Омилия на 22-е воскресное Евангелие 218 .

Discourse on the Gospel of Luke in the fifth week, which begins: “a certain man was rich and dressed in purple and fine linen” (Luke 16:19). It talks about the rich and the poor, which of them is saved Of the bodily needs, we satisfy some with appropriate means, and others with the help of others, on our part repaying with our services. Because one and the same cannot be a scientist and a farmer, a tailor, a weaver, a builder, a shoemaker, a doctor, and versed in each of the other arts. And since everyone alone cannot satisfy all their needs on their own, and everyone certainly has a need for everything like this, a medium was invented - money, through which, with the benefit of life, the surplus is emptied and the shortage is replenished. The farmer gives his surplus to those who are not engaged in agriculture, and having taken the price for it, he buys a house or fabric with it, for example, and the shoemaker, having sold his boots and received a sufficient price, compensates for the needs of what he lacks. And our life is organized by such mutual communication between all of us; from this, settlements and states arise, and man is a sociable creature. But in spiritual matters and those related to virtue, this is not the case. For he who is chaste, but unjust, cannot give chastity to the just and take justice from him: and he who is true in word, but impatient, does not at all acquire patience from another in exchange, and will not communicate to the one who does not have the truthfulness, that is, that which is expressed by him. And regarding this, there is no monetary sign with which to measure objects of exchange and indicate equivalent ones. Therefore, brothers, it is necessary and necessary for each of us to practice every virtue. For it is impossible for anyone who has not done one of them to borrow it from another, and it is impossible for depriving it to avoid condemnation and punishment. Therefore David says: “A brother will not deliver, will a man deliver?” (Ps.48:8). That is, no one. But oh, the unthinkable love of the Lord Christ! What cannot be obtained in exchange for the equal and truly valuable virtues of the soul, He has otherwise made easily acquired. Because anyone can, through earthly powers and base bodily needs, that is, food, drink, clothing, which everyone has in their possession, gold or silver (for all this is earth and dust, and there is nothing more despicable than this), - so anyone, through these cheap things, if, according to the Master’s promise and exhortation, gives the surplus to those who have acquired virtue (and these are the poor in needs everywhere) bodily), through this allocation can make up for the lack of virtues and avoid punishment for their lack. And pointing to this, Paul the Great in his letter to the Corinthians calls this participation a holy benefit (2 Cor. 8:3), and then continues: “your abundance will serve to fill their lack, so that their abundance will also serve to fill your lack” (2 Cor. 8:14). The Lord says: “Make friends for yourself with unrighteous wealth, so that when you become poor, they will receive you into eternal homes” (Luke 16:9), by unrighteous wealth he means an excess of desires and failure to give to the needy. Therefore, brothers, it behooves each of us, as I said, to practice every virtue; and if in any of them we do not have time to make up for what is missing by helping others as much as possible. This will be the second voyage, according to the proverb 219, and especially for us living in the world, through which we acquire salvation for our souls. And if we neglect this voyage, then great horror will come over us, this unquenchable fire and eternal deprivation. And showing this, the Lord offered a parable to be read in church today. “A certain man was rich, and dressed himself in purple and fine linen, and feasted magnificently every day” (Luke 16:19). All the care of the rich man was directed towards vestments and valuable clothes, and meals, drinks and luxury. “There was also a certain beggar named Lazarus, who was lying at his gate covered with sores, and desiring to be satisfied with the crumbs falling from the rich man’s table; and the dogs came and licked his sores” (Luke 16:20–21). Do you see the complete indifference of this rich man towards the beggar Lazarus? Every day he was fed up, as his table was full of all kinds of food and expensive delicacies; and Lazarus wanted to be satisfied with the simplest, as if he had never been fed. He shone, dressing in purple and fine linen, and using his bodily health for his outfits; and Lazarus and the rags that covered him were torn, dirty and stinking, swarming with scabs and abounding in purulent streams. He sat on a dais, surrounded by a crowd of servants; and Lazarus, thrown to the ground, lay at the gate, not even having anyone to drive away the dogs. But why does the Lord call the poor man by name, but show the rich man nameless? Therefore, we can say that the name of this poor man, according to the Gospel expression, is written in heaven (Luke 10:20), but the memory of the rich man, along with his name, is blotted out from there and perishes (Ps. 9:6, 33:17). For the psalmist also speaks of such: “I will not remember their names with my mouth” (Ps. 15:4). Since even among the rich, everyone can apply a parable to himself and, considering himself to be in it, receive an incentive to repentance, then the rich man is presented without a name, so that in this way the speech refers to every rich man; and among the poor, everyone cannot consider himself Lazarus, even if he suffered like him. Because one must endure the will of the Master with humility. And that is why the poor man is called by name. “The beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom” (Luke 16:22). With the highest honors, like a warrior, the beggar is conveyed to receive crowns. The Lord, having exposed the rich man who cannot be saved, immediately shows us the rich man who is saved; and such is Abraham. But he does not call him rich, because he had something better than wealth, virtue, since he showed fatherly love and goodwill to everyone. Therefore, it is named from the best that it had, that is, from virtue; because the word Abraham translated means “father of many.” But that rich man did not possess anything better than earthly and transitory wealth; That's why it's named after him. But it was not because of wealth that he did not achieve salvation, but because of the love of pleasure and heartlessness. Because Abraham was also rich; but through love of God, mercy and hospitality not only he himself received salvation, but also became a place for those being saved. Therefore, Lazarus, who died, was escorted by angels (for they, according to the expression of the Apostle Paul (Heb. 1:14), are sent to serve for those who will inherit salvation), and he was escorted by them to Abraham’s bosom. And Abraham’s bosom is the land of the living, the dwelling of those who rejoice forever, the abundance of eternal blessings. “The rich man also died, and they buried him” (Luke 16:22). Perhaps Lazarus was not buried decently after his death, since there was no one to take care of it. Therefore, in the speech about him, he did not mention the burial at all, but here it is added that the deceased rich man was buried - and at the same time this was mentioned in order to indicate the splendor and luxury at the very burial of the rich. For, they say, they buried the rich man; “And in hell, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom” (Luke 16:23). Below, at the gate, the rich man saw Lazarus, tormented by hunger and lying in the dust of the earth, unable to move, and did not pay attention; and now, being below and experiencing torment, and not being able to escape the torment, he raised his eyes and sees Lazarus above, dwelling in the abodes of rest (Matthew 11:29) with much joy (2 Thessalonians 1:7), and living in the bosom of Abraham. And he does not consider it proper to leave him unattended; on the contrary, he wants to avoid being noticed by the one whom he previously despised. Where there was a place for mercy, there he did not ask for it and did not show it, and where the truth is inexorable, he seeks mercy in vain. For it is said: “Crying out, he said: Father Abraham! have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this fire” (Luke 16:24). He limited his prayer to the utmost insignificance, not daring to ask for anything more, having a self-condemned conscience (Titus 3:11). He cried out because there was a great distance. And he previously called Abraham father, so that we learn that he belonged to the family of people who worship God, and we should not think that that rich man is tormented as a wicked one. For, as merciless and voluptuous, he was enveloped in an unquenchable flame of fire, although by blood he was related to Abraham. He says: “Have mercy on me, because I am tormented, and send Lazarus,” the one to whom he himself did not show mercy when he suffered at his gates. That’s why I didn’t turn to him with a request. He asks for drops and a small sprinkling to cool his tongue, and does not receive it. Do you see the reward with the addition of punishment? Poor Lazarus once could not feed himself on the crumbs falling from the rich man's table; and now the rich man is not only deprived of satiety even with the cheapest food, but is not even rewarded with a small drop. For, they say, Abraham said to him: “Child, remember that you have already received (accepted) your good in your life, and so did Lazarus’ evil; and now he is comforted here, but