Homilies on Isaiah, Homilia IX
Whom shall I send? — ready, then slow§1
1Whom shall I send? — Here am I; send me. Cleansed lips volunteer; then the hard commission hear and not understand makes the messenger slower — and foreshadows hearers who would not hear the Savior. (Baehrens: Homilia IX conclusion lacunate in witnesses; no invented Amen.)
Latin · §1
Et audivi vocem Domini: quem mittam? Et dixi: ecce ego sum; mitte me. Postquam purgatus est labiis, paratus suscepit ministerium. Hebraeus quidam: libenter suscepit ignorans tristia nuntianda; deinde pigrior fit cum audit aure audietis et non intelligetis. Haec etiam de Salvatore — audientes non audirent.
Thick heart; thin heart sees God§2
2This people’s heart has grown dull — cares and thorns fatten it. Flee earthly business so the heart thins for God; the pure in heart shall see God. Dull heart, heavy ears, shut eyes: only the holy grasp creation’s reasons, saying with David I will see your heavens, the work of your fingers. Baehrens notes the ending is missing (Jeremiah Homilia VI’s Amen wrongly appended in ABD) — we do not invent a close.
Latin · §2
Incrassatum est cor populi huius. Omnis in curis vitae praesentis cor incrassatum habet; spinis enecatur. Fugiamus terrena negotia ut attenuatum cor Deo acceptabile fiat. Mundo corde Deum videbunt. Tria: cor incrassatum, aures graves, oculi clausi. Soli iusti rationes creaturarum comprehendunt — quoniam videbo caelos tuos. [Schluss fehlt in Baehrens; non fingimus Amen.]