My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
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THE GOSPEL ON MANY CARES AND SUDDEN DEATH (St. Luke 12:16-21)
A homily by Saint Nicholai Velimirovic, bishop of Ochrid
"Jesus spake a parable unto them saying, 'The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought within himself, saying: 'What shall I do because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?' And he said: 'This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater, and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul: Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years: Take thine ease: eat, drink and be merry!' But God said unto him: 'thou fool; this night shall thy soul be required of thee; then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?' So that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich towards God."
The Lord Jesus Christ came among men to heal their souls from thieving tendencies, for these tendencies, are a grave sickness of the human soul.
Does a son steal from his father? No; but a servant steals from his master. At the moment that Adam turned his spirit of sonship into a spirit of servanthood, his hand stretched out to the forbidden fruit. Why does a man steal what is another's? Is it because he needs it? Adam had everything and was lacking in nothing but even so, he went to steal. Why does a man steal from a man, and a servant from a servant? Because they had first learned to steal from their masters. Men always first steal from God, and then from one another. The forefather of mankind first stretched out his hand to steal what was God's, and then, as a result, his descendants began to steal from one another.
Men steal from God and from men, from nature and from themselves. A man steals not only with all his senses but with his heart, soul, and thoughts. There is, moreover, never an act of theft in which the devil is not man's ally. He is the prompter and instigator of all theft; he is the leader and initiator of all thieving thoughts. No thief is ever alone in the world. There are always at least two who go together to steal, and a Third sees them. Man and the devil go to steal, and God sees them. As Eve did not steal on her own, but in company with the devil, so no-one has ever carried out an act of theft alone, but always in company with the devil. The devil, though, is not just the leader and fellow-participant in the theft, but the reporter of the theft. He is not interested in the things stolen but in the destruction of a man's soul, in dissension and hatred among men and in the destruction of the whole human race. He does not go to steal for the sake of stealing, but as "roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (I Peter 5:8). That is "the devil" who arouses the soul to every evil act, and "sows every tare in the soul," is made clear by the Lord Himself (St. Matthew 13:39). With every act of theft that a man performs, the devil steals a part of his soul. The soul of a habitual thief is more and more shrunken, withered and ruined, like a lung riddled with tuberculosis.
For a man to keep himself from this thieving tendency, he must look on all he possesses as God's and not as his. When he makes use of his possessions, he must reckon that he is using what is God's, not his. Eating bread at his table, he must render thanks to God, for the bread is not his but God's. For a man to be healed of the sickness of stealing, he must look on others' possessions as God's and must know that when he steals from men he steals from God. Is it possible to steal from Him whose eye is ever open? For a man to chase away his wicked fellow in thieving, the sower of every evil, he must be vigilant over his soul, that the devil may not sow thieving desires and thoughts in it; and when he finds them sown there, he must apply himself at once to burning them out with the fire of prayer. Is a man not crazy who runs after the worst when he has known the better? Is a thief not crazy and ridiculous to visit another's house at night to steal bales of cotton cloth, when he can see his friend driving up to visit him with a wagon full of gifts of silk and velvet?
The Lord Jesus, the Lover of mankind, brought with Him and opened to men innumerable and incomparable heavenly gifts, and invited them to take them openly and freely, on one condition: that they first wrest their souls away from corruptible earthly goods. Some men obeyed Him, took His gifts and enriched themselves; others, though, did not obey Him but remained with their corruptible and stolen riches. As a warning to this latter, the Lord told the parable that is recounted in the Gospel:
"Jesus spake a parable unto them, saying: 'The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought within himself, saying: 'What shall I do because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?' He was not just rich; he had such a yield from his harvest that he did not know where to store it. Looking at his wheat-covered fields, and his orchards and vineyards whose branches were weighed down by fruit, his gardens overflowing with all kinds of vegetables and his hives full of honey, this rich man did not look towards heaven and cry out with joy: "Glory and praise to Thee, O Most High and Most Merciful God! How great an abundance Thou hast, in Thy power and wisdom, brought forth from the black earth! Thou hast, through the sun's rays, poured sweetness into all the fruits of the earth! Thou hast given every fruit a wonderful form and particular flavor! Thou hast rewarded me a hundredfold for my small labor! Thou hast had mercy on Thy servant, and hast poured such gifts from Thy full hands into his lap! O my Most Wondrous Lord, teach me to give joy to my brethren and neighbors with these Thy gifts. May they, together with me, rejoice and thankfully glorify and praise Thy Holy Name and Thine inexpressible goodness."
Does he say all this? No; instead of remembering the Giver of all these gifts, he first worries about where to heap them up and keep them, like a thief who finds a bag of money in the road does not wonder where it came from or whose it is, but first worries about how to hide it. This rich man is, in reality, a thief. He cannot say that all this abundance has come from his own efforts. A thief takes pains over his thieving, using his skill and intelligence; he often exercises a great deal more skill and intelligence than a plowman or does anything, about the sun, rain, winds, and earth. These are the four main elements--earth, air, fire and water--that is, by God's will, give fruit to plants and trees. This abundant fruit, then, is neither his nor the result of his futile efforts, nor his by the right of possession, for he is not the owner of the sun, the rain, the winds or the earth. This abundant fruit is the gift of God. A man appears grotesque in the eyes of all when he, receiving a gift from another, neither says "Thank you" nor pays any attention to the giver, but hastens only to hide it in a safe place. A decent beggar, on receiving a crust of black bread, thanks the giver, but this rich man does not spare a single thought or a single word to thank God for such a rich harvest, nor have a single smile of joy for such a marvel and so great a grace from God. In place of prayer and thanksgiving, hymns to God and joyfulness of heart, he is immediately seized on by worries about how to gather such gifts and bestow them in such a way that not a single grain may remain for the birds of the air or a single apple fall into the hands of his poor neighbors. (Source: Orthodox Heritage)
(To be continued)
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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!"--Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George