you are suffering” (Luke 16:25). Abraham regrets the rich man who is in the flame, and therefore calls him a child with compassion; I think he regrets not so much the torment as the anger still active in him. For he has not yet come to the consciousness of his sins, he has not yet understood that he is justly suffering torment. He doesn’t say: have mercy on me, because I myself lit this fire, I accumulated these sorrows for myself. Instead of musical sounds and applause and shameless songs, I hear screams and screams, and the terrible hum of an all-consuming fire above me; instead of pleasant smells I have the stench (Isa. 3:23) of fire; instead of abundant foods and drinks and refinement regarding the tongue, the extreme drying of the tongue by this fire and the need for even a drop of moisture; Instead of prodigal inflammation, my whole body is burning with fire. He doesn’t say this, but only complains about suffering. What does Abraham answer him? Someday come to your senses, agree that you were rightly thrown into the flames, remembering that in your life you took what was good for you. What you considered good for yourself, what you chose to acquire from what was placed in your power, what you worked for, you received; that is, temporary benefits. Because he preferred them to the eternal ones. But Lazarus, he says, was in the opposite bad state, that is, in physical distress. Therefore, now he is eternally consoled, as he who temporarily suffered evil then, and you are continually tormented, as you were temporarily enjoying yourself and gave everything for pleasure. Why didn’t he say “you received”, but “took”? He said this to show that he who indulges in pleasures and luxury in this life, who has an abundance of means for extravagance and abuses this abundance, even if he does something good, will not receive a reward. Because instead of a reward he has present well-being and pleasure, just as someone exhausted by poverty and illness and courageously enduring this considers bodily suffering to be retribution for his sins. “And besides all this,” he says, “a great gulf has been established between us and you, so that those who want to cross from here to you cannot cross, nor can they cross from there to us” (Luke 16:26). Do you see that Abraham himself, even if he wanted to, cannot help those condemned there? For, he says, the abyss that lies among us is completely impassable, so that those who want to cross cannot. “And from there,” he says, “they don’t come to us.” It seems that some of the tormented are in an even deeper place of the flame, about whom Abraham says that they are “from there”; but at the same time they experience the most intense and painful fire, so that they cannot speak at all. These people must be of a stingy disposition and in this century are getting rich from robbery, for which the present rich man is not accused. Because he is condemned not as a predator and offender, but only as merciless and voluptuous. Abraham says to him: since you preferred a delightful, dissolute and distracted life to an abstinent one, then justly grief, sorrow and distress have now befallen you (Rom. 2:9); and since he had no fellowship with the poor through alms (Heb. 13:16), and “did not make friends with unrighteous wealth” (Luke 16:9), and did not “give his abundance to make up for their lack” (2 Cor. 8:14), but remained completely uncommunicative with the saints (Rom. 15:26), separating himself from them as malice is separated from virtue, therefore now between us, by those who have lived virtuously, and by you, who have spent your lives in evil, a great and impassable abyss has been established, so that it is never possible to cross one to the other. Through this he proves the infinity and immutability of both the torment of sinners and the bliss of the righteous. But the rich man did not come to his senses, being truly senseless, and did not give up his anger, and did not realize his condition, and still strives to justify himself. And as if no one had told him about this place of torment before, he says: “So I ask you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house; for I have five brothers; let him testify to them, so that they too do not come to this place of torment” (Luke 16:27-28). He shows that if he himself had someone to warn him, he would not have done what he was sentenced to hell for. Abraham said, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them” (Luke 16:29). For Moses, on behalf of God, says in song: “The fire will kindle from My wrath, it will kindle to hell” (Deut. 32:22); and Isaiah, in agreement with other prophets, says: “The wicked and sinners will burn together, and there will be no quencher” (Is. 1:31). When Abraham said this, he again objected and said: “No, Father Abraham; but if one comes to them from the