{"author":null,"canonical_references":[],"database_sha256":"8cfbe7284c6936871d57c02dc6aa63ebbdfd4722422d539dd9f716e46e91112e","date_end":null,"date_start":null,"edition_year":null,"id":"sermonindex-ecf-4123","native_reference":{"book_number":250,"chapter_from":3,"chapter_to":3,"system":"MyBible module coordinates (mapping unverified)","verse_from":12,"verse_to":12},"public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"verse-keyed-module-record","review_required":["English edition and exact text","author/work attribution","dating","verse mapping and citation kind","reuse and attribution","split author quotations and deduplicate"],"review_status":"unreviewed","source_html":"<p><b>Jerome</b>: \"Thus I<br/>perceived that there is nothing good for each of them than to rejoice and do<br/>what is good in his life. Indeed every<br/>man who eats and drinks and finds satisfaction in all his labour- it is a gift<br/>from God.\" Therefore the settler and the foreigner of the<br/>world has been charged that he should enjoy the time of his short life, and<br/>when the hope of a longer life has been removed, he sees everything that he has<br/>as if he is about leave this life, and he sees also what he can do well in his<br/>life. And his thoughts are not in vain<br/>thus twisted, on account of his amassed wealth. <br/>And he doesn't think that he is able to acquire more from his toil than<br/>his food and drink and if he expends anything from his wealth into good work,<br/>then only this is a gift of God. We are<br/>not provoked, as some scholars think, by such words into luxury, pleasures, and<br/>desperation as are animals, according to that phrase of Isaiah: \"let us<br/>gorge ourselves and drink, for tomorrow we will die.\" [Is. 22, 31.] But according to the apostle: \"having<br/>sustenance and clothing, we are content with these.\" [I Tim. 6, 8.] And whatever we have that is more than this,<br/>we use in feeding the poor and our need for charity. More to the point, since the true food is the<br/>flesh of the Lord, and his blood is the true drink, according to \"anagoge [See footnote 60.]\",<br/>we only regard this as good in the present world, if we actually do feed from<br/>his flesh and drink from his blood, not only in secret but even in reading the<br/>Scriptures. For true food and drink,<br/>which is taken from the word of God, is knowledge of the Scriptures. But no one believes the word of Balaam of the<br/>prophets, who says \"there will be no toil against Jacob, no suffering in Israel\" [Num. 23, 23.]. It is in fact contrary to this, because it is<br/>said to be a gift of God: \"If anyone eats and drinks and shows he is good<br/>in all of his work\" [Cfr Eccl. 3, 13.]. In fact these are the many troubles of the<br/>righteous. And the apostle complains<br/>about these, saying he has sweated in toil and suffering. But the Lord freed us for our future in toil<br/>and suffering also: \"there will be<br/>no toil against Jacob, no suffering in Israel\". And we read how \" the blessed weep,<br/>since they will laugh\" [Luc. 6, 21.],<br/>and our laughter follows the words of Job the prophet: for the \"mouth will<br/>be filled with the joy of truths\" [Cfr Iob. 8, 21.]. Thus now we enjoy our toil in good work, by<br/>which we restrict and restrain ourselves so that afterwards we may cease from<br/>working.<br/><i>— Commentary on Ecclesiastes</i></p>","source_html_sha256":"9ba1df9addb160ac2f17d85070c041c399e2d75f04014b63bbb6e994fff7803f","source_module":"ECF","source_row_id":4123,"source_url":"https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/ecf/","text_sha256":"49ae8849aa8e1947d3abf800cce1eb752e28502c51ecdf3bead709516dbf8ea0","translator":null,"work":null}