10. Любовь – венец подвижнических трудов, – из тесного пути широкий

Now the Lord teaches us all-round love on the following occasion, as St. Evangelist Luke (Luke 10:25–28). A certain lawyer approached the Lord and asked Him how to inherit the “eternal life.” Lawyer, i.e. a person who studies the law given by God and rests on it should have known this himself. Why did the Lord ask him: yes - as it is written in the law, read it. The lawyer read: “thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.” Then the Lord said to him: “You have spoken rightly: do this, and you will live.” He confirmed, that is, his answer and certified that there is nothing to ask about another path to eternal life and salvation: it does not exist and cannot exist. Love God and your neighbor - that's all. What a short Catechism! What a simple law! Just two words: love God, love your neighbor. Even one word: love. For whoever truly loves God already loves his neighbor in God, and whoever truly loves his neighbor already loves God. – Why is this such complexity of affairs both on behalf of God and on behalf of people? These covenants, statutes, consecrations, sacraments, a considerable system of teachings? Why these narrow gates and narrow path? Why the deeds with which one strives to enter the narrow gate, and all the armor that must be received by those going into the belly - fasting, vigils, prayer, etc.? To lead us to love. – Love is the color and fruit in our spiritual life of salvation. You have to put in a lot of labor and sweat in order to bear this fruit. Just as in a tree the fruit is preceded by a color, the flower by a leaf and a branch, the branches by a trunk, the trunk by a root, the root by a seed, and how much time must pass before a tree grows from a seed - and this tree gives fruit: so in spiritual life - first the seed of the heart falls to the ground of the heart, - from this seed grows a tree of saving labors and exploits - this tree then gives the fruit which is love. She extracts herself from the whole composition of saving deeds and labors and then inspires and fulfills everything. In its true form, love is a spiritual paradise. It is a warm, peaceful, benevolent, living, ever-moving and joyful disposition, not like a guest visiting our soul for a while, but a constant, solid, deep-rooted, essentially integral disposition, like, for example, breathing or the beating of the heart. In whom this feeling or this power is implanted, he is blissful in himself with deep, undisturbed bliss. He may be in constant labor, but he does not see or feel any labor, no sweat, no sorrows, no obstacles. For the very difficulties in the paths of love do not diminish, but elevate love, just as the wind does not extinguish, but strengthens and expands the flame of fire. So - paradise is love: but paradise lost. You go inside yourself and don’t find him there. This tree of life does not grow in the field of the heart. The question is, why? - Because the heart is all overgrown with evil trees of passions that drown out love. Where there is passion, there is no place for love. Love is merciful: how will it be in the heart when there is a quality of petrified indifference to the suffering of others? Love does not envy: how can it be in the heart when envy lives there? Love is not exalted and is not proud: how can it be in the heart when pride and vanity rule there? Love does not seek its own: how can it be in a heart in which the initial principle of affairs is self-love? Love is not outrageous: how can it be in a heart full of passions of dishonor? Love does not rejoice over untruth: how can it be in an angry, malicious, hateful heart? Love covers everything: how can it be in a heart prone to slander, gossip and slander? First uproot these evil trees of passions, and in their place one multi-branched tree will grow, giving the color and fruit of love. – But just begin to eradicate passions, and you will inevitably enter a difficult and regrettable path, you will be faced with the need to put on all the weapons of exploits and hardships, you will have to go through all the sanctifying, corrective and guiding laws of the Holy Church of God. - That is, before you enter into the unity of love, you will have to undertake many labors and devote your strength to many activities - to go through a forest, as it were, in order to enter a pleasant clearing strewn with flowers. – Love, says St. Isaac the Syrian (Homily 83), there is a pleasant island, like a paradise of sweetness. To achieve it, you need to swim across a sea of ​​passions. So, he says, sit on the boat of repentance, plant the fear of God on the rulers, unfurl the sails of sighing and heartfelt contrition, instead of oarsmen use feats of self-mortification and struggle with passions, and as the owner, pay strict attention to the entire production of this matter. Work like this, and you will soon reach the desired shore and enter the blissful region of love. – So, you see, one comes to love through the struggle with passions; they begin to fight passions after repentance; they come to repentance from the fear of God; the fear of God is born from sincere faith. – This is the unchanging path to love! Revive the faith that God exists and is a rewarder of those who seek Him. This faith will resurrect the fear of God. The fear of God will awaken the conscience and give birth to contrition and repentance. Repentance will be crowned with the determination to no longer offend God with sins, not to indulge evil passions, but to steadily follow the path of virtue. This work will calm passions and cleanse the heart. A heart pure of passions is the region of love. When you achieve this, then nothing else will be needed. You will have everything; for you will possess God and you will be possessed by God. “He who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 John 4:16). And where God is, there is everything that one can desire or yearn for in the soul. The same thing will happen to you as to the building. When they build it, it is all cluttered with scaffolding, and when it is rebuilt, all the scaffolding is taken away - and the building appears in all its beauty. So in spiritual life, when love comes, everything that preceded it, which was necessary for the achievement of love, will disappear by itself. One love will reign and one will produce, replenish and accomplish everything. – But remember that the path to complete perfect love is not close or easy. Therefore, listening to the rantings of young philanthropists, do not frivolously succumb to the seductive cry: everything away, love alone is enough. – Wait, take everything away. First, patiently go through everything offered to you by the rules of pious life in St. Churches - everything from small to large. Through this you will achieve true love. True love, having come, will itself teach you what to do with everything that immature and inexperienced philanthropy considers unnecessary. If our word to ourselves were so strong that immediately, as we said to ourselves: from now on I will love God and my neighbors, love would reign in our hearts, it would be good. “But in reality, for the most part, it happens completely differently.” When thought and tongue say: I will love, the heart goes against these words and thoughts, and when deeds of love are presented, it refuses them - even in moments of being carried away by philanthropic ideas. - Why is that so? - Because this heart is tempered by egoism, pride, sensuality, self-interest, which cannot be driven away by newfangled phrases alone. Why does the Apostle, when writing about love, say: “pursue love” (1 Tim. 6:11), that is, strive intensely for love, or “acquire love” (Col. 3:14) - use intense labor to acquire it, and pray that God will give you the spirit of love (2 Tim. 1:7): for love is from God (1 John 4:7), poured out into our hearts by the Spirit Saints (Rom.5:5). But the gift of the Spirit must be earned and attracted: which cannot be achieved with words alone. Let us, brothers, patiently bear all the laws laid down by St. Church and faith, labors and deeds for the purification of the heart, in order to achieve love, praying earnestly, moreover, may the Lord give us the power to be strengthened by His Spirit in the inner man, to indwell Christ by faith in our hearts, so that, in love rooted and founded, we can understand with all the saints that breadth, and length, and depth, and height - understand and the love of Christ that overcomes understanding, that we may be filled with all the fulfillment of God (Eph. 3:15–19). Amen. On the 25th week after Pentecost. You might be interested in: