Омилия I. 1

About keeping peace with each other. Said on the third day after the arrival of St. Gregory Palamas in Thessalonica Truly, we are all brothers, as coming from one Lord and Creator, Whom for this reason we have acquired through a common Father; but we also have such a common brotherhood in relation to dumb and even inanimate nature. But we, in addition, are brothers to each other, as being from one earthly Adam and one created in the image of God; but this is also common to us and to all peoples in general. We, above all, are brothers to each other and as children of the same people and citizens of the same city; but especially - as all those who have wealth have a common Mother - the Holy Church and Orthodoxy, the Head and Perfecter of which is Christ, by nature the Son of God, Who is not only our God, but also deigned to be our Brother and Father; and not only this, but also by the Head, gathering us all into one Body and creating us so that we could be members of each other and of Himself. For the Lord, after His three-day Resurrection from the dead, appeared to the women who came to the tomb, and said to them: “Go, tell my brethren, that they may go to Galilee, and see Me there” (Matthew 28:10). Do you see: how does He deign to call Himself our Brother? Therefore, the Apostle says about Him: “For when he did not receive from an angel, but from the seed of Abraham he received: from wherefore he must be made like the brethren in everything” (Heb. 2:16-17). But since Christ is also our Father, who regenerated us through holy baptism and His divine grace, therefore He calls His Disciples “children,” and going to the saving Passion, proclaims that He will not leave them orphans; from here again the Apostle says: “Since the children have partaken of flesh and blood, and He sincerely partook of the same, so that through death he may abolish the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb. 2:14). And that we are all about Christ - one Body, Paul knows this well, saying: “But you are the Body of Christ and are part and parcel” (1 Cor. 12:27). For just as the body is one, but has many members, and, in turn, all the members of one body, being many, nevertheless represent one body, so is Christ: for in one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body. So, the single font, brothers, was for us rebirth and birth in God; one faith, one hope, one God above all and through all and in all of us, uniting us with Himself by the power of divine love and making us members of each other and of Himself. But through the action of the devil, the coming, or better yet, not once coming, but often coming hatred and love expelled and destroyed our unity, which existed because of love - both in relation to each other and in relation to God; this hatred not only separates the common members of the city from each other and, as it were, leads it to relaxation, but also produces indignation and irreconcilable discord and, having made fellow citizens enemies of each other, has given our city the appearance of a city captured by enemies, unfortunately turning it against itself and making it treacherous and hostile to itself, so that, being in such a destructive state, it has become a mystery to itself. Because who are they who raid the city and, moreover, sometimes destroy houses, and plunder property in houses, and with great fury look for the owners of houses and mercilessly and inhumanly breathe murder against them? – Isn’t it the residents of this city themselves?! To whom did this madness happen, to whom do these screams, and attacks, and raids belong? Is it not the same citizens of this city from whom he once saw so much good? Oh, woe! Alas, what a great calamity! - The city is at war with itself, suffers war from itself, is trampled underfoot with its own feet, destroyed with its own hands, is thrown into confusion by its own battle cries, when the best part of it is trampled underfoot and the worst part of it miserably takes possession. Isn’t this illness that happened to you much worse than the one that the paralytic described in the Gospel had? And how much worse and more destructive is the villainy than their state of inaction (which was due to their relaxation)? But, hearing this, do not be dissatisfied: because I am telling you this not for the purpose of reproach, but so that, having recognized the disease, at least now you would become attentive, wary of it, and would look for the reason why you fell into it, and wish for recovery, and, having shown diligence, receive and maintain health, when God grants you healing and strengthens you in it, as He did in relation to these (gospel) the paralytic: for He not only healed them, but also gave them strength, so that each one, taking up his bed on which he lay, could walk without stumbling. But what was the cause of the illness in these paralytics? - There were two of these paralytic: one - in Jerusalem, lying at the Pont of Siloam; and the other in Capernaum, carried by four people. So what was the cause of the disease in them? - Sin . And the Lord showed this. For seeing the faith of one paralytic, before granting him health, the Lord says to him: “Son, your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2); and finding the other after the healing, he says to him: “Behold, you are healthy: let no one sin, lest it be worse for him” (John 5:14). So, just as the sinfulness of each of them, which drove out health, made them weakened, so with us, the common sinfulness, which drove out love, made us enemies of each other. For is it not only because of your sinful will that you have broken those bonds, namely love, that bind us to God and to each other. Because “for the increase of iniquity, the love of many will dry out (grow cold), says the Lord in the Gospels (Matthew 24:12); and when love completely cools, then it is impossible for divine grace and fatherly care to remain. But in order to present you with an example of the real disaster, I will say that the soul of each of us is like a lamp, like oil - having the doing of good, like a wick - love on which it rests, like light - the grace of the Divine Spirit. When this oil is not enough, i.e. good