Vigils Reading – 14th Sunday

A reading from

ST JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

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Our Master is always the same, gentle and benevolent. In his constant

concern for our salvation, he says explicitly in the gospel: Come, learn of me,

for I am gentle and humble of heart.

What great condescension on the part of the Creator! And yet the creature

feels no shame! Come, learn from me. The Master came to console his fallen

servants. This is how Christ treats us. He shows pity when a sinner deserves

punishment. When the race that angers him deserves to be annihilated, he

addresses the guilty ones in the kindly words: Come, learn from me, for I am

gentle and humble of heart.

God is humble, and we are proud! The judge is gentle; the criminal

arrogant! The potter speaks in lowered voice; the clay discourses in tones of a

king! Come, learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. Our master

carries a whip not to wound, but to heal us. Reflect upon his indescribable

kindness. Who could fail to love a master who never strikes his servants? Who

would not marvel at a judge who beseeches a condemned criminal? Surely the

self-abasement of these words must astound you.

I am the Creator and I love my work. I am the sculptor and I care for what

I have made. If I thought of my dignity, I should not rescue fallen humankind. If

I failed to treat its incurable sickness with fitting remedies, it would never

recover its strength. If I did not console it, it would die. If I did nothing but

threaten it, it would perish. This is why I apply the salve of kindness to it where

it lies. Compassionately I bend down very low in order to raise it up. No one

standing erect can lift a fallen man without putting a hand down to him.

Come learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. I do not make

a show of words; I have left you the proof of my deeds. You can see that I am

gentle and humble of heart from what I have become. Consider my nature,

reflect upon my dignity, and marvel at the condescension I have shown you.

Think of where I came from, and of where I am as I speak to you. Heaven is my

throne, yet I talk to you standing on the earth! I am glorified on high, but

because I am long-suffering I am not angry with you, for I am gentle and

humble in heart.