The Second Sunday in Advent
BLESSED
Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our
learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark,
learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of
thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope
of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus
Christ. Amen.
Source (1st
Collect): Archbishop Thomas Cranmer [1549 AD]. The emphasis on
Scripture is enunciated here. To understand Cranmer and his desire
to encourage Bible reading, read the Preface to the Cranmer Bible and the Preface to the 1549 Prayer Book. [Barbee and Zahl] Cranmer proposed continuous reading of the
Scriptures - "lectio continua". Archbishop John Chrysostom, among
other early doctors, was an advocate and practicioner of lectio
continua.
Psalms 80, 82 | 25, 26
Romans xv. 4 St. Luke xxi.
25
Homily of Augustine on Psalm 25
READINGS
Psalms Morning and Evening:
80
82, |
25,
26
Romans xv. 4.
WHATSOEVER things were written aforetime were
written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of
the scriptures might have hope. Now the God of patience and
consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according
to Christ Jesus: that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify
God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore receive ye
one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God. Now I
say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the
truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers: and
that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is
written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles,
and sing unto thy name. And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles,
with his people. And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and
laud him, all ye people. And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a
root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles;
in him shall the Gentiles trust. Now the God of hope fill you with
all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through
the power of the Holy Ghost.
St. Luke xxi.
25
AND there shall be signs in the sun, and in the
moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations,
with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts
failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are
coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And
then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and
great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look
up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. And
he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
when they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that
summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these
things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at
hand. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away,
till all be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my
words shall not pass away.
Homily
Psalm 25
Augustine
"Now Psalm XXV. [633]
To the end, a psalm of David himself. [634]
q
1. Christ speaks, but in the person of the Church: for what is said has
reference rather to the Christian People turned unto God.
2. "Unto Thee, O Lord, have I lift up my soul" (ver. 1): with spiritual
longing have I lift up the soul, that was trodden down on the earth
with carnal longings. "O my God, in Thee I trust, I shall not be
ashamed" (ver. 2). O my God, from trusting in myself I was brought even
to this weakness of the flesh; and I who on abandoning God wished to be
as God, fearing death from the smallest insect, was in derision ashamed
for my pride; now, therefore, "in Thee I trust, I shall not be
ashamed."
3. "And let not my enemies mock me." And let them not mock me, who by
ensnaring me with serpent-like and secret suggestions, and prompting me
with "Well done, well done," have brought me down to this. "For all
that wait upon Thee shall not be confounded" (ver. 3).
4. "Let them be confounded who do vain things unrighteously." Let them
be confounded who act unrighteously for the acquiring things that pass
away. "Make Thy ways, O Lord, known to me, and teach me Thy paths"
(ver. 4): not those which are broad, and lead the many to destruction;
[635] but Thy paths, narrow, and known to few, teach Thou me.
5. "In Thy truth guide me:" avoiding error. "And teach me:" for by
myself I know nothing, but falsehood. "For Thou art the God of my
salvation; and for Thee have I waited all the day" (ver. 5). For
dismissed by Thee from Paradise, and having taken my journey into a far
country, [636] I cannot by myself return, unless Thou meetest the
wanderer: for my return hath throughout the whole tract of this world's
time waited for Thy mercy.
6. "Remember Thy compassions, O Lord" (ver. 6). Remember the works of
Thy mercy, O Lord; for men deem of Thee as though Thou hadst forgotten.
"And that Thy mercies are from eternity." And remember this, that Thy
mercies are from eternity. For Thou never wast without them, who hast
subjected even sinful man to vanity indeed, but in hope; [637] and not
deprived him of so many and great consolations of Thy creation.
7. "Remember not the offences of my youth and of my ignorance" (ver.
7). The offences of my presumptuous boldness and of my ignorance
reserve not for vengeance, but let them be as if forgotten by Thee.
"According to Thy mercy, be mindful of me, O God." Be mindful indeed of
me, not according to the anger of which I am worthy, but according to
Thy mercy which is worthy of Thee. "For Thy goodness, O Lord." Not for
my deservings, but for Thy goodness, O Lord.
8. "Gracious and upright is the Lord" (ver. 8). The Lord is gracious,
since even sinners and the ungodly He so pitied, as to forgive all that
is past; but the Lord is upright too, who after the mercy of vocation
and pardon, which is of grace without merit, will require merits meet
for the last judgment. "Wherefore He will establish a law for them that
fail in the way." For He hath first bestowed mercy to bring them into
the way.
9. "He will guide the meek in judgment." He will guide the meek, and
will not confound in the judgment those that follow His will, and do
not, in withstanding It, prefer their own. "The gentle He will teach
His ways" (ver. 9). He will teach His ways, not to those that desire to
run before, as if they were better able to rule themselves; but to
those who do not exalt the neck, nor lift the heel, when the easy yoke
and the light burden is laid upon them. [638]
10. "All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth" (ver. 10). And what
ways will He teach them, but mercy wherein He is placable, and truth
wherein He is incorrupt? Whereof He hath exhibited the one in forgiving
sins, the other in judging deserts. And therefore "all the ways of the
Lord" are the two advents of the Son of God, the one in mercy, the
other in judgment. He then attaineth unto Him holding on His ways, who
seeing himself freed by no deserts of his own, lays pride aside, and
henceforward bewares of the severity of His trial, having experienced
the clemency of His help. "To them that seek His testament and His
testimonies." For they understand the Lord as merciful at His first
advent, and as the Judge at His second, who in meekness and gentleness
seek His testament, when with His Own Blood He redeemed us to a new
life; and in the Prophets and Evangelists, His testimonies.
11. "For Thy Name's sake, O Lord, Thou wilt be favourable to my sin;
for it is manifold" (ver. 11). Thou hast not only forgiven my sins,
which I committed before I believed; but also to my sin, which is
manifold, since even in the way there is no lack of stumbling, Thou
wilt be made favourable by the sacrifice of a troubled spirit. [639]
12. "Who is the man that feareth the Lord?" from which fear he begins
to come to wisdom. "He shall establish a law for him in the way, which
he hath chosen" (ver. 12). He shall establish a law for him in the way,
which in his freedom he has taken, that he may not sin now with
impunity.
13. "His soul shall dwell in good, and his seed shall, by inheritance,
possess the earth" (ver. 13). And his work shall possess the stable
inheritance of a renewed body.
14. "The Lord is the stay of them that fear Him" (ver. 14). Fear seems
to belong to the weak, but the Lord is the stay of them that fear Him.
And the Name of the Lord, which hath been glorified throughout the
whole world, is a stay to them that fear Him. "And His testament, that
it may be manifested unto them." And He maketh His testament to be
manifested unto them, for the Gentiles and the bounds of the earth are
Christ's inheritance.
15. "Mine eyes are ever unto the Lord; for He shall pluck my feet out
of the snare" (ver. 15). Nor would I fear the dangers of earth, while I
look not upon the earth: for He upon whom I look, will pluck my feet
out of the snare.
16. "Look upon me, and have mercy upon me; for I am single and poor"
(ver. 16). For I am a single people, keeping the lowliness of Thy
single Church, which no schisms or heresies possess.
17. "The tribulations of my heart have been multiplied" (ver. 17). The
tribulations of my heart have been multiplied by the abounding of
iniquity and the waxing cold of love. [640] "O bring Thou me out of my
necessities." Since I must needs bear this, that by enduring unto the
end I may be saved, bring Thou me out of my necessities.
18. "See my humility and my travail" (ver. 18). See my humility,
whereby I never, in the boast of righteousness, break off from unity;
and my travail, wherein I bear with the unruly ones that are mingled
with me. "And forgive all my sins." And, propitiated by these
sacrifices, forgive all my sins, not those only of youth and my
ignorance before I believed, but those also which, living now by faith,
I commit through infirmity, or the darkness of this life.
19. "Consider mine enemies, how they are multiplied" (ver. 19). For not
only without, but even within, in the Church's very communion, they are
not wanting. "And with an unrighteous hate they hate me." And they hate
me who love them.
20. "Keep my soul, and deliver me." Keep my soul, that I turn not aside
to imitate them; and draw me out from the confusion wherein they are
mingled with me. "Let me not be confounded, for I have put my trust in
Thee" (ver. 20). Let me not be confounded, if haply they rise up
against me: for not in myself, but in Thee have I put my trust.
21. "The innocent and the upright have cleaved to me, for I have waited
for Thee, O Lord" (ver. 21). The innocent and the upright, not in
bodily presence only, as the evil, are mingled with me, but in the
agreement of the heart in the same innocence and uprightness cleave to
me: for I have not fallen away to imitate the evil; but I have waited
for Thee, expecting the winnowing of Thy last harvest. [641]
22. "Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles" (ver. 22). "Redeem
Thy people, O God," whom Thou hast prepared to see Thee, out of his
troubles, not those only which he bears without, but those also which
he bears within.
Let us pray in the words of Augustine.
Turn we to the Lord God, the Father Almighty, and with pure hearts offer to him, so far as our
meanness can, great and true thanks, with all our hearts praying his exceeding kindness, that of
his good pleasure he would deign to hear our prayers, that by his Power he would drive out the
enemy from our deeds and thoughts, that he would increase our faith, guide our understandings,
give us spiritual thoughts, and lead us to his bliss, through Jesus Christ his Son our Lord, who
liveth and reigneth with him, in the Unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
[A prayer which he was wont to use after his Sermons and Lectures.]
NPNF (V1-08) St. Augustine
Notes:
[633] Lat. XXIV.
[634] [Alphabetical Psalm.--C.]
[635] Matt. vii. 13.
[636] Luke xv. 13.
[637] Rom. viii. 20.
[638] Matt. xi. 30.
[639] [Here our author, as did St. Chrysostom, treats true contrition
as completed by pardon, without sacramental absolution.--C.]
[640] Matt. xxiv. 12.
[641] [So the dying Jacob, Gen. xlix. 18.--C.]
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