Bible in a Year with Fr Paul

Celsus then extracts from the gospel the precept, “To him who strikes you once, you shall offer yourself to be struck again,” although without giving any passage from the Old Testament that he considers opposed to it. On the one hand, we know that “it was said to them in old time, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,” [Exo 21:24.] and on the other, we have read, “I say to you, Whoever shall strike you on the one cheek, turn to him the other also.” [Mat 5:39.] But as there is reason to believe that Celsus produces the...

Think how great that weeping must be that deserves to be compared with a flood of waters. Whoever so weeps and says with the prophet Jeremiah, “let not the apple of my eye cease,” shall straightway find the words fulfilled of him: “mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” [Psa 85:10.] If righteousness and truth terrify him, mercy and peace may encourage him to seek salvation—St Jerome

In the twelfth year of king Zedekiah, seventy years before the dominance of the Persians, Nebuchadnezzar campaigned against the Phoenicians and Jews, as Berossus says in his “Researches on the Chaldeans.” [Berossus was a Babylonian priest of Bel, who wrote a history of his country in Greek in the early Alexandrian age (around 290 b.c.).] Juba, [King of Mauretania and learned historian (c. 50 b.c.-a.d. 23).] writing “On the Assyrians,” admits that he took his account from Berossus, testifying to its accuracy. Nebuchadnezzar blinded Zedekiah and removed him to Babylon, deporting the whole people except a few who escaped...

Now we have to consider the mere ornaments and trappings of office. Each has its proper dress for daily and for ceremonial use. In Egypt and Babylon, the purple robe and gold necklaces were marks of rank, just as provincial priests have their golden wreaths and their robes of state … But there was a difference in the obligation. They were conferred on men who earned the king‘s friendship, simply as a mark of honor … Purple as such, then, was not yet a mark of high office among the barbarians, but of free birth. Joseph, who had been a slave...

I have heard many, after such experience, blame themselves and say, “What advantage is it that I have grieved? I have not recovered my money, and I have injured myself.” But if you have grieved on account of sin, you have blotted it out and reaped the greatest pleasure. If you have grieved for your brothers who have fallen, you have both encouraged and comforted yourself and have also restored them; and even if you were not to profit them, you have an abundant recompense. And that you may learn that grieving for those who have fallen, though we shou...

Jerusalem is to be represented on a brick, and the brick itself is to be placed before the prophet, so that when it looks like Jerusalem in the dust, it can portray the whole blockade against it—St Jerome

Is it not true that from the beginning and long before today you lived with countless transgressions of the law? Did not the prophet Ezekiel accuse you ten thousand times when he brought in the two harlots, Oholah and Oholibah, and said, “You built a brothel in Egypt, you passionately loved barbarians, and you worshiped strange gods.”—St John Chrysostom

Admittedly the divine, because it is without a body, is untouchable and entirely intact, because the divine is beyond every creature, both visible and intelligible, and in nature it is incorporeal, immaculate, untouchable and incomprehensible. Since the only-begotten Word of God, having taken a body from the holy virgin, and, as I already said over and over again, having made it his own, offered himself in an odor of sweetness to God the Father as a spotless sacrifice, in this way it is asserted that he endured on our behalf what happened to his flesh. Everything that happened to...

Why is it that I admire Ezekiel? Because the order was given him to make known to Jerusalem its abominations, and he did not place before his eyes any danger that would result from his preaching, but in order to keep only the precepts of God, he spoke whatever he was told. Let us realize that there was a mystery, that there was the revelation of a mysterious kind on the subject of Jerusalem and all that is said against it. Nevertheless, he prophesied, and accused it of fornication—Origen

Thus [the devil] suffers and is dishonored; and although he still ventures with shameless confidence to disguise himself, yet now, wretched spirit, he is detected rather by those who bear the sign on their foreheads; and he is even rejected by them, and is humbled and put to shame. For even if, now that he is a creeping serpent, he shall transform himself into an angel of light, yet his deception will not profit him; for we have been taught that “though an angel from heaven preach to us any other gospel than that we have received, he is an...

