The Book of Baruch 3:12 Komentář

The Father is called source and light: “They have abandoned me, the source of living water.” And in Baruch, “How is it, Israel, that you are in the land of your enemies? You have abandoned the source of wisdom.” And according to John, “Our God is light.” The Son, in relation to the source, is called a river: “The river of God is full of waters.” In relation to light, he is called splendor, as Paul says, “He is the splendor of the glory and the imprint of his being.” The Father is thus light and the Son his splendor (we need not fear repeating the same things often, especially in these matters). Now, it is possible to see in the Son also the Spirit, in whom we are enlightened, “that he would give you,” it is said, “the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation, in the knowledge of him, by enlightening the eyes of the heart.” Enlightened then by the Spirit, it is Christ who enlightens in him. It is said, in fact, that “he was the true light that enlightens every person who comes into the world.” Analogously, then, if the Father is the source and the Son is called river, we drink of the Spirit, as it is written, “We have all been given to drink of the one Spirit.” But, at the same time, drinking of the Spirit we drink of Christ: “They drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.”

If God is and is called the fountain of wisdom and life … as in the book of Baruch it is written, “You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom,” this implies that life and wisdom are not foreign to the essence of the fountain but are proper to it. Nor were they at any time without existence but always existed. Now the Son is all this, who says, “I am the life,” and, “I Wisdom dwell with prudence.” Is it then irreligious to say, “Once the Son was not,” for it is the same thing as saying, “Once the fountain was dry, destitute of life and wisdom.” But then it would cease to be a fountain.

“As the deer longs for springs of water, so my soul longs for you, O God.” It is characteristic of deer that they do not fear the poison of serpents, so much so that, blowing into their lairs through their noses, they force them out so as to kill and eat them. And when the poison they have thus swallowed begins to burn their insides, though it is not fatal, it nevertheless ignites a fire in them that creates a tremendous thirst. They then go in search of springs, and in the pure waters they extinguish the fire of the poison. In the same way, then, that deer desire springs of water, so also our deer—those who, fleeing the Egypt of this world, have killed Pharaoh and have drawn out all of his army with the waters of baptism—after having killed the devil desire nothing but the springs of the church: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. That the Father is a spring is written Jeremiah, “They have abandoned me, the spring of living water, to dig for themselves leaky cisterns, unable to hold water.” About the Son, it is written somewhere, “They have abandoned the source of wisdom.” Finally, of the Holy Spirit it is written, “From the one who drinks the water that I will give him, a fountain will spring up, welling up to eternal life,” and the Evangelist immediately provides an explanation, saying that the Savior’s words here referred to the Holy Spirit. This is the clearest proof that the three springs of the church are the mystery of the Trinity. And it is these springs that the soul of the believer longs for. The soul of the believer is interiorly drawn to them, so much so as to say, “My soul thirsts for God, the living spring.” Indeed, it is not merely foolish ambition to want to see God but an intense desire, a thirst that burns all. Before receiving baptism these souls spoke to themselves asking, “When can I come into the presence of God?” Now their desire is fulfilled: they have arrived, they are in God’s presence, they have been presented before the altar, face to face with the sacrament of the Savior.