Homilies on Acts 54.1–54.2

“The natives showed us no ordinary kindness, [for they kindled a fire and] welcomed us all, because of the rain that had set in and because of the cold. When [Paul] had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand.” How did the natives show their kindness? They welcomed us all. Since their rescue would otherwise have been of no use, if the wintry weather was going to destroy them, they light the fire. Then Paul, taking sticks, put them on the fire; and to show this, it goes on, saying … See him at work, and nowhere working wonders for no purpose, but from need: for in the storm too he prophesied when there was cause, but not for nothing; and here again he gathers sticks and puts them on. See him doing nothing proud or superfluous, but so that they might be saved and enjoy some warmth. Then a viper, coming out of the heat, fastens on his hand; and that it fastened on him, it makes clear by what follows, saying: “When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, ‘This man is surely a murderer; though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.’” This too was fittingly permitted, so that they might both see and say these things, so that when it happened the wonder might not be disbelieved. See the natural judgment … speaking to one another, and not even condemning him outright. So these too first see, so that they may wonder the more. “He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. They were expecting him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead; but after they had waited a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.” Again another excess of honor from them, as with the crowds in Lycaonia. “In the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days.” See, again another hospitable man, Publius, both rich and very well off. This man, seeing nothing, but pitying them only because of their misfortune, received and cared for them. “It happened that the father [of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery; and Paul visited him, and] after praying and laying his hands on him healed him.” So he deserved to be well treated; that is why, repaying him for his hospitality, he healed him. “And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. They also [honored us greatly, and when we were about to sail they put on board what we needed.]” That is, they gave us, when we set sail, what we needed, and to the others too. See: even after being rescued from the storm they are not left uncared for, but their reception was generous because of him; for they were all fed there for three months. And that they spent so long a time, hear how it explains this, going on: “After three months we set sail in a ship of Alexandria that had wintered at the island … [Putting in at Syracuse,] we stayed there three days. From there we made a circuit and arrived at Rhegium; and after one day … [to Puteoli], where we found brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome. And the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as [the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. On seeing them] Paul thanked God and took courage.” See all these things happening because of Paul, so that the prisoners, the soldiers, the centurion might believe. For even if they had been made of stone, from what they heard when he counseled, from what they saw when he foretold, from what they saw when he worked wonders, from what they enjoyed when he fed them, they would have thought great things of him. See how, when judgment is sound and not preoccupied by some passion, it at once arrives at right judgments and well-considered verdicts. Already the preaching had touched Sicily too … and at Puteoli too, where they find some brothers and stay with them. Then others too come to meet them on hearing the report; so great was the eagerness of the brothers, that Paul’s being in chains did not trouble them, but they went out to meet him. And see him also feeling something human. For “he took courage,” it says, “on seeing the brothers.” Although he had worked so many signs, still he received an addition even from the sight of them. From this we learn that he was comforted in a human way, and the opposite too. “When we came to Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who guarded him.” Do you see? He was allowed to stay by himself. This too is no small proof that he was greatly admired; for they did not count him with the others. “After three days he called together the leading men of the Jews.” After three days he called the leading men of the Jews, so that their ears might not be filled beforehand. And what had he to do with them? For they were not going to accuse him. But still he did not care about this, but about teaching this, and that what was said might not offend them.

The Jews, then, seeing so many wonders, persecuted and drove him out; but the natives, seeing nothing, were kind merely because of his misfortune. “This man is surely a murderer,” it says. They do not pronounce simply, but say “surely,” that is, as far as one can see. “And Justice,” it says, “has not allowed him to live.” So they had the doctrine of providence too, and these natives were much wiser than the philosophers. For those do not allow the things beneath the moon to enjoy providence; but these think that God is present everywhere, and that, even if someone escapes many things, he will not escape in the end. And see how they do not attack him at all, but for the present respect him because of his misfortune; nor do they make a show of him, but speak to one another; for the chains taught them to suspect this; and yet they were prisoners. Let those be ashamed who say, “Do not do good to those in prison”; let us be ashamed before the natives; for they did not know who these men were, but for the present learned from their misfortune that they were human beings; that is why they thought them worthy of kindness. “After they had waited a long time,” it says, that is, as they expected him to die over a long time. But he both shook off the creature into the fire and showed his hand had suffered nothing. Seeing this, they were both astonished and amazed. And the sign did not happen at once, but the people spent time over it, so that it might not seem an illusion; so there was no deceit, no trickery. “In the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably.” He rightly spoke so; for it belonged to great hospitality to entertain two hundred and seventy-six souls. Consider how great is the gain of hospitality: not as if it were a necessity or unwillingly, but counting it gain, he entertained them for three days. So he fittingly receives a reward for such hospitality, and much greater than he gave; for Paul heals his father, who was suffering badly from dysentery; and not only him, but many who had diseases he counts worthy of the same; and they, repaying him, present him with honors and supplies. And to show this, it goes on: “Who also honored us with many honors, and when we were about to sail they put on board what we needed.” He did not receive a wage, God forbid; but what is written is fulfilled: “The laborer deserves his food.” And those who received them so clearly also received the word of the preaching; for he would not have discoursed so much in three months unless they had believed strongly and shown fruits; so from this one may see a great proof of the number of those who believed. “And we set sail,” it says, “in a ship of Alexandria that had wintered at the island …” … in it; so given to idols were they. See them lingering, and again hurrying. “And Paul was allowed to stay by himself.” Paul was now so respected as even to be allowed to be by himself. And this is nothing strange; for if even before this they treated him kindly, much more now. “And being invited,” it says, “to stay seven days; and so we came to Rome. And the brothers there, when they heard about us, came out to meet us as far as the Forum of Appius.” See how in so long a voyage they nowhere put in at a city, but at an island, and spent the whole winter sailing, while those who sailed with them, I mean, were being formed in the faith. “He was allowed,” it says, “to stay by himself with the soldier who guarded him.” Very rightly, so that not even there could he undergo any plot; for it was no longer possible to riot. So the soldier guarded not him, but so that nothing unpleasant might happen; for it was no longer possible, with the city so great, and the emperor there, and the appeal made, for anything to happen against due order. So always, through the things that seem to be against us, everything happens for us; for the soldier was Paul’s guard. And he calls together the leading men of the Jews and speaks with them; and they, contradicting, withdraw, and are rebuked by him, and dare to say nothing; for his affairs were no longer entrusted to their authority. For this is the wonder: that everything happens for us not only through what seems to make for safety, but even through what is contrary. And so that you may learn this, consider from here. Pharaoh ordered the infants to be thrown into the river. If the infants had not been thrown out, if Pharaoh’s command had not been given, Moses would not have been saved, would not have been brought up in the palace. When he was being kept safe, he was not in honor; when he was exposed, then he came to be in honor. And God did this, showing his resourcefulness and skill in contrivance. The Jew threatened him, saying, “Do you want to kill me?” and this too helped him. So it happened by dispensation, so that he might see that vision in the desert, so that the appointed time might be fulfilled, so that he might practice wisdom in the desert and live in safety. And in all the plots of the Jews against him the same thing happens: then he is made more illustrious. So too with Aaron: they rose up against him, and made him more illustrious; for from this the priestly robe is embroidered for him, and the turban is put on him, and the rest of the adornment of the vestment, so that the ordination might be beyond dispute, so that he might be admired thereafter too from the plates of bronze. You surely know the history; that is why I pass over the narrative. And if you like, let us go over the same things again from the beginning. Cain killed his brother, but rather helped him by this; for hear what he says: “The voice of your brother’s blood cries to me”; and again elsewhere, “blood,” it says, “that speaks better than Abel’s.” He freed him from the uncertainty of the future, he increased his reward; we have all learned the love that God had for him. For what wrong did he suffer, receiving his end sooner? None; for what, tell me, do those who die later gain? Nothing; for happiness lies not in living many years or few, but in using life as one should. The three young men were cast into the furnace, and through this became more