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Evil by nature, that is, sin, begins with our consent with it. But what seems evil to us, what seems sorrowful and painful to us, can be allowed by God, who, as a Doctor, wants to heal us from real evil, that is, from sin. When people who have committed sin want to be healed, God allows them various kinds of sorrow, the purpose of which is to help them in salvation. The attitude towards sorrows in our lives is always connected with our own disposition and choice. God is our everlasting benefactor, and He frees a person from real evil if a person wants it.
In the Old Testament, God says to His people: “I will crush your pride with grief. And your strength will be in vain. Due to drought and crop failure, you will lose everything you have. And if, despite all these punishments, you pass by Me, then I will pass by you” (See Deut. 28:15–68). However, God is merciful, long-suffering and abundantly merciful, He can do good despite human evil. Of course, this happens when people repent and return from their wickedness to the will of God, because He Himself says: “Turn to Me, and I will turn to you” (Zech. 1:3). And in Deuteronomy it says this: “God is generous and will not abandon you, but He will be your Helper in trouble if you seek Him with all your heart and soul” (See Deut. 4:29–30).
When a person is constrained by sorrows, then this is the most favorable time for him to ask for liberation from evil and at the same time make a vow to keep the commandments of God. This is the best time to accept Divine help. What are His commandments? This is sincere respect and love for Him. This is the inner purity and chastity of our body. This is a philanthropic disposition towards people and a careful effort not to covet anything that belongs to others. No one should offend his neighbor in any way, but should do good to him with all his might and treat his neighbor as he would like to be treated himself. Listen to each of the words you read and hear how painful it is for God because of people’s attitude towards Him: “People provoked Me and considered Me a non-existent god” (Deut. 32:21). For this serious illness - the unacceptable relationship of man to God - there is only one cure, which can be borrowed from the wisdom and grace of our Savior Jesus Christ. This cure is the mortification of our sin through repentance and the return to God of our debt to Him.
By the struggle of virtue we must put on the new man in Christ. Then we will be reborn by His grace and become internally free. God judges not only the deeds, but also the thoughts of our hearts.
Life in Christ calls us to become one spirit with Him. Our sins destroy divine union with Him - and this is what we need by nature. However, what is really happening? Woe to us! I can’t even dare to publicly describe the misfortune that befell us all. We succeed in almost nothing except the sin we commit against each other. We are indifferent to those who are below us and use them inhumanely. One does everything to make the other feel bad. Sometimes, of course, we pretend, pretending that there is peace between us. The rich and powerful of this age are increasing their injustice against the poor. They burden the unfortunate people who earn their living with hard physical labor with more and more taxes. Unfair and indifferent people do not hesitate to boast to each other about their injustices. They take property from those who are defenseless. This is how people suffer from those who are stronger than them on earth.
We often ask ourselves whether God has abandoned us, when, on the contrary, we should admire how He tolerates us excessively. After all, we really have received incomparably few sorrows as retribution for the sins we have committed. God is waiting for our conversion. And therefore now, having received edification from Him through tribulations, let us return to Him and reject all the works of darkness. Let's love each other, let's not be hypocritical, but sincere with each other. This is how the love of God will live among us. Until this day, we could not succeed in this, because we ourselves drove away from ourselves the care with which God surrounded us. He loves us as His children, and He is able to lift us above any corruption and above everything that is hostile to us. Let us fall to our Lord and God, asking Him for forgiveness of our sins. He will cleanse us and whiten us to snowy purity.
Each of us accepted Christ’s love for mankind in many ways in our lives. We see this in the examples of the humble publican, the prodigal son from the parable, the prudent thief who was crucified with Christ and became a joint heir of His Kingdom. While living on earth, Christ preached repentance, and in deed and word He taught us how to acquire it. To those who have the determination to follow Him, He promised not only liberation from all evil, but also His Heavenly Kingdom. Let us prayerfully wish that we all achieve this Kingdom. We can do this by doing works of repentance towards the One who gives us the great gift of repentance.