Проповедь на Евангелие о Втором Пришествии Христовом

We can try every day to do everything possible for us in order to accept God’s mercy and forgiveness from Him, tasting the sweetness of His love for mankind. The Last Judgment will occur after God has done everything possible for our salvation. For this reason, naturally, we will not be able to justify ourselves or beg for some more time to seek His mercy. After all, if during our earthly life we ​​neglect the opportunity to be saved, which He gives us every day, how can we ask Him about this in the terrible hour of the coming Judgment? On that terrible day of Judgment, in a way unknown to people, and at an hour not predetermined in advance, events will occur that the eye has not seen and the human ear has not heard, and which man was unable to imagine if his soul was not part of the Spirit of God. Lightning and clouds, a trumpet and the Throne of God will appear in Heaven. How carefully we must prepare ourselves in anticipation of this terrible day of God. If we love holiness as a way of life, if we prefer it and communicate with those who encourage us to this, then even in this earthly life we ​​will taste the joy of heaven. The Apostle Peter says that “the heavens will pass away with a noise, and the elements will be destroyed with fervent heat, the earth and all the works in it will be burned up” (2 Peter 3:12). And before that, the cruel power of the misanthrope and enemy of God, the devil, who will boldly desire to drag us all with him into destruction, will reign over people. Then, for the sake of the few Christians who remain faithful, God will decide to carry out this Judgment. On that day He will shake everything. It will destroy the highest limits of the Universe, compress the heavenly space, mix the earth with fire, and throw everything into confusion, upending the universal foundations. Then Christ Himself will appear in indescribable glory and with the sound of the heavenly trumpet. Together with the living, the resurrected dead will also appear before Christ at this Judgment. Everything will be filled with rays of Divine Light, everything will be gathered for His judgment. And during the Judgment itself, the main criterion will be love, philanthropy and heartfelt alms towards one’s neighbor. Only for their sake will He give man blessing and inheritance in His eternal Kingdom. Philanthropy is worthy of all praise because it is the example and fruit of love, because it is above any other virtue. The oil in the lamps of the foolish virgins from the Gospel parable was love. If a person acquires all the virtues, but does not have love, then these virtues remain useless. The righteous, in their deep humility, hardly realize that they will go to heaven, and therefore they will ask Christ during the Last Judgment: “When did we see you without clothes or sick or a stranger and gave you a shoulder?” After all, humility is a child of love. And vice versa, those condemned to eternal torment with a self-centered disposition will show their bewilderment with these words: “When did we see You suffering and did not help You?” Let us listen carefully to these gospel words. Let each of us expose himself. After all, I myself, who speaks these words to you, am convicted by my conscience, since I, too, am not completely alien to the passion of self-love. And at a time when many are shivering from the cold and deprived of the most necessary things, I am fed and clothed. Those who, possessing wealth that exceeds their real needs, are concerned about increasing these wealth should be more attentive. After all, the commandment about the need to love one’s neighbor is also addressed to such people. If we hold onto what we don't need, we become heartless. Do you see now that pride walks hand in hand with indifference and lack of compassion for others? Likewise, humility is combined with love. Let us not be afraid, brothers, that by giving alms we will become poor. Let us show love among ourselves in every way, in words and deeds.