Word for the 2nd week of All Saints

The verb Ima: He is coming after Me, and I will make you a fisher of man. She left the wilderness and idolized him. The good fish catcher, our Savior, walks along the shore and catches the sea, when I spread the word of his living one; catch the verbal, great fish, Simon, Andrew, John, Jacob and others; but these fish are also quite large, not out of ignorance and need, but knowingly and seeing, from their will they entered into the depths of Christ. Christ, our Savior, does not fish like a simple fisherman: they use intrigue, deceit; Christ spreads out His wounds, and these only fall into the nude as they wish. If, he said, whoever wants to come after Me, let him take up his cross and come after Me 1 . If you want to put it into your stomach, keep the commandments 2. By will, of their own free will, fish come into the space of Christ. The one who wants to follows him, just as the verbal fish, Simon, Andrew and others, are now caught from Christ. O great fisherman! O hefty fish! Not only did I follow Christ by will, but I also followed abiy, not postponing until the morning, the after, but abiy. Christ the Savior of the fish loves such people: but those who put off their procession and following Christ for another time, for old age, for the hour of death, when they have already grown stinking, His Soul hates. The Lord demands speedy and urgent following of Himself. When some of Jesus' followers said: Command me first to go and bury my father 3: Jesus did not praise this, but answered: Come after Me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead 4. The Lord requires the kind of followers and warriors that the centurion has, as he said: I say to this, go, and he goes: and to another, come, and he will come 5. The Savior found such on the sea of ​​Galilee; speech only: He is coming after Me, and so on. she is abiye after Him and idol 6; and with them we left everything that we had, as Saint Peter says: “Behold, we have left everything, and are dead after You.” Little does this seem to happen, as the Apostles left their land; but it is very great. Even more, even the small ones are mere creatures; but for them, and for the fish they seek, there may be great diligence and passion of the heart. It is not proper to look at these spaces, but to have a look at everything that does not leave the gaps; and most of all, you left your will and the whole world with the monks, and left all care for him with the monks, accepting one Christ in your heart and in your thoughts; I left all this to the Apostles, when I left the wilderness. But if it’s not enough, leave the gaps. Let us also do this: Christ calls us all to Himself, as before the Apostles; For everyone wants to be saved and says: Come to Me, all you who labor. If anyone does not take up his cross and follow Me, he is not worthy of Me 8 (a). And what prevents everyone from following Christ? Not sceptres, not purple, not kingdoms and so on, but thin, thin, small, dilapidated, torn nets, which we do not want to leave. And we will see some nets from the Divine Scripture for the glorification of our Savior, who calls everyone to Himself, and for our spiritual benefit. The image of this world is shown to us by Geographers and Cosmographers; but the best image of this world, written from God, is the sea. In sea water, like in a mirror, it is best to see this world powerfully; There are so many changes in the sea, only in this world. Just as on the sea, during the excitement, they ascend and descend, ascend to heaven, and descend to the abyss 9, says the Psalmist: so in worldly excitement, not only Capernaum rises even to heaven, and even descends to hell 10. Other seas are carried by favorable winds; some are beaten by the opposite waves, applied to the sirti, to the hyssoped places, to the Charybdis, to the stones, and break the ship; Thus, in the world, ships sail on the sea full of goods, and they also sail empty, possessing nothing. Fishes, great and small, swim in the sea, and the big ones live with the smaller ones; Likewise, in the seas of this world, verbal fish eat instead of bread. The essence of this sea are fishermen, and they are also fishers of men. There are many nets and nets on the sea of ​​this world, more than on the sea of ​​Tiberias, as the wise Solomon saw, saying to everyone: know that you live in the world among seven nets 11 . Not speaking near the networks, but in the middle. Even if there is silence at sea, the most skilled shipbuilders do not believe it. Suddenly there is a storm, nasty weather, a cloud: so it is in this world. It’s scary because there are floating nets on the seas of this world, but on themselves; others are caught, but first they themselves are caught. Do not think, fishes swimming in the sea of ​​this world, that someone else is catching you; You get caught by yourself. Whenever someone gets caught in a snare, he blames it on God, and another blames it on the devil. Even if the devil lays nets for us, he also lays them to catch us: but listen to Saint James, who says: God is not a tempter of the evil, but He tempts no one; Every one is tempted, because of his own lust we are drawn and deceived. The same lust, having been conceived, gives birth to sin; sin committed gives birth to death 12. Behold the first networks, lust and passions! Oh, how many are caught in these nets, and are not abandoned, but are spread over the seas of this world. These depths are scattered all over this ocean, just as the visionary and confidant of the Lord saw. He glanced at all the countries of this world, and what did he see besides this? The verb is: everything that exists in the world is carnal lust, and the desire for desire and the pride of life 13. These are the creatures in which people are caught, and do not want to leave them, so that they can follow Christ. Carnal lust is a waste, and those who swim in the sea spread their lives into the unclean, stinking, foul, stinking waters, and do not catch fish like toads, sea pigs and dogs that