Salmos 73
Jerome · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Salmos 73:25
It is good for us to cleave to the Lord, and to put our hope in the Lord God, so that when we have exchanged our present poverty for the kingdom of heaven, we may be able to exclaim, "Whom have I in heaven but you? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside you." Surely if we can find such blessedness in heaven we may well grieve to have sought after poor and passing pleasures here on earth. — LETTER 43.3
Salmos 73:26
A cleric, then, as he serves Christ's church, must first understand what his name means; and then, when he realizes this, must endeavor to be that which he is called. For since the Greek word klēros means "lot," or "inheritance," the clergy are so called either because they are the lot of the Lord, or else because the Lord himself is their lot and portion. Now, he who in his own person is the Lord's portion, or has the Lord for his portion, must so bear himself as to possess the Lord and to be possessed by him. He who possesses the Lord and who says with the prophet, "The Lord is my portion," can hold to nothing beside the Lord. For if he holds to something beside the Lord, the Lord will not be his portion. Suppose, for instance, that he holds to gold or silver, or possessions or inlaid furniture; with such portions as these the Lord will not deign to be his portion. I, if I am the portion of the Lord, and the line of his heritage, receive no portion among the remaining tribes; but, like the priest and the Levite, "I live on the tithe," and serving the altar, am supported by its offerings. "Having food and raiment, I shall be content with these" and as a disciple of the cross shall share its poverty. I beseech you, therefore, and again and yet again admonish you;41 do not look to your military experience for a standard of clerical obligation. Do not seek worldly gain through service to Christ, so that, if you should be better off than when you first became clergy, you will not hear people say to your disgrace, "Their portion shall not profit them." Welcome poor people and strangers to dine with you so that with them Christ may become your guest. Avoid as you would a plague a cleric who engages in business and who rises from poverty to wealth and from obscurity to a high position. For "bad company corrupts good character." You despise gold; he loves it. You avoid wealth; he eagerly pursues it. You love silence, meekness, privacy; he takes delight in talking and insolence, in [town] squares and streets and apothecaries' shops. What unity of feeling can there be where there is so wide a divergence of character? — LETTER 52.5