ВОЗДАЯНИЕ

We should not think that the same will happen in the coming century, that is, that virtuous people who have boldness before God will be able to free those close to them who live here in carelessness from future punishments. That is why Scripture cites the example of the righteous in order to instill fear in us and teach us to place the hope of salvation after grace from above in our own good deeds, but not to count on the virtues of our ancestors or anything else if we ourselves remain in evil. If we have virtuous ancestors, then we must try to imitate their virtues. And if the opposite were to happen and we were descended from vicious ancestors, then we should not fear any harm to ourselves from this, but only need to practice ourselves in the deeds of virtue - then there will be no harm to us from this. Everyone is either crowned or condemned, depending on what he himself has done, just as Blessed Paul says: “Everyone will receive according to what he did while living in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10), and again: “Who will reward everyone according to his deeds” (Rom. 2:6). Knowing all this and abandoning all carelessness, let us devote all our strength to virtue while we are still in the field, before the spectacle is over; Let us take care of our salvation so that, having accomplished a feat of virtue in this short time, we will receive a reward for this in an endless age (1). I convince you that with spiritual generosity we will give to those in need what we have, what the Lord has given us, the very thing that He has given us, we will give back to Him, so that in this way we will again receive what is ours with a greater increase. He is so generous that, accepting His gifts from us, He does not consider that He is receiving His property, but promises to return them to us with even greater generosity, if only we want to show our readiness and give away our goods to the poor as if we were handing them over to God Himself, knowing that the right hand of God will return to us not only what we received from us, but will bestow it to an even greater extent, since it always shows its generosity in everything. And what I say: he will reward again even more! That hand rewards not only this, but at the same time bestows the Kingdom of Heaven, glorifies, crowns, gives countless benefits if we sacrifice even a little of what it has given us. And does the Lord require something difficult or burdensome from us? He wants us to make the excess beyond what is necessary suitable for ourselves, so that we ourselves will well distribute what is in vain and unnecessarily lying in our storerooms, so that this will serve as a reason for Him to give us a bright crown. He Himself hastens and compels us, and He does and directs everything in order to honor us with the blessings He himself promised (1). If we meekly and patiently endure insults from anyone, then we will be rewarded with greater and more generous help from above. Therefore, let us not resist those who try to harm us, but let us endure it generously, knowing that the Lord of all will not despise us, if only we, on our part, show kindness: “Vengeance is mine,” He says, “I will repay, says the Lord” (Rom. 12:19) (1). Let today's people hear what advantages were given to the servants of idols in ancient times, and let them learn to show at least the same honor to those who were entrusted with the service of the God of all. If the ancients, erring and serving idols, thought that they paid special respect to idols when such honor was bestowed upon their servants, then what condemnation do those who now do not have care for the servants of God deserve? Do you not know that this honor goes to the Lord of all? So, do not look at the one who accepts honor. It is not for his own sake that you should do what is required of you, but for the sake of the One Whom he serves, so that you can receive a generous reward from Him. That is why the Lord said: whoever did it to one of these, did it for Me, and: “Whoever receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward” (Matthew 10:41). Does the Lord send down His rewards to you in proportion to the dignity or weakness of His servants? He rewards you or condemns you according to your disposition. And just as the honor bestowed through them gives us great boldness (because He appropriates to Himself what is done for His servants), so their contempt will bring down great punishment from above. The Lord appropriates to Himself as rewarded [i.e. e., His servants] honor and contempt. Knowing this, let us never neglect caring for the priests of God. I say this, not so much caring about them as about your love, wanting you to gain benefit for yourself through everything. Do you give as much as you receive from the Lord? What kind of service are you providing? However, even for this insignificant service limited to present life, you can receive imperishable rewards and ineffable benefits. Reflecting on this, let us be attentive to these ministries, calculating not the costs, but the benefit and profit that we can gain through it. If we, seeing someone close to a person invested with worldly greatness, try to render him all kinds of services, knowing that the honor given to him passes to his patron, and that he, by making this known to his patron, can thus place him even more in your favor, then much more will it be so with the Lord of all. If anyone shows any kindness and compassion to a person passing by or to someone defeated at a crossroads, then the Lord, appropriating this to Himself, promises to introduce those who have done something good to them into the Kingdom of Heaven and say: “Come, you blessed of My Father... for I was hungry, and you gave Me food” (Matthew 25:34, 35). Moreover, the one who renders his services to those who strive for the Lord and are endowed with the sacred dignity will receive not only the same reward, but also much greater, since the humane Lord always rewards us in great abundance for what we have done. So, let us not be worse than the infidels, who, while still in error regarding idols, showed such care for their servants. But just as great the difference is between error and truth, between the servants of idols and the servants of God, let us show the same difference in respect itself, in order to receive even greater reward from above. “And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt... and they were fruitful and multiplied greatly” (Gen. 47:27). This was the promise of God to Jacob: There I will make of you a great nation. “And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; and the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were an hundred and forty-seven years” (Gen. 47:28). God determined so much time for Jacob's life that he would leave this life, having received sufficient consolation for the disasters that he endured throughout his life. (1). Give from your wealth to those in need and thus increase your wealth, because “he who does good to the poor lends to the Lord,” says [the Wise] (Prov. 19:17). If you do not want to endure and wait for the time of retribution, then remember those who lend money to people. They do not immediately take interest, but try to keep the capital in the hands of the debtor as long as possible, as long as the return is sure and the borrower is reliable. Let it be the same here: leave what is yours in the hands of God, so that He will give you a multiple reward. Don't try to get everything here; If you get everything here, what reward will you get there? That is why God observes rewards there, because real life is fleeting. True, He gives here too: “Seek,” he says, “the kingdom of God... and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33): but we will look there and will not rush to receive reward for everything, so as not to reduce our reward, but to wait for that time. The interest there is not the same as here, but what is typical to receive from God (12). This is why God commanded us to invite to suppers and feasts those who are lame, crippled, and unable to repay us on their part (see Luke 14:13), because such good deeds are primarily and in the proper sense performed for God. If you host a great and noble person, then your donation is not pure alms, but often vanity is mixed in with it, the hope of receiving something and becoming famous through him before others. I could point to many who do good to the most famous of the saints in order to through them gain greater trust in the eyes of their superiors and thereby bring their circumstances and family affairs into a better state, and even ask the saints for many similar mercies, which reduces the price of their benefits performed for such a purpose. But why talk about saints? In general, whoever seeks rewards from God for his labors here and does good for the present, reduces his reward; and whoever expects all the crowns there is much more worthy of reward, like Lazarus, who received all the blessings there, like the three youths who, preparing to be cast into the cave, said: “Our God, whom we serve, is able to save us... If this does not happen, then let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and will not worship the golden image that you have set up” ( Dan. 3:17, 18), - like Abraham, who took his son up to the mountain and wanted to slay him, doing this not for any reward, but making it his greatest and only reward to obey the Master. Let us also imitate them. If we do everything with such a disposition, we will receive abundant benefits as a reward and be rewarded with brilliant crowns (12). Do not be surprised when you see that a righteous man who performs great deeds suffers many disasters; one would have to marvel at the opposite, that is, if the devil, being often struck, remained calm and meekly endured the wounds [inflicted on him]. It is not surprising if the serpent, receiving incessant blows, becomes furious and rushes at the striker. And the devil, creeping, rages against everyone more evil than any serpent and attacks, putting out his sting, like a scorpion. This should not confuse us; Those returning from war after battle and victory must be covered in blood, and often have wounds. Therefore, when you see that someone gives alms and does many other good deeds and thus crushes the power of the devil, and meanwhile is exposed to temptations and disasters, do not be embarrassed by this; That is why he is subjected to temptations, which greatly amazes the devil. But why, you say, does God allow this? So that he would be rewarded with great crowns, and the devil would receive a severe defeat. Truly, when he, doing good and experiencing evil, thanks God for everything, then the devil is amazed. It is a great thing to be merciful and virtuous when circumstances are favorable; but it is much more important not to deviate from good activities even during disasters. In the latter case, a person acts strictly for God. So, beloved, whether we are in danger or suffer something deplorable, let us all the more diligently perform deeds of virtue, because it is not yet the time for reward. Let us not look for crowns here, lest at the time of [distributing] the crowns we reduce our reward. Just as with artists those who work on their own account receive a large salary, and those who live at the expense of the one who hired them receive a much smaller payment, so among the saints, whoever does a lot of good and suffers a lot of evil, receives a full reward and a much greater reward - not only for the good that he did, but also for the evil that he suffered; and whoever enjoys here, living in pleasures and luxury, receives not so bright crowns there. Therefore, let us not seek reward here, but especially then we will rejoice when, while doing good, we suffer evil, because there God prepares for us a reward not only for good deeds, but also for the temptations we endure (12). You might be interested in: