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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ON REMEMBRANCE OF DEATH, HELL, AND JUDGMENT
From "Counsels from the Holy Mountain," from the Letters and Homilies of Geronda (Elder) Ephraim of Arizona, pp. 144-150.
The older I grew, the more I perceive the instability the vanity of earthly things. Oh, why do we trouble ourselves in vain? Our life is short--dust, ashes, a dream--and in a little while we shall taste corruption. Today you have your health, and tomorrow you lose it; today you are laughing, and tomorrow you are sullen. Now your eyes are shedding tears from an abundance of joy, and soon they will be shedding tears from pain and grief; today the economy is stable, and tomorrow misfortune strikes; today you receive good news, and in a little while bad news replaces it.
In vain we trouble ourselves; life is a shadow and a dream. Where are our parents, our siblings, our grandparents? The tomb has received them all; they have all decayed and have been eaten by worms. The tomb and decay await us also!
Ah, ah, death--bitter is your remembrance. Our Christ has given us the power "to become children of God" (John 1:12) by arming us with so many Divine weapons to fight our relentless enemy. But we--and I, above all--become prisoners of our enemy by neglecting the weapons Christ gave us, and as we approach death we tremble in agony and try by every means to prolong our life, because the soul is afraid to leave the body. Why is it afraid? Why does it not take courage as a child of God? Is it going perhaps to a foreign king? But the King is its Master, its Savior, Who shed His blood in order to redeem our soul from its enemy. Why then does it fear and lack courage?
Death is inherently cold--"my soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death" (Matthew 26:38) said our Jesus. Yes, death is cold by nature. But unfortunately, most of the fear comes from the conscience: the conscience does not assure the soul that it has lived properly; it has not put itself in order; it has not washed its wedding garment, and so it is ashamed to present itself to the King, thinking about what the verdict will be: yes or no? Will I be saved or not?
If, however, the soul leaves without having confessed and without having repented completely, then woe--this is the "evil day" which the Prophet Jeremiah hints at (Jeremiah 17:17). Let us pray that our Holy God will deliver us from this by giving us complete repentance, worthy works of repentance, works of mercy and love, and a spirit of repentance with True humility, so that the just Judge may be merciful towards us, so that when the fearful hour of death come, the soul will take courage in the mercy of God and say, "I trust in God, that He will have mercy on my lowliness."
The years roll by and pass, and day by day each one of us draws closer and closer to the end of his life. Our precious time rolls by and disappears before our eyes. Without our realizing, of course, what is escaping us unnoticed. For if the little child knew the worth of gold, he would not prefer to have a cheap candy instead. Doesn't this also hold true for people and above all for me?
"...Now that the sun is shining and the day casts its sweet light upon us, let us walk quickly along the road of our correction, before the night of the future afterlife overtakes us, at which time we shall no longer be able to walk. "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2), cries the holy Apostle Paul in his immortal words.
Oh, how much the memory of death should flourish in the soul of the Christian! Since he believes in the real truth, it is impossible for him to ignore death.
After my Elder's heart condition had passed, he wept and recited a line from the funeral service: "Alas, what a struggle the soul has as it parts from the body!" Indeed, this is the truth! How beautifully the psalmist expresses what peace is prepared soul has: "I prepared myself and was not troubled" (Psalm 118:60).
At any moment, every soul can expect the telegram from heaven to break off all relations with earthly things, to seal the time of this "fair," to render an exact account of his spiritual trading, and to seal his eternal life either in the heights of heaven or the depths of hell.
Ah, when I reflect upon this, what can I say! May the All-compassionate God be merciful to my unreadiness. My mind stops when it contemplates this absolute Truth about salvation.
Eternity--oh, what a great mystery! The world, the flesh, and the devil lead us astray and threw us into forgetfulness--and suddenly a voice is heard!
"Behold the Bridegroom comes!" When we are breathing our last, what preparation can we make then, when our conscience has already been cauterized and can no longer feel anything or cry out to us? Then the voice of truth is heard: "Only when the sun was setting did you remember God; what were you doing all day long when the sun was shining?"
"Watch and be ready" (cf. Matthew 24:43-44) cries our Jesus! Blessed are those who have ears to hear, who hear and get ready, for they will be counted worthy of eternal happiness. Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, will find ready when He comes, for they will rejoice eternally.
Let us patiently endure the sorrows of life, that we may attain the eternal things of joy. "In vain does every mortal trouble himself; as soon as we conquer the world, we dwell in the tomb." As long as there is light, let us walk towards our great destination, for the hour is coming when there will be darkness, and then we shall no longer be able to work for our soul.
Raise your mind to the dread judgment seat of Christ: what defense shall we give on the Day of Judgment when our deeds are judged? How frightening is the hour in which the waits full of fear to hear the decision regarding where it will go to dwell eternally! (Source: Orthodox Heritage)
(To be continued)
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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" - Saint John Chrysostom
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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry)
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George