THEOSISAugustine of Hippo
Behold, a destitute individual prays aloud, not in silence. This allows us to perceive who He is, wondering if He aligns with the one spoken of by the apostle: “Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be enriched.” 2 Corinthians 8:9 If He indeed is that one, why does He appear impoverished? How can someone who cannot perceive wealth be described as rich? Who could be more affluent than He, through whom even the riches that are not true wealth were brought into existence? Through Him, we also receive riches such as talents, memories, virtues, bodily health, sensory abilities, and the very formation of our being; when these are assured, even the needy find abundance. Furthermore, through Him are bestowed those profound riches: faith, reverence, justice, love, purity, and good conduct; for these do not exist except through Him who declares the ungodly righteous. What abundant wealth! Yet, how can we recognize these words emanating from such a rich individual? “I ate ashes as bread, and mixed my drink with weeping.” Has such abundant wealth led to this state? While one fortune is exalted, the other is in humility... And still, let us examine whether this impoverished figure is indeed He; for the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. John 1:14 Reflect upon these words: “I am your servant, and the son of your servant.” Take heed of this servant, pure, chaste, and maternal; for in this instance He embraced our poverty, adorning Himself in the likeness of a servant, humbling Himself; so that you might not fear His richness and, in your lowly state, hesitate to approach Him. It was here that He assumed the form of a servant, thereby taking on our lack, rendering Himself poor, and us, the recipients of His riches. We are now on the path to grasping these truths about Him; nevertheless, we must be cautious in our assertions...
Let Him add poverty to poverty: let Him transform our lowly bodies as our Head, with us as His members, so that the two may become one flesh. Philippians 3:21 …For it has pleased Him to regard us as His members. The repentant also belong to His body. They are neither isolated nor detached from His Church; He would not have taken the Church as His bride without the admonition, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 3:2 Therefore, let us listen to what the head and body—bridegroom and bride, Christ and His Church—united as one entity, pray; for the Word and the flesh do not simultaneous comprise one and the same; the Father and the Word are indeed one; Christ and the Church are merged as one Person, one complete man in the fullness of His glory... Hence, let us heed Christ, who is poor among us, with us, and for us. The very title suggests the poor. Lastly, remember my speculation about the identity of that poor individual: let us hear His prayer and recognize His essence; do not be mistaken when hearing anything not applicable to His Head; therefore, I caution that whatever you perceive from this characterization should be understood as a voice emanating from the frailty of the body, recognizing the utterance of the members in the Head. The title reads, ‘The Prayer of the Afflicted,’ uttered while tormented, as He poured out His prayer before the Lord. This is that same poor individual who, elsewhere, states, ‘From the ends of the earth I will call upon Thee when my heart is in travail.’ He suffers because He is also Christ; who, as the Prophet articulated, refers to Himself as both Bridegroom and Bride: “He hath put a diadem upon me as the bridegroom, and as the bride hath adorned me with jewels.” Isaiah 61:10 He identified Himself as the Bridegroom and the Bride; what do we see here but that the Bridegroom stands for the Head, and the Bride represents the body? They form one voice, for they are one flesh. Let us listen and see ourselves within these words; and if we discern that we are outside, let us strive to be included.
“Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto Thee.” Psalm 100:1 “Hear my prayer, Lord” corresponds to: “Let my cry reach You”: the sentiment of the supplicant is emphasized by the repetition. “Turn not away Thy face from me.” When did the Lord avert His gaze from His Son? When did the Father turn His back on Christ? Yet, due to the frailty of my members, O Lord, do not forsake me: on whatever day I lament, lend me Your ear. Psalm 101:2... You are in distress now, I am in distress; tomorrow another will be in distress, I am in distress; after this generation, other successors to your descendants will face distress, I too am in distress; even to the end of the world, whoever endures hardship within my body, I experience their suffering... Peter prayed, Paul prayed, the other Apostles prayed; the faithful prayed in those times, the faithful prayed in future times, the faithful pray in our era, the faithful shall pray in the generations to come. Immediately: for now I request what You are poised to grant. I seek not earthly things, as one of the earth; instead, redeemed at last from my former bondage, I yearn for the kingdom of heaven; respond swiftly: for it is with such yearning that You declared: “Even while you speak, I will answer: ‘Here am I.’” Isaiah 58:9 For what purpose do you call out? In what sorrow? In what need? O destitute one, before the gates of God, who is all-sufficient, with what longing do you make your petition? What need drives you to seek relief? What necessity compels you to knock for entrance?
“For my days have vanished like smoke.” Psalm 100:3. O days! If days: for where the day is recognized, there the light is understood. My days, my times; thus, as smoke, does it not rise due to the puffing up of pride?... Observe how smoke, akin to pride, ascends, swells, and then dissipates: thus it rightly fades away, lacking permanence. “And my bones are burned as in a furnace.” My bones and my strength are not devoid of sorrow, nor free from burning. Are there any bones within Christ’s body, any strength, greater than that of the holy apostles? Yet we see the bones as scorched. Who among you is offended, and I remain unburned? 2 Corinthians 11:29 They are brave, faithful, skilled interpreters and proclaimers of the word, moving as they speak, speaking as they perceive; they are undeniably valiant, yet all who take offense, in turn, become a furnace to them. For there exists love there, and moreover in the bones. The bones reside within all flesh, supporting all flesh. Yet if anyone suffers offense and endangers their soul, the bone suffers proportionately according to its preference...
Contemplate Adam, from whom humankind was birthed. From him, did the sorrow begin? From him originates this inherited poverty? Let him who once despaired in his body now affirm with hope, “My heart is afflicted and withered like grass.” Psalm 101:4. Deservedly so, for all flesh is merely grass. Isaiah 40:6 But how has this happened to you? Because I neglected to consume my bread. For God commanded concerning the bread. What then is the soul’s bread? The serpent compelled, and the woman sinned; he touched the forbidden fruit, Genesis 3:6, he forgot the command; his heart was struck as it deserved, and withered like grass, for he neglected to take in his bread. Forgetting to consume his bread, he imbibed poison: his heart becomes afflicted and withered like grass... Now partake of that very bread which you have overlooked. But that very Bread has arrived, in whose body you may recall the voice of your negligence and cry out in your poverty for riches. Now partake, for you dwell in His body, declaring, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven.” John 6:41 You have forgotten to partake of your bread; but following His crucifixion, all the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord. After forgetting, may recollection return, let us eat the bread from heaven to sustain our lives; not manna, for they consumed and perished; John 6:49 but the bread of which it is said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” Matthew 5:6
“From the voice of my groaning my bones have cleaved to my flesh.” Psalm 101:5 For many groan, and I too groan; I groan even for this reason, for they lament concerning a wrongful act. A man loses a coin, he groans; he loses faith, yet does not lament: I weigh the value of money against faith and find far greater cause for distress in one who fails to grieve as he ought, or does not mourn at all. He engages in deceit and rejoices. With what gain, with what loss? He has gained money, yet lost righteousness. It is for this latter reason that he who knows how to groan, does so; he who is near the head, who clings righteously to the body of Christ, thus he groans. But the carnal do not grieve for this reason, and they force themselves to groan; for no other reason causes them grief; and we cannot dismiss them, even if they neither lament nor lament for the right reasons. For we wish to correct them, we wish to guide them, we wish to amend them; and when we are unable, we groan; and when we groan, we remain united with them...
“I have become like a pelican in the wilderness and like an owl among the ruins.” Psalm 100:6. Here we find three birds and three places: the pelican, the owl, and the sparrow; and these three locations: the wilderness, the decaying walls, and the rooftops. The pelican in the wilderness, the owl in the desolate walls, and the sparrow on the rooftop. First, we must clarify what the pelican signifies: as it originates in a region that keeps it mysterious to us. It is birthed in secluded locales, primarily alongside the banks of the river Nile in Egypt. Regardless of what bird it is, let us contemplate what the Psalm says concerning it. It indicates that it dwells in the wilderness. Why inquire about its form, its limbs, its sound, its habits? As far as the Psalm is concerned, it is a solitary creature. The owl is a bird that prefers the night. The ruins, or parietines as called, are walls that stand without a roof, without inhabitants; this serves as the owl's habitat. And as for rooftops and sparrows, you are familiar with those. Thus, I find someone from the body of Christ, a minister of the word, compassionate towards the weak, striving for Christ's cause, conscious of his future Lord. Matthew 25:26 Let us consider these three figures from the perspective of His stewardship. If such a man came to non-believers, he is as a pelican in the wilderness. If he approached Christians but retreated, he is like the owl among the ruins; for he does not abandon even the darkness of those who dwell in night, he wishes to identify them as well. If he has not reached the Christians who linger in the house as if they lacked faith, or as if they abandoned their beliefs yet walk warmly in what they profess, the sparrow cries out to them not in the wilderness, for they are Christians; nor among the desolate walls, as they have not crumbled; but because they are beneath the rooftop; rather beneath the roof, as they dwell in the flesh. The sparrow cries above the flesh, undeterred by the commandments of God, nor does it become carnal to adhere to the roof. “What you hear in the ear, preach upon the rooftops.” Matthew 10:27 There exist three birds and three locations; a single individual may embody those three birds, and three individuals may represent the three birds separately; the three types of locations represent three classes of people; yet the wilderness, the broken walls, and the rooftop are simply three classifications of humanity.