"In this manner Holy Scripture awakens and strengthens faith in God, so that we say: “Lord God, Thou hast absolved me through a brother, hast baptized and fed me with Thy body and blood. Do as it pleases Thee with Thy servant. I shall not be angry or blaspheme, but I shall bear everything patiently. For I do not want Thy covenant with me, which was entered into in Baptism and in the Lord’s Supper, to become void.” Christ surely pronounces those who persevere in this way to the end blessed, but concerning the others Sirach says: “Woe unto those who have lost their endurance” (cf. Ecclus. 2:14); for although they hope and wait for a time, yet they soon waver and are broken by unbelief and despair. The wife of Tobias and the wife of Job are an example of this. Perhaps they did not immediately murmur at first; but afterwards, when they had been broken by the delay and by the magnitude of the misfortunes, they burst forth into the blasphemous words “Curse God, and die” (Job 2:9), as though they were saying: “You keep your patience and hope and are deceived; you are not using any wisdom or remedy; you keep on praising and blessing. Ah, keep on praising, and die in the devil’s name!” But Job replied: “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10.) “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).
These examples should be carefully observed and should be inculcated in the minds of the godly. For carnal men despise them and do not perceive the inner qualities of the virtues recorded and set before the church for its consolation in order that we may learn that our afflictions are the surest argument and pledge that we are the sons of God. There is a saying of Tauler’s—although he does not speak in terms of Holy Scripture but employs a strange and foreign way of speaking—“Man should know that he has done great damage if he does not wait for God’s work,” namely, when God wants to crucify him, mortify him, and reduce the old man to nothing. This does not come about except through suffering and the cross; for then you are upholding the work of God, who forms you, planes you, and cuts off the rough branches. With ax, saw, and mattock He cuts down everything that hinders the eternal building, as David says: “Be still before God, and be formed for Him” (cf. Ps. 37:7)."
No comments:
Post a Comment