There are so many Patristic Homilies of the Synoptic Gospels on Jesus' Temptation but St Augustine is exceptional in the context of the discourses on the Psalms.
Information on Psalm 60 commentary of Augustine for the First Sunday of Lent is best depended on the Online Breviary for the accurate reference, (Ps. 60, 2-3: CCL 39, 766).
Saint Augustine's 444 words, as in similar Readings, challenge close reading. In fact, a preamble summarizing leads to opening to the door of Augustine's clarity and simpleness of language.
A blessing discovery.
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What
single individual can cry from the ends of the earth? This possession of
Christ, this inheritance of Christ, this body of Christ, this one Church of Christ,
this unity that we are, cries from the ends of the earth. What does it
cry? Our pilgrimage on earth cannot be
exempt from trial. Certainly Christ was tempted by the devil. In Christ you
were tempted, for Christ received his flesh from your nature, but by his own
power gained salvation for you; he suffered death in your nature, but by his
own power gained glory for you; therefore, he suffered temptation in your
nature, but by his own power gained victory for you.
If in Christ we have been tempted, in him we
overcome the devil.
BreviarySunday, 17 February 2013 The First Sunday of Lent
http://www.ibreviary.com/m/breviario.php?s=ufficio_delle_letture
SECOND READING
From a commentary on the psalms by Saint
Augustine, bishop
(Ps.
60, 2-3: CCL 39, 766)
In Christ we
suffered temptation, and in him we overcame the devil
Hear, O God, my petition, listen to my prayer. Who is speaking? An individual, it seems.
See if it is an individual: I
cried to you from the ends of the earth while my heart was in anguish. Now it is no longer one person;
rather, it is one in the sense that Christ is one, and we are all his members.
What single individual can cry from the ends of the earth? The one who cries
from the ends of the earth is none other than the Son’s inheritance. It was
said to him: Ask of me, and I
shall give you the nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as
your possession. This
possession of Christ, this inheritance of Christ, this body of Christ, this one
Church of Christ, this unity that we are, cries from the ends of the earth.
What does it cry? What I said before: Hear,
O God, my petition, listen to my prayer; I cried out to you from the ends of
the earth. That is, I made
this cry to you from the ends
of the earth; that is, on
all sides.
Why did I make this cry? While
my heart was in anguish. The
speaker shows that he is present among all the nations of the earth in a
condition, not of exalted glory but of severe trial.
Our pilgrimage on earth cannot be exempt from trial. We progress
by means of trial. No one knows himself except through trial, or receives a
crown except after victory, or strives except against an enemy or temptations.
The one who cries from the ends of the earth is in anguish, but is
not left on his own. Christ chose to foreshadow us, who are his body, by means
of his body, in which he has died, risen and ascended into heaven, so that the
members of his body may hope to follow where their head has gone before.
He made us one with him when he chose to be tempted by Satan. We
have heard in the gospel how the Lord Jesus Christ was tempted by the devil in
the wilderness. Certainly Christ was tempted by the devil. In Christ you were
tempted, for Christ received his flesh from your nature, but by his own power
gained life for you; he suffered insults in your nature, but by his own power
gained glory for you; therefore, he suffered temptation in your nature, but by
his own power gained victory for you.
If in Christ we have been tempted, in him we overcame the devil.
Do you think only of Christ’s temptations and fail to think of his victory? See
yourself as tempted in him, and see yourself as victorious in him. He could
have kept the devil from himself; but if he were not tempted he could not teach
you how to triumph over temptation.