work in uncleanness and the belly. Those who walk with calico nets cannot follow Christ. He sweeps them away from Himself, saying: they are all psychos and fornicators 14. Whoever wants to listen to the Lord, calling him to follow Him, must leave this net by mortification of the flesh, as Saint Paul did, who says: I am mortifying my body, so that by preaching to others, I myself will not be turned off. Those who are the essence of Christ have crucified their flesh with passions and lusts. Flesh and blood cannot please God: if we live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit 15. Allied with unclean carnal lust is every pleasure of the flesh, for example: gluttony, drunkenness, laziness, despondency, and so on. Truly, there is a snare that holds many and prevents them from following Christ; gluttony, when someone works with the belly, cannot follow Christ; the calico god is the belly, not Christ, the altar cook, the priest the cook, the fumes from the censer, singing and prophecy regurgitation. All the saints who do not keep fasts serve this god, and not only do they not keep them, but they also sweep them away, and scold and laugh at those who keep them. But know, Orthodox Christians, that these do not follow Christ, because they do not leave these snares, and it is not proper for them to follow. There is a snare and drunkenness, which unless someone leaves it, cannot follow Christ. A drunk cannot walk in the usual way, he sways on all sides, bows, falls; How much more will it be impossible for him to follow Christ according to the commandments of the Lord. The Savior requires sober followers. He sweeps away drunkards from following him and from inheriting the Kingdom of God: neither drunkards, speaking, etc., can inherit the Kingdom of God 16. The network is laziness, despondency; and unless anyone leaves this, he cannot follow Christ: come, he said, to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest 17. And where do you send those lying down, careless about their salvation, to the Savior? who do you want to follow? To senseless morality: go to morality, O lazy one, and be jealous when you see his ways, and be wiser than him. It is not for him, as a farmer, to prepare food for the harvest, and he makes much preparation in the summer. How long, O lazy one, will you lie down, when will you arise from sleep? Sleep little, sit little, doze little, and stretch your arms little; then he will find you like an evil companion, squalor and poverty, like a well-behaved person 18. In the same place: Az, speaking, those who follow Me, and not those who lie down; I demand those who walk the way of the commandments of the Lord, and not those who sleep. The Kingdom of God is in need and the needy delights it? and not the holiday 19. Sleep otherwise and rest careless of your salvation 20; get enough sleep, waking up not only Matins, but also Mass and Vespers. But know that this dream of yours will not last long; If his illness ends, you won’t be able to doze off for even an hour; will interrupt death, through which you will not find eternal rest. These will only find eternal rest if they follow Christ with great difficulty; Christ calls them only to rest, saying: come to Me, all you who labor, and so on. 21. Where those who sleep and who are careless about their salvation will then experience insomnia, even as an unquenchable worm and an unquenchable fire will make them. The snare is carnal lust, and unless someone leaves it, he cannot follow Christ. Lust is a waste, and the fishers of this world spread over these waters, in which beads, stones and margaritas and other treasures are found. The lust of hair is called lust, because it only feeds the eyes, and there is no need for this lust, which catches the hair, and is pleasing to eat only for sight. And this snare forbids Christ to follow, but it holds back those who have it, and what’s more, it draws them away from Christ into the depths of the worries of life, and many into the lake of fire. With those snares that young man wanted to follow Christ, who came to Jesus himself, and asked Him, saying: “What good will I do, so that I may have eternal life 22?” When Jesus said to him: if you want to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give to the poor; and have treasure in heaven, and come after Me. He departed mourning, having had much gain 23 . I left, not following Christ, because I didn’t want to eat my own food, I didn’t want to eat, I didn’t want to eat, I didn’t want to leave my covetousness. The snare is love of money, and with it it is impossible to follow Christ. Paul, the Messenger of Christ, suffered from no one, as if he were fleeing those who walk in the snare of lust. There is a well-known story that happened in the first Macedonian city of Philippus. There was a certain slave who had an inquisitive spirit, even by sorcery she created great profits for her masters. She, going to Paul to pray, followed, and cried out to you as you went, saying: these men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation. Pavel thought to himself about this and did not love the true testimony from the father of lies, the devil, and cast out the demon. Seeing her lordship, as if hope had come forth, she dragged Paul to the judges who beat him, and put her in a strong prison, with strong bonds 24 . Do you see what a network of lust there is, even if there is a love of money? They are drawn to the demon, not to Christ. Paul could miraculously cast out the demon, but these snares could not be torn apart on these people. Like the suffering in Ephesus from Demetrius the silver-cutter, creating churches of silver to Artemis. Seeing how Paul was drawn to Christ by idolatry, and how his artistic self-interest would be diminished by this, create a rumor against Paul, in which Paul was almost torn to pieces for keeping Demetrius with Artemis 25 . These are snares, Paul said kindly: the covetous is an idolater. Worldly pride is a snare that sets sail in the worldly sea into the cloudy, high