Thus there is the expression in Exodus: “From the firstborn of Pharaoh to the firstborn of the captive woman who was in the pit.” [Exo 12:29.] But they even threw Jeremiah also into a pit. His brothers through jealousy confined Joseph in a pit without water. [Gen 37:24.] Each act, therefore, either draws us downward by oppressing us with sin or lifts us upward by raising us on wings toward God. Therefore, you have saved me, I who formerly lived a wicked life, and have separated me from those who go down to the dark and frigid region. The meaning of the...

Of course nothing is “too hard for the Lord.” But if we choose to apply this principle so extravagantly and harshly in our capricious imaginations, we may then make out God to have done anything we please, on the ground that it was not impossible for him to do it. We must not suppose, however, because he is able to do all things, that he has done what he has not done. But we must inquire whether he has really done it. God could, if he had liked, have furnished humankind with wings to fly with, just as he gave...

Although we say that trial is twofold, that is, in prosperity and in adversity, yet you must know that all people are tried in three different ways. Often they are tried for their probation, sometimes for their improvement, and in some cases because their sins deserve it. For their probation indeed! We read that the blessed Abraham and Job and many of the saints endured countless tribulations.… For improvement, because God chastens his righteous ones for some small and venial sins or to raise them to a higher state of purity, and he delivers them over to various trials th...

Christ showed that he was different from those who neglect the flock when it is being preyed on by wolves, since he did not neglect them and even laid down his life for them so that the sheep might not perish—St John Chrysostom

Four living creatures with four forms stand announcing the coming of Christ: the form of the man for one of them, because Jesus Christ was born at Bethlehem, as the Evangelist Matthew tells us; the form of the lion for another, as Mark proclaims him as having come from the Jordan, like the royal lion, as it is written, “Behold, like a lion coming up from the jungle of the Jordan”; [Jer 49:19.] the form of the bull for another, because Luke proclaims—and not only him, but all the Evangelists also—that at the appointed time, until the ninth hour, he...

If you take precautions to save your daughter from the bite of a viper, why are you not equally careful to shield her from “the hammer of the whole earth”? Or to prevent her from drinking of the golden cup of Babylon? Or keep her from going out with Dinah to see the daughters of a strange land? Or save her from the tripping dance and from the trailing robe? No one administers poison until he has rubbed the rim of the cup with honey; so the better to deceive us, vice puts on the mien and the semblance of v...

He also adds, “Seek the peace of the city or the land,” “for in its peace will be your peace.” This is confirmed by the apostolic exhortation: “I urge, first of all, that intercessions, prayers, requests and thanksgivings be made for all persons, for kings and all who are in high office, that we might live a quiet and tranquil life in all reverence and chastity.” [1Ti 2:1-2.]Furthermore, according to the mystical understanding, after we are expelled on account of our sins from Jerusalem, that is, the church, and delivered to Nebuchadnezzar, about whom the same apostle said “delivered to S...

The Septuagint does not translate “two years,” nor does it call Hananiah a “prophet,” lest it appear to name someone a prophet who was in fact no prophet, as if not many persons in sacred Scripture were named in accordance with the opinion of the time in which they lived or according to the truth of the matter. But Joseph is called the father of the Lord. And Mary, who knew that she had conceived by the Holy Spirit (responding to the angel, “How can this be, since I have never known a man?” [Luk 1:34.]), asked her son, “Son, why have you t...

It is written that when Jeremiah caused the nations and kingdoms to drink the cup of wrath, he said concerning each one of the cities, that after they shall drink the cup, I will turn back the captivity of Elam, of Tyre, of Sidon, of the children of Ammon, and of Moab and of Edom—Aphrahat

The narrative is clear indeed and requires but little interpretation. Because he displeased God, Nebuchadnezzar was turned into a madman and dwelled for seven years among the brute beasts and fed on the roots of herbs. Afterwards, by the mercy of God, he was restored to his throne and praised and glorified the King of heaven.… But there are some who claim to understand by the figure of Nebuchadnezzar the hostile power that the Lord speaks of in the Gospel, saying, “I behold Satan falling from heaven like lightning.” [Luk 10:18.] … These authorities assert that it was absolutely impossible for a man wh...

The impious king beheld a dream concerning things to come, in order that he might give glory to God after the holy man interpreted what he had seen and that great consolation might be afforded the captive [Jews] and those who still served God in their captive state. We read this same thing in the case of Pharaoh, not because Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar deserved to behold visions but in order that Joseph and Daniel might appear as deserving of preference over all other people because of their gift of interpretation—St Jerome

I, the angel of repentance, am telling you: Do not fear the devil. For I have been sent,” he said, “to be on the side of you, who repent with your whole heart, and to steady you in the faith. Put your faith in God, you who despair of your life because of your sins, you who add to your sins and make your life burdensome. Trust that, if you turn to the Lord with your whole heart [Cf. Jol 2:12.] and do righteousness [Act 10:35.] for the rest of your life, serving him uprightly in accordance with his will, he will...

Sensual persons who dwell in vaulted houses and take delight in coffered silver ceilings do not build a house like this. As they despise plain silver, so do they despise a simple dwelling place. [See Isa 5:8.] They add to the site of their homes. They add more and more. They join one house with another, one estate with another. They dig up the ground so that the earth itself gives way for their dwelling, and, like children of the earth, they are laid up within her womb and hidden within her flesh. Plainly it was of them that Jeremiah...

That people then were sick. There were all kinds of diseases among those who had the name of the people of God. God sent to them the prophets as healers. One of the healers was Jeremiah. He reproved the sinners, since he wanted those who do evil to return. Yet, though needing to hear what was said, they accused the prophet, and they accused before judges similar to themselves. And always the prophet was judged by those who, with respect to his prophecy, had been cured but were not cured because of their own disobedience. It is due to...

The sons of Jonadab, we are told, drank neither wine nor strong drink and dwelled in tents pitched wherever night overtook them. According to the Psalter, they were the first to undergo captivity; for, when the Chaldaeans began to ravage Judah, they were compelled to take refuge in cities.

Others may think what they like and follow each his own bent. But to me a town is a prison and solitude paradise. Why do we long for the bustle of cities, we whose very name speaks of loneliness? To fit him for the leadership of the Jewish...

You exclaim, “How fitting it was for Jeremiah, with the chorus of the prophets and all the saints, to cry out, ‘Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes,’ that he might bewail the sins of the foolish people, because the church of Christ expelled the teachers of the Pelagian error.” If you wish to weep wholesomely, weep for this, that you are involved in that error, and let your tears wash you clean of the new plague. Are you ignorant, or have you forgotten or do you wish not to know that the...

Again, the Scriptures speak of God as asleep when the psalmist says, “Arise! Why do you sleep, O Lord?” [Psa 44:23 (43:24 LXX).] He does not say this to make us suspect that God sleeps. This would be the utmost madness. By the word sleep the psalm shows God’s patience and forbearance toward us. Another prophet has said, “You will not be like a person who sleeps, will you?” [Jer 14:9 (LXX).] Do you not see that we need much help from our understanding and reason when we are searching into the treasure house of the divine Scriptures? If we listen to the wor...

“In that day, says the Lord, the sun shall go down at noon, and there shall be darkness over the earth in the clear day. I will turn your feast days into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation,” [Amo 8:9-10.] plainly announced that obscuration of the sun that at the time of his crucifixion took place from the sixth hour onwards, and that after this event, those days that were their festivals according to the law, and their songs, should be changed into grief and lamentation when they were handed over to the Gentiles. Jeremiah too makes this poin...

We are the robe of Christ. When we have clothed him with our confession of faith, we, in turn, have put on Christ. It is the apostle who says that Christ is our robe, for when we are baptized, we put on Christ. [Gal 3:27.] We both clothe and are clothed. Would you like to know in what manner we clothe the Lord? We read in Jeremiah: “Go buy yourself a linen loincloth. Wear it on your loins, and go to the Euphrates. There hide it in a cleft of the rock. Obedient to the Lord’s command, I went to t...

“Do not put your hope in deceptive words that say, ‘Here is the temple of the Lord,’ ” that imply you are his temple. They are only trying to assure you that you will never be left by God as though God would decide to preserve his blessed temple and would save his priests even though they are wicked. No! Do not find hope in those who flatter you with these words. If you have not corrected what you are doing, then you are no temple of God, and God will not save you on account of the sacredness of his temp...

“For the Lord does not desire to look upon wrongs, for he, the almighty one, observes all those who perform lawless deeds, and he will save me; and do you plead before him, if you can praise him, as it is possible even now.” [Job 35:13-14.] Not only did the Lord not countenance wrongs, but he did not even wish to see them, as another prophet said: “You who are of purer eyes than to behold evil and cannot look on wrong.” You see, what providence, what protection, what comprehension! Even if he does not take vengeance, he nevertheless abhors a...

It is true that in the holy Scriptures many are called righteous, as Zachariah and Elizabeth, Job, Jehosaphat, Josiah, and many others who are mentioned in the sacred writings. Of this fact I shall, if God gives me grace, give a full explanation in the work that I have promised; in this letter it must suffice to say that they are called righteous, not because they are faultless but because their faults are eclipsed by their virtues. In fact Zachariah is punished with dumbness, [Luk 1:20-22.] Job is condemned out of his own mouth, [Job 42:6.] and Jehoshaphat and Josiah...

The prophet Nahum (or, better, God speaking through him) says, “I will destroy the graven and molten thing; I will make it your grave. Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that brings peace. O Judah, keep your festivals and pay your vows, for it shall no longer be that they may pass into disuse. It is completed, it is consumed, it is taken away. He is come up that breathes into your face and rescues you from tribulation.” Anyone who knows the Gospels will recognize who it was that came up from hell and breathed the Holy Spir...

Paul says about those who live in piety and prosperity, “I thank God that in every way you were enriched in him with all speech and all knowledge.” And to those who are impious, the blessed Jeremiah says, “Maybe they are poor. For this reason, they could not hear the word of the Lord.” Do you see that he calls poor those who have distanced themselves from piety? Therefore, God is merciful to those who sin because they are spiritually poor, and he places demands on those who act justly because they are spiritually rich. To the former he gives fr...

He has come as a physician, not as a judge. Therefore, in like manner, as those of old took harlots for wives, even so God too married to himself the nature that had played the harlot. This also prophets from the beginning declare to have taken place with respect to the synagogue. But that spouse was ungrateful toward him who had been a husband to her, while on the contrary, the church, when once delivered from the evils received from our ancestors, continued to embrace the Bridegroom—St John Chrysostom

Moreover, this calling, which works through the opportune circumstances of history, whether this calling is in individuals or in peoples or in humankind itself, comes from a decree both lofty and profound. To this relates the following passage: “In the womb have I sanctified you.”—St Augustine

This, I say, is the universal way for the deliverance of believers, concerning which the faithful Abraham received the divine assurance, “In thy seed shall all nations be blessed.” [Gen 22:18.] He, indeed, was by birth a Chaldaean; but, that he might receive these great promises, and that there might be propagated from him a seed “disposed by angels in the hand of a Mediator,” [See Gal 3:19.] in whom this universal way, thrown open to all nations for the deliverance of the soul, might be found, he was ordered to leave his country, and kindred, and father’s house. Then was he him...

“Rejoice,” therefore, “in the Lord, O you righteous,” not when the interests of your home are flourishing, not when you are in good health of body, not when your fields are filled with all sorts of fruits, but when you have the Lord—such immeasurable Beauty, Goodness, Wisdom. Let the joy that is in him suffice for you.… For the just person, the divine and heavenly joy is lasting, since the Holy Spirit dwells in him once and for all. “But the firstfruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace.” [Gal 5:22.] Therefore, “rejoice in the Lord, O you just.” The Lord is like a p...

I know of a fifth baptism also, which is that of tears and takes much more work. It is received by one who washes his bed every night and his couch with tears; [Psa 6:6.]whose bruises sting through his wickedness; [Psa 37:5.] and who goes about mourning and is of a sad disposition. It is received by one who imitates the repentance of Manasseh [2Ch 33:12.] and the humiliation of the Ninevites [Jhn 3:7-10.] upon whom God had mercy; who utters the words of the Publican in the Temple, and is justified rather than the stiff-necked Pharisee; [Luk 18:13.] who like the...

Love faith. For by his devotion and faith Josiah won great love for himself from his enemies. For he celebrated the Lord’s Passover when he was eighteen years old, as no one had done it before him. As then in zeal he was superior to those who went before him, so do you, my children, show zeal for God. Let zeal for God search you through and devour you, so that each one of you may say, “The zeal of your house has eaten me up.” [Psa 69:9 (68:10 LXX, Vg).] An apostle of Christ was called the zealot. [Luk 6:15.] But wh...