БОЛЕЗНИ

Well, you say, are all illnesses really from sins? Not all, but most. Some are also due to carelessness. Gluttony, drunkenness and inactivity also produce disease. There is only one thing that must always be observed, so that every blow can be endured with gratitude. There are illnesses for sins; so we see in the Books of Kings that someone suffered from a disease of the legs precisely for this reason. Illnesses also happen to test us in goodness, as God says to Job: “Do you want... to accuse Me in order to justify yourself?” (Job 40:3). But why does Christ expose their sins to these paralytics? And to the one Matthew mentions, He says: “Be of good cheer, child! your sins are forgiven you” (Matthew 9:2), and to this: “behold, you are healed; Sin no more” (John 5:14). I know that some say in condemnation of this paralytic, that he was later among the accusers of Jesus Christ, and that is why he heard such words from Him, but what can we say about the one who, according to the testimony of Matthew, heard almost the same words? And he was told: “Your sins are forgiven you”; but he did not hear this for the same reason, as can be seen more clearly from what follows. The Evangelist says that after the healing, “Jesus met him in the church” (John 5:14) - and this is a sign of great piety: he did not go to the market and the cemetery, did not indulge in overeating and carelessness, but spent time in the church; although he had to endure violence and persecution from everyone there, this did not in the least prompt him to move away from the church. So, Christ, having met him after talking with the Jews, did not make any hint of anything like that; If He wanted to reprove him, He would have told him: Are you going back to your old ways and have not become better after your healing? But He did not say anything like that, but only warned him for the future. Why, when healing the lame and crippled, did He not remind them of this? It seems to me that the illnesses of the paralytic came from sins, and that of others - from natural weakness. If this is not so, then through them what was said to them was also said to others. Since this disease is more severe than all others, the smaller ones are also treated through the larger one. Just as, having healed someone else, Christ commanded him to give glory to God, inspiring this not to him alone, but through him to all others, so here, through the paralytic, he exhorts all others and instills in him the same thing that he told them. To this it must also be said that He saw great patience in the soul of the paralytic and therefore gives him instruction as a person who can accept admonition, protecting his health with both good deeds and fear of future evils (8). Let us use all measures so as not to fall away from God, and we will try to have care for our souls and love for each other; Let us not tear away our members from ourselves - this is characteristic of the raging and the insane - but the worse we find them in their situation, the more we will show concern for them. After all, we often see people obsessed with persistent and incurable bodily ailments, and yet we do not cease to apply medicine to them. For example, what is worse than gout? What are hiragra? But do we cut off our members because of this? Not at all. On the contrary, we use all measures to get at least some relief, if there is no way to cure the disease. Let us do the same with our brothers: even if they suffer from incurable diseases, we will constantly care for their healing and bear each other’s burdens. Through this we will fulfill the law of Christ and achieve the promised blessings (8). If you would rather live constantly in vice than to be punished for one day, then this is not at all surprising: this is a sign of your imperfect way of thinking, your intoxication and an incurable illness, just as small children, when they see that the doctor intends to cauterize or cut [the sore spot], rush and run away, scream and struggle, and prefer to suffer from constant rotting of the body rather than endure temporary pain and then enjoy health. And people who have intelligence know that illness is worse than a cut, and equally, being vicious is worse than being punished, since one can be cured and be healthy, while the other can cause death or remain in permanent illness. But everyone knows that health is better than illness. Therefore, we should cry for robbers not when their ribs are broken, but when they break down walls and kill. If the soul is superior to the body, as indeed it is superior, then it is more just to groan and cry when it dies, but if it does not feel this, then all the more should one grieve for it. Likewise, those who indulge in unbridled love should be pitied more than those who suffer greatly from fever, and drunkards - more than those subjected to torment. But if all this is more harmful, then why, you ask, do we choose it more? Because many people, as the proverb goes, like the worst and prefer it to the exclusion of the best. This can be observed in the choice of food and type of activity, in worldly inclinations and pleasures, in pleasures, in the choice of wives, houses, slaves, lands and everything else. Tell me what gives you more pleasure - communicating with women or men? With women or with horses? However, we will find many who avoid women, but have intercourse with dumb people and insult men, despite the fact that what is in accordance with nature is more pleasant than what is unnatural (11). You might be interested in: