Vigils Reading

GROUNDED IN THE FAITH

From a homily by Origen

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The omnipotent God, who lays down for men the contest of observing his

Law in this world, lists what ought to be done and not done, announces suitably

at the end of the book of Leviticus where each individual observance is

established, what reward he who fulfills them bears and what punishment he

who does not observe them undergoes.

But if the Law…is not spiritual but carnal, there is no doubt that he grants

carnally observed blessings also to those who observe them carnally. But if, as it

seems to the Apostle Paul, the Law is spiritual then it must be observed

spiritually and there is a spiritual reward of the blessings for which they hope…

So that what we say may not be doubted, let us hear the voice of the Apostle Paul

himself writing about spiritual blessings to the Ephesians: Blessed be the God

and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who blessed us in Christ with every

spiritual blessing in heaven.

And you will eat your bread in abundance. I do not take that to be a

physical blessing, as if he who keeps the Law of God obtains this ordinary bread

in abundance. Why? Do not the impious and wicked eat bread not only in

abundance but even in delight? Therefore, if we turn our attention more to him

who said, I am the living bread which descended from heaven, and whoever

eats this bread will live forever, and if we consider that he who said this was

the Word by which souls are nourished, then we will understand about

which bread it was said, And you will eat your bread in abundance. In

Proverbs, Solomon also proclaims similar things about the just man when

he says, When the just man eats, he will fill his soul; but the souls of the

impious will be in extreme poverty.

If you take it according to the literal sense, it appears false. For the

souls of the impious take food with eagerness and strive after satiety; but

the just meanwhile are hungry. Paul was just and he said, Up to this hour

we are hungry, and thirsty, and naked, and we are beaten with fists. But

if you consider how the just man always and without interruption eats

from the living bread and fills his soul with the heavenly food which is the

Word of God and his Wisdom, you will find how the just man eats his

bread in abundance from the blessing of God.

And you will dwell secure upon your land. The unjust man is never

secure but is always moved and wavers and is carried about by every wind of

doctrine. But the just man who keeps the Law of God dwells secure upon his

land. For his understanding is made firm by saying to God, Confirm me, O

Lord, in your words. Therefore, he lives upon his land grounded in the faith

because his building is not placed upon sand, and his root is not ‘upon a rock’,

but indeed his house was founded upon the earth, but his plant took root in the

depth of the earth, that is, in the interior of his soul. Therefore, it is rightly said

to a soul of this kind in the blessings, You will dwell secure upon your land; and

I will give peace upon your land.