waters, into the cloudy waters of lust for power, love of love, love of fame, and so on. And these nets keep you from following Christ. Increase your faith in Christ, calling you to follow you, but you don’t want to leave sowing debris, the pride of life, the glory of this world: from the prince you steal a lot into Him; but for the sake of the Pharisee I did not confess, lest they be cast out from the multitude: for they loved the glory of man rather than the glory of God 26 . By this net the former Pharisees were held back, unable to follow Christ, as Christ Himself had reproached them, saying: How can you believe, receiving glory from one another, and seeking not glory from the one God? 27? To this realm of worldly pride belongs worldly friendship, worldly shortcomings, and fear of worldly condemnation. How many people abandon following Christ for the sake of friendship! since they are deprived of many virtues for the sake of shame! if they don’t do many good deeds! How many evil people do it for fear of human condemnation? Church, liturgy, vespers, etc. are often reserved for friendship; For friendship, fasting, prayer, promise, abstinence are ruined, for the sake of shame and fear of human condemnation. And this is how people appear to themselves, even though they are not: they appear to be meek, intelligent, holy, merciful, willing, even though they are not; for the sake of shame, for fear of condemnation, they do not speak the truth, they deceive, they praise what is unworthy of praise; everything that is contrary to the law of God, and the church, and conscience, and custom, is done for friendship, for shame, for fear of human condemnation. Those who do not leave these networks cannot follow Christ. If anyone follows Christ, as all Christians confess to being; but does not achieve, but is thereby drawn into other heavy, inconvenient, torn nets, which are the essence of bad deeds, as the Psalmist says: the sinner has already committed himself to me; the sinner gets stuck in business with his hand 28. By the bonds of sin, men are drawn not to Christ, but into the snare of death, as Jacob says: “Everyone is tempted, because of his own lust he is drawn and deceived; Even lust, when conceived, sin is born; When sin is committed, it gives birth to death 29. These are internal networks, but they are also external networks. Firstly, human feelings. Oh, how many are being distracted from God, from Christ! The nets of feeling distracted our ancestors from God: God saw the woman as a good tree for food, and as it pleases the eye to see and eat from its fruit, poison 30. The net of feelings has drawn the whole world into drowning: having seen, he said, the sons of God, the daughters of men, as if they were good, girding themselves as wives, from whom they had chosen 31; and from there came a worldwide flood. David was caught in a network of feelings: a fish swam in the water and washed itself; Having glanced there, I saw David, and was quickly caught. Sampson was caught in this wilderness and fell into a strong net, as they, so strong, could not be torn to pieces. The glorious commander Holofernes was caught in these nets when he cast them onto the beautiful fish, Saint Judith. And whoever wants to follow Christ must leave these networks. The Psalmist says: turn away my eyes from seeing vanity 32. Is it true or not what they say about sirens? The Savior tells us this, saying: If the eye of your right hand causes you to sin, take it away, and turn it away from you, and so on. and if the right hand tempts you, turn away from you 33. O my Savior! and who would want to follow You, even if You command to leave this sensual network, from which it is not possible to separate without a serious illness? This is hard; and for the sake of bodily health and life, what do people not do! When someone has a bodily member, although the most honest, although the most necessary, is infected with deadly harm, does he not cut it off for the sake of temporary life? Many cut veins, pull out teeth, many allow themselves to cut off their noses, hands, nipples and eyes, when gangrene, the Anton’s fire, infects their essence; and it’s not hard: for what? For now, temporary life is preserved; what, I say, is preserved? continues for a short time. But it is hard for the eternal belly to eat, cut off the hand, and the tempting eye is taken away. But this is not so easy to understand. Our Savior does not force anyone to cut off his tempting hand with an ax, or to gouge his eyes with thorns, but calico is the understanding: if someone needed a thing like a hand, and so needed like an eye, if this thing is a snare distracting from God, stumbling and stumbling to the feet; It’s appropriate to keep you away from yourself, to leave these monstrosities and snares. Is this too hard? but it is necessary for those who follow Christ. The Kingdom of God is in need, and the needy delights e 34. This is not hard and not great; Is it hard to turn your eyes away from vanity, or close them? While sleeping, you can do this and while you are resting. The remoras are small, holding animate ships on this sea, and not great whales; less than the Apostle, should you leave your dreams and follow Christ; there would only be a desire to listen to the words of Christ, Who says to everyone who sweeps his own debris into the sea of ​​this world: He is coming after Me. Come, O fisherman, abiye, do not delay until another time; Come, leave behind your madness, passions and lusts; Come, leave behind the net of feelings that entrap you, so that on the last day you will not hear these words from the Lord: I called and did not listen to Me; You stretched out your words and did not pay attention, but swept away My advice, and did not pay attention to My reproofs; and I will laugh at your destruction in the same way 35. Let us listen, like Simon and Andrew and the other Apostles. But above all let us hear this blessed voice: Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world 36 . Amen. 1 Cor.9:27; Gal.5:24–25.