The Shepherd, May 2009
A Homily on the Holy Eucharist
and on Not Judging Others
or Remembering Wrongs
by the Holy Hieromartyr,
Patriarch Anastasios II of Antioch
THE GRACE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT always urges us, throughout Holy Writ, to fulfill the Divine commandments. This is especially true of the admonitions of the Prophet David that are chanted daily in our psalmody. For, the Book of Psalms instructs us in piety, sets forth ordinances concerning faith, teaches temperance, leads us to the fear of God, and speaks about punishment, compunction, continence, repentance, compassion, the love of God, the patience of God, chastity, long-suffering, fasting, and beneficence. Now, assiduity and attentiveness in prayer and in reading the Divine Scriptures are the mother of all the virtues. It is by prayer that we obtain every request and gift from God; as Scripture says: In congregations bless ye God (Ps 67:26), and in the midst of the Church will I hymn Thee (Ps 21:22). Hence, the Prophet, in the person of God, quite naturally suggests that we practice unceasing assiduity and attentiveness towards God, saying: Be still, and know that I am God (Ps 45:11). Thus, without great attentiveness and diligence in prayer and the reading of Divine Scripture it is impossible either to receive what one requests from God or truly to know God.
For, if it often happens that one who spends a sufficient number of years in secular schools is scarcely able to learn this or that skill, how much more must one who wishes to attain to knowledge of God and to please Him devote his time to God and fervently and ardently elevate his soul to Him as it were on wings until the end of his life? Do you not see how those who assume temporal and transitory power, whenever they grasp some opportunity, are driven and impelled by their own thoughts as if by fire, and every one of them says: As long as I find the opportunity, as long as I am in power, as long as I am able to give orders and demand obedience, as long as life’s affairs turn out well for me, I will acquire riches, build, plant, plunder, prosper, and seize the initiative before there is a change in circumstances! I will not wait, I will not be negligent, for I do not know what the next day will bring! The majority of men are urged on by these and similar thoughts, as if driven and impelled by demons; they are suffocated by the temptations and cares of this life, and without any profit. None of them gives any thought to the soul, death, punishment, or judgment. We practically ignore ourselves and deceive ourselves. And if this were all, it would not be so bad; but we hate and slander one another, we plot against each other, and we envy, calumniate, and mock one another. None of us pays any attention to his own sins, no one is concerned about his own load; but we examine the sins of our neighbours with precision and are filled with mud up to our necks, and yet, we are not at all bothered about this. We worry about other peoples’ affairs until old age, and not even in old age do we examine our own vices. We see the small faults of our brothers, but we do not see the beam in our own eye. We are weighed down by the burden of our sins, and yet, we busy ourselves with the flaws of others. Not even then do we feel shame; we spare no one and respect no one, but bite everyone. We devour everyone, the small, the great, the guilty, the innocent, Priests, our teachers, those who lead us, those who admonish us, and those who correct us. And for this reason, the wrath of God is coming upon us. It is because of the blindness that grips us that we are being chastised and delivered up to many afflictions and calamities.
Great is our blindness, great is our indolence, great is our negligence. We have no compunction, no fear of God, no amendment, no repentance; our mind is directed entirely towards wickedness, wantonness, and drunkenness. It often happens that, throughout the day, when we occupy ourselves in theatres, shameful conversations, and the other works of the Devil, we do not become bored, and we even despise food, our homes, and lifes’ other necessities on account of these pursuits. But in the Church of God, we do not want to stand for even one hour before God in prayer and reading; rather, we hasten to depart from His Church as if from a fire. As for the Holy Gospel, if a longer passage is read, we get angry and stand there listlessly; if the Priest who is reciting the prayers prolongs them just a little, we be come sullen and inattentive. If the one who offers the bloodless Sacrifice proceeds too slowly, we become bored and morose, we yawn, and we hasten to withdraw from prayer as swiftly as we would from a court of law. And yet, we are incited by the Devil to go and engage in idle and prodigal activities. Great is our wretchedness, my beloved. Although we ought to be ardent and zealous in all prayer and supplication, and especially in the Divine Liturgy of the Immaculate Mysteries, and although we are obligated to attend with fear and trembling before the Master at such a gathering, yet we do not make even this offering to Him with a sincere conscience in a spirit of contrition and humility; rather, we carry out our legal transactions and deal with our many vain concerns at the Holy Eucharist.
There are some who are not concerned about the cleansing and repentance with which they should approach the Holy Table, but about the kind of clothing with which they are to adorn themselves. Others come, but do not see fit to remain in attendance until the service is over; they ask other people what is going on at the Eucharist and whether it is time for communion. Then they burst in hurriedly, like dogs, snatch the Mystical Bread, and depart. Others who are present in the Church of God do not keep silent even for one hour, chattering with one another, intent on babble rather than on prayer. Others relinquish the Mystagogy of the Divine Liturgy and give themselves over to carnal pleasures. Others pay no heed or attention to their consciences, for they do not cleanse themselves of the filth of sin through self-examination, but add to the burden of their sins by contemplating the beautiful figures of women, making the Church of God into a brothel through their irrational concupiscence. Others make business and property deals, turning the Church, at that most awesome hour, into a stock exchange and a marketplace. Others engage in mutual backbiting, and even against the very Priests who are offering the Eucharistic Sacrifice.
Certain women are not exempt from these criticisms, and, in particular, all those who are slaves to the Devil and do not attend the Church of God so much for the sake of prayer as to be seen and to lead many of the more naïve men astray. Therefore, since my exhortation concerns the two sexes, both men and women, I shall return to the original purpose of my discourse, expressing and deploring the kinds of woes that our own indolence and contempt have wrought for us who suppose ourselves to be Christians. What could be more dreadful than such behaviour, when, being replete with rapine, wickedness, and multitudes of sins, washing our hands with a little water, and being thus unclean and defiled, we take into ourselves that Holy Body and the Divine Blood which was shed for the salvation of the world?
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