Homilies on Philippians 12.1–12.4

“… But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and stretching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Nothing so empties out and blows away our achievements as remembering the good things we have done. For it breeds two evils: it makes us more slothful, and lifts us to arrogance. That is why Paul, since he knew that our nature is quick to slide into sloth, and since he had praised the Philippians much, see how he humbles their minds, by many other things above, but especially by the present passage. Saying what? “Brothers, I do not count myself to have laid hold of it.” And if Paul had not yet laid hold of it, and is not confident about the resurrection, nor about what is to come, hardly could they, who had not achieved even the smallest part of what he had, have done so. What he says is this: I do not consider that I have yet laid hold of all virtue; speaking as one might say of a runner, “He has not yet reached it.” I have not yet accomplished everything, he says. And if he says elsewhere, “I have fought the good fight”, and here, “I do not yet count myself to have laid hold of it”, anyone who reads both will know well the reason both for those words and for these. For we must not continually go over the same things and teach you everything; and that he said these things much earlier, but those near the end. “I do not yet count myself to have laid hold of it” … but I am occupied with one thing only, stretching forward to what lies ahead. For this is what he says: “But one thing: forgetting what lies behind and stretching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus.” See how by saying this he showed what it was that made him stretch forward to what lies ahead. The one who thinks he is already perfected, and that nothing is lacking to him for the achievement of virtue, would have stopped running, as having laid hold of everything; but the one who thinks he is still far from the finish will never stop running. This, then, we must always reckon, even if we achieve countless good things. For if Paul after countless deaths, after so many dangers, reckoned this, much more we. Yet I did not fall back, he says, because after running so far I had not been able; nor did I despair; but I still run, I still contend; I look to this alone. So too we must do: forget our achievements and leave them behind. For the runner too [reckons not how many laps he has run, but] how many remain. And let us not reckon how much of virtue we have accomplished, but how much is lacking to us. For what does what has been accomplished profit us, when what remains is not added? And he did not say, “I do not reckon,” nor “I do not remember,” but “forgetting”, making us more attentive. For so we become vehement, when we bring all our eagerness to what is lacking, when we consign those things to oblivion. “Stretching forward”, he says: we are eager to seize it before arriving. For the one who stretches forward is the one who, though his feet are running, is eager to get ahead with the rest of his body, stretching himself forward and stretching out his hands, so as to gain something more of the course. And this comes from great eagerness, from great warmth. So the runner must run, with such zeal, with such eagerness, not having fallen back. And as great as the difference is between one who runs so and one who lies on his back, so great is the difference between Paul and us. He died daily, he was approved daily; there was no season, no time, in which his course did not increase. He did not wish to receive the prize but to seize it; for so it is possible to receive it. Above stands the one who gives the prize; above lies the [prize].

[prize.] See how great a distance it is to run through; see how great the height. There one must fly on the wings of the Spirit; for otherwise it is not possible to cleave this height. One must walk there with the body; for it is possible: “For our citizenship,” he says, “is in heaven”; there is the prize. Do you see how runners live by rule? How they admit nothing that weakens their strength? How they contend every day in the wrestling school under a trainer and by rule? Imitate them, you too, or rather show even more eagerness; for the prize is not equal; many are those who hinder. Live by rule; many things weaken strength; make your soul nimble of foot; for it is possible, since it is a matter not of nature but of will. Let us make it light, so that the rest of the burden may not hinder the swiftness of the feet. Teach the feet to be sure; for there are many slips; and if you fall, you have lost much. However, even if you fall, get up again; it is possible even so [to win; do not attempt slippery places,] and you will not fall; run on firm ground; head up, eye up. This [the trainers tell] runners too; [so strength holds; but if you stoop, you are] undone. Look up, where the prize is; the very sight of the prize makes the will greater; the hope of it does not let one feel the toils of affliction; it makes the length seem small. What is the prize? Not a palm branch, but what? The kingdom of heaven, eternal rest, glory with Christ, an inheritance, brotherhood, countless good things that cannot be told. It is not possible to describe the beauty of that prize; only the one who holds it knows, and the one who is going to receive it. It is not of gold, it is not set with stones; it is far more precious than these. Gold is mud compared with that prize; precious stones are brick compared with the beauty of that prize. If you depart to heaven having that, you will be able to walk there with great honour, and angels will revere you as you bear this prize; you will approach all with great boldness. “In Christ Jesus.” See the grateful man: in Christ Jesus I do this, he says. For it is not possible to pass through so great a distance without his help; there is need of much help, much alliance. He willed you to contend below, but he crowns above; not as here, where the contest is, there too is the crown, but this crown is in the bright place. Do you not see here too that the most honoured of athletes and charioteers are not crowned below in the stadium, but the emperor calls them up and crowns them there? So here too, [he calls them] to [heaven and crowns them there. “As many, then, as are perfect,” he] says, “let us think this; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal this too to you.” What is “this”? That one must forget what lies behind; so it belongs to the perfect man not to think himself perfect. How, then, do you say, “as many as are perfect”? Tell me, do we think this which you think? For if you have not received, nor been made perfect, how do you bid the perfect think this, which you yourself think, though not yet perfect? “This,” he says, “is perfection.” “And if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal this too to you.” That is, if anyone thinks he has achieved everything. He is securing them; but he did not say so, but what? “And if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal this too to you.” See how restrainedly he says it: God will teach you; that is, God will persuade you, not simply teach you; for Paul taught, but God led them on. And he did not say, “He will lead you on”, but, “He will reveal”, so that the thing may seem rather to belong to ignorance. These things are said not about doctrines, but about perfection of life, and about not thinking ourselves perfect. For the one who thinks he has laid hold of everything has nothing. “Only, to what we have attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us think the same thing.” What is “to what we have attained”? For now, he says, let us hold fast what we have achieved: love, concord, peace; this has been achieved by us. “To what we have attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us think the same thing.” “To what we have attained”: that is, this has already been achieved by us. Do you see that he wants the commands to be a rule? A rule admits neither addition nor subtraction; otherwise it loses its being a rule. “By the same rule”: that is, by the same faith, the same standard. “Be imitators of me,” he says, “and observe those who walk so, as you have us for a pattern.” He spoke above of the dogs, and drew them away from those men; now he brings them to those whom they should imitate. If anyone wishes to imitate us, he says, if anyone wishes to walk the same road, attend to them; even if I am not present, you know the manner of my walking, that is, of my way of life. For he taught not only by words but also by deeds; as in a chorus and an army the rest must imitate the chorus leader and the general and so walk; for it is possible for the ranks to be broken up even by a mutiny.

So the apostles were a pattern, preserving an archetypal image. Consider how exact their life was, so that they lay as an archetype and example and as living laws. For what the writings said, these men showed to all by deeds. This is the best teaching; in this way the teacher will be able to lead the disciple on. But if he himself speaks and philosophizes, but does the opposite in deeds, he is not yet a teacher. For this is easy even for the disciple, to philosophize in words; but there is need of admonition and guidance by deeds; for this makes the teacher respected and prepares the disciple to yield. How? When he sees him philosophizing in words, he will say that he commanded impossible things; and that they are impossible the teacher himself first shows by not doing them. But if he sees virtue perfected through deeds, he could not say this. However, even if the teacher's life is neglected, let us attend to ourselves, and hear the prophet saying, “They shall all be taught by God”; and, “They shall not teach each one his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest.” You do not have a virtuous teacher? But you have the true Teacher, whom alone one should call teacher: learn from him. He said, “Learn from me, for I am gentle.” Do not, then, attend to the teacher, but to him and to his lessons; take the pattern from there; you have the best image; shape yourself to it. There are countless images of virtuous lives laid up in the Scriptures; for example, if you wish, come after the Teacher to the disciples. One shone through having nothing, another through money: for example, Elijah through poverty, Abraham through money. Whichever you think [easier and more suited to you, go to it.] Again, one through marriage, another through virginity: Abraham through marriage, that other through virginity; walk whichever you wish; for each leads to heaven. One through fasting, John; another without fasts, Job. Again, this same man cared for a wife and sons and daughters and a house, and had great wealth; the other possessed nothing but the garment of hair. And why do I speak of house and wealth and money, when even in a kingdom it is possible to lay hold of virtue? For a royal house would be found more full of business than any private house. David, then, shone in a kingdom, and the purple and the diadem did not weaken him at all; another was entrusted with the leadership of a whole people, Moses I mean, which is even more difficult; for here the authority was greater, and so the difficulty became greater. You have seen men approved in wealth, you have seen them in poverty, you have seen them in marriage, you have seen them