dead, they will repent” (Luke 16:30). What does Abraham have to do with this again? “If,” he says, “they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, then even if someone were raised from the dead, they won’t believe it” (Luke 16:31). Saying this directly to him: since during your lifetime you did not attach any importance to the words of Moses and the prophets, then even if you saw a dead man risen, you would not lag behind intemperate living and heartlessness, because of your trust in him. Therefore, now, being imprisoned among the fire Gehenna, in truth you receive merciless and unceasing suffering as reward. Brothers, the rich man, having Moses and the prophets, of whom none rose from the dead, believed, of course, that he had some excuse for himself; and together with them we hear Him who rose from the dead for us, Who says: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:19-20). “Give to him who asks from you, and do not turn away from anyone who wants to borrow from you” (Matthew 5:42). “Give alms from what you have, and all will be pure for you” (Luke 11:41). And if someone begins to eat and drink with drunkards, is cruel to the poor and stingy, then, it is said, the Lord will come on a day in which he does not expect, and at an hour in which he does not think, and will cut him up and subject him to the same fate as the unbelievers (Matthew 24:49-51). And since there is no excuse left for us, since a person’s life does not depend on the abundance of his possessions (Luke 12:15), let the one who has something superfluous give to the poor, through this including himself in the host of those saved by Father Abraham; and let those in need imitate the courage of Lazarus, saving their souls with their patience (Luke 21:19) and in humility reminding themselves of those bosoms of Abraham, from which all sickness, sorrow and groaning are removed (Rev. 21:4), and in them abides joy and gladness and divine and endless peace. For this is why Christ revealed to us through this parable about the state there, so that we, improved by repentance, could be delivered from the prepared punishments and honored with eternal joys. If we do not make ourselves better through repentance, then we must be very wary lest we increase our torment. For, he says, “the servant who knew the will of his master and did not do according to his will will be beaten many times” (Luke 12:47). Having told us this and similar things and confirmed to us, He who suffered for us and was buried and rose from the dead ascended into heaven; He revealed quite a number of witnesses to His appearance and the truth of the teaching He proclaimed. Of course, among them belongs, as one of the most outstanding, who now forms the subject of our church celebration, the great Demetrius in all respects, who not only proclaimed his testimony with words, but also, having fought to the point of blood (Heb. 12:4) with unbelievers, made his body an indestructible pillar, depicting and presenting to the view the suffering of the Savior, and through his own body he proclaims the resurrection of the Crucified One as a source of peace and miracles. and the power of the Risen One. Because how would he have been awarded such glory by imitating His sufferings and dying for Him, if He had not risen to reign, according to the psalm expression, as the Lord, and as the Only Begotten of the Father (John 1:14) and had not been clothed with majesty and girded with omnipotent power (Ps. 92:1). So, having before our eyes this witness of the truth, let us respond to the call of the Truth itself (John 14:6) with a godly life, and in such a disposition we will begin both mentally and physically to celebrate in honor of the most excellent among the ascetics of the saints, Demetrius, so that, strengthened by him both in soul and in body, and in mind and in feeling, we would have in mind and desire, and by deeds we would finally seek the bliss prepared for us. heaven to those who lived here in a God-loving manner. We will all receive it, by the grace and love of mankind of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, to whom belongs glory, power, honor and worship with His beginningless Father and the life-giving Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages, amen. Two homilys (this and the next one - A.A.) of St. Gregory Palamas for the Gospel readings from the Gospel of Luke, which are not among the homilys placed in Min in PG.151. These two homilys were printed, accompanied by a Russian translation, by Bishop Arseny of Novgorod: “Three works of St. Gregory Palamas, which have not yet been published.” Novgorod 1895, pp. 28–44. Sailors have a proverb: the first, most excellent voyage was sailing with a fair wind, and in case of failure, they resorted to the second method: rowing. You might be interested in: