Participation in Christ through the Saints

He says that he intends to set forth the peak of virtue: abstaining from every evil thing. Therefore David also says: those who love the Lord, hate evils. For it is not possible to be both God-fearing and to do evil.

And he sets forth his very existence, because he had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred nomad donkeys. Why does he set these forth? Not so that you may marvel at Job's wealth, but showing you, the listener, the fullness of his being that, when you see him after this having been stripped of his possessions and not complaining, you may marvel that, being deprived of so many good things, he does not reject the benefactor, nor insult the Creator. These things, therefore, were written, not so that you may marvel at wealth, but so that you may praise the endurance and the patience of the righteous, and always have the fear of God before your eyes. But the sequence of the argument will be stored up for another time.

For the devil, brothers, since he saw him prospering with this temporary wealth, and by this temporary wealth storing up eternal wealth, reasoned that just as righteousness was entwined with him while he was prospering, so also poverty and virtue will be entwined with him while he is impoverishing. Therefore he tries to strip him of material things, so that he may strip him of his advantages.

Here, then, let those who say precisely: 'Was not Job rich? Was not Abraham rich? Why then do you propose poverty to us?' pay attention. I will say also to you: become rich according to Job, and I pray that you may acquire more; become according to Abraham, and all the earth will be joined to you for wealth. Say also you, as Job: 'My door is opened to everyone afflicted'; say, 'I warmed the shoulders of the poor'; say, 'From the fleece of my sheep the shoulders of the poor were warmed'; say, 'And the mouth of the widow blessed me'; and get rich with the wealth that you desire. For wealth will be found not for yourself, but for the poor, being managed. For my door, he says, is opened to everyone afflicted.

Imitate the extremity of this love of the poor; clothe yourself with the zeal of endurance; be manly against the adversaries; think of equal things. But these things are only to this extent. May it happen to us, having zeal and endurance at home, to have also the sequence of the lacking...

He remains, demanding from us those things which are lacking, and making us follow the sequence of the contemplations. May it happen to us through knowledge to fulfill the feast, and having shared in the sufferings of the saints, to share also in the passion of Christ. For truly, brothers, the sufferings of the saints preceded the passion of Christ justly. For the sufferings of the righteous preceded like lightning bolts, so that after these things Christ might appear, as Paul says, the one suffering with all and being glorified with all.

Therefore, having followed the prayers and supplications of the holy Fathers, and having followed what has been spoken, and having expected the things that are lacking, let us send up glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen. To the righteous and blessed Job, Word 3. 1. Bring it forth, so that we might also grasp the premise, and you the listening; and let us all become acquainted with the evening sequence of Job, and with faith let us present ourselves to the word of endurance.

For it is incongruous that Job, sitting upon misery, should not grow numb toward piety, while we, dancing in the church, should be hesitant toward the truth; and that he, being surrounded by myriad wailings of his own misfortune, should not have his soul overthrown, while we, wandering through hymns and spiritual songs and divine Scriptures, should surrender our readiness with laziness. Job, the body being eaten away by worms, preserved the soul unharmed toward piety; worms did not overcome him, so shall those who have strengthened us overcome us? Let us also become men, men according to the measure that is pre-allotted.

For the man is characterized by the blameless, the righteous, the true, and the God-fearing. And just as by common custom, when someone sends his own servant or son on some deed, he is encouraged, saying: 'As a man, grasp this deed,' and he makes the common name his own wonder; even if all are called men, only he is a true man, the one preserving the image and not making the prototype beauty vanish. He called him a man, so that from the common nature you might praise the intention. He called him from the land of Ausitis, so that from the land of the unclear you might praise the fruit of impiety. His possessions said to him, so that...