in virginity. See on the other hand people lost both in marriage and in virginity, both in wealth and in poverty. For example, in marriage many men were lost, such as Samson, but not because of marriage but because of his own will; in virginity, such as the five virgins; in wealth, the rich man who neglected Lazarus; in poverty, countless poor are still lost even now. In a kingdom I show many lost, in leadership of the people. Do you want to see people saved in the military rank too? See Cornelius. And in the management of a household? Look at the eunuch of the Ethiopian queen. So on every side, if we use wealth as we ought, nothing will destroy us; but if not, everything will destroy us: kingdom, poverty, wealth. But nothing can harm the one who is sober. Tell me, what harm did captivity do? None. For consider Joseph, who became a slave and preserved his virtue; consider Daniel and the three youths, who became captives, and how they shone much more. For virtue shines everywhere, and is unconquerable, and nothing can hinder it. Why do I speak of poverty and captivity and slavery? Not hunger, nor sores, nor disease can harm it; and disease is harder than slavery. Such was Lazarus, such was Job, such too was Timothy, gripped by frequent illnesses. Do you see that nothing can overcome virtue? Not wealth, not poverty, not ruling, not being ruled, not managing affairs, not disease, not disgrace, not being cast out; but leaving all these below on the earth, it reaches to heaven. Only let the soul be noble, and nothing hinders it from being virtuous. For when the workman is strong, nothing external hinders him. For in the crafts too, when the craftsman is experienced and steadfast and knows the whole craft, even if disease comes, he has it; even if he is poor, he has it; whether he has the tool in his hands or not, whether he works or not, … he has lost nothing; for the skill is in him. So also the virtuous man, devoted to God: even if you throw him into wealth, he shows his virtue; likewise in poverty, in disease, in health, in glory, in disgrace.

Did not the apostles pass through everything? “Through glory and dishonour,” he says, “through evil report and good report.” This is what makes an athlete: being fit for everything; such too is the nature of virtue. But if you say, “I cannot preside over many; I ought to live as a monk,” you have insulted virtue; for it can make use of everything and shine through, only let it be in the soul. Is there hunger? Is there plenty? For it shows its own strength, as Paul says: “I know how to abound and how to be in want.” Was it necessary to work? He was not ashamed, but worked for two years. Was it necessary to go hungry? He did not waste away, nor hesitate. Was it necessary to die? He did not become abject; through everything he showed his noble mind and his skill. Let us emulate him, then, and there will be no occasion of grief for us. For what, tell me, will be able to grieve such a man? Nothing. As long as no one takes this away from us, we shall be more blessed than all people, here too, not there only. For let the virtuous man have a wife, children, money, and great glory: amid all these he remains equally virtuous; take them away, and again he will be equally virtuous, neither swamped by afflictions nor puffed up by prosperity; but just as a rock, whether the sea is stormy or calm, stands equally unmoved, neither broken by the waves nor otherwise affected by the calm, so too the firm soul stands steady both in calm and in waves. And just as on a ship the children [are tossed about, while the pilot sits by,] unmoved, watching their confusion and amused, so too the philosophic soul, while all the others are troubled and again laugh out of season amid the changes of affairs, sits unmoved as on a ridge and at the helm of godliness. For what, tell me, can trouble a godly soul? Death? But it knows this to be the beginning of a better life. Poverty? But this works with it toward virtue. Disease? But it counts it as nothing when present. Why do I say disease? Not even ease, nor affliction; for it has afflicted itself beforehand. Disgrace? But the whole world has been crucified to it. Loss of children? But it is not afraid; for when it is fully assured about the resurrection, what can overcome it? Nothing at all. Does wealth puff it up? Not at all; for it knows that money is nothing. Glory? But it has been taught that “all the glory of man is as the flower of grass.” Luxury? But it has heard Paul saying, “she who lives in luxury is dead while she lives.” When, then, it is neither inflamed nor shrunken, what could be equal to this health? But other souls are not such, but change more often than the sea and the chameleon; so that it is quite laughable when you see the same man now laughing, now weeping, now anxious, now let loose beyond measure. And yet Paul says, “Do not be conformed to this age,” for no other reason than that we are citizens of heaven, where there is no change. Unchanging prizes have been promised us; let us, then, show such a way of life, and take hold of the good things already from here. Why do we throw ourselves into a strait, and into surf, and into storm and squall? Let us be in calm. It does not depend on wealth, nor on poverty, nor on glory, nor on disgrace, nor on disease, nor on health, nor on weakness; all these depend on our soul. If it is firm and well trained in the knowledge of virtue, everything will be easy for it. Already from here it will see rest and the calm harbour, and departing there it will obtain countless good things; which may we all obtain, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, power, honour, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.