585 chapter 4: the sacrifice of the mystical temple CHAPTER 4 The Sacrifice of the Mystical Temple Be far from this temple of ours [any] victim that is displeasing to God, which He Himself spurns saying somewhere: “Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?” (Ps 50:13). Be far from this temple those buying and selling, which He holds in greatest abomination according to the well-known words of Jerome: “Let there be no business dealing in the house of our heart, no commerce between buyers and sellers, no desire for gifts: let Jesus not enter when He is angry and stern, otherwise He will not cleanse His temple except with the use of a whip” (cf. Mt 21:12-13).44 What then should be offered in sacrifice to the eternal Majesty? David sings: “My sacrifice, God, is an afflicted spirit; God, do not spurn a contrite, humbled heart” (Ps 51:19) [LV]. Let the afflicted offer his affliction to God in sacrifice; the sinner his contrition, the righteous his humility, the Priest his praise, the Religious his vows; just as the same King45 urges us elsewhere: “Offer praise as you sacrifice to God; fulfill your vows to the Most High” (Ps 50:14). Pleasing is the offering of the afflicted, when he particularly blesses God in it, whether his affliction is imposed upon him for his sins or for the merit of his eternal glory; in consequence one of the Fathers says, “There is nothing more blessed than the tongue that thanks God in adversity.” Pleasing is the contrition of the repentant sinner, for as the Lord Himself declares, “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance” (Lk 15:7). Pleasing is the prayer of a humble creature, because 44 Eusebius Hieronymus, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, III, 21: PL 26, 157 (n. 165) and the same author: Bk. III, Commentaries on Matthew ...: CChrL 77, 188. 45 By “King” is meant David, who was the second king of the kingdom of Israel (1011-971 B.C.).
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