42. Человек в ранах

We see in the world that people have many different diseases, and sometimes a person is covered in wounds and ulcers. As wounds and ulcers are to a man, so are sins and iniquities to a sinful soul. The body is wounded and covered with wounds - the soul of a sinful person is wounded and wounded by sins. It happens that bodily ulcers and wounds stink and rot. Likewise, sinful ulcers and wounds on the soul stink and rot. The psalmist speaks about this: “My wounds stank and rot from... my madness” (Ps. 37:6). It happens that a person is covered from head to toe with ulcers and wounds. So the sinful soul, abiding in sins and adding sins to sins, is all covered in ulcers and wounds. The prophet speaks about this: “From foot to head there is no integrity in him” (Is. 1:6). The more rotten the bodily wounds and ulcers become, the greater the stench they emit. So the more a sinful soul sins, the more it is wounded and wounded, and it irritates its sinful scabs, and as a result it emits a greater stench. People see bodily wounds and ulcers and smell them. God sees spiritual wounds and ulcers. The stench of bodily wounds is heavy and unbearable for people. The stench of spiritual wounds is heavy and unbearable to God. People turn away from bodily wounds and their stench. God turns away from spiritual wounds that rot and stink. It is terrible, beloved Christian, for a person to have wounds all over him, wounds that are purulent and stinking, but it is even more cruel for the soul to be in his wounds that are sinful and stinking. The body is mortal and perishable, but the soul is immortal and incorruptible. If he is not healed from his wounds now, he will stand in those wounds before the Judge at that Judgment, and will remain so forever. The wounded man who is before your eyes, a dear creation of God, created in the image of God, who has come to such vileness, is worthy of tenderness and pity. This is due to sin. “You, O Lord, have righteousness, but we have shame on our faces” (Dan 9:7). Turn your eyes from this disgrace to the soul, which is wounded by sins, like wounds, and you will see a shame worthy of greater regret and tenderness! Her wounds and ulcers are pride, envy, malice, impurity, love of money, and so on. The more she stays in them, the more wounded she becomes. The more she is wounded, the more her wounds rot and stink. Poor sinner! It’s enough to be wounded: already the wounds of your soul stink and rot. It’s time to be treated, it’s time to apply plasters of repentance to ulcers and wounds. You heal a sick body, your soul is exhausted from wounds and ulcers, and you don’t care about it! O poor sinners! Let us run with faith to Jesus Christ, the Physician of souls and bodies, and, not daring to approach Him because of the rotting and stinking wounds, let us stand even from afar and lift up the voice of the ten lepers from the depths of our hearts to Him: “Jesus the Mentor! Have mercy on us” (Luke 17:12–13). There are no such terrible wounds and ulcers that He would not want and could not heal with one word, because He is All-Powerful, Merciful and Humane. As the Gospel tells us, he healed mortal and corruptible bodies—won’t the immortal souls who came to save want to be healed? He will truly heal if we come to Him with faith and diligently ask Him for healing. He sees our wounds and ulcers and wants to heal, for this he came into the world. But he wants us to acknowledge before Him our unhealed wounds, which only He alone can heal. “Heal me, Lord, for I have sinned against You!” “Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed... for You are God, my Savior!” (Jer. 17:14). “Lord! I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant (my soul) will be healed” (Matthew 8:8). “I am the image of Your indescribable glory, even though I bear the ulcers of sins: be gracious to Your creation, O Master, and cleanse with Your compassion, and grant me the longed-for Fatherland, making me a resident of paradise again!” When we see a person with wounds or some other terrible illness, we feel sorry for him and sympathize with him. Moreover, when we see a person in sin, we should regret and sympathize with him. For we all have a common nature – a common misfortune and wretchedness. If we sympathize and sympathize with a person’s physical distress, much more should we sympathize and sympathize with the spiritual distress of our neighbor. If the terrible physical illness of our neighbor moves us to mercy, all the more so should his mental illness move us to mercy and compassion. The soul is more honorable and dearer than the body. Therefore, her misfortune and damnation are more terrible and dangerous than physical ones. The body, mortal and perishable, will rot in the ground, although it will be healthy. The soul is immortal, and will remain unhealed forever if it is not healed now. It is important to sympathize and have compassion for those who are in wounds and ulcers of the soul and who attach sinful ulcers to the ulcers. Why, man, when you see your brother sinning, do you condemn him and do not feel sorry for him who is in extreme danger? You rejoice over the suffering body; This is good and commendable. Why do you not appease the suffering soul, but even judge and condemn it? In this case, it is better to sigh about your brother to the Lord and say: “Lord, have mercy and deliver him from this damnation, and keep me from this with Your all-powerful right hand.” But turn your eyes to yourself and look into your conscience. You will see that you too are in similar wounds, and perhaps even larger and more vile ones. The fact that you judge and condemn your neighbor greatly hurts and wounds your soul and makes you vile and stinking before God: judging is the work of the Son of God, this work you boldly steal, and even though you are a sinner (John 5:22). Why do you despise, humiliate and judge the wounded? You are no better than him. I, you, and he, and the rest are all equal: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Our enemy Satan has wounded us so much that without God’s help we do nothing else but fall and get hurt! “Remember us, O Lord, with favor towards your people; visit us with Your salvation, so that... to see the prosperity of Thy chosen ones, to rejoice in the joy of Thy people, to rejoice in Thy inheritance. We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have committed unrighteousness. God! Show mercy to us and bless us, make Your face shine upon us and have mercy on us, let us know Your way on earth, Your salvation is on all nations” (Ps. 106:4–6, 66:2–3). You might be interested in: