Fathers

Ecclesiastes 11

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Cast your bread on the waters; for you shall find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, yes, even to eight; for you don’t know what evil will be on the earth. If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth; and if a tree falls toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falls, there shall it be. He who observes the wind won’t sow; and he who regards the clouds won’t reap. As you don’t know what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child; even so you don’t know the work of God who does all. In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening don’t withhold your hand; for you don’t know which will prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both will be equally good. Truly the light is sweet, and it is a pleasant thing for the eyes to see the sun. Yes, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that comes is vanity. Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

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What the Fathers say

Ecclesiastes 11:4

Western Saints

Jerome

"He that observes the wind shall not sow; and he that regards the clouds shall not reap. "He who considers what is good for him and does not give out to all who ask him, often destroys what he ought to receive. [Cfr. Luc 6, 30.] Differently: he who proclaims the word of God at the time when the people listen freely and a second wind of rumour comes, he is a negligent and lazy farmer. But favourably or not in his career he must proclaim the word of God [Cfr II Tim. …

Commentary on Ecclesiastes ↗

Gregory the Dialogist

He that observeth the wind doth not sow: and he that regardeth the clouds never reapeth. For what is expressed by the wind but the temptation of malignant spirits? And what are denoted by the clouds which are moved of the wind but the oppositions of bad men? The clouds, that is to say, are driven by the winds, because bad men are excited by the blasts of unclean spirits. …

The Book of Pastoral Rule, Part 3, Chapter XV ↗

Bonaventure

He who observes the wind etc. Here he exhorts to giving unceasingly: and first he teaches that times are not to be watched; second, that divine works are not to be scrutinized; third, that works of mercy are to be continued. As to the first, he says: He who observes the wind does not sow, because frequently a wind comes that he does not want, and the wind that would please him does not come. …

Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 11 ↗