Sermon 28

From all the divine utterances, let us rather discuss here with the help of the Lord that which we have most recently heard: Let the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice. For it is fitting, especially because we are fasting with our bodies. Our heart will rejoice if we hunger with our minds. When some delightful things are placed on our tables, the mouths of those seeking food rejoice. When various colorful and beautifully painted things are placed before our eyes, the eyes of those seeking something bright to see rejoice; the ears of those seeking a song rejoice; the scent of those seeking a pleasant smell rejoices. Let the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

Christ is the food who restores and does not fail.

Without a doubt, individual things which are presented to our different senses delight single senses. For neither does a sound delight the sight nor a color the hearing. But to our heart, the Lord is both light and voice and fragrance and food. And for this reason he is all things, because he is none of these things. And for this reason he is none of these things, because he is the creator of all these things. He is the light to our heart, to whom we say: In your light we will see light. He is the sound to our heart to whom we say: You will give joy and gladness to my hearing. He is the fragrance to our heart, of whom it is said: We are the sweet fragrance of Christ. But if you seek food, because you have fasted: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Of the Lord Jesus Christ himself it is said, because he has been made our righteousness and wisdom. Behold, the feast is prepared. Christ is righteousness; he is never absent; he is not prepared for us by cooks, nor imported by merchants from foreign lands like exotic fruits. He is food which anyone who has a healthy spiritual throat senses. He is the food who, commending himself, said: I am the living bread, which came down from heaven. He is food which nourishes and never diminishes; he is food which, when consumed, is not expended; he is food which satiates the hungry and remains whole. When you depart from here to your own tables, you will eat nothing resembling this. Therefore, because you have gathered for this feast, eat well. But when you leave, digest it well. For he eats well but digests poorly who hears the word of God and does not act. For he does not extract useful nourishment, but belches with indigestion the raw unprocessed intake.

Light is the food of the eyes.

Do not be amazed that our hearts feast in such a way that they are restored and do not diminish the resources by which they are restored. God has given our bodily eyes such food. For this light is the food of the eyes; by it, our eyes are nourished, and if anyone has been in darkness for a longer time, they fail as if by fasting. For men lose their sight by sitting in darkness, and nothing falls upon the eyes, nor does anything strike them, nor does any foreign moisture flow in, nor dust, nor smoke. A man is brought out after darkness, and he does not see what he used to see. His eyes have died of hunger; by not taking their food, which is light, they have failed. See then what I have proposed, what kind of food our eyes have. This light is seen by all, it feeds everyone’s eyes. The sight of the viewer is refreshed, and the light remains undiminished. If two people see, it remains the same; if many see, it remains the same. The rich see, the poor see, it is equal to all. No one sets boundaries on it. The poverty of the poor is filled, the greed of the rich is idle. For does one who has more see more? Or does he bring out gold to preoccupy the poor man and buy for himself what he sees so that the other does not have it? If, therefore, such is the food for our eyes, what is God Himself for our minds?

The word of men and the abiding Word of God are compared.

And the food of the ears is sound. And what sort is it? From these sensory experiences of the body, let us deduce the intelligible concepts of the mind. Behold, I speak to your affection. Ears are present, minds are present. I have named two things: ears and minds. And in that which I speak, there are two things: sound and meaning. They are conveyed together, they arrive at the ear together. Sound remains in the ear, meaning descends into the heart. But let us first consider the sound itself, how much more we ought to love the intellect. Sound is like the body, meaning is like the soul. But sound, as soon as it strikes the air and touches the ear, passes away and is not recalled nor still sounds. For syllables succeed one another in such a way that the second does not sound unless the first has passed. Nevertheless, this transient thing has a certain great miracle. Behold, if I were to set bread before you who are hungry, the whole would not reach each one. You would divide among yourselves what I had placed, and the more numerous you were, the less each would have. But now I speak a sermon. You do not divide words and syllables among yourselves, nor do you cut my sermon, so that one person takes this part, another that, and so bit by bit and piecemeal what I say reaches each one. But one hears the whole, two hear the whole, many hear the whole, and however many come, all hear the whole. It suffices for all, and is whole for each. Your ear is prepared to hear, nor is it defrauded by the neighboring ear of another. If this happens with a sounding word, what happens with the Omnipotent Word? For just as our voice is whole to the ears of all who hear and whole to each individual, nor are my voices as numerous as your ears, but one voice fills many ears, undivided yet whole to all, so think of the Word of God, whole in the heavens, whole on earth, whole among angels, whole with the Father, whole with the Virgin, whole in eternity, whole in the flesh, whole among the dead when He visited, whole in paradise where He translated the thief. This I have said about sound.

The Word of God conquers all understanding.

What if I speak of the intellect? And how much less is it than the Word of God? Behold, I utter a sound. But once I have uttered it, I cannot recall it. But if I want to be heard, I utter another sound, and when that has passed, I utter another, or silence will follow. But I convey the intellect to you and still retain it in myself. You find what you heard, and I do not lose what I said. See how true these things are, and let the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice. For the Lord is the principal truth itself. Thus, the intellect remaining in my heart migrates to yours without leaving mine. However, when the intellect resides in my heart and I wish it also to reside in yours, I seek a sound as if it were a vehicle to convey it to you. And I produce a sound, almost as if I imprint the intellect upon it, and I utter, express, and teach it without losing it. If my intellect could do this with my voice, could the Word of God not do it with His own flesh? Behold, the Word of God, being God with God, the Wisdom of God abiding unchangeably with the Father, in order to come to us sought flesh as if it were a sound, inserted Himself into it, and came forth to us without departing from the Father. Understand and be wise in what you have heard. Think how great and magnificent it is, and hold greater thoughts about God. He surpasses all light, all sound, all intellect. He is to be desired, and with love, we must yearn towards Him, so that the heart of those who seek the Lord may rejoice.