deeds, then the love inherent in the soul, like a wick, necessarily dries up: and thus, the light of divine grace and fatherly care flies away; because virtue and love, fleeing from there, take these gifts with them; and when God turns away His face, then complete confusion sets in, about which the prophet David says: “Turn away Your face, and they will be confused” (Ps. 103:29). Thus, as a consequence of sinfulness, civil unrest and disorder come, bringing with them all kinds of evil, and instilling in the instigators of riots and rebels the prince of evil, who turns them into beasts, and without exaggeration I will say that he makes those whom he prevails acquire the character of demons. Thus, the one who from the beginning is a murderer and a man-hater, makes a person a murderer and an opponent of the Life-Giver Christ, and even more so - a disobedient and opposed to earthly kings or a spiritual father and shepherd and teacher. So, turn to the path of the Gospel of Christ and hold fast to it, so that your mutual unanimity will forever flourish and be constant, and the Lord will again turn His face to you and, together with peace, will instill in us the grace of God’s Spirit. This paralytic of Jerusalem lay at the font of Siloam healing the sick, and so you did not at all retreat from the Church of Christ radiating peace. But just as this man did not have an assistant who would help him receive grace from this font, so you did not have a Shepherd here who would preach peace and gather the scattered members and put them together in relation to each other, and expel from the Body of the Church of Christ the disease and painful condition that arose as a result of the hatred (that took possession of everyone). But now we have already been appointed to you and together with you we form one whole in Christ, and for Christ we beg you, as if He were asking you through us: be reconciled to God! Know the kinship with each other, not only in the soul, but also in the flesh, which comes from your parents. Remember the former days of the world: what blessings you enjoyed and which you have now lost all of. Do not count the evil done to someone, and do not want to repay evil for evil, but overcome evil with good, strengthening mutual love, in order to gain God’s love for you and show your love for Him. Because for those who do not love their brothers, it is impossible to have love for God, nor to have from Him, as the fruit of this, grace and divine care for oneself. Listen to me, who has now come to you, brothers, and, according to the Lord’s command, preaching peace to all first of all and to all, and help me in this, and forgive each other if anyone has grudge against anyone, just as Christ forgave you, so that you may become sons of peace, and this is the same as saying – sons of God. For He is our Peace, having created both as one, and destroying the mediastinum of the fence: abolishing enmity on His Cross. He Himself said to His Disciples, and through them to us, that when we enter any city or house, we should proclaim peace to them; and reconciliation is the whole work of His coming; and it was precisely for this reason that He bowed to the heavens and came down to earth; why David also predicted about Him: “In His days righteousness and abundance of peace will shine” (Ps. 71:7); and in another psalm he again says this about Him: “For He speaks peace against His people, and against His saints, and against those who turn their hearts to Him” (Ps. 84:9). And the song of the Angels, which was during His Nativity, shows that in order to bring peace, He came down from heaven to us: “Glory” - those who sang - “to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14). And having already completed the saving economy, He left the world as an inheritance for those close to Him, saying: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you” (John 14:27). And again: “Have peace among yourselves” (Mark 9:50); and: “By this they all understand that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). And the last prayer (blessing) that He gave us, ascending to His Father, affirms love for each other: Grant to them, he says, “that they may all be one” (John 17:21). So, let us not fall away from the fatherly prayer (blessing) and let us not lose the inheritance of the Heavenly Father, nor the seal and sign of belonging in relation to Him, so that we do not lose our sonship, and blessing, and discipleship in relation to Him, and do not lose our promised (eternal) life, and do not become cut off from the spiritual bridal chamber and hear from the Head of the World Himself, the Father: I do not know you; Depart from Me, you authors of hatred, enmity and temptations. So that we would not have to suffer this, He, through His Holy Disciples and Apostles, sent peace to the whole world; why, in their conversations and writings, they put it before all other words, saying as an introduction: “Grace to you and peace from God.” And we, as the executors of their teaching, have just come to you, proclaiming peace, and together with Paul we say to you: “Have peace and holiness with everyone, in whom no one else will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). If, without peace with everyone, no one will see God, then will he who does not live in peace even with his fellow citizens see God in the next century? On the contrary, won’t he then hear: “Let the wicked be lifted up, and not see the glory of the Lord” (Is. 26:10)?! But may you not happen to hear these terrible words, but having reconciled and gathered into one, thanks to peace, and love, and unanimity, take Him among you, according to His sweet promise - our Lord Jesus Christ, who eases us the burden of this life, and in due time, bestows eternal life and glory and the kingdom, which may we all be worthy to receive by the grace and love of mankind of the Giver of peace, God and our Lord Jesus Christ, To Whom belongs glory, honor and worship, with His Beginningless Father and the Life-Giving Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. PG.151:9–17. Homilia I. De pace ad invicem servanda. Dicta post tertiam diem adventus sui Thessalonicam. You might be interested in: