but only in the place which the Lord your God chooses." See how she is circumscribed. And reasonably so, brothers. For if, having received an altar in one place, she filled every place with idolatry, as Jeremiah cries out, "According to the number of cities were your gods, O Judah, and at every street corner of Jerusalem you sacrificed to Baal." If, having taken one place, she filled the whole earth with adultery, if she had received license everywhere, consider how much unbridled licentiousness she would have taken.

For this reason, brothers, both the song is confined to a place and the altar is confined to a place, and that people is confined to a place. But the Church, which is chaste and orderly and everywhere bears Christ within herself, and puts forward countless martyrs for the sake of her goodwill toward her husband, is not hindered by places. Rather, in every place there are altars; in every place there are teachings. God proclaimed these things beforehand through the prophet. For, indicating the abundance of the Church and denouncing the ingratitude of the people, he says to them: "There is no will of mine in you," says the Lord Almighty, "and I will not accept sacrifices from your hands, because from the rising of the sun to its setting my name has been glorified among the nations, and in every place a sacrifice is offered to my name, and a pure sacrifice." See how brilliantly and clearly he interpreted the mystical table, the bloodless sacrifice. And he calls pure incense the holy prayer that is offered up together with the sacrifice. For that incense gives rest to God, not the incense taken from earthly roots, but the incense sent up from a pure heart. "Let my prayer be directed like incense before you." Do you see how the angelic liturgy is permitted to shine everywhere? Do you see how neither the altar nor the song is confined? "In every place incense is offered to my name." There is, then, a pure sacrifice: first, the mystical table, the heavenly, the supramundane offering. And there is also among us a distinction of many sacrifices.

For the law had many sacrifices in the old covenant: the one for sins, the one called the whole burnt offering, the one of praise, the one of deliverance, another for those being purified from leprosy, and many other different ones for those examined in countless defilements. And the number of sacrifices according to the law was great and immeasurable. The new grace, coming, circumscribes all through one and established one true sacrifice. But we also have within ourselves other sacrifices, not conforming to the law, but befitting angelic grace. And do you wish to learn these sacrifices which the Church has, how apart from blood and altar and the other things the evangelical gift is sent up to God, and the sacrifice is pure and undefiled? Listen to the holy Scripture clearly presenting to you this difference and variety. So then, the first sacrifice is that which I mentioned earlier, that intellectual and mystical gift, concerning which Paul says: "Become imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and offered himself for us to God as a sacrifice and offering for a sweet fragrance." The second sacrifice is that of the martyrs. And what word testifies? Listen to Paul: "I exhort you, brothers, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God." You have the first sacrifice of deliverance, the second that of the martyrs, the third that of prayer. "Let my prayer be directed like incense before you; the raising of my hands is an evening sacrifice." The fourth is that through praise, that is, through hymns. "Sacrifice to God a sacrifice of praise." The fifth is that through righteousness: "Then you will be pleased with a sacrifice of righteousness.

The sixth is through almsgiving: "A pure and undefiled sacrifice," it says, "is to visit the poor and orphans in their affliction." The seventh is the sacrifice of the shout of victory. An alalagmos is a victory cry in war. For an ololugmos is one thing and an alalagmos another. For when soldiers shout after a victory in war, that is an alalagmos and a sign of victory. Therefore the prophet blesses those who are to know the victory of Christ, crying out the hymn against the enemies, saying: "Blessed is the people who know the alalagmos." So an alalagmos is a victory cry in war. Since the Savior has won the victory over all, saying, "Take courage, I have conquered the world," by sending up this hymn to the one who accomplished the victory, we fulfill the alalagmos which the prophet blesses, saying: "I went around and sacrificed in his tent a sacrifice of praise and of the shout of victory." The eighth is another sacrifice to God: a broken spirit. "A broken and humbled heart God will not despise." Do you see how great the sacrifices are that are practiced among us? There is also another new sacrifice fulfilled through the preaching of the Gospel: the didactic word, about which the Apostle Paul says: "Performing the sacred rite of the Gospel of God, so that the offering to God may be acceptable, sanctified in the Holy Spirit." Do you see how he showed that even preaching is sent up to God in place of a sacrifice?

You have the first sacrifice, the saving gift; the second, that of the martyrs; the third, that of prayer; the fourth, that of the victory cry; the fifth, that of righteousness; the sixth, that of almsgiving; the seventh, that of praise; the eighth, that of compunction; that of humility; the ninth, that of proclamation. And if I have omitted anything? For having counted nine, I thought ten were being handed down. What then is the omitted sacrifice? There is, then, a tenth, that of fruit-bearing, concerning which Paul says: "I received what was sent by you through Epaphroditus, an acceptable sacrifice for a sweet fragrance." Do you see how Paul also calls fruit-bearing for the saints a sacrifice? You have, then, a variety of sacrifices. Offer to God a sacrifice of praise. I have praised all of you, brothers, or rather we have all praised, and above all God, the sacrifice you displayed, I mean the fruit-bearing for the poor. For you have shown mercy to those trampled in the marketplace, to those who cried out to God and were heard through you. Imitate the philanthropy of God. You have stripped away the disgrace of poverty from the marketplace. Almsgiving came forth and quenched the shame; for the cry of the poor was a shame to those who had means. You have stored up a treasure of life; you have stored up a treasure of righteousness. For this treasure must be kept before one's eyes: the treasure of truth, of righteousness, of love for the poor. Since, brothers, there are two treasures: one stored up for the wicked, and one set aside for the good. The treasure of the wicked is disobedience, insubordination, lawlessness. Do you not know that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

According to your hardness and unrepentant heart, you store up for yourself wrath on the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Do you see a treasure of sins being laid up for the workers of lawlessness? See also the treasure from love of the poor being laid up for those who work righteousness. Listen to Paul writing to Timothy: Command the rich in the present age not to be haughty, nor to hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but to do good, to be rich in good works, being generous, sharing, storing up for themselves a good treasure for the future, that they may take hold of eternal life. Do you see a treasure of good things? Do you see a treasure of evil things? And with whom is the treasure deposited? Is it not clear that it is with God? He himself stores up the treasure of evil things for requital, and punishes some and rewards others. Do you wish to see that he has an exact memory and custody of these treasures? He speaks concerning those who work evil through Moses: For their vine is from the vine of Sodom, and their branch from Gomorrah; their grape is a grape of gall, a cluster of bitterness for them. The wrath of dragons is their wine, and the wrath of asps is incurable. And after he enumerated the works of lawlessness, he immediately added: Behold, are not all these things gathered with me, and sealed in my treasuries? On the day of vengeance I will repay, at the time when their foot slips. Thus he stores up the treasure of lawlessness for the workers of injustice. He also stores up the treasures of the kingdom for the workers of righteousness, concerning which Isaiah says:

Wisdom and knowledge and piety come from the Lord. These are treasures of righteousness. Whence also the Savior said to his holy disciples: Store up for yourselves an inexhaustible treasure, eternal in the heavens. And he himself, speaking to the rich man, let us therefore flee the treasure of sin, and let us store up the treasure of almsgiving, a good work sufficient to quench every sin, sufficient to dissolve every lawlessness. And that you may learn precisely how great the power of almsgiving is, consider carefully what is said. Of sins, some pertain to man; others pertain to God, such as impiety and blasphemy and insulting a temple of God, or persecuting or dishonoring a church of God. All these have their reference to God. But committing adultery and stealing and doing injustice, these revolve in the condition concerning fellow servants. And there is a great difference between sins committed against God and offenses committed against men. Therefore nothing is worse than impiety; nothing is more depraved than lawlessness against God; nothing is more impious than blasphemy against God. But nevertheless, even such great lawlessness almsgiving can dissolve, not if one persists in blasphemy, but if in repentance one recalls the sin. For let no one run down my speech by hearing it ill; the speech is not directed to the folly of the foolish, but to you the faithful, to the companions of truth. Nothing is more terrible than impiety; nothing is more depraved than blasphemy. But nevertheless, such a great evil is dissolved through almsgiving, if one genuinely approaches the truth. And take for proof the ancient history of Daniel.

Nabouchodonosor's son was Baltasar. Once, having reveled against the divine and insulted the holy things, he dared, in a common symposium of those who were drunk and impious and blaspheming, to bring out the sacred vessels which he had taken from Jerusalem, and to use them as instruments of drunkenness. And he brought out, it says, the vessels of God from Jerusalem, the holy ones, and drank from them himself, and his wives, and his concubines, and his paramours. The divine things were insulted not only through a common table, but also through licentiousness. And such great evil—and God is patient, the forbearing power, the abundant grace, the ungrudging philanthropy that awaits our repentance, and postpones punishment. While he was reveling against the holy things, God bears and brings forth a verdict against him. For it says, while these things were happening, on the plaster of the wall, that is, on the coating, there came out something like the knuckles of a hand from the wrist to the fingers, the shape of a hand, and it wrote on the wall: Mane, Thekel, Phares. And the words were Hebrew, and the strangeness of the spectacle astounded the tyrant and his fellow-drinkers. And a solution to the perplexities was sought, and not found. He called many interpreters, and they were at a loss regarding what appeared. Daniel is called into their midst. For first falsehood must be at a loss, and then truth shine forth. And just as in Egypt the seers and wise men were at a loss, and then Joseph emerged interpreting the truth, then the wisdom of God through his faithful servant shone forth. Daniel was called.

The prophet of the sacred words entered, the living book of the scriptures, the interpreter of the great king. And so that you may learn the difference between a mere man and a man of God—mere in nature, but immortal in purpose—having entered that symposium of impiety, he is invited by the chief symposiarch, I mean the king. For that one says to him: "I know that the holy spirit of God is in you. Interpret this writing for us: what does it mean? You honor the servant and insult the master? You revere the man and dishonor God? You confess the holy spirit and defile holy things? I know that the holy spirit of God is in you. For in the time of my father, the spirit was in you even more abundantly. If, then, you interpret this matter under inquiry," he says, "you will put on a purple robe and a golden necklace around your neck." But that blessed and wondrous man, setting no value on gifts from men, but honoring truth above all, says: "O king, give your gifts to another man, and give your presents to others; I will proclaim the scripture. And what reward for you from the interpretation? The recompense from God. Rather, this is my reward for the truth: to interpret the truth itself and to avenge piety when it is slandered.

And observe the marvel of the righteous man. He does not first interpret the scripture, but first he refutes the opinion. And what does he say? "O king, the god of heaven gave the kingdom and power to your father Nebuchadnezzar, and added honor and glory to him. Likewise also to you"—to be brief. "And God gave you the kingdom and the might, and you forgot God and brought out his silver and gold vessels, and you and your wives and your concubines and your paramours drank; and you did not bless the one who holds your breath in his hand. For this reason a hand's finger was sent from his face and wrote on the plaster its own verdict. And these are the words: Mene—God has counted your kingdom and it is fulfilled (for this the Syriac language interprets, and the Hebrew likewise); Tekel—God has weighed your kingdom and it was found wanting; Peres—your kingdom is divided, given to the Medes and Persians." For at that time the kingdom belonged to the Babylonians alone. And observe the marvel, how he showed that God does everything by number and weight. "He weighed," he says, "and he measured." For nothing from him is without measure, nothing without weight, nothing without order; but he also brings punishment by a just measure, and when punishing he gives the punishment by weight proportionate to the sin, not exceeding the sin but commensurate. For this reason, when God once threatened Judea, after Samaria had been previously destroyed and consumed, he says: "And I will extend over Jerusalem the measures of Samaria and the weights of the house of Ephraim," that is—

I measure out the same penalty to these as I fell short of for those. For divine justice is not without measure, but is measured by measure, rule, and weight, as the Savior said in the Gospels: "With the measure you measure, it will be measured back to you." So God measured, weighed, and divided, and the number of the kingdom was fulfilled, he says to that one. And what after such a pronouncement? He immediately brought a release from the pronouncement. "And now, O king, let my counsel please you, and redeem your sins through almsgiving, and your impiety through compassion for the poor, lest God become merciful to your transgressions." Do you see how much almsgiving avails, how much philanthropy can do, how much mercy toward the poor accomplishes a work of justice? The prophet exhorted, as if the lawless one had heeded, grace would have followed instead of a promise. But grace was spread out, while the mind did not accept correction. So powerful is philanthropy toward the poor. Almsgiving removed the appearance of captivity from the marketplace; the appearance of captivity will be removed from the whole earth. You saw the marketplace full of captives and you averted your gaze from the unpleasantness. God will contract the penalty of punishment brought against sins. For God is not unjust, to forget the souls of those unjustly destroyed, nor the blood unjustly spilled. The saints were destroyed, but they died for piety.

Do not attend to the form of captivity and war, but that, having undertaken the struggle for chastity, many endured death, many virgins in a timely season, as in a time of persecution, were crowned, and many souls were fought over through them. And do not think that those whose blood was shed are unworthy of God. This is an ancient form of history. God always gives over the saints to dangers so that through them the power of piety may be shown. Let no one say: "Then, if they were holy, were they destroyed? If they were cared for by God, did they endure such devastation?" Listen to David singing the new through the old: "O God, nations entered into your inheritance, they defiled the temple." And not simply the temple, but your holy place; they made Jerusalem a fruit-watch-house; they made the carrion of your servants food for the birds of the sky, the flesh of your holy ones for the beasts of the earth. If these were handed over as unworthy of piety, how were those handed over? If some now suffer these things as unworthy, how did the same saints of old suffer the same things? But if the same God, permitting all things, administers them for the benefit, and through the saints the force of sin is checked, there is nothing unjust anywhere among the things permitted by the divine power. God permits these things for the exercise of our minds, and the righteous often undergo death on behalf of the unjust. You have an ancient sequence through the histories of old. God pronounces against Adam, saying: "Earth you are, and to earth you shall return.

And the one receiving the sentence was examined among the living, while Abel, who had committed no sin, was slaughtered; and the guilty one enjoyed life, and the just one was subjected to death. And this was done advantageously. For after God pronounced against Adam: "On whatever day you eat, you shall die by death," he did not give death authority to first touch the guilty one, so that death might not take firm and secure hold over our race. For if it had first touched those who transgressed, the punishment would have been irrevocable and beyond repentance. But it entered through injustice, so that it might be banished through justice. Righteous ones were slain, but they were not extinguished. For a righteous one will be in eternal remembrance. Blood of the righteous was shed, but God calls those who were handed over as worthless, these he calls as sons and avenges as sons. That those who are simply slain by enemies are called sons of God, and receive vengeance as sons, is guaranteed for my word by the blessed Moses. For what does he say through the song? "Let the nations rejoice with his people, and let all his angels worship him, because the blood of his sons is avenged." If they are sons of God, how were they slain by adversaries? You see that God permits righteous ones to be slain for the appearance of piety; and the word is not forced, so as to confirm the thought. "Rejoice, O heavens, because the blood of his sons is avenged." They were handed over as strangers and are avenged as sons. The training ground of piety is a manifest and acknowledged martyrdom. And how, listen and consider, I beg you, deepening your mind for hearing. On the tribunal, what else is set before each martyr than to deny God?

Having contended for this proposition, he receives the crown of martyrdom, acknowledged and uncontested. In the case of the saints who have now been slain, there was no judge pronouncing sentence, but rather conscience. Many at times—for I do not condemn, but I examine human reasonings—have transgressed in thought. For example, if someone in distress said, “Where is the God I served?” There was a storm and a tempest there, and the vessel was in danger. But if someone, being tested in those storms, recovered again and said, “Is my life limited to this place? Were the goods of the earth what I awaited? Was I not expecting a kingdom? Was I not anticipating the resurrection of the dead? Was I not looking forward to life with the angels? Was I not expecting ageless life? Why, then, does death wrong me, who possesses eternal goods? I am not disturbed by temporal things, for I await eternal things.” The one who examined these things in his mind had God as the judge of his mind; he had the reasoning of piety as his advocate; he had fear as his tribunal; he had conscience as his witness, weaving for him the crown of righteousness; and before conscience, God above, awarding the crown to the workers of piety. For He who sees the hidden crowns in the manifest. “Pray,” he says, “to your father in secret, and your father in secret will reward you.” Is the one who prays in secret crowned, then? But is the one who tortures his mind in secret for confession not crowned?

Martyrdom, brothers, is judged not only by its outcome but also by its intention. It is not when the martyr is executed that he becomes a martyr, but from the moment he displays the intention of confession he is a martyr, even if he does not suffer the martyr's fate. And who bears witness to this? The blessed Paul. For he, having died once, shows himself dying every day. For what does he say? "I die every day for your boast, which I have in Christ." "I die every day." How do you die, you who are alive? I have died in intention, but I have been saved by grace. As far as humans who seem to judge and as far as I myself am concerned, insofar as I have given myself over, I die every day; but as far as divine grace is concerned, I have been preserved as a teacher for the church. For God manages affairs for the benefit, releasing some so that the steadfastness of the believers' mind may be shown, and preserving others so that he may keep a leaven for the churches. The virgins were not defiled; for the intention is spotless and the purpose undefiled. And consider this, brother: virginity receives acknowledged crowns. Which kind? That from intention or that from necessity? Do you not know that myriads of virgins and undefiled bodies have passed away? Were not many daughters of Greeks, of polluted and impious men, snatched away while awaiting the time of marriage? Were not many young men, spotless in body from marriage and union, delivered to death? Young men, I say: sons of Greeks, sons of Jews, sons of impious heretics. And myriads departed having bodily virginity. Then, at the tribunal of Christ, are crowns of that virginity given, and do those multitudes receive a crown of virginity? They do not.

If, then, necessity receives a crown of virginity, necessity has fruit. But there is no fruit of necessity; rather, every reward is of intention. Those myriads remain uncrowned, possessing virginity but not possessing the intention of virginity. For God does not reckon what comes from necessity, but what is accomplished from intention. If, therefore, virginity is not reckoned as virginity for those myriads, neither is it for those defiled contrary to their resolve. The body was defiled, but the temple of the soul was not defiled. The body was outraged, but the thoughts were not corrupted. Let no one, then, despair of the multitude of saints who have been handed over to outrage and captivity. It is characteristic of saints often to suffer on behalf of the impious. The Savior, having committed no sin, is handed over on behalf of sinners. And Isaiah cries out: "A man went astray in his way, and the Lord handed him over for our sins." And again the same: "He who committed no sin, nor was any guile found in his mouth, and the Lord handed him over to our sins, and he came to death for the sins of the people." Do you see? Imitators of Christ are those who suffer on behalf of the unjust. It also happens, brothers—to expand the account a little—that some of those who have been slain are subject to faults. But God, through the temporary calamity, dissolved the sin; through the wounding of the bodies, he stopped the wounds of the soul. Death is also reckoned as punishment. And disease is reckoned as punishment for those among the pious who sin. And who guarantees these things? Paul: For nothing must be said without witness, nor from reasonings alone.

If something is said without written authority, the mind of the hearers halts, now inclining, now dissenting, and at times rejecting the discourse as stale, at times accepting it as plausible. But when the written testimony of the divine word is brought forward, it confirms both the speaker’s argument and the hearer’s understanding. What testimony, then, will serve us to show that the calamities and chastisements brought upon men are reckoned as a release from sins? Listen, then, to the blessed Paul speaking about those who approach the mystic table unworthily: “Do you not know that those who eat unworthily eat and drink judgment upon themselves?” And what did he immediately add? “For this reason many among you are sick.” For this reason—because of approaching the table unworthily. For this reason many are sick, many are weak, and a good number are put to sleep, meaning they die, as if death were coming in place of sin. To these he immediately adds: “For if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged by the Lord.” Therefore, judgment of God is both sickness and death. And what benefit is there for me after the end? What gain after death? For if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged; but being judged by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned along with the world. For God has decreed not to destroy the righteous together with the impious, nor to condemn the holy along with the profane. And this is quite reasonable. For it is not fitting that the worshiper of Christ be punished together with the blasphemer. Likewise, that the pious and hymning one be subjected to punishment along with those who blaspheme and dishonor the truth.

For this reason God chastises those of the faithful who sin in various hidden and unseen ways, so that he may present them blameless at the great tribunal, so that having disciplined them here, he may reckon their reward there. Take up again the saying of the apostolic thought: If we judged ourselves, we would not be judged; but being judged by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned along with the world. The blessed David also agrees with this saying: Blessed, he says, is the man whom you discipline, Lord, and whom you teach from your law, to soften him from evil days. For he who is disciplined here will be at rest, and will experience the divine judgment as milder. And do not be surprised if the faithful person disciplined here is freed in the future. For you find a more secure pledge in divine scripture. The Sodomites were no worse, and those who inhabited Gomorrah were no more impious. But nevertheless, because they suffered punishment here, the Savior promises to make their examination milder. And you, Capernaum, raised as high as heaven, will be brought down as far as Hades; for if the powers that occurred in you had occurred in Sodom, they would have remained until now; yet the land of Sodom and the land of Gomorrah will be more tolerable on the day of judgment than you. If, then, punishment here makes the judgment more tolerable for the Sodomites, consider how those of the faithful who are punished here escape the future judgment, which may it be that all of us, escaping it, stand with confidence before the tribunal of Christ, to whom belong glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.