illustrious; Daniel into the pit, and from this he became more renowned. Do you see trials everywhere bringing forth great goods even here, not to speak of there? And with wickedness the same happens, as if someone holding a reed were to array himself against fire; for such a man seems to strike the fire, but makes it brighter, and consumes himself. For wickedness becomes food and occasion of brilliance for virtue; for, since God uses injustice as he should, our affairs shine the more. Again, when the devil works anything of this kind, he makes those who endure it more illustrious. “What then,” one says, “did this not happen with Adam, but he became more dishonored?” God, indeed, used that too as he should; and if he suffered anything, he wronged himself; for the things done to us by others become causes of great goods for us, but those done by ourselves no longer. For since we are pained when we are wronged by others, but not by ourselves, God shows that the one who suffers unjustly from another is approved, but the one who wrongs himself is harmed; and very rightly, so that we may bear the one nobly, and the other no longer. Besides, there the whole was Adam’s doing. For why did you obey the woman? Why did you not repel her when she advised the opposite? You were certainly the cause; since, if it were the devil, all who are tempted ought to perish because of this; but if they do not perish, the cause is with us. “But,” one says, “all who are tempted ought to succeed; or, if the cause is with us, they ought to perish even without the devil?” This does happen; for many perish even without the devil; for he does not contrive everything, but many things come about from our sloth alone; and if he is the cause anywhere, it is because we give him the beginning. For tell me, when did the devil prevail over Judas? “When Satan entered into him,” it says. But hear the reason: that he was a thief, and took what was put in. He himself gave him room to enter; so it is not the devil who puts in the beginning, but we receive and call him. “But if he did not exist,” one says, “the evils would not have become great.” But our punishment would have been without excuse; for now, beloved, our punishment is milder; but if we did the evils of ourselves, the penalty would be unbearable. For tell me, if Adam had committed the sins he committed without being counseled, who would have snatched him from the dangers? “But he would not have sinned,” one says. Where do you get this from? For one so slack and careless and ready for folly as to accept such counsel would much more have done this even without it. What devil threw Joseph’s brothers into envy? If, then, we are watchful, beloved, the devil even becomes a cause of our approval. For how did all his contrivance harm Job? “Do not say this,” one says, “but the weak man is harmed.” But the weak man is harmed even if there is no devil. “But more,” one says, “with his working.” But when he sins with his working, he is punished less; for not all sins have the same penalties. Let us not deceive ourselves: the devil is not the cause for us if we are watchful; rather he wakes us up, he rouses us. For tell me (let us examine this for the present), suppose there were no wild beasts, no irregularity of the weather, no disease, no griefs, no despondency, nothing else of the kind: what would man not have become? A pig rather than a man, it seems to me, he would have become, filling his belly and getting drunk, and troubled by none of these things. But as it is, cares and anxieties are a training ground of wisdom and a school, and an education of the best kind. And consider it another way: let someone be brought up in a palace without grief, without care, without anxiety, having no occasion for anger or for failure, but let him do everything he desires and obtain it, and have everyone obeying him: will not such a man become more irrational than any beast? But as it is, the difficulties of circumstance, the afflictions, are like a whetstone sharpening us. That is why the poor are for the most part more sensible than the rich, … waves. For the body that is idle and unmoving is sickly and unpleasant, while the one that moves and labors … and one might find [the same] with the soul. And iron lying still is corrupted, but when worked it shines; and the soul likewise when it is moved; and these circumstances are the movement of the soul. And arts are lost when the soul is not moved; and it is moved when not everything is straight; for it is moved by contrary things. If there were no contraries, there would be nothing to move it; for example, if everything were already well made, the art would not find anything to be moved by. So too [if everything were as we wished, the soul would not find anything to be moved by]; if it were carried about everywhere, it would be unpleasant. Do you not see that we also bid nurses not to carry the children all the time, so as not to accustom them to it, nor make them feeble? That is why those brought up under their parents’ eyes are weaker, the untimely and immoderate sparing ruining their health. Grief in due measure is good, and care is good, and want is good; for they make us strong; their opposites are good too; but each of them, when it becomes immoderate, destroys: the one makes slack, the other breaks. Do you not see that Christ too leads his disciples so? And if they needed these things, much more we. And if we need them, let us not be indignant, but rejoice in afflictions; for these are remedies suited to our wounds, some bitter, some sweet; and each of them by itself would be useless. Let us, then, give thanks to God for all these things; for he does not simply permit them to happen, but for the benefit of our souls. Showing our gratitude, then, let us give thanks, let us glorify him, let us hold out nobly, reckoning their temporary nature and stretching our mind toward what is to come, so that we may bear the present lightly and be counted worthy to attain the good things to come, by the grace and love for humankind of his only-begotten Son, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.