СПАСЕНИЕ ДУШИ

Why are we so ungrateful to our benefactor? Why do we not think about what has already been given to us, nor about what is promised, but having forgotten, so to speak, everything, we spend our whole lives without a goal and recklessly, like animals, not taking any care of the soul, only as if tearing our belly [from satiety], thereby causing great harm to our poor body, while due to immoderation and overeating we try to prepare many things for ourselves, leaving our soul to languish in hunger? But the soul is more important than the body, and when it leaves the body, the body remains dead. So, we must also provide the soul with food that is characteristic of it and in accordance with its nature; and not observing measures in either respect, i.e. By saturating one [body] beyond need, and forcing the other [soul] to die of hunger, we harm both. That with which the Lord of all, as with the greatest wrath, once threatened the Jewish people, saying: “I will send a famine upon the earth—not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but a thirst for hearing the words of the Lord” (Am. 8:11), teaching us that that hunger can weaken the body, but this one strikes the very soul; the very thing that the Lord then threatened to bring upon them instead of punishment, we now voluntarily bring upon ourselves, and moreover, when God has shown such great care for us, and according to His dispensation, when reading the Scriptures, we also receive admonitions from our mentors. Therefore, I beg your love to put aside all laziness, although to perk up a little and turn all efforts to the salvation of the soul (1). When the soul is in good condition, then everything else will come by itself; and when it is not in good condition, then any other prosperity will not bring us any benefit. Therefore, we must do and say so that she will be saved. Christ also points to this when he says: “Be wise as serpents” (Matthew 10:16). Just as a serpent exposes its entire body just to save its head, so you need to leave everything else to save your soul. Neither poverty, nor illness, nor the most important of all disasters - death - can harm the one subjected to them when the soul is saved; just as you will not receive anything good from life itself when the soul has become corrupted and perished. That is why the prophet, abandoning everything else, speaks only about the soul and asks that it be subjected to a less severe judgment and spared from unbearable punishments. “The Lord is merciful and righteous, and our God is merciful” (Ps. 114:5). Do you see how he teaches the listener not to despair and not to indulge in carelessness? He seems to be saying this: do not despair, because the Lord is merciful; but do not be careless, for He is righteous. Thus, he both warns against carelessness and destroys despair, on both sides arranging for our salvation (2). Every object of piety serves to correct our souls; all the rules of piety are directed towards the salvation of our souls. The word of God serves him, the law of Moses bases it, the mental tongues of the prophets preach about it, the apostles proclaim about it with silent lips. Everything is for us and for our sake, so that we, directing ourselves on the proper path, achieve piety. So, every holy book has the goal, as I said, of our salvation (5). The ways of life are varied, as it is written, and the ways of salvation are many. Use whatever method you want, just save yourself. If you can, give alms; If you can’t, God won’t punish you. Have you neither bread nor clothes? Get down on your knees, beat yourself on the chest, cry, sob, mourn, stretch out your hands to heaven, lift up your eyes to the Lord, fast, stay awake. This is at everyone’s disposal, and you really can’t excuse it with anything. Try always to please God by these means (9). For the suffering and dying, healthy food can be unpleasant, friends and relatives are unpleasant, whom they often do not recognize and are even burdened by their presence. This usually happens with those who suffer mentally: they do not know what is needed for salvation, and they are burdened by those who care about them. This does not come from the nature of the work itself [salvation], but from their illness. Just as those who are mad in their minds do not tolerate those who care for them, and even blame them, so do unbelievers. But just as these insulted ones feel even more sorry and weep for the sick, considering them to be the extreme stage of their illness, when they do not recognize those closest to them, so let us do the same in relation to the pagans and weep for them more than for our wives, because they do not know the salvation common to all. It is not so much that a husband should love his wife, but that we should love all people and lead them to salvation, whether they be pagans or anyone else (12). Truly everyone has fallen and does not want to rise; and we should inspire not that they should not fall, but that those lying down should try to rise. Let us rise, beloved, let us rise, even though now we will stand firm. How long will we lie down? How long will we revel and indulge in the many desires of life? And now it is time to say: “Whom shall I speak to, and whom shall I exhort?..” (Jer. 6:10). Thus, everyone became deaf to the teaching of virtue, and therefore filled with many vices! If it were possible to expose souls, then how between soldiers after defeat one can see either the dead or the wounded, we would see such a (spectacle) in the Church. Therefore, I exhort and ask: let us give each other hands and rise; After all, I am one of the wounded and in need of treatment. Don't despair, though; Although the wounds are serious, they are not inhealable. Our doctor is such that we would only feel the wounds, and He, even if they were extremely dangerous, will open to us many paths to salvation. If you leave your anger at your neighbor, then your sins will be forgiven: “For if you forgive people,” says [the Lord], “your Heavenly Father will also forgive you” (Matthew 6:14). If you give alms, then your sins will be forgiven: “Atone for your sins,” says [the prophet], “with mercy” (Dan. 4:24). If you pray earnestly, you will receive forgiveness: this is proven by the widow who, with her persistent request, bowed to the mercy of a cruel judge (see Luke 18:5). If you begin to condemn yourself for your sins, you will receive consolation: speak your iniquities first, in order to be justified (Isa. 43:26). If you begin to grieve for them, this will be the greatest medicine for you: I saw, says [the Lord], that he was sad and walked troubled, and healed his ways (see Isa. 57:17, 18). If you generously endure the disaster that has befallen you, you will get rid of everything - after all, Abraham said to the rich man: Lazarus has already received evil, and here he is comforted (see Luke 16:25). If you show mercy to a widow, your sins will be cleansed: “Defend,” says [the prophet], “the orphan, stand up for the widow. Then come and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they be red as crimson, they will be as white as wool” (Isa. 1:17, 18). God will not leave a trace of your wounds on you. Even if we fell into such depths of evil as the son who squandered his father’s estate and ate husks, then if we repent, we will certainly be saved; at least we owe a thousand talents, and then if we fall [to the Lord] and do not remember evil, we will receive forgiveness in everything; even if we were as lost as a lost sheep, then [the Lord] can save us; Let us only desire this, beloved, and God loves mankind. It was enough for him that the debtor of a thousand talents fell to Him, that the one who squandered his father’s property had just returned, that the lost sheep wished to be saved. Therefore, imagining His love for mankind, let us propitiate Him here and hasten to bring confession before His face, so that, having left here unjustified, we would not be subjected to extreme punishment. If in this life we ​​show at least some diligence, we will receive the greatest benefit, but if we leave here without improving at all, then no matter how much we repent there, there will be no benefit to us. We must strive while we are still in the field; and at the end of the spectacle, it is useless to cry and sob, as the rich man did, who, although he cried and sobbed, but in vain and in vain, because he missed the time at which it should have been done (12). You might be interested in: