Слово в понедельник недели 1-й Великого поста, на часах

Wishing you complete success in the field of holy retreats, we, brethren, invited you to leave in the middle of this week, if possible, all your everyday affairs, in order to concentrate all your thoughts and feelings “in one thing... for what is needed” (Luke 10:42). But now we must invite you to do some things during this week. It’s not enough to invite, we want to oblige you to this, and oblige you under fear: in case of disobedience, you will lose all the fruit from your exploits and labors. We will do this not according to our own will or speculation, but according to the will of Him in whose right hand we are and our breath. For do you hear His voice? “When you stand,” he says, “praying, forgive whatever you have against anyone; and your Father, who is in heaven, will forgive you your sins. If you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive you your sins” (Mark 11:25–26). If this is always the rule of the heavenly Judge, how much more so now, when we appear before Him with the sins of our entire lives! Similarly, elsewhere it is said: “if... bring your gift to the altar, and remember that one, as your brother has something for you: Leave your gift before the altar, and go first, humble yourself with your brother, and then come and bring your gift” (Matthew 5:23-24). If the Heavenly King does not want to accept any gift from us without reconciliation with our neighbor: then does he deign to give us His gift, and such a gift as the Body and Blood of His Son, if we appear to receive this gift without completely freeing ourselves from all enmity with our neighbor? After this, there is no need to ask what is the work that you need to do first of all in these days: everyone who wants to accept the remission of sins, to be worthy of communion of the Body and Blood of the Lord without being judged and condemned, must diligently look around: does he have enmity with anyone? And if it turns out that there is this misfortune, then one must forgive the one who offended him with all his heart, forgive him so that there is no memory of his guilt. At the same time, one should try, if possible, to incline the enemy to such forgiveness, to turn him from an enemy into a brother. Is this extreme feat difficult? - What to do when the Judge and the Lord, to whom you must appear to receive forgiveness from Him for your sins, wants this: we cannot change a single feature in His command. However, is the difficulty as great as it seems?.. What if the sovereign ordered you to do this very thing? Would you not forgive the most severe offense out of respect for his word? Would you not go to your most inveterate enemy for reconciliation? And if you had the misfortune to fall into crime and execution, and you were offered, in order to avoid it, to show forgiveness to your enemy: it is likely that then you would immediately kiss your enemy as a brother, as a savior. But does it seem difficult for reconciliation with the King of Heaven when they demand reconciliation with your enemy? Is it difficult to say a kind word to an ill-wisher to avoid eternal punishment? Isn’t this a clear sign that we value the word of the Heavenly King at nothing, are not afraid of His righteous anger, do not know the value of that Body and that Blood, which we are about to partake of?... “But why,” you say, “should I still go to the enemy and talk to him? It’s enough to forgive him completely.” Why go? - Because, as you heard, your Savior commands: He knows better than you and me what we should do. “It is enough to forgive an enemy without seeing him.” No, that's not enough. Thus, you alone will be healed, and he will remain ill; and the Physician of souls wants you both to be healthy; for your enemy is also a member of His Body, just like you. And, please tell me, if now your Savior and Lord do not insist on the complete repayment of the enmity between you, then when will this be done? Now you yourself are looking for mercy, asking for remission of sins, and therefore must be disposed to mercy. And so the most merciful Lord, taking this opportunity, asks you for mercy, seeks remission of sins for your brother, and, sending you to him, wants you to be a doctor for your ailing brother. “But my enemy is so angry with me that he will either not accept me, or will show me contempt, cause new annoyance, and I will return from him with nothing.” No, in any case you will return with great benefit. Will he not accept you, will he despise you, will he annoy you? Let it go! This is a new crown for you. You did your job, fulfilled the will of the Savior, showed self-sacrifice, which will be more fruitful for you the more prudently you are able to endure a new trouble. But I don’t think that out of a hundred enemies and ill-wishers there would be even two who would dare to offend a person seeking reconciliation with them in a Christian way. No, human nature, no matter how rude and evil it may be, is not stone or iron; and especially nothing touches her more than humility and Christian love. No matter how much they talk about such cases and meetings, you always hear that they ended very well: the enemy, struck by Christian humility and the name of Jesus Christ, is moved, softens, and abandons his hatred. “But I, you say, have already opened a case with my enemy in court; It's too late for me to go back; One law will decide us.” Is there no law in your soul and his? Isn’t your conscience and his the first judge? Decide the matter yourself according to your conscience, and present the decision to your conscience; make as many Christian concessions as possible from your rights and put them into the price of reconciliation: in this way the most long-term and complicated litigations were resolved in a minute. But, no matter what your enemy does in this case, you, at least on your part, will do what the Lord your Savior commands you. And without this, no matter how much the priest says: forgiven, permitted, you will not receive permission. Of the other pious deeds that are especially appropriate for this week, it is most necessary to point out the deeds of mercy. It is not in vain that the Savior Himself said: “Blesseds of mercy, for there will be mercy” (Matthew 5:7); It is not in vain that the Old Testament said: “Atone for your sins with alms, and for your iniquities with the bounty of the poor” (Dan. 4:24). Therefore, it is most fitting for us, who are now seeking forgiveness and mercy from the Lord, to appear to Him for this, after showing mercy to our neighbors. Is there any need for any admonition from us in this regard? If necessary, we will tell the ruler, in whose hands the fate of many thousands of people like him: give, if not freedom, then at least weaken those whose official relationship with you, apparently, are embarrassed in developing the abilities and powers given to them by God, even in fulfilling their duties to God and their neighbors; To the rich man of the Gospel we say: tear up the handwriting of the debt by which the poor father of a large family is bound to you; visit the prison and redeem those who are languishing there for debts; take a young orphan under your roof and give him education; Let us say to everyone: give what you can from your excesses, even from your meager acquisitions, and give in the name of Jesus Christ to the poor: your mite will be accepted by Him in the same way as the rich gift of the rich; for the Lord is not looking for an abundance of gifts, but for our hearts. Amen. You might be interested in: